‘The forest.”
She almost chuckles, which is crazy. “Okay, my love,” she whispers.
My love.
Wow.
Chapter Eleven
Madeline
We’re standing in the middle of the forest and he stands naked in front of me. “I don’t understand,” I say but I do understand. At least I have a pretty strong suspicion about what’s going on. “Why are we out here?” again, I’m pretty sure I know.
“I can’t tell you,” he says, “I need to show you.”
“It’s okay,” I say. I reach forward and stroke his cheek. “You don’t have to worry about me or my reaction.”
I’m rich.
I’m sickeningly rich.
This is why I’m going fucking crazy trying to make a difference with all the money I have. This is why I’m doing everything I can to make something out of my life that will last for generations.
But the point is I’m sickeningly rich.
I was raised in a mansion.
The point I’m making is there’s no kink that’s going to surprise me and him wanting to fuck me out here in the forestisn’t going to freak me out at all. I lean forward and kiss him briefly. “I promise. You don’t have to worry about my reaction.”
He’s not entirely convinced because he steps back. I keep from laughing. It’s hard, though. The sexiest man alive is completely naked in the middle of the forest. The whole cloak-and-dagger act he put on to get here was cute as hell. I can promise you I’m never going to tell him that sex in the forest isn’t that kinky. It’s not even the kinkiest thing that I’ve done in my life.
“it’s okay,” I say.
And then he disappears.
I mean that literally! He’s there one second and then he’s gone the next!
No. He’s not gone. Well, yes, he is. The man is gone. But in his place is an enormous black bear. Damn it all, even though it happened in a split second, I saw him transform. Now. It’s called shifting. He’s a shifter. I didn’t fully believe they were real.
I went through this whole bullshit preparation for his kink. I was fully prepared to screw him and act all conspiratorial with him like his big secret was that he liked sex outdoors. I told him time and time again that I already knew and that I wouldn’t be… wouldn’t be…
I’m going to hyperventilate!
The bear in front of me is bigger than any normal black bear. It’s huge, in fact, as big or maybe bigger than an elephant. In proportion to the body, the head is small. Of course, the head is not small when considered apart from the body.
The head is bigger than I am above the waist.
There is a long muzzle, and it makes the snout look almost canine although I know bears aren’t canine at all. The legs look short and stout in the same way the body looks stocky but it’s just the size of the thing making none of it look elegant.
The fur is glossy black but I can almost see a hint of red in there like maybe the fur is one red hair for every nineteen black hairs but the red can only be seen…Who the hell knows? I can’t trust my eyes right now. I can’t trust myself at all!
I see a shock of white on its chest. It’s almost... almost magical. I think the bear must weigh several thousand pounds, and it must also…
Wait.
Wait… wait!
I feel my heart beating like crazy. I can see… I look at the bear’s eyes. I look at the creature’s eyes. It’s not a creature! It’s not… it’s…