by Desiree Holt
“You didn’t know what I was then and I knew if I could avoid his horns, I would be okay. They have hard heads, and I hoped to diffuse the situation with a few bumps and bruises. I didn’t expect the idiot to come back a third time.”
“Shauna said the bull was attacking me not you.”
“Correct.”
“You should have shifted.”
“Perhaps, but I didn’t want you scared of me.”
“Next time, don’t hesitate.”
“You are taking this far better than I expected.” He bit into a piece of chicken.
Wiping her hands on the napkin, she sighed. “I don’t think so. I’m sure a breakdown is coming. But, would I have preferred to lose you to that bison or have you be some paranormal bear-shifting creature? I’ve also had hours to watch you sleep and come to terms with your furrier side.”
“Fair enough. What was the next issue…oh yeah. You already know I heal better as a bear. And, like most bears, I hibernate.”
“For the whole winter?”
“No, last winter it was two weeks. I have gone as long as three weeks and as short as five days. But after last night, I would suggest you not sleep with me during the hibernation. I have a hard time letting go of you.”
“Why wouldn’t Brutus help me get up? I mean, he looked strong enough.”
“Oh, he is strong enough. But it wouldn’t have been wise. When I am coming out of a deep sleep, my brain isn’t working. That goes for any bear. You were safe, and so was Quinn. I could never swing at my mate or my beta. But my alpha or another man touching my mate? I wouldn’t be thinking. I would be reacting, and one of you could have been hurt in the mayhem. If you were in trouble, he would have intervened. He wasn’t there just to laugh. He was watching and protecting.”
“In your long list of reasons to be a bear, you didn’t mention play or just because you enjoy it? You make it seem like a burden.”
“Not at all.” He paused, thinking of the right words. “I’m not known for a playful side.”
She poked him in the ribs. “We will have to remedy that.”
“I believe my sleuth…”
“Sleuth?”
“It’s the word we use for family. The others living here are hoping my mate will help me relax and be less of a bear to deal with.”
“So we are mates? Is that man and wife in your family? In mine, you have to ask, and I have to accept.”
“Family is a nice way to say species.” He leaned forward and took her lips because her pout was too much for him to take. “We are not mated, but we are mates. What happens next is in your hands. Or perhaps your heart.”
“If I were to decline this offer to be mated, what would happen?”
"Honestly, I have no idea.” He had heard rumors of impotence but had never met a shifter who had come across their mate and walked away. Not bear, wolf, elk, or even bison. “What do you need from me to help you make your decision?”
“Time and space, I suppose. I’m not sure how any of this works. I was still reeling from growing fangs the other night when you were attacked. It’s all going so fast.” She paused to rub the bridge of her nose.
“Headache?”
“Yes.”
He lowered the tray to the side table, propped up against the headboard, and lifted her into his lap. He massaged her temples. “Relax. We can take our time. I’ve waited forever and a day for you. I can wait for you to come to terms with it all.” The question was, could she? He didn’t know anything about humans except what he had learned from Quinn, and one person’s experience did not make a norm. But her need to mark Brutus had been so strong, she had tried to bite him at least one time before the mating. He had overheard her tell an omega the longer she had gone without mating the stronger the urge became until it neared hunger. He hadn’t seen that hunger in Morgan, but did that mean anything?
“Mmmm, every time you touch me, something within me loosens, as if I have been completely tied in knots my entire life.” Her eyes were closed, and she rubbed her cheek against his thigh, dangerously close to the ever-hardening cock separated by a thin sheet. As if hearing his inner voice screaming for her to touch him, she ran a hand up and cupped him.
“As much as it kills me to say this, you need to stop,” he growled.
She traced the length of his cock through his pants then laid a kiss upon his bare stomach, leaving a trail of tiny kisses up to his collarbone. “You keep saying that.”
“If we make love, we will mate, and then I can’t let you go.”
Her hand left him, and he groaned. “I need to take a shower.”
“Is that safe right now?”
“It’s safer for you.”
“You can’t hurt me.”
“Are you ready to mate with me? To be with me and no other for the rest of our lives? In doing so you’ll be saying you need to be here in Yellowstone for much of the year and pledging yourself not just to me but to my alpha as well.”
“I want you.”
The gleam in her eye as she licked her lips warned him he needed to get out of the room now or they would be mated with or without her being ready. “I’m going to let you cool off. You need to make your decision without the haze of lust fogging your brain.”
As he made a move to leave, she moaned. “Please.”
He froze.
“I ache, I am on fire, and only you can put it out. I have never been this—sensitive before.” She ran her hands up her body, cupping her breasts. “Help me.”
Was this the hunger Quinn described? And it concerned Morgan as she flew from coherent to a raging horny houri at a touch of his cock. His desires were pushing hers. He had caused her state.
“I am going to regret this.” He arrived at her side in three large strides, never taking his gaze from her. “Lie back.”
“Kiss me.”
“No. I’m going to help you, but to keep my honor and your freedom intact, you have to listen to me.” He stepped back when she got to her knees and leaned in to get to him again.
She ran her tongue over her teeth.
“Damn the hunger.”
“I want…”
He put a hand up. “I know what you want. I can only give you release tonight.” He took both her hands in one of his. “Tomorrow night, I will give you the moon if you ask for it.”
Fear sparked in her eyes, confirming he’d made the right decision. Her animal urges were overpowering, and he could smell her fear. But with those urges surged desire only he could quench. Leaving her in such a state would help neither of them. “Can I trust you not to touch me?”
She nodded, shaking. Damn, he wished he had talked to Brutus about what to expect. Wished he had talked to Quinn, too. He only hoped he did the right thing. He released his grip, and she put her hands up in surrender. Satisfied she wouldn’t try and touch him again, he released his breath. Fighting a hundred bison was less scary than being alone with his mate who needed him to be strong.
“Lie back and grip the headboard. Don’t let go.”
She nodded, reaching behind her and closing her fingers on the wooden posts. Her breasts heaved, her eyes luminous and fixed on his.
“You’re doing great.”
Swallowing through the lump in his throat was hard, his cock aching with the need to plunge into her and complete the mating bond. He unbuttoned her pants, easing them along with her silk-and-lace panties. For a woman who wore khaki-colored clothes even to bed, she certainly chose delicate feminine undergarments. He’d seen no sign of makeup, and she hid her glorious hair under a hat while braving the dangerous crust over volcanic pools. Yet, underneath, she was all woman, his woman. Right down to her sexy underwear.
His fingers itched to move up and under her shirt, to release her breasts from their confines, but if he did, neither of them would be able to control their baser needs. He would accept her small present tonight and unwrap the bigger gift tomorrow. He climbed onto the bed, kissing her bare hip before maneuvering his larg
e body between the supple curves of her legs. He maneuvered her left knee over his right shoulder followed by her right over his left. In the valley of her thighs, he stared up at her face. Her eyes were closed, her mouth partly open. Her lips would scream his name when he finished, and perhaps she would sleep while he found a tub of ice to sit in.
He needed to take care of her.
Skin soft as silk soothed his inner beast. She smelled of lemons and his favorite thing, honey. He breathed her scent before finally allowing himself to feast, first with a small, tentative lick. His tongue touched her clit, and she bucked beneath him. Placing his hand flat on her belly, he forced her back down on the bed. As his tongue repeated the process, his hand remained firm and strong, holding her in place. Forcing her to take the pleasure he could give her, tonight. Lapping her, he fed like an animal starved. He sucked and plunged his tongue deep inside, drinking from her until he would come himself at any moment. She fractured. Her knees locked around his head as she shook uncontrollably.
“Grant.” Everyone in his pod would have heard her scream. The only thing that would make him more proud would be to wear her mark. But that would wait. Morgan shuddered and went limp. She rested her arm over her eyes and a smile split her lips. “Wow.”
“Wow, indeed,” he agreed easing himself up and off the bed. He smoothed the blanket over her half-naked body. Brushing his lips across hers, he said, “Sleep now.”
“Where are you going?”
“If I thought I needed a cold shower before, I didn’t know anything. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She mumbled something indecipherable as she fell into the sleep of the sated and left him harder than he had ever been in his life. Leaving her resting, he went to ask which chamber he could use for the night. He could not sleep next to her in this state. Placing a hand on his side, he came in contact with the wet stickiness of blood. He had reopened his wound and needed to shift. Knowing she was safe and satisfied would allow him to move into the true healing sleep.
Shauna waited for him down the hall. She led him into an empty room, checked his wound carefully, before indicating the blankets in the corner on the floor. In his bear form, a nest on the floor would offer adequate comfort. Turning out the light, she left him to shift and rest. Tomorrow would bring a great many changes, and he would need all his energy.
Chapter 5
Fresh salmon and the other tempting scents of the kitchen invaded his sleep. Grant hadn’t smelled the kitchen from his bed since he’d moved into his own rooms in his late teens. His mother worked in the mess hall and they had lived in the pod near the center of the den, close to her work. As a scout, he had taken rooms closer to one of the entrances. It made sense. The omegas were placed in the center of the den for their protection. Guardians, sentinels, and scouts, the strongest of the pack, were equally divided so every entrance was protected at any given time.
Hunger pains grumbled through him. Stretching, he took in the strange, nearly empty space. Nothing about the room told him where he was. No furniture, nothing personal. Even the blankets he lay upon were oddly void of any scent but him. He shifted from bear form and memories flooded him. Morgan being attacked by a bison, his injuries, and, finally, his feasting on her like she was his last meal.
He stumbled to his feet and checked his side to find a long, ugly red scar, but he appeared to have no other injuries. He turned and twisted. The clothes he’d removed the night before were gone; a set of clean garments lay neatly over the back of the single chair. He had to have been in a deep healing sleep to have missed someone entering. Still groggy, he pulled the pants on and opened the door, walking barefoot down the series of corridors to his room. The door stood wide. Most of his sleuth left their rooms open when they weren’t in residence, and Morgan had followed suit. Even their alpha left his rooms open as there was nothing that was his that did not belong to the group as a whole.
He stopped an omega passing, arms loaded with laundry. “Jovie, where is my mate?”
“She left.” Jovie glanced up at him in wide-eyed surprise.
He squeezed the woman’s arm. “What?”
“Relax, Grant. She left with Asha to get her things and bring them back here.” She pried his grip from her biceps. “They tried to wake you, but you weren’t budging. Brutus suggested she needed protection, but until she has completed the mating, a male guardian would cause ripples. Until she marks you, don’t forget, she is open to other unmated males.”
Another good reason Brutus was their alpha. He never stopped thinking through scenarios, and the easygoing façade lured enemies into a false sense of security. His people trusted him and would lay down their lives for him.
“May I make a suggestion?” Jovie asked, her gaze on the floor.
Grant inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. If Jovie stepped out of her shell to suggest anything, he needed to listen. “Of course.”
“Your rooms work well for you. But...”
“Go on.”
“They are hideously ugly. I think you might have the ugliest rooms in the cave.”
Laughter bubbled out of him. “Would you like to help me?”
“Oh please. I can pull some things from the storage room, and perhaps I can talk with Morgan about what she wants. Of course, if she wants to decorate, I will step back.” The last words were spoken so softly, had Grant not had great hearing, he would have missed them.
“We’ll ask her, but I’m sure she’ll want your help. She has so much to take in.” He didn’t have any doubt she would mark him tonight. After yesterday, it had become inevitable. “Why don’t you go ahead and pull things you think she might like?”
“Thank you.” When Jovie smiled, the world lit up.
By the time he sensed his mate’s presence again, he had bathed, eaten, and Jovie had begun cheering up his sitting space. He met Morgan at the cave entrance. As she approached, his chest filled with pride. Her eyes met his, and she dropped her bag and ran. Ran as if they had been apart for months, not hours. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
“Will it always be this hard to be away from you?” she asked into the crook of his neck.
“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “I don’t think so. Quinn goes to work for hours at a time.”
“Once you complete the mating, your soul will be at peace and not as panicked about losing your one,” Asha said walking past them. “I’ll put your things in your rooms.”
“Can we take a walk outside? I’m not quite ready to descend into the caves.” She darted a look toward the opening.
“Of course. Lead the way.”
They walked in silence until they came to a walking trail a couple of hundred yards from the cave. “It’s amazing how concealed the entrances are. I could walk up on them and never know.”
“It’s for everyone’s safety. We have to protect our people, but we don’t want humans getting hurt either. There is always someone standing guard, both inside the cave and outside.”
“Is someone watching us now?”
“No.” He reached for her hand, needing the contact. “The guardians are there to protect those of our group who can’t protect themselves.”
“The omegas. Asha mentioned the hierarchy of the group.”
“Yes, they are easy targets for those wanting to hurt us.” He helped her over a fallen log before stepping over it himself.
She paused turning to peer back the way they’d come. He could almost see the cogwheels of her brain clicking around. “How are you powering the cave?”
His little scientist finally got around to asking that question. He’d expected it last night but seeing a shape shifter trumped mundane concerns. “There is a bit of collaboration between all the shifters in the park. The bison discovered a way of harnessing the power of the geysers, but they didn’t know how to implement their ideas. So the bears came in and traded their abilities for the bison’s brains.”
“You harness the geysers? But what
about all the dangerous gases?”
“We dealt with those issues when we first started pumping the steam through the caves. Trust me, the first couple of years were not ideal. We dealt with scalding water and dangerous CO2 gas. But we have been working with it for decades and, although we don’t take it for granted, we do have safeguards in place. For instance, detectors in the caves. Perhaps you can think of new ways to keep us all safe once you get settled.”
“It really is a cool place to live.” She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into his chest, but pink colored her cheeks.
“Why are you blushing?”
“I want to thank you,” she said into his chest.
“Thank me? For what?”
“For—last night. For…oh god.” She blew out a breath as if unable to get the words out. “For taking care of certain things.”
He lifted her chin and studied her expression then guided her to the fallen log and settled her on his lap where she could see him without straining her neck. “By ‘certain things’ do you mean your pleasure?”
“Yes.”
“You never need to thank me for taking care of your needs. It is my number one responsibility.”
“I’m ready.”
Something within him became whole, the empty place filled by her. The world stopped spinning for a moment. He had never been so thankful to be sitting in his life. His future washed over him like a refreshing waterfall. “You’re sure? There is no divorce to unlink what we will do.”
“I am more sure about this than anything in my life. And you’re asking, after waiting so long for me to come into your life, shows me you do place my needs first. Not many would have delayed the mating not once but twice.”
“I needed you to be ready. It needed to come from you.” He cupped her face, brushing the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “For my kind, this is instantaneous. We find our mate, she marks her man then they get to know one another. But you needed more, I watched the issues Quinn had adjusting and hoped I could ease yours.”