by Leslie Chase
He guided her hand down across his body, over the firm ridges of his abs, and smiled to see her face heat. His heart beat faster as he watched her respond to his touch, and he stood again. It was time to claim his mate properly.
Reaching down, he lifted her and carried her to the bed.
Lisa gasped as he lifted her. It felt so right to be in his strong, warm arms, to feel his freshly washed body against hers. They fit together perfectly, in a way which left no room for doubt. Love would do that.
She thought about all the things he’d done for her, the chances he’d taken to keep her safe. He’d had to live a double life, risk himself, all to get close enough to the Serpents to save her and the town from them. And he’d done it thinking that she hated him for it.
That must have been such a sacrifice for him. She didn’t know if she could have faced that, if she could have pretended to be something Marcus would hate even to save him. But he had the strength to go through with it, to keep to his plan and win through.
Part of her was disappointed in herself for believing that he had sided with the Serpents, but she knew she couldn’t have done otherwise. She trusted him, believed in him. She couldn’t doubt what he told her. And she knew, deep down, that she was right to trust him. This man would never do anything to harm her; the deception about the Serpents was a plan he’d committed to before he’d known she was there, and it wouldn’t be fair to blame him for sticking to it.
Marcus placed her tenderly on the bed and looked down at her. He towered over her, wearing only a towel, his hair still glistening wet from the shower. What a marvel his body was, beautiful and powerful and hard. The wounds were fading marks - it looked like they’d be there for days yet, but no more than that.
No wonder he doesn’t have any scars, she thought, looking him up and down as he turned to close the curtains. Nothing from his years as a soldier.
His face was serious as he turned to face her again. Intense, determined, and almost reluctant.
“Lisa, what I said earlier, after the fight,” he started, then paused. A little sigh and he spoke again. “You need to know what being my mate means. It’s different for us bears than it is for most people.”
She smiled, scooting back on the bed so that she could look at him fully. He sat down on the bed’s edge, looking serious.
“It means that we’re bound together by fate. That we can never be with anyone else. I didn’t know what it was when we met - I was too young, and no one had taught me. Even in the military, when I knew other shifters, I heard about it but I didn’t know how I’d feel when I saw you again. I didn’t know I’d already met my mate.”
He moved closer, taking her hand again. She looked up at him and saw how careful he was being. A man his size could have been threatening, looming over her - but Marcus was giving her space, wasn’t pressuring her. He was just there, her man, her bear.
“I don’t know how I could live without you, Lisa. But it has to be your choice. I don’t want to push you into something you don’t want.”
She almost laughed at that. “Silly man, I’ve never wanted anyone else. All the time you were away, don’t you think I had other chances? But I knew you were the only man for me. And now here you are, back to prove me right.”
Sitting up on the bed, she leaned in to kiss him gently on the cheek. “I wanted you from the moment I saw you. I may not have known what that meant, I didn’t know that you were my, my mate. I just knew that I was yours. When I said I’d marry you, did you think I was joking?”
He shook his head, grinning. “It was kind of a special circumstance. I wouldn’t hold you to something said in the heat of the moment.”
“You can hold me to this, then. Marcus, I love you, I want to be with you always, I want to be your wife and give you a family. Now, come and take what’s yours.”
She leaned back, her heart pounding, and reached up to undo the top button of her blouse. He growled an animal need that made her shiver, her fingers trembling with desire as she undid the next button and then, losing patience, she pulled off the blouse and threw it off the bed.
His eyes watched her closely, carefully. She felt his desire matching hers as she undid her bra and dropped it. There was no self-consciousness to her now - she felt so wanted, needed, loved that her imperfections didn’t bother her at all. So what if she was a bit too plump, if her legs were short? This man, this gorgeous man, wanted her. Needed her. He stared at her as though she was perfect, and nothing could have made her wetter.
She unzipped her jeans, and started to squirm out of them. Marcus reached down to help, pulling them off her, his fingers brushing down her thighs as he slid them down. She shuddered at the gentle touch, and heard his breathing deepen. Casting the jeans aside, he slid his hands back up her bare legs, over her tummy, across her breasts, making her arch and gasp.
His lips found hers, his body pressing down on top of her, bare skin against skin. His towel fell away, and she could feel him, all of him, pressing against her with a wild and raw desire. Her fingers dug into him as they kissed each other, their tongues meeting and dancing against each other.
She felt his eager need for her, and felt her own body mirroring it. Breaking the kiss, she licked her lips, looking up at him.
“Marcus,” she whispered. “Oh, Marcus!”
His hand slid down between her legs, and with one swift motion, he tore off her panties. She gasped at the power of that movement, and the realization that there was nothing between the two of them. His body pressed down on hers, and she writhed against him, running fingers through his wet hair. His eyes sparkled, and his fingers moved over her again, tracing their way up the inside of her thighs, teasingly gentle compared to his rough kiss.
“I can’t wait to be inside you,” he growled, and she threw her head back, the mere thought overwhelming her. He buried his face in her neck, kissing and biting gently, making her squirm and pant for air.
“Then don’t,” she whimpered back. “Don’t wait! Please, Marcus.”
With a satisfied growl, he moved forwards, parting her legs as he slid between them. There was a brief moment of shock as he entered her, filling her with one smooth hard thrust that drove her down into the firm mattress. She felt so tight around him, and he was so hard inside her. The feeling was indescribable, an explosion of delight.
It felt even better than before. Like he was completing her in a way that she couldn’t have imagined. She bit down on a cry of joy, and he growled into her ear as he slowly pushed deeper into her.
Lisa moaned, wrapping her arms around him, drawing him down to her. It felt as though an emptiness she hadn’t known she had was being filled. When he stopped, deep in her, she sighed with a deep and boundless pleasure. Her body relaxed, accepting him, and they rested, their bodies pressed together.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” he said, voice low and hungry. “You’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” she agreed, the words making her heart swell with joy. “Forever, Marcus. I love you.”
Slowly, he began to move. Withdrawing gently, raising his head so that he could look into her eyes. “I love you too, Lisa. Forever.”
He thrust back into her, and the friction between them made her gasp. His eyes, so intense, so serious, looked down into hers as he slid back into her, sending a lightning-shock of pleasure shooting through her. Her fingers tightened on his shoulder, urging him onward, and he smiled.
His next thrust came faster, harder, deeper. It rocked her backwards and made her bite her lip, waves of pleasure rocking her as he slowly slid out a little again. This time, she drew him down as he thrust, squeezing him inside her as he slammed into her again. Her legs wrapped around him tightly, pulling him into her, and they moved faster and faster as they found their rhythm.
Their bodies rubbed together, locked tight against each other, and the pressure of his chest rubbing against her nipples was unbearably sexy, sending pulses of joy through her in time with his thrusts. Lisa threw back
her head, gasping for air, feeling his control slip slowly as he sped up. Each thrust harder, faster. Each rocking her more, as the pressure built inside her.
His mouth descended, kissing and biting at her neck, her earlobe. The sensations were almost too much for her, it felt as though her heart was going to burst as he rocked the bed with his movements. She felt the wave of pleasure build and build, unbearable, like a towering wave about to crash onto a beach.
Just as she thought she could take no more, she felt his teeth sink into her neck and lost all control. The wave came crashing down, washing through her and scattering her thoughts like a tsunami flinging boats across the ocean. She couldn’t see, couldn’t think, could only surrender and be carried away on wave after wave of wonderful sensations.
Marcus’ growling in her ear, his body pressed down onto her, his hardness filling her, those were the only things she was aware of. And he seemed more like a part of her than separate, as though they were one being, one soul and one body, together at last.
Eventually, she returned to herself, gasping and panting for breath. She could feel Marcus start to move again, powerfully, lovingly, and immediately she found herself moving with him, in unison. The wave had receded, but she could feel it building again, another tidal wave growing in strength, if anything more powerful than the first.
“Marcus,” she whispered, voice hoarse. “Oh my love, my wonderful bear!”
He found her rhythm, and followed it perfectly, each stroke just right. Deep and strong and powerful, not overwhelming, never brutal. A kind and loving strength that carried her to the edge of ecstasy quickly. Her breathing became panting, gasping, and her body tightened around him as their sweat-slick bodies moved together in unison, her drawing him down as he thrust.
She felt herself tensing, her nails digging into his back as the wave rushed over her again. The feeling started in her toes and rolled through her body as she arched and writhed against him, the orgasm an explosion of fiery pleasure that made her arch under him, clutching at him. She couldn’t keep herself from screaming for joy at her release.
This time, she recovered faster, her body trembling as she looked up at her man. He grinned down at her, proud and happy, but she could see the effort he was making, the little trembles of his muscles as he fought to keep himself under control for her. He started to move again as she squirmed under him, writhing to press as much of her body to him as she could.
“Please, Marcus,” she said, looking into his eyes, love overflowing inside her. “Please, come with me. Together.”
He nodded, grinning wider, and she whimpered at the thought. She wanted to feel him come inside her, filling her. She wanted to feel, to know, that she had pleased him like he had pleased her. To see him lose control with her, for her.
She wanted, needed, to see that he was hers just as she was his. That they were made for each other.
Right there, in that moment, she realized that she believed him absolutely. They were mates, meant for each other and no one else, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Nothing and no one could compare to him for her, and there wasn’t anything that could tempt her away from him.
No one would ever compare to her bear.
Marcus felt his body tense at her words and grinned. His iron self-control was already stretched to the limit in Lisa’s arms. She was so perfect for him, so wonderful, so delightfully sensual and perfect in his arms.
Her scent, his mate’s scent, made him mad with desire, and her words pushed him onward. He felt himself harden inside her as he started to thrust faster, her body opening to him as he pushed against her. She fit so wonderfully around him, as though they were made for each other.
Memories, images, flitted through his mind as he struggled to keep himself in check. Everything about them, their first kiss, the first time he’d felt her touch, it all came back to him as he moved against her. Her body trembled under him as her control slipped, her fingers digging into his shoulders deep and hard. He felt the oncoming orgasm building in her. The most powerful one yet, he thought, focusing on matching her speed, wanting to meet her at the peak of her pleasure.
It was hard, so hard, to keep himself under control. A pressure built in him as their bodies moved against each other, a pressure he didn’t think he could fight. Lisa writhed against him, her eyes locked on his, an animal intensity on her face as they looked into each other’s eyes.
Unable to fight the building forces inside him any longer, he reached between them and brushed his thumb over her clit. That touch sent her tumbling over the edge, her nails digging into his back and pulling him with her.
He arched above her, muscles tightening as he shot into her and they both cried out in primal joy as they rocked together, her body tightening around him, milking his cock into her as they writhed.
In that moment, their bodies were one, joined and indistinguishable. There wasn’t any barrier between them, and the crashing force of their shared orgasm erased all distinctions between them. She cried out with a pleasure he felt in his bones, and he knew that she could feel the roaring power of his orgasm rocking through her, too. She was his, and he was hers - their mating was complete.
Inside him, his bear roared with them, joyous and wild.
Finally, he collapsed beside Lisa, muscles achingly weak from his exertions. They clung to each other, speechlessly happy, in the disarrayed mess they had made of the bedding. Looking down at her body, gleaming in the soft light, soft and curvy and wonderful, Marcus wondered how he could be so lucky.
Fate, he told himself. We were always destined for each other. And now we’ve finally taken that last step into each other’s arms.
He knew that he would never let go. That he would keep her safe and happy for as long as they lived.
She was still lost in the afterglow as he pulled himself up and grabbed a towel from the bathroom to clean them up. She groaned sleepily as he slipped back onto the bed beside her, enfolding her in his arms and holding her tight.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” he said, looking down at her. She laughed sleepily, looking up, her eyes barely open.
“You did most of the work,” she murmured and nuzzled close. “Can’t believe how good that was.”
He chuckled, kissed her forehead, and shook his head. “It wasn’t me, Lisa. It was us. And we’ll be able to do that whenever we like from now on.”
The deep and satisfied noise she made at that made him grin with pride. He wrapped the covers around them and relaxed, letting the warmth of Lisa’s body snuggled against him send him off towards sleep. Tomorrow was going to be their first day really together, and he wanted to start it right - in the arms of his beloved.
Epilogue
It took weeks for things to settle down. The Serpents had vanished almost straight away, of course. None of the remaining members wanted to be caught sitting around now that their dark secrets had been exposed. Some turned themselves in, others ran, but none hung around Coldwood to make trouble.
Most of the ones who tried to run were in custody now, anyway. Perhaps they’d been too used to having the local police on their side, perhaps they just hadn’t planned to run on such short notice. The reason didn’t matter - once the FBI were looking for them, few of the Serpents had the skills and resources to stay out of the net.
Still, the end of the gang had been quite an upheaval for the small town. Suddenly, there were FBI agents and state police everywhere, interviewing everyone. Marcus had been a focus of their attention, of course, interviewed for endless hours. But once they’d been through, the town had a different feel to it.
Freer, maybe. More hopeful. The darkness had lifted and there was a chance for a new day to dawn.
Lisa stood beside Marcus, looking a little dubiously at the Serpents’ compound. Yellow police tape hung in strips everywhere, but the FBI assured them they had everything they needed - the Serpents might have been a bit overconfident, but they hadn’t left any incriminating evidence lying aroun
d in the first place law enforcement would look.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” She looked up at him, and saw him grin, his powerful arm tugging her close against him. Marcus never seemed to want to be apart from her; he loved the feel of her body against him, he said, and she had to admit she liked it just as much. Almost as much as she liked feeling him pulling her close.
“It’s perfect,” he told her, looking around with a smile. “We’ll need a place in the wild, somewhere me and the guys can let our bears loose. And we wouldn’t want to let someone move in and get any ideas about that witching stone. Why, don’t you want me to have a place close by?”
“I just thought that you’d need to be in the city for your work?”
“So did I,” he admitted, lifting her up to plant a kiss on her lips. It still thrilled her how easily he could pick her up like that. “But you need to look after Hazel, don’t you? We can keep an office in the city, and work from here. You won’t get rid of me that easily!”
Lisa wrapped her arms around him, feeling happiness flood through her until she thought she would burst from it. She knew she would follow him anywhere, but it was a relief to hear that she wouldn’t have to abandon her home and family to be with the man she loved. Hazel would have made her go, of course - she’d said as much, telling her that they’d find another way to look after her if she left.
But it was so much better she didn’t have to, that she could be with them both.
“I’ll still be able to come with you into the city, won’t I?” she asked as he lowered her to the floor. Marcus laughed, nodding.
“Of course you will, darling. I don’t want to be separated from you unless I have to be, so when I go, you’ll come too. We’ll be able to hire someone to look in on your mother while we’re away.”
He took her by the hand and squeezed, gently and lovingly. Lisa felt her heart swell with love and knew that they would never be truly apart again. Wherever they went, whatever they did, they would be together. And that was all that mattered.