“Honeysuckle?” I smiled at him. “My soap is scented. You want to sniff?” I offered him one of my newly-cleaned braids.
To my surprise, he leaned in and smelled my throat, his face so close to my skin that I could feel his breath on me.
My body instantly reacted to his nearness. My nipples hardened, and my pulse sped up. A warm flush of desire covered me and I began to breathe harder. I suspected that if I touched myself between my legs, I’d be slick with need.
All of that from a simple sniff.
There was no question I was attracted to Leif. He was gorgeous. It wasn’t just that he was a were-bear and one of the few I could consider as a mate. It was his sleek, tanned build, the tight buttocks that I saw every morning, the gleam in his amused blue eyes…I just liked everything about him. I liked his artistic spirit, I liked his sensitive side, and I liked that he was regaining a sense of humor. I remembered having a crush on him when I was ten years old. That crush was returning, and returning hard.
“Smells good,” he said after a long moment. “I haven’t smelled flowers in a long time.”
“I still have some soap and water,” I said, hating the shiver in my voice that gave away my emotions. “You want to get clean, too?”
Leif held his hands out and grimaced. “I’m not good company like this, am I?”
“You are,” I said breathlessly. And when that sounded too intimate, I forced myself to give his arm a friendly pat. “Come on. Let’s go into my tent.”
I took the last of the heated water from the fire and headed into my small dome tent. We were both too tall to stand upright in it, so I sat down on my nest of blankets and patted next to me, indicating that he should do the same.
Leif sat down in front of me and folded his long legs, and then scooted forward. His knees touched mine, and I tried not to stare at his nakedness. He hadn’t put on his clothing yet, and when he crossed his legs, his entire body was exposed to me. Shifters weren’t supposed to be prudish about naked bodies. I’d seen everyone in the bear clan naked time and time again. Shifting just didn’t allow for modesty. But this was the man that I was planning on mating - he just didn’t know it yet. So every time his cock was exposed to my gaze, I got a little flustered. Maybe that would go away once my virginity did, but for now, it was still a problem.
As if he noticed my attention, his cock stirred and began to harden. Oh. I knew it was the proximity to me, and my oncoming heat. My scent filled the small tent, embarrassing me. Leif didn’t say anything, though. He was trying very hard to ignore any physical attraction to me, and I knew it was because our first meeting had gone so very badly.
I sat the hot water bucket nearby and dipped my cloth into it, wrung it out, and then gestured for Leif to turn around. “Why don’t I do your back?” Anything to not have to stare down his erection.
He obediently turned around and presented me with his back. His long, matted hair wandered down his spine, brushing at his buttocks, and I considered it as I lathered up the bar of soap. “Do you want to cut this mess off or just wash it?”
“You have scissors?” The pleasure in his voice told me the answer.
“I have a hunting knife,” I told him. “Want me to do the honors?”
“Please,” he murmured, and his voice was husky. His spoken language was so much better now that he’d been practicing again. You’d never realize that he’d had to struggle the first few days to even put sentences together.
I was thrilled that Leif was returning to normal. Every step made him a little bit closer to mine.
I fisted my hand into his mane, gathering it at the base of his neck. The scent of him filled my nostrils - not filthy like I’d expected, but warm and earthy and pleasant. I pulled my knife out of my leg sheath and began to saw at his hair. A moment later, his yard-long locks were in my hand, and the hair left on his head brushed his bare nape.
“Much better,” I murmured and watched with appreciation as he rotated his shoulders, flexing.
“I already feel lighter.”
“You should,” I told him, tossing aside the hanks of hair. “I think you just lost a few pounds in knotted hair.” I picked up the soap and cloth again, lathered them one more time, and then began to wipe at his wiry shoulders.
He groaned with pleasure as soon as the cloth touched his skin.
I froze.
The sound he’d made…it made my entire body come alive. Need throbbed in my body, and I fought back the urge to whimper in response. My nipples brushed against the fabric of my clothing, and my skin tingled.
I couldn’t let Leif know, though. Gritting my teeth, I continued to stroke the cloth over his shoulders, wiping away trails of grime as he flexed and shifted in place, trying to subconsciously lead me to the itchy spots. I followed along with his squirming, though I admit that I was probably washing him slower than I should have been. I was just so fascinated with his corded body. Every bit of him was lean muscle, sinewy and full of strength. He radiated heat, and now that I was washing him with honeysuckle soap, he smelled like a mix of flowers, were-bear, and…Leif. I was fascinated by touching him, and unable to stop myself. When I was satisfied with how clean his back was, I continued to wash him, moving to his arms and dipping and scrubbing at my cloth repeatedly to keep it wet and soapy. It wasn’t the only thing wet; I was pretty sure my panties were soaked and they had nothing to do with the bathwater. But, oh god, Leif was pretty, and touching him was sheer joy. I couldn’t help myself.
My wet fingers trailed down one muscular bicep, and I sucked in a breath when it flexed in response.
Leif looked over his shoulder at me, and his eyes were slitted, his expression impossible to read under that growth of heavy beard. “Want to do my front for me?”
I blushed.
That was forward of him. And yet…wasn’t this entire bath thing a little forward? I knew he was turned on just by looking at him, and he’d know I was turned on just by smelling my scent. I considered for a moment, but I wanted to do his front more than anything. So I swallowed hard and said, “Turn around.”
He did…and those blue eyes seemed to glitter as they focused on my face. I dipped the washcloth again, noticing that the water was getting cooler — and dirtier - by the minute. But I continued to soap it, and when it was ready, I reached out and pressed the cloth against the base of Leif’s neck, against his pulse.
He swallowed, and I watched his Adam’s apple bob just inches from my wet fingers. My hands moved on his chest, soaping with one hand and exploring with the washcloth with the other. This was incredibly erotic, and I suspected that we both knew we’d gone from ‘bath’ to ‘foreplay.’
But neither one of us was stopping the other.
It was impossible to ignore the hard length of his cock that jutted from his crossed legs. It pointed upward, the shaft thick and throbbing, the crown a deep purple. I kept glancing at it, fascinated despite myself, and my soaping hands slid lower, brushing over Leif’s stomach and hips, and then moving down his thighs.
He didn’t stop me, just remained completely still while I explored him. I wondered how much he’d let me dare. It was just the two of us on this island, in this tent, in the world. There was only Leif and myself.
In that moment, I felt incredibly connected with him, and intensely aroused.
So I soaped up my washcloth one more time, dropped the bar of soap into the water, and then placed both hands on his straining erection.
Leif groaned. His hands moved forward and grasped my shoulders, and the next thing I knew, he was kissing me, his lips mashing to my own.
I was so startled that I couldn’t respond at first. I just sat there while his mouth moved over mine.
He seemed to realize that I wasn’t kissing him back as boldly as I’d touched him. The kiss changed, gentled, and his tongue flicked against my lips in a silent question.