Free Joel (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 5) by Becca Fanning

wolves.

    "You shifted," she whispered, looking up at him, and he came and sat next to her on the bed.

    "Yeah."

    "For me."

    "I couldn't in good faith let someone's mother get hurt by one of those things," he shrugged. "It just sort of…came over me, all at once. I didn't have a chance to think about it, and by the time I had shifted, I just knew I had to take him down."

    "But you didn't lose control?" She prompted.

    "Not at anyone but that fucking wolf," he replied, his voice harsh. "It just confirmed to me what I already knew, I don't like the thing I become when I shift, and I don't want to make a habit of it."

    "Thank you," she murmured. "Thank you for protecting me."

    "What else was I going to do?" He shrugged. "Daughter of a bear shifter, I owe it to my kind."

    Iris cocked an eyebrow at him.

    "How do you know?"

    "I can smell it on you. I didn't know for sure until I had shifted, but I felt this… draw towards you. And that's when I knew."

    "Sorry I didn't tell you." She sighed. "I don't know why."

    "Hey, we all get to have our secrets," he smiled at her, and took her hand once again. She couldn't put her finger on why, but she felt calm with his hand covering hers. There was something comforting to his touch, and she savoured it. He skimmed his thumb over her knuckles, and a shiver danced down her spine, what was this? It had been such a long time since she'd felt those butterflies in her stomach that she'd practically forgotten what they felt like. But, as Ian leaned over to her and carefully placed his lips against her's, she knew exactly what she was feeling.  

    The kiss was gentle, surprisingly tender, given the situation. She'd always imagined thank-God-we're-alive sex to be more passionate and wild and crazy, but all she wanted at that moment was to be cared for, to be looked after. She tentatively opened her mouth, twisting her head to allow him more access, and slid her tongue past his lips. He tasted good, God, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been kissed like this, the last time she'd felt truly desired. He slid his hands down from her arms and on to her waist, weirdly chaste yet at the same time intimidate. She shuffled a few inches closer to him, feeling like a teenager making out with the door open. She draped one leg over his and drew him closer, cupping his jaw in her hand, his stubble felt rough and satisfying against her skin.  

    He deepened the kiss, letting out a long breath through his nose as he gently licked around her lips. It was a motion that made her shiver, made her feel as if she was entirely at his mercy-she ran a hand through his hair, enjoying the feeling of the gel and the spikes against her palm. Everything felt so new, but so familiar, and Iris couldn't get enough.  

    The hands around her waist moved across her back, pulling her closer, till the two of them were chest-to-chest. Ian slowly pushed her down on to the bed, straddling her, and meshing a hand in her hair as he kissed her once again. Every single one of his movements was deliberate and careful, as if Iris was some delicate toy he didn't want to break. After everything that had happened that day, it was a relief to be with someone she trusted so implicitly, someone she knew would never hurt her, someone who would protect her. It was the fact that Ian had gone back on the one thing he had sworn he would never do again, shifting, just to protect her. That spoke to a connection beyond just the superficial, and Iris was happy to explore it.

    She pulled her legs up, resting her feet against him and grinding her body up against his. Waves of pleasure spread from between her legs and out across her entire body, and it felt different than the last time she'd done this, different from all the other times she'd done this. She couldn't put her finger on it for a moment, but then it clicked in her brain, it must have had something to do with him being a shifter. She had never (knowingly, at least) been with a