Page 49 of Awakened By the Guardian

Yes.

So large. So full. She loved it. And he gasped when he was fully seated inside her.

He didn’t move. Instead, he looked at her, his expression tender. “Still okay?”

She grinned. “I’m great. You?”

He chuckled. “Holding on by a thread, baby. If you want to go slow⁠—”

“I don’t.” She bit her lip, amazed that what she wanted was hard thrusting, deep penetration, all of Gary all the way. She leaned back, stretching upward as his hands flowed up her sides, then groaned as he palmed her breasts, twisting her nipples in just the way she liked. And then she squeezed her inner muscles, hard. She bore down and heard him groan.

“Margaret—”

“Hard, Gary. And fast.”

His eyes widened and then he grinned. He surged forward—not inside her but around her.

He flipped them over without separating them, and she was abruptly on her back, him supporting his own weight as he rammed into her. She cried out in pleasure. Her back arched, and her legs lifted to clench his thighs. She felt his muscles flex with every heave, and she felt the impact all the way through her body.

Again and again, she arched in pleasure, but it wasn’t enough. She knew how this worked, unfortunately. He was going to finish too soon, and she would be left waiting. Wanting.

Except, he didn’t.

His brow furrowed, his jaw clenched, and he ground against her after every impact. Harder. Wilder. And then, while the sweat beaded on his forehead, he shifted his weight. He held himself upright with one hand while the other snaked between them. The angle was awkward, but he managed, and while she ached for release, whimpering with need, he slammed his thumb down between them.

A rough push. Right where she wanted it. Then a final thrust.

Detonation.

Her entire body pulled taut then burst outward. Pulse after pulse of pleasure shot stars through her vision, real burst of lights that seemed to echo in her body.

He arrived a split second afterward. His body slammed into hers and he growled. The sound was half triumphant, half fierce possession. She’d never heard a sound like that, but she knew what it meant. And she felt exactly the same. They were mated in a very animal way. They were each owned by the other, each supported and held in a way that was closer than physical bodies, deeper than souls. They were one, and she couldn’t have been more fulfilled.

Didn’t hurt that the sex rocked, too.

They rode the waves of pleasure as long as they could, but in time it eased. Gary collapsed beside her. A few breaths later they separated, and he managed to clean himself up with minimal fuss. Margaret didn’t have the energy to do more than lie there and grin.

Eventually he noticed. When he looked at her, a dreamy expression on his face, he said the very words she wanted to hear.

“I love you, Margaret. I want to marry you and have children. I know it’s too soon for you to hear that⁠—”

“No, it’s not. I love you too.”

He looked at her, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping open. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

She touched his face, stroking across his hard jaw as she looked into his eyes—eyes that were remarkably similar to his grizzly bear ones. “I’m saying that I love you romantically. Sexually. Desperately. As in marriage, babies, and happily ever after. I love you forever. I love you, my badass bear.”

He whooped and then kissed her, a deeply joyous kiss, and when she finally pushed him back, she was glad she could make this extra special.

“So, I guess you owe me an apology, huh?”

He blinked. “What?”

“You said I could only love a cripple.”

He winced but said nothing.

“Obviously that’s not true….”