by Jenika Snow
He got into his car and I watched him leave, lifting my hand and waving goodbye. I stood there for a few moments, and when I couldn’t see his car any longer, I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly. Several seconds passed as the wind whistled through the leaves on the branches that surrounded me.
“I know you’re there,” I said and opened my eyes, turning around slowly. I saw Damon standing between two thick oaks, his body seeming just as big as those trunks, just as sturdy and strong. Powerful.
He had on a flannel shirt that molded to his impressive body, the worn jeans he wore fitting him perfectly. His body was big but lean, his muscles defined like a swimmer’s. I instantly felt myself heat, become aroused. But this wasn’t just about desire. The feelings I had were much stronger, more pure and genuine. I felt connected to him, as if I’d known him forever, as if I’d been searching for him my entire life and hadn’t actually realized it.
I saw a flash of gold in his eyes and knew his bear was right there. I found myself taking a step closer, then another and another, until we were only a few feet apart now, until I could smell the cologne he wore—or maybe it was his natural scent, a smell that had my heart racing and my body lighting up.
I didn’t know what to say, what to do next. In my heart, I knew what I wanted, and that was him. Damon. My bear-shifting mate. But logically, I knew this was fast, intense. Was it reality?
He took a step toward me and I held my breath. “It’s reality. Truth. It’s our reality.” He ate up the distance in a few long, stealthy strides, and when he was right in front of me, I tipped my head back and looked into his dark eyes. He had a day’s worth of scruff covering his jaw and cheeks, this masculine appearance that made me so feel so very feminine. All I could feel, hear, smell… was Damon. And I wanted more. I wanted so much more I wanted to breathe it.
I wanted to live it.
The words were right on the tip of my tongue, words I never thought I’d utter to a man, let alone one I didn’t even know. But I did know him. I felt like Damon had been a part of my life for as long as I could remember, this faceless presence in my fantasies, in my desires and wants and needs.
Say the words. Tell him what you’ve wanted to say for your entire life.
Those words played over and over in my head, and the whole time he just watched me, as if waiting for me to speak them, as if he knew what I wanted to say. I took a deep breath in, taking his very essence into my lungs, into my body, and letting it become imprinted, ingrained in every single inch of me.
As I stared into his dark eyes, knowing how this would end, knowing our fates were intertwined, that we were now forever a part of each other, I knew what I wanted to do. I knew who I wanted.
“I want you, Damon. I need you now.”
Chapter Seven
Damon
And here we were, in my cabin, the lights low, a fire started. When she told me she wanted me, there had been no stopping my actions. When she told me she needed me now, I had her in my arms in seconds flat. I had her in my cabin before either of us could even think this through.
But there was nothing to think about. We were meant to be together. We were supposed to be together always.
I pulled Rue close to me, standing in my living room, the fire crackling beside us, the scent of her desire filling my head and making me feel drunk.
She was sweet and so fucking soft against me. And when Rue touched my arm, curled her nails into my flesh, my cock jerked like it had a mind of its own. And I guess it did. I was a fucking virgin, never having even gotten off, because all I wanted was my mate.
The first time I came would be when I was buried inside of Rue’s tight pussy.
I wanted her, wanted to have her in my bed and claim her. I wanted my mark on her, my young growing inside her. I growled low, wanting her to admit she was mine.
No one will ever have you but me, Rue. No one.
The tether of control in me broke, and I grabbed the back of her head at the same time I slammed my mouth down on hers and stroked her tongue with mine. She gasped against my mouth, and I swallowed it whole, taking it into me. I started walking us backward, the primal side of me rising up and screaming out to take her, my bear demanding to take this further.
I groaned into her mouth, my cock hard, demanding. She placed her hands on my chest and pushed me back. And as hard as it was, I retreated. I didn’t want to, but for her, I’d do anything. She controlled me.
I stared at her face; Rue’s cheeks flushed, her mouth parted, and her lips were glossy. She seemed high, her eyes half-mast as she looked up at me. I was at the point where my animal wanted to come out and devour her, shove my cock deep in her pussy, and fill her with my seed.
“Damon.” She breathed out my name and it sounded so fucking good. “Your eyes.” I watched as her throat worked when she swallowed. “Your canines.”
“My animal, mate. He’s coming out for you, because of you.” I stared at her lips again. “He wants you, Rue.”
I knew what I looked like, knew my body was changing because of my need for her. I was changing. I made a low, animalistic sound in the back of my throat and moved closer to her. She didn’t retreat as I placed a hand on either side of her head, caging her in, leaning in farther so our faces were only inches apart. Closing my eyes and inhaling deeply, I smelled her arousal. But she wasn’t afraid of these feelings, of her need for me.
She was wet between her thighs… for me.
I stared right in her eyes and moved one of my hands closer to her face so I could run my thumb along the shell of her ear. “I’ll never hurt you, will never let anyone else hurt you.” I could barely breathe. “I’ll always protect you, see you’re cared for, but never underestimate what a mated male will do, the lengths he’ll go for his female.” I leaned in another inch until our lips were close enough so that when I spoke they’d brush together.
“That’s… intense.”
I growled in approval.
“There isn’t anything or anyone who will take you from me. Ever.” I closed my eyes again and inhaled. “I can smell how wet that virgin pussy is for me.” I couldn’t stop the low sound that left me.
For long moments, she said nothing, but then she swallowed once more and opened her mouth to speak. “I’m not some piece of property you can just claim,” she said softly. “I’m human. This isn’t my world.” The way she spoke was so low only a shifter would hear.
I looked down at her lips. “This is your world now, baby. You’re my world.” I lifted my gaze to her face again. “And make no mistake in thinking you can run from me. Ever.” I ran my finger along the side of her throat, her pulse beating wildly beneath her ear. “Your scent, Rue… your scent is ingrained in my very cells.” I growled the words out, unable to stop myself. “I’ll find you anywhere, my female. There isn’t any place on this fucking planet you’ll be able to hide from me.”
I heard her gasp and ground my hard cock against her belly. I knew she felt how hard I was, could smell her arousal thicken in the air.
“Damon,” she whispered.
“You feel that?” I asked, but she didn’t respond, just licked her lips. I bared my teeth so she could see how my canines had lengthened, how my bear was coming out. “I’m going to claim you, Rue. I’m going to take your virginity and give you mine. I’m going to shove my cock so far into you, you won’t know where I end and you begin.” My cock jerked at that, at the image I saw in my head. Her eyes widened farther. I leaned close so my mouth was by her ear now. “And I’ll use my canines, let my bear out even more to pierce this pretty throat of yours, to mark you so everyone knows you’re mine.”
She was breathing harder, faster, and the scent of her arousal rushed into me, turning me on impossibly more.
I leaned back so I could look into her eyes again then placed my hand right over her belly. We hadn’t even had sex, but I could already picture so much with her.
“My babies will be growing in here, in you, Rue.” I added a little
bit of pressure on her stomach. “Every single fucking time I take you, I’ll fill you up, my goal to get you big and swollen with my young, to claim you from the inside out.”
This little sound left her, one of shock but also sexual need. Longing.
I watched her chest rise and fall. “You may not fully understand, Rue, but you will. This is your world now, and you’re mine.”
Chapter Eight
Damon
I wanted her.
I need her.
She looked at me, her eyes wide. “I want you, Damon.” The sound she made had every part of me tightening.
My fucking cock jerked and I ground my teeth to try to control myself. I knew I had to sample my female now. The scent of her lust rose, and I felt my body become tighter, ready to finally claim the one woman who was meant to be mine and mine alone.
“Rue, baby, when I first saw you, my animal, my entire fucking world, came alive.” I inhaled deeply again, taking in her scent, her essence into my body. “I knew you would be mine even before I knew what you looked like, who you were.”
I crouched in front of her, both of us only inches away now, breathing the same air, experiencing the same electricity and arousal... the same pull. I smoothed my finger over her bottom lip and felt her tremble for me.
“There isn’t anyone or anything that will keep me from you, that will take you from me.”
“I want that, too,” she said low, soft. She reached out, curled her hands around my biceps, and pulled me closer. For long seconds, we just looked into each other’s eyes, and I had a hell of a time not taking her right then and there, fiercely and possessively, rough and fast.
I smelled her nervousness, her innocence, and I knew I needed to take this slow with her, or as slow as I could make myself.
“You’ll only ever be mine. No other male will have you.” I leaned back and inhaled deeply, so drunk off the smell and sight of her. I couldn’t handle it. “You’ll never know what it feels like to have any cock but mine.” She made a small sound of need for me. “You’ll never know the feeling of a male’s hands on you but mine, Rue baby.” I looked into her eyes, knowing she could sense how serious I was. How could she not when I was growling the words in a purely bear way?
She breathed harder, faster, and I allowed my inner animal to come forth, willingly letting him have his time in the sun without having to push my human side out of the way. We could share this moment.
“Now,” I said and heard the deepness, the distortion in my voice. “Let me see how you look bared, Rue. Let me see what’s mine.”
She swallowed, and after a moment passed, she gave me what I wanted. She gave it all to me.
I couldn’t help but breathe hard and fast. I wanted her; that was undeniable.
She looked at my mouth and then back at my face. “I’m nervous, Damon.”
I closed my eyes and groaned. God. She sounded so sweet. So good. “I know. But there’s no need, baby. Trust me to make things good for you, to be gentle and thorough.”
I had her up in my arms seconds later, turned, and walked us over to my bedroom, right to my massive bed.
Once she was lying on her back, her hair fanned out over the white sheets, I just stared at her. The sight of her was a visual orgasm. I took a step back and admired the view.
I stood there for long moments just staring at her, and then in a gruff voice I said, “Open for me, mate. Let me see what I’ll be claiming, marking tonight.”
She opened her thighs for me, her pussy now on clear display, and a harsh groan left me. I was on my knees before her seconds later, the animal in me demanding I claim Rue, take my mate in all the ways a bear shifter does with his fated female.
I smoothed my hands up her legs, over her thighs, and curled my fingers into her soft flesh. I pulled her thighs apart even farther and leaned in until there was only an inch separating our mouths. My denim-covered cock was pressed against her inner thigh.
“God. Damon,” she whispered, her mouth brushing against mine as she spoke.
“You want me, don’t you?”
She nodded. “I want this—you—so badly.”
I leaned back and looked down at her gorgeous chest, her breasts rising and falling almost violently with her increased nerves and arousal. My mouth watered for a taste.
I looked at her face, gauging her reaction, seeing the ecstasy on it.
“Damon,” she moaned.
I loved it when she said my name. “How wet are you for me, Rue?”
She breathed out slowly. “I’m so wet for you.”
I hummed in approval. “And this is all for me, isn’t it?”
She nodded.
“No. Say the words.”
“It’s all for you, Damon.”
“That’s right it fucking is, baby girl.” I made another low, pleased sound in the back of my throat. I slipped my hand between her legs while still staring at her. But I didn’t touch her pussy right away, just kept my fingers poised right on her inner thigh, right by that crease where her leg met the tight, hot little part of her. The heat from her pussy could have scorched me. But fuck, I wanted to get burned.
Pulling her leg even farther out with my other hand, I didn’t deny either of us. Not anymore.
I touched her pussy.
She opened her mouth and gasped, and I wanted to swallow that sound, take it into my body.
I spread my fingers through her wet, soaked slit and grunted in arousal, in pleasure.
“Damn, baby. You’re so ready for me.”
“God, Damon,” she whispered.
“Not God, mate. But you’ll be screaming that by the time I’m done with you.”
Chapter Nine
Rue
God, this was really happening, wasn’t it?
Am I really doing this?
Were we really doing this?
He tangled his fingers in my hair, winding his big hands in the strands and claiming my mouth again. For long moments, we kissed, our moans matching in intensity. He finally pulled back, and I sucked in a lungful of air.
“You ready for me, mate?”
I nodded. “So ready, Damon.”
He leaned back, this dark, aroused look covering his face and turning me on even more. Damon gazed down the length of my body, looking his fill and making me feel like there was no other woman in the world for him. And I knew there wasn’t.
“I need you.” I didn’t even hesitate as I said those words. This moment was perfect, exactly what I wanted, what I needed.
He lifted his gaze from between my thighs and stared into my eyes. “I’m going to make you feel so fucking good you can’t walk straight tomorrow, female,” he spoke low.
A shiver worked its way up my spine.
Damon leaned closer so he had his mouth by my ear now. “You’ll be weak-kneed, because you’ll still feel my cock deep inside you.”
The dark, delicious words had my pussy clenching. “Yes.”
“You primed for me?” he asked on a whisper.
I didn’t even lie. “Yes.”
Damon wrapped his fingers around the column of my neck, adding just the smallest amount of pressure. He didn’t leave his hand there for long before he smoothed it back down my chest and settled it right between my breasts.
And when he leaned in, I felt his lips along my jaw, loving the stubble from his cheek as it slightly abraded my flesh. Inhaling deeply, I took in his intoxicating scent, the aroma that made him all male. I absorbed the pleasure moving through me. I lived in this moment.
He moved his mouth along my neck, stroked my skin with his tongue, and God, did it feel so good. I knew he could be so rough with me, just take what he wanted, but he made sure this was good for me too.
He moved his mouth back to my ear and whispered, “Are you ready for me, female? Ready for me to take your virginity and give you mine?”
I shivered in response, unable to help myself. “I’m ready,” I actually managed to say. “I’ve been ready for you
my entire life.”
His erection pressed against my inner thigh, so big and long, hard and massive. “That’s right, you have. Just as I have been for you.”
We gazed at each other for a moment, neither speaking, but our breathing was loud, identical.
Damon gazed down at my mouth. Then his lips were on mine and his tongue speared between them. He tasted potent, powerful.
Male.
“You’ll own me just as much as I own you, mate.”
He gently bit my lip, and a gasp left me. A fresh gush of moisture left my pussy.
I had my hands on his chest, his muscles firm beneath my palms. God, he was so strong. He growled out, grabbed my wrists in a firm but gentle hold, and brought my arms above my head. I was stretched out for him like an offering, but maybe that’s what he wanted.
The growl that came from him was gruff, so dangerous-sounding that I should have been afraid, not impossibly wetter. He leaned down and ran his tongue along the arch of my throat, which had me moaning out for more, not even caring that I begged him.
And then I was flipped onto my belly with my ass all but in the air. I felt him smooth his hand down the length of my spine. My heart was beating in my throat and I heard it in my ears. Sweat covered me, these little beads that seemed to turn me on even more.
Everything was happening so fast, but I didn’t dare stop it, not for how inflamed I was.
He ground his erection against my ass, and I closed my eyes and bit my lip until the pain gave way to the coppery flavor of blood on my tongue. He was huge.
My pussy clenched at the thought of him shoving all of that inside of me.
I looked over my shoulder to see him getting undressed, watching in awe as he revealed all that hard, golden flesh. And then there was his cock.
God. He was big.
He grabbed himself and started stroking his dick.
“You like what you see, Rue?”