Craving His Innocent Mate (Badlands Territory Book 3)

by Frankie Love

  The river is wide and rushing, and downstream it meets the ocean. Just how did she manage to get me home? Before I can question it any further, I am on the hunt, smelling prey and knowing that bringing home dinner for Cordelia is one simple way I can thank her.

  I have the steaks in a pan, sizzling with garlic and onion. In the oven, potatoes and carrots roast, and there is a pot of brown rice on the stovetop. I wipe down the counter, and take another look out the window, watching for Cordelia’s return. It’s been five hours since she left and I am starting to worry about her, considering wherever she went was by foot.

  But then, through the kitchen window, I see her. Emerging from the ocean, her hair is long and wet, covering her breasts. A fur coat slips off her body, melting into the ocean. She is naked, her skin bare, her hips curvy and thighs tanned, glistening with water as she walks through sand. She doesn't seem to be in a hurry, exactly, but she looks worn out and tired in a way that pains me. She moves toward the back of the house, and I walk outside to follow.

  I find her pulling on a dress — it’s soft, sage green cotton, and her eyes pop, brighter with the matching fabric.

  “Cordelia?” I say softly, not wanting to startle her. She tenses, the dress covering her exquisite frame.

  “Calder,” she says, turning to face me. “How long have you…”

  “I saw you walking out from the ocean,” I tell her simply, realizing that she is more than an herbalist. She’s a shifter, same as me. Question is, what kind? “Do you live out there, too?”

  She nods slowly, looking up at me with pain in her eyes. “I’m a selkie,” she says, apprehensive. “I’m part seal, part woman and…”

  “One hundred percent beautiful,” I say, reaching for her hand.

  “You think?”

  I shake my head slowly, realizing Cordelia doesn’t realize what a treasure she is.

  “I know.”

  “But do you also know what that means?” she asks softly.

  I shake my head, not understanding.

  “We can’t be together. I’m forbidden to be with someone who wasn’t born from the sea.”

  My chest tightens. Regardless of where she has gotten these ideas, I will fight against them. I will fight for her. “Is that what you believe or what you’ve been told?”

  She whispers, “What I’ve been told.” She licks her lips, as if she’s about to say more, but then she inhales deeply. “What is that smell?”

  I smile. “I cooked for us.”

  “You did?” She presses her lips together as if trying to access me.

  “I bet you’re hungry,” I tell her. “Because I’m starved.”

  Inside, I pull the roasting vegetables from the oven and plate them along with our meat and rice.

  “It smells incredible. Did you go to the store?”

  “I went hunting for the meat.”

  She smiles softly, licking her lips. “Is the reason you weren’t surprised to hear I am a shifter because you are one too?”

  My eyes widen. “You knew?”

  “You were in bear form when I first saw you.”

  “Before I fell and hit my head?” She nods. “And this doesn’t scare you? The beast inside of me?”

  She reaches out and takes my hand. “No, Calder. It doesn’t.”

  “But then you knew I was forbidden… yet you kissed me anyways.”

  Her cheeks turn pink, she looks away. “I’m wrestling with that… what I want and what I’ve been taught are two separate things. Do you think less of me for desiring to go against the grain?”

  I shake my head, stepping closer to her, breathing my mate in. “Think less of you? Never. I feel like this is a dream, like I’m going to wake up and you won’t be here, that none of this will have happened.”

  “I’m real,” she tells me. “And as crazy as it sounds, I feel like I’m yours.”

  Cordelia

  We walk into the cottage, his hand in mine, and I don't want him to let it go. But inside the smell of the dinner he's prepared reminds me just how hungry I am. I haven't eaten since the oats this morning, and it feels like so much has happened since then. The conversation with my father, how afterward I sat on the cliffs, debating what to do. Deciding to swim to Alessandra’s grave, needing the comfort of my best friend. Crying for what felt like hours, wishing she were still here, alive, able to guide me in the way only she can.

  I've never felt so conflicted in my life. Knowing, with no uncertainty, that I do not want to marry Fjord, but also knowing my father is the only family I have. I lost my mother when I was a baby. And this man sitting opposite me at the table now, dishing me up roasted vegetables and steaks grilled with onions, represents everything I should not want.

  Yet I feel a connection to him that I don't quite understand, a connection that I want to believe in, want to give into, want to trust. But how can I? He is a stranger, a man I just met, who I have had maybe one entire conversation with. Yet, I want to talk to him about everything. Tell him all my secrets, and the inner workings of my heart.

  "What is it?" he asks, handing me a cloth napkin. I slowly smooth it out over my lap, considering my words.

  "I knew you were a bear shifter when I brought you home. When I carried you down the river to the sea, back to my cottage. I knew that, but you didn't know I was a selkie. Does that change the way you see me?"

  "Honestly," he picks up his fork and begins to eat his food, his eyes searching mine. He swallows as if he's ready to tell me everything, something, one thing. "It makes more sense how you rescued me. You must have some superpowers when you get in the water. Some sort of strength that is reserved only for selkies?"

  I nod, yes. "Especially me. Because my father, he's the Lord of the Sea. Of this stretch of ocean, at least."

  Calder's eyes widen. "Wow, that's intense. If he's the King, does that mean you're a princess?"

  I nod slowly. "Not like a princess in fairy tales, though. Just obligated to follow in my father's footsteps." I feel my voice shake as I speak. And I feel tears rising up, filling my eyes. I wipe them away. "I'm sorry," I say, "I don't want to cry. I want to be strong in front of you. I want you to think I'm..."

  He reaches out and rests his hand on top of mine. "You don't have to pretend with me. You don't have to put on a brave face. Hell, you just saw me at my worst. I won't judge you."

  "There's a lot of expectation in being my father's daughter. Expectation I don't particularly want."

  "You don't want to be Queen of the Sea?"

  I shake my head. "No, I don't. I want to be here, on the land. It doesn't mean I don't love the ocean, I do. But I also love walking through the woods, and collecting berries and roots, making my salves and elixirs, helping people."

  "You couldn't do that in the ocean?" he asks.

  "Not in the same way. My mother wasn't a selkie. She was a human. And somehow she fell for my father, which means there's a part of me that wants to be out here on dry land."

  "Do you know your mother's family?" he asks.

  I shake my head. "No, I don't. She'd had a hard life and had run away from home. But..." I stop speaking.

  "So, leaving your father would mean..."

  "Leaving my family," I tell him, appreciating the way he got to the heart of things so quickly. "What about you? Where's your family?" I ask him.

  He runs a hand over his thick beard, the muscles in his body tensing. And he looks so strong. A brute strength, all man. But more than that, part bear, a hunger inside of him that is wild, free.

  "I have family up in Bear Valley."

  "Why did you leave?" I ask.

  "My brother, he died last year and it wrecked me. Hell, it damn near ruined me. I had to leave. I couldn't keep looking at the same town where we grew up, driving down the same streets, stalking the same forest. It's like I lost half of me the day he died."

  "How did he..." My words trail off.

  "A car crash. Crazy, right? A wild bear, and he loses his life in a car crash.
It's not fair. One minute we had plans to meet up, and the next he was gone and my whole world changed. And maybe that means I'm a sappy fool, but maybe that's okay. Truth is, I love my brother. And ever since he's been gone, nothing's felt right until..."

  I swallow. "Until what?"

  "Until I saw you."

  I shake my head, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Don't, Calder. Don't say things you don't mean."

  "I mean it." He says. "I mean it, Cordelia. I have this sense that we belong together."

  I look at him. "A selkie and a bear. You think we're the perfect match?"

  "There are crazier things, aren't there?"

  "Maybe."

  "Why are you so sad?" he asks. "You're the saddest girl I've ever seen."

  "I lost someone too," I tell him. “One year ago, Alessandra, my best friend. She was beautiful. The most beautiful girl I've ever known or seen. She was a mermaid. And we met when we were little. We went on all sorts of adventures, on land and by sea.

  "But then one day she had a seizure. We were at this party, not too far from here, and she never woke up. She'd been away from the ocean for too many hours and it caught up with her. Her body couldn't process it and she slipped away. And was gone.

  "I carried her back to the sea. I brought her to my father, begging for some sort of miracle. But it was too late. She was gone. This beautiful creature, beautiful woman, vanished in the blink of an eye. And it felt like half of me was gone too. She was my familiar. And so when you talk about losing your brother, I understand," I tell him. "I understand completely, but where does that leave us? If we both lost half of ourselves, how do we move on?"

  The food forgotten, he pushes off from the table and steps toward me, taking my hands and pulling me into his arms. "If we're two halves, Cordelia, maybe together we can make a whole."

  Calder

  I kiss her softly, one hand on her back, a hand on her cheek. Our lips press together, parting, her tongue entwined with mine. God, I want this moment. I want it to last. And as she holds me tight, I know she wants it too. Her hands run over my bare chest, tracing the bruises and cuts. Her hand on the back of my head, where she stitched me back together. "Are you still in pain?" she asks.

  I shake my head. "No, whatever you gave me was a miracle cure." She smiles, her eyes closing. And she looks like an angel.

  "Good," she says, "because I don't want to do anything with you if you're in pain."

  "I'm not, but damn, I would be if this ended here before we had a chance to see where it might go.”

  “My father wants me to marry a man named Fjord. He's going to announce it tomorrow at a celebration."

  I look at her, the words stinging. "And what do you want, Cordelia?" I ask.

  Tears slide down her cheeks. "I can't marry that man. I won't marry that man."

  "And why is that?" I ask.

  "Because he's not... he's not the one I want. The man I need, he's... Fjord is no match for me."

  "But he's a selkie too? He knows the sea?"

  She nods. "Yes. He's been my father's right-hand man and I’ve been promised to him since I was a little girl. It's no surprise, but..." She swallows. "It's all happening so fast and..."

  "Maybe I came at just the right time, Cordelia. Maybe I entered your life at the moment you needed me the most."

  "You believe in that?" she asks. "That sort of fate?"

  "Destiny?" I nod. "I absolutely do. Out of all the places in the world I could have come to get over the loss of my brother, I came here to the Badlands. I fell and found you and somehow, fuck, now I can't let you go."

  "My father is a powerful man."

  "So am I, Cordelia. So am I." I kiss her again, this time with need coursing through me, the alpha male inside of me surging through my veins, asking to be set free. I need to claim my woman as my own. I crave her innocence with every beat of my heart. She gasps at the fervor of my kiss and I reach for the buttons on her clothes, pulling them off quickly with need. She pants in pleasure as I take her in, naked before me, her hair still wet from the water, my cock aching and hard for her. Her, and her alone.

  "You're perfection," I tell her, looking her up and down.

  "I'm a virgin," she says softly, lowering her chin, but lifting her eyes. "Does that change anything?"

  I shake my head. "Nothing," I tell her. "I'm a virgin too. Bears mate for life. And I've been waiting for you, Cordelia. I've been waiting a long ass time."

  She bites her bottom lip.

  "Are you scared," I ask, "of the way I need you?" I step toward her, running my hand over her bare breasts. They're small and perky and so damn cute. I lower my mouth to her nipple, sucking it as I twirl my tongue around her. She's never been touched, never been taken. And I'm taking her now.

  "I'm scared because I know this is going to change everything. And my father, he's not going to be happy."

  "And what about me?" I ask. "What about you? Does our happiness matter?"

  She swallows, running her hands through my hair as I drop to my knees, pressing my mouth to her belly, holding her ass, her skin warm and smooth. Perfect.

  "It matters," she says, "but Calder, getting entangled with me means we're going to be making some people very unhappy."

  "I know, but I can't let you go, Cordelia. I need you now. I fucking need you. Do you understand me?" I look up at her and she nods, tears falling down her face.

  "I understand you," she says. "And I think you're right. I think you came here for a reason, found me at the right time and..."

  "Then give in," I say. "Give in to what you crave because I crave your innocence and I'm not letting it go anywhere but against me."

  I pull her to bed, pushing down my pants, and she takes me in. "Have you ever seen a man before?"

  She shakes her head. "Never. And now I'm glad. I want you to be my first, my first everything," she tells me.

  "Good," I say, drawing her hips to the edge of the bed, telling her to lie down as I run my mouth over her mouth, over her breasts, her belly, spreading her knees and taking a look at her sweet, ripe cunt. "God, you're perfect," I groan.

  "Calder," she says, sitting up, wrapping her arms around me, "I've never done any of this. I'm scared."

  "I never have, either."

  "I don't want to mess up and do it wrong and... "

  "Let your heart guide you, Cordelia. What is your heart telling you right now? What’s it telling you that you need? Because that's all we need to listen to. Our desire, it will show us the way."

  "You believe that?" she asks.

  I nod. "With all my fucking heart, I do."

  She pulls me onto the bed with her. "Then come here," she says. "I need you closer. I need you against me."

  She runs her hands over my cock and I groan in desire. "God," I groan, kissing her hard, her tongue crashing against mine and our bodies melting together as we explore each other’s skin. She's beautiful, curves and softness, the perfect contrast to my taut muscles and thick core. I run my hands between her thighs. "You're so wet," I say, murmuring into her ear, and she nods.

  "For you," she says. "I'm wet for you. You're undoing me in all sorts of ways," she says as my fingers begin pressing against her, inside her, touching her sweetest center, fingering her ever so softly as she moans in pleasure.

  "You like that?" I ask her. She's on her back and I look down at her, her knees falling open.

  "It feels so good," she says. "It feels so good, but I want you to... I want to feel your body as you feel mine."

  She strokes me more. My cock is hard. My balls are tight and damn, I want her. I want to come for her. I want to make her mine. I want to fill her belly with my seed now and forever. I want to mark her, let everyone in the Badlands know that she belongs with me.

  She crawls on top of me, her back to me. "Is this okay?" she asks.

  We're new at this. Our bodies have never been explored this way. "I don't think we can mess it up," I tell her. "Follow your heart, what your body wants, beca
use baby, I know what my body wants."

  She looks over her shoulder at me and I run my hand over her creamy ass, and she lowers her mouth and begins to suck me off. I lift her leg so she straddles me backwards, and I draw her ass to my mouth, wanting to lick her up and down, her sweetness dripping for me as she bobs her head, tasting me, sucking me off, going all in.

  "Is that better?" I ask, my beard coated in her cream. She pulls away from me.

  "It seems more fair, both of us able to enjoy one another. Otherwise, you would be getting to have all the fun."

  "But it's fun watching you get off," I say.

  "Is that what we're doing?" she says. "Getting off?"

  "Girl, you are innocent, aren't you?"

  She nods. "Not for long."

  She returns to my cock, sucking me and stroking me up and down. She moves, and so do I, my tongue licking her properly, completely, and hell, she's sweet and wet, juicy. My tongue dips inside her, licking her well.

  "I could go all night, but fuck, I'm going to come before that's possible. I'm close, baby," I say as I lick her again.

  Her body tenses, her core tight and juicy. "Oh, God," she moans as she sucks me. "Oh," she whines, taking me again, up and down.

  My thick cock is hard, and I feel the rigidity of it ready to burst.

  "Oh, God," she moans as I lick her, as she comes, her body shaking.

  As I come, too, she sucks me off, my come filling her mouth, sliding down her throat. And she likes it. I know she does because she keeps on going until there's nothing left for me to give.

  She rolls over, kneeling before me in the bed, her tits perky and perfect, a smile on her face, satiated, her belly full.

  "You like that?" I ask her.

  She nods. "So much," she says, "but I need more."

  I sit up, pulling her to me. "Good, because Cordelia, so do I."

  Cordelia