by Jenika Snow
I grabbed her a glass of water, threw a couple cubes of ice in there, and then walked back toward her. She seemed startled when I was right beside her, and the territorial side of me rose up. The way she smiled at me as she tilted her head back and looked at me, the way her fingers brushed against my knuckles when she took the glass… had everything in me lighting up.
It was that small touch that had my eyes flashing. And I knew she saw by the way I scented her surprise, her… arousal.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “Your house is so beautiful.”
Pleasure filled me at her approval.
“Did you have it custom built?” She went back to looking around.
“I built it. With my brothers’ help.”
She looked over at me with wide eyes. “Really?” There was wonder in her voice. “You’re like…” She glanced around again. “Like a master carpenter.”
“It’s what I’ve been doing my whole life. It’s a passion of mine. It was my priority.” I swallowed roughly. “It was… until you.” I stared into her eyes, wanting nothing more than to kiss her.
Her bear was right there, the scent arousing, overpowering, and making me so fucking on edge with need. I could tell that was unusual for her, new.
But by the time I was done with her, by the time she was mine, her bear would be running right beside me, wild and feral… mated.
Chapter Seven
Mena
I had to be insane to just agree to come to some strange man’s house, who I met just a couple hours before in the middle of the woods. But I was his mate. He said so. I felt it.
And it made complete sense, as if everything that happened in my life thus far had been leading up to this one moment.
I’d been here for like an hour, sitting on the plush leather couch in front of the fireplace. One thing I noticed about his incredible cabin was that there was no TV, no stereo system. I didn’t really notice any appliances on the kitchen counters either. Of course he had a refrigerator, stove, all the main things, but there was no coffee maker, no blender. A man, especially a bachelor, should at least have a television, right?
Instead, he had this ornate fireplace right in front of the living room, with stone detailing and a wood carving of a bear and forest scene on the mantle. It was beautiful and incredible, and the detail was immaculate. You could tell whoever made it had really taken their time, had really loved the work they did.
I looked at Cason and knew he built it, that he’d been the one to put so much passion and love into everything in this home.
I looked back and stared at it for a full minute. But I felt him watching me, his gaze intense. I glanced over at Cason and saw him doing just that, his stare trained on me as he sat in the oversized chair beside me, as if he couldn’t take his look off me.
I felt that truth.
I could smell him, the need he had for me, the fact that this was truly my mate, that there was no going back.
I ran that truth through my mind over and over again, loving how it felt, sounded.
Cason.
I said his name repeatedly in my head, loving how it made me feel.
“You must have questions,” he finally said in this deep, possessive voice.
I brought the glass to my mouth, the water cold and refreshing against my tongue, down my throat. Oh, I had a shit-load of questions, but none of them sounded realistic; none of them sounded like they made any sense.
“Mates?” I murmured that one word as a question, but of course I knew this was real. My bear was still right below the surface, pacing. Although she wasn’t afraid, wasn’t as anxious, she was feral in this moment as she tried to get out. She refused to question this.
She accepted this.
And so did I.
“Yes. My mate. Fated mates, Mena.” He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs, his big, strong hands clasped together. His biceps were massive, causing me to feel extremely feminine. And his fingers, those digits covered with callouses from doing manual labor and woodworking, nearly made me drool thinking of what they would feel like on my flesh.
“I don’t know anything about mates. I’m only half shifter, never even let my animal out, because she’s so dormant.” But as I said that last part, I felt my bear push for dominance. She was stronger than my human now. So much stronger.
Those words came for me as if I’d been holding back, as if I couldn’t help but speak the truth, telling him everything about me, because it felt so natural. I was so far out of my element; I had no idea what the hell I was doing.
I didn’t feel like myself. I was on edge, excited, anxious, ready for the next step in my life.
“Tell me about yourself,” he prompted in his deep voice, a sound that had my nerve endings coming alive, lighting on fire.
I set my glass down and rubbed my palms up and down my thighs. My father would kill me if he knew I’d gone home with a stranger. My mother would freak out with worry. But how would they feel if they knew he was my mate?
Although they’d always been hesitant about me being with a shifter because of my father’s history, because of how severe and disheartening the shifter community had been to him, I knew in my heart that wasn’t how it was with every clan or pack. My father had an unfortunate experience, but I had a supportive family. And although they had their reservations about me being with a non-human, I knew they loved me and respected my decisions in life.
I knew they would be understanding no matter what. “I’m a half-bear shifter, although I know you’re already aware of that.”
He didn’t say anything in response, just nodded slowly, his intense focus still trained on me.
I swallowed roughly again, the lump in my throat refusing to go down.
“You’ve never shifted.” He didn’t phrase that like a question, but I nodded anyway.
I was so nervous, my hands shaking so frantically I had to place them under my thighs, trying to calm down, to sit still… attempting to relax my racing heart. The way he stared at me, watched me, made me feel like his prey, like he was the predator. But I’d never wanted to get caught, never wanted to be devoured more than I did with Cason.
For the next ten minutes, I found myself telling him everything about me. I told him about my father being an outcast for loving my mother, who also happened to be his non-mate and a human. I told him I worked part-time at the local real estate office, that I was going to school for business management the other half of the time.
I told him anything and everything, this verbal regurgitation of all the things I felt he should know, of all the things I wanted him to know about me.
He was silent for long moments, but the amount of focus he had on me told me he’d listened—absorbed every single word I said. “What about you?” I whispered, not sure why I was still so nervous.
I’ve never wanted something—someone—as much as I want him.
“I could listen to you all day… for the rest of my life.”
Oh. God.
His words were like accelerant on my already growing emotional fire.
“I want to know about you, though.”
He gave me this soft, warm smile, as if that pleased him immensely. “This land is owned by myself and my five brothers, but our cabins are spread out amongst the hundred acres.”
There were five other males just like him?
He told me about his woodworking passion, the fact that he worked construction with his brothers on a family owned company. I felt like I was learning the secrets of the world right now, and although this was all new information, it seemed like I’d always known it, like it had been buried deep inside me just waiting to be released.
And when we’d told each other every little bit of detail about us, we sat there just staring at each other.
“I’ve never shifted before,” I blurted out, confirming his words from earlier, the one thing I had never said to anyone besides my parents.
“You will,” he said with confid
ence.
“How do you know?” I asked like it was something he’d know and be able to answer without a doubt.
“Because I can smell the shift nearing in you. You’ve found me, mate, and that’s what your bear was waiting for. She was waiting for her other half to awaken her fully.”
His words seemed so… right and perfect.
“This is fast,” I whispered, unable to stop the words from spilling from me. “This is insane.” But it had never felt so right.
He didn’t say anything, just stared at me, as if he knew all the secrets of the world in this very moment. And the weird thing was, even though I felt so out of my depth, so out of my element… I felt like I knew those secrets too.
And then he stood, his big body seeming to take up my entire view, to fill the entire room. He walked over to me, and I held my breath as I tipped my head back and stared into his face.
“It’s all so right.” The way he spoke was almost as if he meant to keep it to himself, as if he hadn’t wanted me to hear it.
Before I knew what was going on, Cason was right in front of me, his hands on the couch cushions on either side of my body.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” I whispered once again, staring into his blue eyes, my heart beating so fast I felt it in my throat, heard it in my ears. He was on his haunches right between my legs, his hands on my thighs now, the masculinity and power from that small touch sending fireworks through my body.
“You want to know what’s going on?” Although he phrased it like a question, I got the feeling he already knew my answer. “What’s going on is we’ve finally found each other, Mena.” His voice was this serrated sound, half-human, half-bear.
I could see how tense he was, how much he was fighting the urge to shift into his animal. I felt right on edge with him, so out of control that the only thing that made sense was being with him.
“You don’t think this is fast and absolutely insane?” I knew his answer before he even responded.
He shook his head slowly. “Do you want to stop? Do you want me to take you home, to forget this ever happened?”
I was shaking my head before he finished speaking. “No. That seems so—”
“Wrong?” He finished my sentence, and I nodded.
God, it felt so wrong to be away from him.
“But we don’t know each other.”
He leaned in close so I felt the warmth of his breath along my lips. “I’ve known you my entire life, Mena. I may not have known your name or what you looked like, but I knew you were out there. I felt it. I felt you. My mate.” He smoothed his hand up and down my thigh, and I felt my body heat even more, my arousal climbing. “What’s going on is I’m going to be with you. You’re going to be with me. And it’s going to be everything we’ve ever fucking wanted in this life.”
And then he reached out and cupped the sides of my face, pulled me in close, and kissed me. God, it was absolute perfection, and there was no way I was ever leaving his side.
Chapter Eight
Cason
Shit, this was actually happening, and at warp speed. She wasn’t going to stop this, hungry for me the same way I was for her.
And I’d give her everything she needed, everything she wanted.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to control my bear. He wanted out.
“Mena, baby, my bear wants to be with you, sample you.” Those words were nothing but this distorted growl that left my lips, my bear right there at the surface, the threat of shifting very real. I had my hands on her cheeks, holding her face, wanting to devour her.
My nails were turning into claws, my body getting bigger with an impending shift.
“I know this is fast, but fuck, Mena, I can’t control myself. I need you like I need to breathe.” I moved a step closer and growled low, opening my mouth slightly so she could see my canines. “Do you know what it means when I say you’re mine?”
She nodded slowly, licked her lips, and I saw her pupils dilate. She said she knew, but I doubted she comprehended the extent of how far I’d go to make her mine… to keep her as mine.
“I’d kill anyone who hurt you, betrayed you, hell, even fucking looked at you the wrong way.” She gasped slightly and I wanted to take that air into my lungs, live off of it.
I was so fucking feral right now that I was being an obscene bastard as I reached out and took her hand in mine. I stared into her eyes as I led it down so it rested right over my denim-clad dick. My erection was a force to be reckoned with right now, hard and thick, demanding to be free.
“But you want that, don’t you? You want me to be so fucking obsessive I’d kill someone if they tried to take you from me.”
She didn’t answer right away, but she didn’t need to say the words. I could smell that affirmation as clear as day.
“Ask me what I want.”
She sucked in a breath. “What do you want?” It was nothing but a whisper.
“I want you naked on my bed, spread for me, your pussy dripping wet for my cock.” I leaned in close and pressed my lips against hers, not stopping myself, not giving a fuck how fast this might seem.
It felt right.
I felt my erection jerk behind my jeans.
“I—I’ve never done this. I’ve never done anything like this,” she murmured quietly, and I wanted to swallow the confession whole, take it into my body and keep it forever.
I pushed back and stood before reaching out and helping her do the same. I pulled her forward, wrapped my arms around her, and she rested her head on my chest as if it was natural. And it was. It felt so fucking good and perfect.
There was no way I wanted to pull away, but I needed to touch her, to kiss her. I leaned in to look in her eyes. “I’ve claimed you, Mena. Do you know what that means to a male like me, to shifters like us?”
She stared at me with wide eyes.
“It means you’re mine,” I said low, not trying to be demanding, but also showing her, telling her there was no way I’d walk away. “I’ll kill any man who thinks they can take you from me. I’ll break bones, rip limbs apart… snuff out a life as easily as if it were a flame on a candle.” I made this low, deep growling noise, and I felt a shiver course through her body.
“That’s… intense,” she almost moaned, and I closed my eyes at how exquisite it felt to hear that sound.
“It means I won’t let you go, Mena. And I know you want me, want this.” I didn’t phrase it like a question. I inhaled. “In fact, your pussy is wet for me, soaked and ready for my cock.”
She gasped.
I felt my animal push and pull for supremacy. My bear came forward, my body growing, my muscles getting larger, no doubt my eyes blacker, my canines becoming longer.
“You see what you do to me?” I leaned in another inch, ran the tip of my tongue up her throat, and I knew she closed her eyes because she liked how it felt. The scruff along my cheek moved over her smooth flesh, and the noise she made had the sweetness of her arousal blooming in the air for me.
Not thinking, just needing to feel her, I closed the distance that separated us and kissed her, hard and with as much passion as I felt for her. My grunt of pleasure had her opening her mouth wider for me, and I groaned.
“I need you, Mena. I fucking need you like my animal needs out to extinguish its energy,” I murmured against her mouth, grabbed her hair, and tilted her head back. And then I felt her reach down, moving her little palm along the front of my jeans. I nearly snapped right then and there and let my animal out.
When she reached the hard, thick length straining against the denim, an involuntary moan left me. She whimpered in response. I gripped her shoulders and pulled her closer, impossibly so.
She curled her hand around the iron-hard ridge that was secured behind my fly, and a shudder went through my body.
Fuck, I’d never felt anything so good.
“I want you so damn badly, Mena.” My hips jerked forward in her grip. I slid one of my hands off her shoulder and m
ade a slow trek down her side to rest it right on top of her thigh. The heat from her touch went straight through my jeans.
I couldn’t stop, couldn’t control myself anymore.
In the next instant, I had her standing, gripped her thighs, and lifted her easily off the ground. She wrapped her legs around my waist, her arms around my neck, and kissed me like she’d never been kissed before in her life.
And she hadn’t.
We were each other’s first… everything.
I knew that, and I knew she was inherently aware of that as well.
And then I moved back, my mouth still on hers, my hands cupping her ass. I turned and sat down, bringing her right down with me so she now straddled my waist, our kiss never breaking. Both of my hands were now gripping her hips, and I pressed her down on me at the same time I lifted up and ground my erection against the softness between her thighs.
“Cason, God.” She closed her eyes as she ground her pussy on my shaft.
“I want so much more of you, Mena.” I started kissing her neck, and she tilted her head to the side, giving me what I wanted. “I want you to let me claim you. I need you to tell me you’re mine.” I licked a path over the shell of her ear, and she moaned for me, a little gasoline on the fire of our passion. “Like that, don’t you, baby?” I ran my tongue over the spot again, and she shivered. “I want inside you so badly.” I couldn’t help but be vulgar, couldn’t stop myself from saying those filthy words.
A gasp left her at my blunt statement. And then she ground herself on me. I needed nothing between us… needed my cock inside her. My brain was fuzzy, my animal clouding my human side. I ran my palms over her ass and cupped the mounds, giving them a squeeze.