Wolf Camp (Bear Naked 2)

Chapter One: Part One

Amanda relished the feel of Connor's mouth on hers. She relaxed her lips, letting his tongue explore. A thrill went through her as their tongues met. His hands slid under her shirt and up her bare abdomen. Her breath caught, then rose to a faster pace. They stopped kissing and she nuzzled him playfully.

He pulled back and regarded her. She stared into his warm, brown eyes and smiled.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, putting her hand on the back of his neck. "For the thousandth time, yes." She had never felt so sure of any decision in her life. She pulled his face down and met him in another kiss. Her body arched, and a shiver went through her. It was followed by another and another. In the back of her mind, she felt a rising buzz.

She broke the kiss suddenly. She looked at her arm fearfully. The muscle on her forearm rippled, a line of thick hair growing and fading like a wave.

"What?" Connor asked. He caught sight of her arm and rolled off her. "Holy crap!"

She closed her eyes. Fear flushed through her. She thought of Uncle Darren's warning. Intense emotions had to be avoided—they could trigger the change and she wouldn't have control of herself for some time. The animal part of her brain would take over and gods only knew what she would do. She had assumed that meant negative emotions, like anger or fear—not this.

She willed herself to regain control. Her breathing slowed, and the buzzing faded. "Damn," she muttered. She opened her eyes.

He had removed his hand and was regarding her nervously. "Maybe we should wait," he said.

She laughed. Understatement of the Year goes to Connor Leidulf. "What?" she asked innocently. "You don't want your first time to end with you being mauled by a savage bear?" She rolled over on top of him and reached her hands out to claw at him.

"Nothing wrong with rough sex, mind," he said. "But I'll pass on the very literal mauling, thank you, and wait until you're a little more in control of your power."

She snuggled down next to him, wrapping her arms around him and putting her head on his chest. "I'm sorry," she said with a sigh. "I really want to. I do."

"It's okay," he replied, kissing her forehead. "You're worth waiting for."

"Even if it's years before I have enough control?" she groused.

"Yes," he said without hesitation. She smiled. Her reservations evaporated. And there were lots of reasons to have reservations. A girl's first time was supposed to be special. There was no doubt that Connor was special, but he was also an alpha werewolf. Their first time together would presumably result in a lifelong alpha bond. It was a pretty big step for a seventeen-year-old girl to take.

But then she thought of that moment a few weeks ago, when the evil werewolf had attacked him beside his car. Anger and fear had shot through her. It had been followed by concern for him. She had kicked the other beast, the one named Erik, without thinking of her own safety. As she thought about it later, she realized that was the moment she had truly made her decision. She would give her life for Connor, following him into a fight, to the death, and spending the next seventy years as his alpha mate.

"Still," she said. "I really do want to."

"I know," he said with a chuckle. "I really know how to bring out the animal in a woman."

She smacked him playfully and rolled onto her back, staring up at the stars. "I love your pack," she began, "but can we pretend this is working, so we can get away from them from time to time?"

"Of course," he said.

They lay on the blanket and stared at the stars that peeked between the leaves of the trees. The moon rose and shone down on them. They cuddled and kissed at times but went no farther. Finally, with a reluctant sigh, Connor said, "I suppose we should be getting back."

"Yeah," Amanda agreed. "Thanks for tonight." Amanda found her flashlight and quickly gathered their blanket and the remains of the picnic supper they had brought. Once they started back down the path, she shut off the flashlight. The moon was shedding more than enough light for them to make their way.

"You think your mom was right?" Amanda asked as they walked. "Was this a bad idea?" She wasn't referring to the sex. They hadn't exactly let his mom know about that.

Connor shrugged. "Naw," he said. "She's still freaking out because she was the one who sent us off to Wisconsin without adult supervision. She's making up for it by being extra protective. There have been no signs of the Sons of Garm in almost six weeks. Dad always has some of his pack out patrolling. If they were nearby, we'd know about it." He ticked off his counter arguments as he spoke. "And if, by some unlikely chance, they are around, get past everyone, and come here, I can hold them off long enough for you to get back and alert the pack. Or they could get you so pissed that you transform."

"And not be in control," she pointed out.

"So?" he said. "Would serve them right. So they get torn apart by a feral werebear. I'm not going to lose sleep over anything bad that happens to that lot."

She bumped him. "Yeah, but I don't want to go all feral and stuff. It's scary."

"It's not going to happen," he assured her. "I was merely making the point that there is no danger for the two of us to be out by ourselves for one evening. And look," he gestured around them, "I was right."