Free Look Before You Bake by Cassie Wright

it's found what it wants. A woman strong and soft, a woman whose passion is betrayed by her cooking, a woman innocent of her own seductive whiles, her own wickedly sexy body, her curves, her lips, her breasts –
    I groan. I can't hold back any longer. Reaching over my head, I yank my shirt off without bothering with the buttons. The hair is already snarling over my chest, growing thicker by the second. I unbutton my jeans. Kick off my boots, and shuck my pants and boxers. Stand naked before the fire, muscles growing thick as my bear emerges.
    My cock is rigid, hard as granite. I clench it in my hand, but I won't burn off my passion that way. I fall forward onto all fours, my hands turning into massive paws. My talons dig into the rock as my body swells, my pelt grows, my shoulders become massive, my jaws heavy. A moment longer, and my bear and I am one. There's nothing larger, more dangerous, or more powerful out there in these woods than me.
    Restless, savagely glad to be back in my bear form after days of being trapped at Honeycomb Falls, I head into the dark. I'll hunt. I'll kill. And come morning, I'll be myself once more. Controlled. Calm. My fever broken.
     

Chapter 8
     
     
     
    I wake up feeling so sore I can only lie there and groan. My ass. My hamstrings. My calves. Deep in my thighs. Oh lord. I feel like a band of gnomes spent all night whacking my legs with rolling pins. I sit up and wince as I rub at my eyes. OK. So maybe I was a little ambitious yesterday, thinking I could just dive right back into the hiking life without any consequences. I take a deep breath and sit up. Is that coffee?
    I crawl out of my tent like the girl from The Ring , then groan and moan like an old lady as I climb to my feet. Arthur is sitting by the fire, wearing his usual combo of jeans and plaid shirt. He turns to me and smiles. "Good morning."
    "Maybe when I've had some coffee it'll be good." I limp over.
    "Sore?" He pours me a mug. I don't even care how he's made it. I just take it in both hands and then hiss as I lower myself onto a rock.
    "Coffee," I say. And take a sip. Dark and thick and rich. Perfect. Medicine for the soul.
    Arthur sets his mug aside and moves over to me. "I should have reminded you to stretch last night."
    I grumble and say nothing. Sip my coffee, and allow its heat to wake me. How did I get into my tent? The last thing I remember is falling asleep by the fire. For that matter, I'm still in my hiking outfit from the day before. My eyes open wide as the coffee starts cranking my brain into action. I must look awful!
    "Here," says Arthur, taking up my left leg and setting it over his thigh. "Let's see what we can do."
    Then, holy jumping flapjacks, he starts to massage my thigh, his powerful hand digging into the muscle, working it slowly and inexorably, breaking down the stiffness, and in the process making me sit upright in pain.
    "OH." I try to sound ladylike. I fail. "Oh. Right there. Ow. Owwwww. Ow ow ow."
    Arthur grins, looking all hunky as he does so. Where did he sleep? I don't see another tent. Another sleeping bag. Did he sleep? His hands move down to my calf and begin to knead the muscle. My eyes almost roll up in my head as he works the knots, his fingers like magic, finding the soreness and dispelling it.
    "How's that?" His voice is vaguely amused. I don't blame him. I look a hot mess, and now he's got me writhing under his hands. "Want me to stop?"
    "No." I almost growl. Grab the coffee, drink half of it down. I feel like I'm in a movie, like I've been wounded, and Arthur's the medic who's going to do something horribly painful but necessary to fix me up. "I'm ready."
    "I'm not about to saw your leg off," he says, laughing.
    "Do you have a belt I can bite?" He laughs again, louder, and works on my other leg. "Ow! Oh! Owwww. Oh, god. What did I do yesterday? Are we doing the same today?"
    "Yeah, we sure are." His fingers probe and massage my other leg, and I shift and wriggle as the intensity of