by Bear Naked
Before she reached the door he moved quickly and got it for her. She seemed a bit taken aback at first, like she had never had a male do that for her before, but then she blushed and Declan felt like a damn kid that he pleased his female.
“Thank you.” She ducked her head and moved past him, and that wonderful sweet smell that was his mate’s natural scent filled his nose and made him even harder. The aroma of tomato sauce and pasta was strong enough it masked Melissa’s smell, but not so much that Declan couldn’t have found her if she wandered off. In fact, her scent was ingrained in his brain, in his very cells, and there was no place on the fucking planet that she could be that he wouldn’t find her.
“Good evening. Two?” The hostess was a young human girl, probably still in high school. She smiled, and a flash of silver from her braces caught the overhead light.
“Yeah.” Declan cleared his voice because even he could hear the animal tones lurking right beneath it. The waitress averted her eyes from him, and her uneasiness was tangible, but Declan was used to it. His size and overall presence tended to have people keeping the fuck away, but he had always preferred it that way. Now he just felt slightly awkward because of it, and it was all because he had found this little wolf a couple of days ago. The hostess showed them to their table, one with a candle lit in the center, and situated right by a fire that crackled softly. It was an intimate setting, but as much as he was trying to be a gentleman, he felt completely out of place, given the fact this was not him, or at least it had never been him before. The entire way here he had been fighting with his animal. Hell, he had nearly shifted when he saw her coming out of her office. The fucker was growing stronger inside of him with each passing day, and Declan knew that if he didn’t claim her and put his mark on her, it would only get worse. The only thing that could sate his beast was his mate, but it was clear she was headstrong and wouldn’t be folding so easily. She wanted to go slow, and so did he—to an extent. He didn’t want to fuck this up with her, and so he’d let her lead, and let her decide when she was ready to take this to the next level. Declan had pride that his mate was strong, even if his bear wanted her to submit easily to him. But he was just too on edge, too feral inside to do the wine and dine thing. All he had been thinking about since meeting her was getting between her legs, and as bad as that sounded, it was the way of a male shifter when they found their mate. Fucking her, claiming her, and marking her were all essentially the same thing to them, and until they had that victory, that relinquishment from their other half, they wouldn’t be centered. But he was going to have to deal with the uncomfortable sensation inside of him until she gave the all clear.
After the waitress came and got their drink orders he leaned back and ran his fingers over the edge of the napkin. The waitress came back with Melissa’s glass of red wine and his draft beer, and after they gave her their food orders, the waitress left. He really didn’t need alcohol, but he also needed something to help calm him down a bit. The image of clearing the table and taking her on top of it flashed through his head over and over again.
“You know.” She took a sip of her wine and set the glass back on the table. “Every shifter in here can feel that you’re kind of intense right now.” She smiled, but if she really knew what he was thinking, that he’d love to have her face down on his bed with her ass in the air and his handprints marring the big, round cheeks of her bottom in shades of pinks and reds, she might not be smiling like she was. His cock jerked, and he practically felt his lust shoot out of him like a cannon and slam into her. She sucked in a gasp, cleared her throat, and glanced around. “People are watching,” Melissa said softly and licked her lips. He growled at the sight of her tongue moving along the swell of her bottom lip, licking at it like he imagined her doing to the head of his cock. Declan gripped the edge of the table and looked to his left. It was an older couple, beaver shifters, and when his eyes flashed brown from his bear they looked outraged. He wasn’t going for shock value, because he honestly couldn’t control himself. He looked back at Melissa and leaned in so their faces were now only inches apart from each other.
“I’m sure you’ve realized this before, but I’m not really a male that gives a shit about what others think.” Knowing he might be walking a very thin line with her he reached out and captured her hand in his. Her flesh felt overheated, and he watched as a blush spread up the area of her chest he could see and continued traveling up her neck. She wasn’t embarrassed, but aroused, and growing increasingly more so by the second. Good. At least he wasn’t the only one that was this affected.
“Yeah, I got that.” Her voice was slightly breathy, but she stopped breathing all together when he lifted her hand to his mouth and ran his lips back and forth over her knuckles. Her flesh was butter soft and smelled faintly of lemon soap. Declan turned her hand over, pressed her wrist right to his nose and inhaled deeply. She smelled really fucking good, and a low growl left him. At least he was in control enough to keep his voice somewhat lowered so only she heard the sound. He stared at her, watched as her chest rose and fell with her increased respirations, and wanted to see the act when there wasn’t a silk blouse covering her generous breasts.
“You also can sense that I’m barely hanging on here, mate, and that this whole dinner and social situation isn’t something that I am familiar or comfortable with.” What he didn’t say was that although he felt out of his element he was willing to do anything for her. But that kind of commitment wasn’t strange or uncommon in the shifter world, and felt right on every single level. Keeping her wrist by his mouth and his eyes trained on her, Declan let his bear slip out just enough to appease the territorial animal, but when he opened his mouth and ran his elongating canines along the sensitive and silky smooth flesh he didn’t expect Melissa to grow hazy from her arousal. She shivered visibly, and Declan did it again and again, adding just a little bit more pressure with each swipe. She didn’t pull away and in fact pressed her wrist to his mouth a little harder, but Declan didn’t know if she was aware of her actions. He gripped the table with his other hand, curled his nails into the cloth covered wood, and had to force himself not to crush the wood beneath his hold.
“We should stop or…” She didn’t finish her sentence, and when he scraped his teeth along her skin, and then ran his tongue over the sting he knew he’d created, she moaned softly, but before he was about to say fuck it and throw her over his shoulder, drag her back to his SUV, and fuck her right there, needing to do that more than he needed anything else in the whole damn world, she tensed. His bear sensed her arousal switch to confusion. Declan let go of her hand and turned around to see what she was looking at over his shoulder. A small, almost waif-like, meerkat shifting male was striding toward them. He wore a suit, but it was one that reminded him of a professor and not a hot shot businessman. The tweed material was brown and tan, and was that a pocket protector? He stopped by the table and stared at Melissa with this adoring smile on his face. His light brown hair was parted at the side and slicked back, and he pushed his black rimmed glasses further up his nose.
“Manny, what are you doing here?” Declan glanced at Melissa, who looked awfully uncomfortable. The sensation that someone was staring at him had Declan looking at Manny the meerkat. The other male watched him, and under the scent of concern, the meerkat was also trying to mask his jealousy, but doing a shit job at it. But then again Declan was trained at picking out even the subtlest scents that a normal shifter might not be able to catch.
“Uh, Declan, this is my friend, Manny Martin.” There was another moment of silence. This male’s name was actually Manny Martin? That was almost laughable. “Manny?” For a moment the meerkat didn’t do anything but watch Declan, and his bear flashed, letting the other male know that whatever the problem was it would end before it started. “I said what are you doing here?” Melissa’s voice was stronger and now filled with annoyance. Manny looked at her and smiled once more.
“I came in for some dinner and saw you sitti
ng here with your … friend.” The way the meerkat said that, with a light sneer to it, had Declan lifting a brow. This was a curious turn of events, but it wouldn’t take much for Declan to start getting pissed by this male’s idea that his balls were big enough to start shit with him. “Seems like you’ve found some company for more than a few hours.” Melissa gasped, and her outrage was tangible. Declan’s bear rose up, pissed that this asshole had just insulted his mate.
“Not her friend, dick. Her mate.” Declan emphasized the last word on a growl, but the meerkat had his gaze on Melissa. Manny knew that they weren’t friends. Being a shifter himself he could scent the connection Declan and Melissa had, and the mating hormones that had already started coming forth as soon as they looked into each other’s eyes. The guy was just being a motherfucker, and that wasn’t going to be good where Declan was concerned.
“Manny, you need to leave. Now.” Melissa’s anger was like fire cracking.
“Mate, huh?” The meerkat ignored her request, and all that did to Declan was piss him off even more. There was a strange quality in the male’s voice, but just as Declan was about to stand and let this guy know his company was starting to really make Melissa uncomfortable, she started talking.
“Yes, Manny, and I’m only going to say this once. Leave.” She sighed and leaned back in her seat.
The meerkat must have been hard of hearing because he didn’t move, and instead started talking again. “I thought you would have called me back, but lucky we ran into each other here, huh? Almost like fate stepped in.”
“What the fuck, man?” Declan did stand up then. This was going from uncomfortable to creepy as fuck, and he was about to end it. “My mate told you to leave, yet you are still here. Go now.” Declan cracked his knuckles and rolled his head on his neck, feeling itchy as fuck since he met Melissa, but now just feeling territorial and possessive of his female. This would be a good opportunity to let his beast out and relieve some tension.
“Please, Declan.” There was a pleading note in his mate’s voice, and that had Declan instantly stilling. He swallowed his anger but did sit down. Did she realize that she had a lot of power over him? There wasn’t a doubt in Declan’s mind that this little asshole had a hard-on for Melissa, and although this guy was the least intimidating and frightening person to ever present himself, there was something beneath the surface that rankled Declan’s animal. It was possible it was because the mating was making him even more sensitive and seeing everything as a threat, but there was something off about this guy, something that had Declan’s training rising up and noticing things others wouldn’t. Like the way he focused on Melissa a little too intimately, and the way his fingers twitched right before he smoothed them over his trousers. Declan also noticed that he kept shuffling on his feet, as if he wanted to do something, but held himself back. Yeah, this guy rubbed Declan the wrong way, and he didn’t like the fact he was even by his female.
Declan didn’t take his eyes off Manny when he said, “I suggest you leave right now while I have my bear under control.” If the prick was smart he would just walk away, because the scent of the attraction this male had to Declan’s mate was an acid sting in his nose. It took a few seconds, and to Declan that was a few seconds too long, but finally Manny headed out of the restaurant without even getting anything to eat though he’d claimed that was the reason he was there.
“I’m sorry about that.” There was a defeated but annoyed lilt in her voice, and he offered her a smile that he hoped was reassuring when he felt nothing but fierce right now. “That was Manny. I’ve known him since my freshman year of high school, and since then he’s been a bit … attached.” She was obviously playing it down, because that wasn’t just a male after a female. That was an obsessed fucker. She grabbed her wine and took a long swallow from it. Their food arrived before he could respond, but he wasn’t hungry, not when he was feeling pissed and cautious and jealous.
“I didn’t like the way he was looking at you, or the scents he was putting off.” She gave him a sympathetic smile, and it pissed him off that she knew this but still let it continue. “Unless you’re not telling me something, like maybe there is a history that runs a bit deeper between the two of you?” Even after the words came out of him Declan knew he had fucked up. Her expression hardened, and she finished off her wine before setting it on the table and leaning back in her seat.
“Declan.” He would have thought hearing her say his name would have been akin to getting off, and it probably would have if her tone wasn’t icy. “You and I just met a few days ago, haven’t even spent twenty-four hours in each other’s presence, and I want you to remember that just because there is this fate or chemical, or whatever reaction that is going on between us, what I did in my past before you even came into the picture is none of your damn business.” He clenched his jaw, because as much as he liked her strength, it also angered his bear. She was pissed about that Manny asshole, and he was making it worse, he knew that. She lifted her fork, but sighed and set it down on the plate. “I don’t mean to be a bitch, well, sometimes I do, but right now I don’t. Just that situation right there embarrassed me, and I’m really mad at Manny right now for doing it.” She offered him a smile. “I am also just feeling as off balanced as you are.” They stared at each other for a second, but Declan kept his mouth shut, because he knew if he said anything it would be in the form of alpha asshole-ness. “There has never been anything between Manny and me, and never will be. And believe me, after this little incident I will be talking to him.” Declan didn’t know if he liked her talking to the dick at all, but he still didn’t say anything. “In all the years I’ve known him he has never talked to me that way or acted like that. I really don’t know what got into him.” Declan knew, and it was because the “competition” was right in his face.
“I don’t think the meerkat understands that, Melissa.” He tried to keep his voice calm, but there was that unmistakable gruffness to it. He grabbed his beer and downed the rest of it.
“Yeah, I guess that was shoved in my face right now.” She started eating, and that was good because he had no idea what in the hell to say. What he really wanted to do was follow the shifter outside and show him what happened when a male fucked with another male’s mate. Guaran-fucking-tee the dick wouldn’t bother her again.
The rest of the meal was done with both of them bringing up safe things to talk about, but the underlying tension that had filled the space between them after the meerkat left was still there. Declan knew it was on him for keeping this up, and as much as he wished he could just let this roll off his back, that wasn’t how Declan was wired. He needed to do some research on Manny, see if he was hiding anything, and then maybe he could relax. Maybe. It seemed this mating thing was going to be a hell of a lot more trouble than just worrying about his female having a mouth on her.
Chapter Six
Melissa sat at her kitchen table and stared out her window. She had a foot propped up on the empty table, her mug sitting in front of her with hot tea in it, and her thoughts on Declan, like they had been since she met him. He had insisted on following her home last night, but in all honesty she hadn’t minded. Everything had been going great, scorching hot even, but then Manny had shown up, coincidentally as it was, and after that there was this wall up between her and Declan that she hadn’t been able to penetrate. Yeah, her anger had gotten the better of her when he had started getting this attitude on whether she and Manny had a past together, but what she had done before he even came into the picture wasn’t his concern. She certainly didn’t consider herself a slut because she had been with a lot of men sexually. That was who she was, how she chose to live her life, and she was the one deciding who she got laid with. Yes, she had experimented in the bedroom, and realized although she had a dominating personality, between the sheets she liked to relinquish the power she had such a tight grasp on and just submit. That was who she was, and she loved it. Of course she had dated, but she wasn’t ashamed to admit th
at having sex instead of getting into relationship after relationship had been what she did more of. At thirty-seven she was comfortable with her sexuality, and thought more females would have less self-esteem issues and more confidence if they weren’t tied down to certain values and standards. Was she going to tell Declan all of that? Maybe if things between them progressed, but it certainly wasn’t something she wanted to know about him. Melissa was a strong believer in letting the past stay right there, because all it ended up doing was causing more problems in the long run. Besides, there wasn’t a doubt that he had been with his fair share of females, looking like he did and with the air of confidence that surrounded him.
Their conversation during dinner had been “safe.” She had told him about herself, but the way he watched her made her feel like he already knew all of that. She had found out some basic things about him, but he did not go very deep with that. She had been surprised to know he was fifty-one. That wasn’t old, but it certainly wasn’t on the younger side. But he didn’t look like that was his age. With his dark hair not having a trace of grey in it, and his body looking like it was chiseled out of stone she would have thought he was a decade younger, if not more. The only other stuff he told her was that he served in the shifter military, that he was an only child, and that both of his parents were dead. He had said all of that so stoically that she knew there was something deeper, and most likely a bit darker that had to do with him, but Melissa wasn’t going to push, because all of this was so new to both of them. The military background made sense, especially with his build and his attitude, and the fact he was part of the shifter military was even more intriguing. Melissa knew enough about that branch of the shifter government to know that the men involved were dangerous. Did that make her fear Declan? No, because her instincts told her he was a good male, and because he was her mate he couldn’t hurt her, not without hurting himself in the process. It was a way that fate had decreed mates stay together and were always protected. Did she believe in that stuff? Yes and no, but more so now that she had found Declan.