Free Alpha Unmasked: BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Greenwood Shifters Book 1) by S.A. Ravel Page A

blazing hazel eyes were locked on her as he savored her taste. She writhed under his skilled fingers that found and caressed her most sensitive parts.
    The sight of him, of them, sent her tumbling over the edge. The world went black in front of her eyes as she fell over the edge moaning and writhing. Her thighs clamped around him as she leaned back and let the waves of pleasure crash over her.
    And then he was back beside her, stroking her side and pressing gentle kisses to her lips.
    “No one’s going to hurt you, Rachel,” he whispered into her ear. “I won’t let them.”
    Rachel pressed herself against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. She didn’t have to look in his eyes to know he meant it. He would protect her for as long as he could, even if it meant trading his life for hers.
    Fate, destiny, whatever this was, it was more powerful than anything Rachel had ever felt.

8
    D irk listened to the quiet sound of Rachel’s breathing as she slept curled on the cheap motel mattress. He wanted so badly to join her, to let her curves and warmth hug his body as she dreamed, but he didn’t dare. It was unlikely anyone followed their scent all the way down from the lake, but if they did Dirk had to be ready to fight them off.
    While Rachel slept, he had organized the room as best he could. He’d moved the plastic bedside table in front of the door, and angled the armchair between the window and the bed. The hasty redecoration swallowed almost all of the walking space in the room, but it gave Rachel a bit more protection.
    He gazed down at her, watching her chest rise and fall with each breath, feeling like he could stare at her all night. Dirk hadn’t realized how dull his senses had become in the year he couldn’t shift. Now, since his grizzly awakened, he knew what he’d been missing. He could see the soft folds in her plump lips that made them especially sweet to kiss. He could hear her heartbeat even from across the room.
    It was the taste of her that captivated him. It clung to his tongue and mingled with her scent. It was like honey and jasmine, sweet, fragrant. He wanted to savor it again, to savor her again. But it would have to wait. When the sun rose, they’d need to put distance between them and the Greenwood compound.
    His stomach churned at the thought. He didn’t regret killing Cass; the raging bear would never have let Rachel leave the woods alive. For Cass, it wasn’t about the rules. Humans weren’t supposed to know about shifters, but they didn’t kill humans who found out. They paid them, and those who couldn’t be silenced with money usually found themselves in a psychiatric hospital for their trouble.
    It wasn’t about the rules. It was about Alexandra. She would have told anyone who would listen about the engagement, and news would spread fast that she’d been tossed aside for a mere human, with none of her money or gifts.
    If Alexandra were a more forgiving woman, Dirk could settle most of the trouble by claiming Rachel. He only needed to make love to her once to cement the bond. But he couldn’t do that to her, not until she understood what it would mean to be with him. Thank God for the wounds Cass gave him. They made a convenient enough excuse for now.
    He looked down at the curves of Rachel’s body beneath the thin sheet. There was no need to rush, he reminded himself. Once they were farther away from the compound, they could take things as slowly as Rachel needed. Though he prayed that wasn’t too slow. The taste of her was intoxicating, and he wanted more.
    His ringing cell phone snapped him back to reality, and his heart dropped as he looked at the familiar number.
    “I’m all right, Mama,” he said.
    There were a few seconds of silence on the other end, and then Cyrus spoke. “Glad to hear it, now get your ass back to the house.”
    Dirk jerked his head around the room in reflex, as if Cyrus had somehow materialized through the phone. But there was still only he and