by Leela Ash
“Oh, don’t mention it. I just wanted you to be dressed appropriately for the first time that you see Kaldernon. I have a feeling that you’re going to understand everything perfectly in that moment, and you might want to feel like you’re dressed for the occasion. I know I would feel miserable if I had that same opportunity and I squandered it wearing robes from the little hospital.”
“I appreciate your consideration,” Krista said with a laugh.
“I think it will help you feel better to look better,” Jasmine said with a wink. “Loni attire is traditionally very beautiful and elegant. It’s going to suit you spectacularly. It will be a great way to honor you when you join the clan for dinner this evening.”
“Honor me?” Krista asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Yes, honor you. We are all very excited to meet you. You’re one of the last of your kind on Earth, you know. That makes you a very coveted person to us. We have been working for a long time to protect you and keep you safe. It is the highest honor to be able to welcome you into our clan, even if it is just a brief recluse from danger. We will do our best to protect you at all costs.”
“That’s a little bit extreme,” Krista said, shifting uncomfortably. “You guys don’t even know me.”
Jasmine seemed amused by this. She laughed, and her eyes crinkled kindly as she pulled out a tape measure. She beckoned Krista toward her and began taking her measurements.
“We don’t have to know you to honor you,” Jasmine said. “You may not be used to being honored, but trust us, you have been revered from the moment you were born and so you shall remain honored by the Kersh clan.”
Krista was quiet as Jasmine finished taking her measurements, and gave her a silent nod as she left to begin work on the gown. She had doubts that it would be completed by the time dinner was ready that night, but she was surprised when a knock came at the door around five in the evening.
“Here it is,” Jasmine whispered, presenting Krista with the most beautiful gown she had ever seen. It looked a lot like the dresses worn on Earth, but it was a lot more flowing and elegant. It was made of a fabric she had never seen before, a sparkling gossamer, almost like silk, but even softer to the touch. It made her whole body glow when she put the gown on, and Jasmine helped her to tie it up in all the necessary places. There was a piece of cloth, almost like a sash, that she wore between her breasts, and Jasmine was able to talk her into letting her do her hair in the traditional Loni fashion.
“I’m sure, by now, the styles have changed on Kaldernon, but we were able to salvage the material that we needed to make this dress. Some of us took with us the last things that we were touching. It was the only way we were able to survive so long on Earth before we understood how the planet worked.”
“That must’ve been terrifying for you,” Krista said with a frown.
“It was difficult,” Jasmine said with a nod. “But things are much better now, and they’re certainly looking up. We may be able to find our way back after all. Lonis are blessed with sacred intuition.”
Krista sighed and allowed Jasmine to lead her into the dining hall. She hadn’t been out of her room in the medical ward since she arrived, and as they made their way through the halls, she found herself very saddened by the impoverished lifestyle that the Kersh people had been forced into. As soon as she walked into the dining hall, her eyes met instantly with Clayton’s. He gave her a nod of acknowledgment and motioned her toward him.
“Everybody, I would like your attention please,” he said in a loud and booming voice. “This is Krista, the last remaining Loni on Earth.”
The room was filled with quiet murmurs as Krista walked toward Clayton. There were two seats at a large banquet table on an elevated platform where Clayton was sitting. The platform was looking over everybody else. He was apparently their leader, something that she had not considered before. The look in his eyes when he gazed at her made her heart skip a beat. He was so handsome, and couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of her.
She thought back to one of the days when he had visited her in the medic’s room, and he had stumbled all over himself and his words, trying to complement her on how nice she looked, despite the fact that she was bedridden. She would never have guessed that he could speak with such ease and authority to a large group of people, when he seemed to be too nervous to look her in the eye sometimes. He was sexy and fierce, but he was also uncertain and shy.
“I hope you enjoy your meal,” he said with a private smile to her once she was sitting down beside him. She nodded, feeling more beautiful and welcomed than she had ever felt in her life. The clan was ecstatic to finally meet her, and she saw that many of them were shifting for some reason, turning into half-dragons and half-people before finally relaxing back into their human form and continuing to cheer for her.
“You bring out the dragon in us,” he said with a wink, laughing and looking down at his plate of food. A woman and a man were beginning to serve the crowd, and a large plate of steaming food was placed in front of Krista. Her stomach rumbled loudly and Clayton laughed.
“It’s been a while since you had a real meal, hasn’t it?” Clayton said.
Krista nodded, and peered down at her plate. The food smelled better than anything she had ever smelled before, but she had never seen anything like it. Clayton saw her staring at it and grinned.
“This is a specialty from Kaldernon,” he explained. He leaned close to her ear and began to quietly explain the cooking process. The deep sound of his rumbling voice brought goosebumps to her arms, and she hoped that he would never stop talking. However, of course, he had to, and soon, she was digging in to her plate, enjoying the meal with a deep relish that she hadn’t known was possible.
They chatted casually as they ate, Clayton’s deep, soothing voice seeming to pay attention only to her. She had never felt so intimate with another person before and enjoyed the meal more than she thought that she would. After dinner, Clayton announced that he was going to take her to view Kaldernon. Everybody murmured in excitement and agreement, but didn’t follow him when he took her by the hand and led her outside of the underground tunnels.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Her heart pounded in her chest as his strong hand pulled her forward, leading her through the maze and out into the sunlight. She peered up into the sky, excited to finally see the clouds and sunshine. It had been far too long, and she was starting to feel depressed. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she gasped. There was a shimmering in the sky, almost like the aurora borealis. She had never seen anything so beautiful before, and the colors seemed to match those that were in her gown.
“You look so beautiful,” Clayton said, tugging her hand toward his hot lips and pressing a soft kiss to it. “Do you see the world up there? That is where we come from. And if you’d like, that is where we will try to return. If we find a way, before the Guardians destroy us all, I could take you with us.”
Krista’s eyes filled with tears. She had never witnessed anything so beautiful, or felt so fully loved and accepted by anybody before. She felt embarrassed for being overcome with emotion, but fortunately he didn’t laugh at her. Instead, he seemed to understand exactly how she felt, and wrapped his strong arm around her shoulder.
“I met you before, after my father died. Sure, you don’t remember,” he said softly. “But I have never forgotten.”
“What are you talking about?” Krista asked, confused.
“I’ve been protecting you all this time, all these years. We were young, maybe around ten years old. You were singing that beautiful Loni song that never leaves you. I was enraptured by it, of course,” he said with a laugh.
She listened, intrigued, her heart pounding as Clayton spoke. His gentle eyes looked at her, uncertain and shy. She smiled at him and prompted him to continue.
“Well, you dropped a piece of paper, and you didn’t realize it. So I felt like I should take it to you. And I did. I wanted to stay and talk, but then I got scared. I knew th
at you weren’t supposed to see me. And so…”
“You left,” Krista said softly. “Actually, I do remember that, and I’ve thought about you for a long time. I can’t believe that you’re the same person. All of this seems so unbelievable.”
“I wish that we were just making it up,” Clayton said, running his hands through his black hair. His glimmering green eyes gazed upon Kaldernon, and she took the opportunity to allow her own eyes to roam up and down his body, resting on his chiseled face. “But that’s the truth, we’ve been protecting you. There is nobody else like you left here. But in the other world, you won’t be alone any longer.”
“Do you wish you didn’t have to protect me?” Krista asked.
“Of course not, it’s the only thing that gave my life any meaning after I lost my father. You have been my whole life all this time. Without ever knowing it.”
Krista turned to him, opening her mouth and closing it, unsure of what to say to him. His handsome face broke into a bright smile, and he pulled her close to his muscular body.
“Can I do something a little strange?” he asked.
She wasn’t sure what to say, but she nodded anyway. Clayton turned half-dragon then, and breathed a warm breath against her neck. He turned back to his human form and grinned.
“How did that feel?”
She swallowed hard, shocked by the unexpected rush of longing that he ignited within her.
“What the hell was that?” she whispered.
“I wanted to see if we’re a pair,” he said with a small smile. “How did it make you feel?”
She looked down at the ground, her face flushed a deep red. She’d never been with a man before, but that one seemingly innocent gesture had been more pleasurable than how she imagined sex would be. Clayton’s eyes danced. He had his answer.
Her breath was taken away as he pressed his hot lips against her mouth, and she shuddered as his tongue began to massage hers. He gripped her tightly in his strong arms, steadying her as her legs became weak.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his reptilian eyes glowing sensually. She moaned in pleasure as he lifted her up and held her tightly, pressing her back against a tree and kissing fervently down her neck. She could feel the intensity of his longing, as they continued to kiss, and roamed her hands up and down his large biceps. She had wanted to touch his muscles for a long time, and she gripped them hard, closing her eyes in bliss as she felt him grow hard against her thigh.
“I can’t believe that you’ve cared about me all this time, and I never knew who you were,” she whispered into his ear, gripping a handful of his hair. She always felt like she had been saving herself for something, but she never would have guessed that it would be anything like this.
“I always wake up and go to sleep thinking about your safety,” he said, dropping hot kisses on her clavicle and running his strong hand up and down her side. She tensed up as her body was overtaken by tendrils of pleasure. He rested his hand on her thigh, kneading it until she was gasping for more. He allowed himself to slip his hand under her skirt as he freed one of her large breasts from the confines of her gown. A deep, guttural moan escaped his lips when his fingers grazed her wet opening.
“How are you doing that?” Krista gasped, her full lips hot and breathy in his ear. He was doing his best to restrain himself and go slowly, knowing that if they were a pair, as his father and mother had been a pair, then this would be the first time for both of them. The pleasures were new and immense. There was suddenly a warm weight on his groin, fingers gripping his shaft and daring it to push the boundaries of his flesh. He moaned as his member grew swollen in her grip, throbbing with a need he had never known before.
She buckled her hips against his hand and he allowed her to drag her wet mound down his wrist while she slid her hand over the length of his shaft, exploring all of its curves and ridges with gentle, maddening strokes. Krista finally couldn’t resist her curiosity and pulled his hard cock out of his pants, pressing it against her thigh and bringing a moan to her lips. She had never wanted anybody so badly before, and he hissed as the head of his cock met the hot, inviting cavern between her legs.
His hands roamed up and down her body, caressing her every curve until his fingers brushed the hard mound of her nipple. She bit back a cry of ecstasy, tightening her grip on his shaft. He closed his eyes as a surge of pleasure jolted through him. She finally released her grasp on his cock and drug her nails down his back, giving him more room to ease himself between her legs. She leaned her head back in ecstasy as he began to introduce her to the whole of him. He went slowly, relishing every moment. Krista groaned deeply as she felt every curve of his shaft pushing the boundaries of her body, pressing hard inside of her until she was choking on a gasp that was a mixture of pleasure and pain.
“Are you all right?” he asked her.
She kept her eyes squeezed tightly closed but nodded and he began to thrust slowly, unable to hold himself back any longer.
“Fuck,” she whispered, biting onto his shoulder to keep herself from crying out any louder.
Suddenly, it happened. He pushed through the seal that had defined her as a virgin for so long. Clayton stopped, staring at her with wide, concerned eyes.
“Don’t stop,” she breathed, pulling his waist close to her middle. His green eyes shimmered darkly, unable to hide the animal lust that had was brimming just beneath his composed façade. He was overpowered by his need and slammed his cock into her as hard as he could. She cried out in ecstasy as his body began to show her just how powerful it really was. He kissed her neck and kneaded her breast, covering her mouth with his to stifle the cries of pleasure she emitted every time he pulled himself out of her and slammed hard inside of her again.
She wanted it to last forever, but her body had other plans. The mounting pleasure that they had been working toward reached its peak, and she had nowhere to go from there but up. Her body trembled beneath Clayton’s as his perfect cock shoved into her one last time. Her body shuddered powerfully, clenching him tightly as she released a flood of hot cum around his enveloped member. He closed his eyes, hissing in pleasure as her body milked his dick as she came, until he could no longer hold back the forceful eruption of his hot seed. They both moaned deeply, a need in them so fully satisfied that they both collapsed to the ground, gripping one another fervently and holding each other tightly. The feelings as the waves of pleasure crashed against her until she was all but screaming out loud.
Finally, her body shuddered powerfully as her orgasm nearly knocked her off her feet. He hissed in pleasure as her climax began to flood against his shaft, and unleashed another round of tireless jackhammering that left her breathless and aching for more. Finally, she felt him tense, and moaned in bliss as his hot seed spilled inside of her. It was like a volcanic eruption that brought her to the height of her climax.
They fell limply into each other, panting as he slowly pulled himself out of her. They were silent for a moment as they pressed their foreheads together. She suddenly felt light, as if she had become weightless. She knew, without truly knowing, exactly what that meant. She looked at Clayton, contemplating whether or not she should tell him or if she should keep it to herself.
Maybe she shouldn’t get his hopes up, and maybe she wasn’t even right. But she did know that her intuition was telling her that her body was no longer hers anymore. His seed had managed to impregnate her with just one go. The thought somehow made her grow hot again, and she took his gorgeous face in both hands and kissed him passionately.
“Want to try that again?” she whispered, and Clayton grinned.
“I’d love to.”
THE END
Bear Shifter Romance
Marked as the Alpha’s Mate
Pamela Avery
Copyright ©2015 by Pamela Avery. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval system
s, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Thank you so much for your interest in my work!
PROLOGUE
2012
Lisa Fuller jogged, her strides lengthening along the path in time to the music blaring over her earphones. She had decided to take the scenic route today, jogging down the forest path that was least popular among most joggers in Fidelity, Philadelphia.
It was quite early in the morning and the air was dewy, fresh, and invigorating. The smell of fresh pines tantalized her nostrils and she inhaled deeply as her feet pounded along the path. Her red hair was done up in a simple bun atop her head and she was clad in a skin-fitting exercise outfit that accentuated the generous curves of her waist and hips.
A noise like thunder rumbled overhead and she almost lost her footing as she looked around in amazement. It was still a bit too dark to tell but the skies didn’t seem to be cloudy. With a shrug, she resumed her jogging, humming in time to the music as a slight wind began to rustle the leaves of the trees lining the forest path. Lisa picked up her pace a little, almost running now.
She had gone almost a half mile along the forest path when she suddenly got the unmistakable feeling of being watched. Her eyes widened with irrepressible panic as she scanned the tall pine trees on either side of the path, extending in every direction as far as the eye could see. She saw no one. Fear coursed through her veins and almost automatically she started running, her breath burning in her lungs as she ran faster than she had ever run before.
Then she saw him. A huge, brown, absolutely beautiful, and deadly, bear with chestnut brown fur with flecks of gold. Its teeth were bared as it raced towards her. She almost froze in her terror. She couldn’t remember … are you supposed to freeze when you see a bear, or play dead, or run? While she tried to figure it out, he kept coming right at her in long lopping strides.