Page 87 of More Than I Can Bear

It also closed a whole bunch of others, hence the drama with the media.

But as I watched him with our mate, I learned a lesson, knowing now that we could do the exact same thing. I glanced at River and he nodded in recognition, right as we stepped closer.

Skimming the backs of my fingers along her arms and watching her shiver? I’d never get used to that. Then that shy little look over her shoulder, followed by a completely brazen smile? I looked forward to all the incidents where we could inspire that over and over. And then there was the way her gaze dropped down to focus on my lips, the smile fading as something else came over her.

A need we shared.

I darted in, wrapping a hand around her waist but not pulling her away from my brother. We wouldn’t play those games anymore. I kissed her slowly, savouring her, tasting the honey from the dessert she’d ordered as my tongue swept in.

And then I let her go.

Her brow creased slightly, as if she wondered at that, but that’s when River stepped in. He didn’t even need to say anything, so attuned to each other’s presence they were. He had something that both of us didn’t, some other connection beyond that of a bear shifter and his mate. They moved like dancers, realigning their bodies, Freya shifting in Adam’s grip to face him. Then I watched them come together, her hands going around his neck, their mouths hovering over each other’s, just breathing each other in before they moved closer. His lips grazed against hers, stringing this out until even my muscles were tensing up in anticipation and Freya was forced to drag him down to kiss her.

And that’s when he took over.

His hands went to her hair and he cradled her against him while Adam stepped in to run kisses down her spine. I watched them try to map her form with their mouths, and knew they couldn’t, not without help. So I moved in to trace the shape of the back of her dress with my finger before easing the zipper down. She let out a little sigh, as if she’d been waiting for this the entire time. The dress parted, then fell to the ground in a soft cloud and I drew her away from it, holding her hand as if we were about to dance. Though what I had in mind was not as elegant as that.

“You’re beautiful, Freya.” Her cheeks pinked at that and I couldn’t work out why. “But more than that, you’re perfect for us, and we’re a complete mess as a result.” She smiled, which was much easier for me to watch. “Remember that. You’re always the one in control. We are helpless to do anything other than what you want.” I shot Adam a look. “Well, we are now. So whatever happens tonight—”

“Is what I want.” She smoothed her hand across my chest and I loved the possessive air of that. “I know that.” Freya moved much more slowly now, undoing my buttons, but I didn’t care how long it took, not when she pushed her hand inside and touched my bare skin. All the shit in my head stopped right then and just went quiet. This, this is what I needed. “You’re what I want. Do you know that?”

“I do now.”

I tugged her closer, smelling her scent sweetening and becoming more complex by the second. My eyes found hers, holding her gaze as I reached behind and undid the clasp of her strapless bra and let that fall as well. River might be the artistic one, but I felt like a sculptor, discovering her form within a lump of marble, using my hands rather than tools to shape her.

But I watched her the whole time.

Cataloguing her every response, watching her pupils expand, her breathing come in faster and faster as I stroked her shoulders, then followed the slope down until it met the tops of her breasts, her tiny nod giving me the go ahead to shape them as well. That softness, that heaviness, filling my hands, feeling oh so soft, I got lost in it until Adam stepped forward.

“I think big bro is a little transfixed, beautiful.” He took her arms and brought them up behind her head to wrap around his neck and that thrust her breasts up and out, like she was offering them to me. Not just me though. River stepped in when I did, tilting her lips his way and kissing her as he claimed one breast and I did the other.

My focus felt like it narrowed down now, tracking the way goosebumps prickled across her skin, her chest heaving with sighs as I treasured the sight of my beautiful mate. Her breasts were fucking amazing. How every bloke who walked into that cafe didn’t fall to his knees and give thanks to the gods, I didn’t know, but that was what I did now. I whispered frantic little prayers, just under my breath as I teased the nipple to tightness, then pulled on it, hearing her answering moans and wanting to provoke more, before Freya pulled away and dragged my head down.

Gods, she was so fucking soft.

My tongue flicked across that swollen nub, circling it before giving it an experimental suck. Her fingers raked across my scalp, egging me on. I sucked harder, rolling that sensitive point around in my mouth, wringing every drop of sensation I could get from the caress.

“You like my brother’s mouth on you?” Adam asked her. “I think I know something you’d like more.” And that’s when he plucked her from our grasp and laid her onto the bed. He kissed her, of course he did. We couldn’t seem to stop doing that right now. “All of our mouths on you, beautiful.” She let out a little moan at the idea, right before he looked back at the two of us. “So what’re you waiting for?”

Chapter44

River

I knew what she needed. I could taste it on my tongue. That floral sweetness was growing tart and I was moving forward without thought. Adam lay down on the bed and then put Freya between his thighs, offering her up to us. His hand moved slowly, drawing attention to our mate’s curves before we moved forward. Clothes were torn off. They were an impediment to giving her what she needed. My cock was hard, weeping in anticipation of being close to her, but I caught Kaine out of the corner of my eye and saw he was exactly the same. He held my gaze for just a second, then nodded, before we closed in.

“The big bad bears look like they want to eat you all up,” Adam said, moving his feet so they were in between hers and then used them to separate her thighs. He was opening her up like she was a present for us.

When she was something so much more important.

Freya was everything and that had the two of us dropping our heads down, our mouths moving up the rounded forms of her legs. Because with each kiss, I heard a little intake of breath, getting faster and faster until they just blurred together into one long sigh. Then, as I got higher, I felt it, a hand on the back of my neck, soft at first, then tangling her fingers in my hair to grip tight as we got closer.

Her scent was heady. When she’d been aroused by something in the past, it had filled my nostrils, but that was nothing like now. The perfume made my mouth water, my lips move faster, instinctively knowing that my goal was in sight.

But so was Kaine’s.

He drew back then and looked across at me in the darkness, eyes twinkling, before he turned to stare at Freya.

“River didn’t have dessert at the restaurant.”

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