by Sophie Stern
Oh, he tastes fucking amazing: like masculinity and strength and desire. His cock is practically throbbing in my mouth as I lick, sucking him. I take him deeper into my mouth and then, just when I think I can’t take him any deeper, he thrusts forward just a little, and I do. Swallowing hard, I keep sucking, licking, teasing him. He plays with my hair and whispers sweet nothings as I worship his cock.
This isn’t the way I saw tonight going.
I didn’t think we’d spend an evening laughing and teasing and playing together.
It’s better this way.
Team Shifter is the kind of app that’s supposed to set you up with a lifetime sort of love, but that’s not the way these apps usually work. Generally speaking, they’re a good way to find someone to love for one night, but that’s it.
With Robert, though...
Well, I don’t know if I’m going to be satisfied with just one night.
I get the feeling that I’m going to want a second night, and then a third, and then maybe even more than that.
Is that so wrong?
Finally, he tugs on my hair, pulling me to my feet.
“Enough playing,” he murmurs, and he spins me around so I’m bent over with my hands on the bed and my feet on the floor. I spread my legs, exposing myself even more to him, and he growls in appreciation. “You are fucking gorgeous,” he tells me.
Robert runs his hands up and down my bottom. He’s gentle at first, but then he uses his nails, and it does something incredible to me. I’m so wet. Hell, I don’t know if I’ve ever been this wet before. I love sex, and I love playing, but this? It’s something else entirely. My thighs are slick with my own arousal and it takes everything within me not to close my legs so I can rub my thighs together.
Robert moves his hands to my thighs, though, and he reaches between them, stroking me.
“Oh, little wolf,” he murmurs. “You’re so close.”
He’s right.
I don’t know how he manages to read my body like a book, but somehow, he does, and he’s calling me out. He’s totally right. I am so completely wet for him that it’s insane, and I’m so close to coming. Just a little bit more, and I’ll be there.
Just a little bit more.
He rubs me, touching me with such precision and absolute grace that I feel like a damn princess.
“More,” I manage to whisper breathlessly.
I want more.
More of his touch.
More of his love.
More of everything.
“Come for me, pretty wolf,” he says.
And like I was made for his moment, I do.
I come apart, just for him, and he slides inside of me as I do. He fills me up, and instantly, I’m pushed into a second orgasm. I cry out, fisting the blankets in front of me, and he groans as he thrusts into me.
“How’s that feel?”
His voice is almost a whisper.
“So perfect.”
“You look beautiful when you come.”
Satisfaction washes over me. Happiness. Delight. Beautiful? I’ve never been told I look beautiful when I come.
“Robert...”
“You like my cock in you, little wolf?”
“So much.”
“You look hot as hell, baby,” he growls, thrusting deeper into me. He runs his hands down my back, teasing my skin, and then he pulls my hair.
“Come in me,” I urge him, wanting more. I want him to feel as good as I do. I want him to feel as hot as I do. I want him to.
And then he does.
I can tell the exact moment he comes because his teeth sink into my neck at the same time, and I cry out, completely overwhelmed at the sensation. He licks my neck, sealing the wound with his tongue, but he’s still pulsing inside of me, still coming, and as soon as his orgasm is over, he stills behind me.
He doesn’t move, and I know why.
Robert’s bear just claimed me as his own.
He marked me.
I’m his now.
Chapter 12
Robert
“I’m sorry.”
Shit.
What the hell do I do now?
I just fucking claimed Meredith without even getting her permission first. I just took her as my own, and I didn’t even ask her if she was okay with that. I didn’t even ask her if she was ready, or if she wanted this, or...
Then she kisses me.
I didn’t even notice her wiggling around, hugging me, or touching me until her lips were pressed against mine. And now she’s kissing me eagerly, passionately, sweetly.
“You claimed me.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Your bear knows I’m your mate, Robert.”
“I’ve never mated anyone.”
“You didn’t claim your ex?”
“No.”
She looks at me curiously, cautiously, without judgment. Then she runs her fingers over the mark on her neck. She’s got a scar there now. The wound is closed, obviously. I sealed it with my tongue after I bit her. After I marked her.
Shit.
I still can’t believe I did that.
“Are you upset?” She asks.
“A little.”
She bristles, and steps back, and I realize it’s because she thinks I regret marking her. I don’t. I just wish that it had been in a different way. I wish I’d claimed her after we’d gotten to know each other better: after we’d had some time to decide how this relationship between us was going to work.
Meredith and I barely know each other.
We don’t know very much about one another at all. She’s the most fascinating woman I’ve ever met and I like her. A lot. Obviously, my bear feels the same attraction to her, but claiming someone is a huge commitment. It’s not exactly something you can undo.
“Well,” she says, and she steps over to her dresser. She starts pulling things out: a bra, panties, a t-shirt. She dresses hastily, awkwardly. Her anxiety wafts off her. The scent fills my nostrils and my bear growls deep within me. He’s mad. Angry. Frustrated with me.
“Meredith, I...”
I don’t know what to say to her.
I don’t regret claiming her. I just regret the way it happened.
“Please don’t say anything else,” she says. She looks over at me, and I’m a little surprised to see tears streaming down her cheeks. “I know there’s a storm and we’re stuck here together, but do me a favor and just...stay here, okay? I’m going to crash in the other room.”
She leaves before I can say anything else, and I don’t go after her. Something tells me that I’ve fucked up beyond royally and that it’s going to take more than a little bit of trying to salvage this situation.
Fuck.
I go into the attached bathroom and turn on the water. Luckily, there’s still power, and there’s still hot water, so I climb into the shower and sit down. The water falls over me, washing away everything I’m feeling.
My anxiety.
My sadness.
My stress.
I really messed this one up, and I didn’t even mean to. That’s maybe the very worst part. I loved being with Meredith, and the fact that I claimed her is, well, it’s kind of wonderful. I just wish that we’d gotten a chance to talk about it. When I was coming, though, I lost all control, and my bear just sort of...marked her.
I’ve always heard stories of claimed mates. I’ve heard tales of how claiming works and what’s important about claiming. My mother always believed in fated mates. She said my dad was obviously her one and only. The two of them claimed each other, and that sealed their bond. Their entire lives, they loved spending time together. They did everything together. They were lovers, but they were also very best friends.
Is it terrible that I want that with Meredith?
Because I do.
Oh, I do.
I want her to be my one and only. I want her to be my lover. My darling. My little wolf.
But I fucking blew it.
N
ow the mating claim is half-finished. I don’t even know what to do now. Once your inner-animal chooses a partner and claims them, they’re marked forever. Your animal will never love someone else in the same way. At least, that’s the tale I’ve been told.
My bear will never be satisfied until she’s marked me back or until we’ve reversed the claim somehow, but I don’t know how to do that.
And honestly, I don’t want to.
She’s the one I want to be with, but I...
Well, I managed to screw that up.
Badly.
I sit in the shower until the water manages to run cold, and then I finally pry myself from the bathroom. I dry myself with one of her towels. Even though it’s a clean one from a shelf, it smells like her. Everything smells like her. I definitely should have offered to go into the guest room because now I’m surrounded with Meredith.
Everything reminds me of her.
I look in the mirror, and I can practically see her reflection staring back at me asking why.
Why would I hurt her like this?
I was the one who didn’t want to have sex right away, yet I’m the one who claimed her. I’m the one who bit her. I took away her autonomy. I took away her ability to decide for herself, and then I rejected her and hurt her.
Shit.
I feel like I’m about two inches tall.
Walking to the window, I peer out. The storm is still raging, but maybe I should risk it. Maybe I should go anyway. Can I really spend an entire night in this house?
With her?
Moving back to the bedroom, I pull my clothing back on and lie down on the bed.
Maybe if I close my eyes, I won’t keep picturing the way she came apart for me.
Maybe I won’t think about the way she made me feel like I was on top of the world.
Maybe...
WHEN I WAKE UP A FEW hours later, the storm has ended. I go over to the guest room and knock on the door. She doesn’t answer, and I push the door open, but just as I suspect, Meredith is nowhere to be found. She’s gone.
Entering the room, I can still smell her emotions from when she was in here. She was hurt, and she was sad, and she was in pain. Not physical pain: emotional pain, and somehow, that’s so much worse.
“Wow, I fucked up.” I speak to the empty room, and then I hear a voice behind me.
“You can say that again.”
It’s not Meredith, though. It’s Foxy.
I spin around to see the slender redhead standing in the doorway.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, surprised.
“I could ask you the same question,” she says.
“Could you? I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s obvious.” I gesture to my second-day walk-of-shame clothing. There’s no way Foxy missed the wrinkled clothing or the sloppily-buttoned shirt.
There’s literally no way.
“Why are you still here?” Foxy asks. “Haven’t you done enough damage?”
Any goodwill I may have incurred from helping her brother is obviously gone now. Foxy has no interest in talking to me or in me being here at all. Great.
I put my hands on my hips, though, and stare down the girl.
“I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.”
“No?” She raises an eyebrow. “So you didn’t mark my friend and then push her away immediately after you staked your claim?”
“Okay, so maybe you know what you’re talking about.”
Foxy sighs and runs a hand through her hair.
“Look, Doc, you seem like a nice guy.”
“You can drop the formalities.”
“Okay, Robert. You seem like a nice guy.”
“Obviously, that’s not true.”
“Obviously.”
“So where is she?”
“Meredith is at my place,” she tells me. “She came over as soon as the storm cleared.”
“So, what, an hour ago?”
“Pretty much. She’s really messed up over whatever happened between you. She sent me over to tell you that she’ll go with you to the dragon.”
“The dragon?” I raise an eyebrow. What – or who – is that?
“He’s the mayor of Claw Valley,” she says. “And he can reverse mating claims.”
“What? I thought claims couldn’t be reversed?”
“Not once they’re complete,” she tells me. “But until Meredith marks you – which she’s not going to do – then the power of a dragon can undo the damage you’ve caused.”
So that’s it, then.
We’ll meet with the dragon mayor, tell him what happened, and he’ll zap us back to normal. That seems...easy. It seems too easy.
And it makes me feel sad.
Foxy looks at me.
“Why are you sad?”
“I’m not.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me.
“Shifter man, I can smell you.”
“So?”
“So, you reek of sadness. Why?”
I don’t say anything at first. I’m not really sure how to put this into words, anyway. But Foxy seems like she’s willing to listen, and I might as well tell her. I mean, it seems like I’ve already lost Meredith. What else do I have to lose?
“I messed up.”
“Obviously.”
“I wasn’t upset that I claimed her,” I tell Foxy. She obviously already knows about the mark, and how it happened, and how I reacted.
“Then why did you push her away?”
“I was upset that we didn’t talk about it first,” I say. “I like Meredith so much more than I should. My bear...my bear loves her. I’ve only just met her, but I feel this deep connection to her I can’t explain.”
“That’s why you mated her.”
“I just wanted to talk with her about it before we made that decision,” I tell Foxy. “I don’t want to lose the mating mark. I want her to claim me as her own. I want both of us...” I stop, running my hand through my hair. I feel so much anxiousness and anxiety right now that I have to force myself to take a deep breath.
“You like her, don’t you?” Foxy looks surprised.
“Yes.”
“You aren’t angry that you claimed her.”
“No.”
“You were just frustrated with how it happened.”
“The mating should be special,” I say. “And it should be something that everyone is ready for.”
“What makes you think she wasn’t ready?”
“I don’t know if she was ready because she left before we could talk about it.”
Foxy leans against the doorway and crosses her ankles. She looks at me as though she’s trying to decide whether or not to tell me something. Finally, she makes up her mind.
“Look, there’s a lot you don’t know about Meredith.”
“I know.”
“No, man, you don’t know. After she lost her mom, she was a mess. The whole town was. The way people treat you at the clinic?” She shakes her head. “That’s nothing. After the...incident...everyone changed. People got closed off and mean and just...cold. Claw Valley used to be a wonderful place full of love and happiness and comfort and, I don’t know how to explain it. Everyone just got dark.”
“Including Meredith.”
“Especially Meredith. Robert, her being with you is nothing short of a miracle. I’ve never seen her happy the way she is with you. There’s something about you that just gets her. She’s different when she’s with you. She’s happy.”
“Not anymore.”
“You can salvage this.”
“Can I?”
“I think so. There’s a part of her that wants you, too. Don’t you think?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“Well, you don’t have much time to decide,” Foxy says. “Because your meeting with the dragon is tomorrow at noon, so I suggest you figure things out before then.”
Chapter 13
Meredith
“What
did he say?” I turn around as soon as Foxy walks into the room. I’ve been fidgeting, worried, since she left. This entire situation is so messed up that it doesn’t seem possible for it to get any messier.
She shrugs, hangs her jacket on the coat rack, and then looks at me.
“Not much,” she says. “But I think the two of you need to talk.”
“No,” I shake my head. That’s the last thing I need.
“Suit yourself. I’m sure he’ll go with you to see the dragon, but you have to decide whether that’s something you really want.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, come on. Don’t play coy with me. That won’t work and you know it.”
I swallow hard. I know exactly what she’s getting at. Robert is the coolest guy I’ve ever met, maybe ever. There’s more to him than meets the eye. He might be an outsider, but he’s more than that.
He’s everything.
Only, he doesn’t really want me.
And he doesn’t really need me.
“He made it pretty clear that he didn’t want me last night,” I remind Foxy. “You should have seen him.”
“Yeah, well, I did see him, Meredith, and I think you need to give the guy another chance.
“Another chance? Why would I do that?”
“Because maybe he’s not as bad as he seems.”
“Maybe he’s exactly what he seems.”
Brave.
Sweet.
Gentle.
He’s a caring lover and he’s good in bed and he’s...
Well, he’s everything, isn’t he?
“You know, Meredith, I don’t give you shit often enough.”
“Excuse me?”
Foxy shakes her head and puts her hands on her hips. Somehow, she reminds me of my mother in this moment.
“But here you are, dealing with this great guy, and you’re upset because his reaction didn’t match what it should have been.”
“You didn’t see his face.”
“You’re right,” she nods. “I wasn’t there when you slept together for the first time. I’m a little glad about that because it sounds like it was a really private moment.”