by Snow, Jenika
“You know what it means to be my mate?”
I licked my lips again and nodded slowly. He took a step closer and I felt my arousal climb higher. Everything inside urged me, demanded that I go to him, press my body to his and let him do whatever he wanted to me. I craved it, as if I were a junkie needing another fix.
“So you know I can’t let you go?” He took another step closer.
“And if I said I don’t want this?” I challenged him.
“Saying it doesn’t make it true, now does it, Bethany?”
The way he said my name was pleasure filled, as if he almost got off saying it. I swallowed roughly, my throat scratchy and raw, my heart racing.
“Even right now you want me. You can deny it all you want, but physically, emotionally, hell, cellularly, you want me. It’s ingrained in both of us, a connection that can’t be denied or changed.” He took another step forward. “This is how it will be always.”
Before I knew it, he was standing right in front of me. He lifted his hand up and cupped my cheek. “Bethany,” he whispered.
I didn’t ask how he knew my name. I assumed he’d asked around at the bar, the same deal as when I’d listened in on the patrons talking about him and his brothers.
“I won’t force you. Would never rush you. But you will be mine sooner rather than later. That I can fucking guarantee.” He leaned in and I held my breath, thinking he might kiss me. Truth was I wouldn’t have stopped him.
But instead he buried his nose in my hair, inhaled deeply, and let out a slow, deep noise.
“Soon, Bethany,” he said roughly. And I knew that was the truth. I knew with everything inside of me that there was no denying this bear shifter.
There was no point when I wanted this just as much as he did.
Chapter Four
Zakari
I told her I’d give her space, time, and I did.
Three days.
Three whole fucking days of torture on my end, waiting to see how she’d proceed, if she’d come to me or make me go to her.
Seventy-two hours of me thinking about her, dreaming about her, hell, jerking off nonstop to the thought of her. Bethany Silver, twenty-one years old and currently living with her injured grandmother. I knew everything there was to know about Bethany, had asked around, did fucking anything and everything I could to get information on her.
I didn’t care if it might be considered stalking. She was my mate and I wanted every little piece of information on her, like a starving dog wanting a tiny scrap.
Even now, as I stood in my shower, the spray of water beating down on my back, the remnants of my cum going down the drain, my dick was still hard. It didn’t matter how many times I’d beat off to the thought of her, the fucker would not go down. And I knew it wouldn’t until I finally claimed her, parted those pretty thighs of hers and shoved my cock deep in her little pussy.
I groaned and closed my eyes, bracing a hand on the tile in front of me and lowering my head. My eyes were closed as I reached down and grabbed my dick, my erection sore from how many times I’d pleasured myself. But the arousal was too strong in me, and so I jerked off for what was probably the third time today alone, feeling my balls draw up tight and exploding within a matter of seconds.
Hell, I was surprised I even had any semen left for how often I seemed to be doing this. But today was the day. I was going to town, to tell Bethany that there was no more waiting. I couldn’t. My bear couldn’t. And I sure as hell knew that if my arousal was this strong that hers was as well. She might be able to control herself a little better than I was because she didn’t have a possessive, barbaric bear within her, but the mating between us would only get stronger the longer we were apart.
We were the only ones who could sate this desire, and I was done waiting.
I was finally ready to have my mate all to myself.
* * *
Bethany
“I don’t know why you came up here. I don’t need anyone’s help. I can manage on my own. I always have and I always will. Just go back to your father, who turned his back on me years ago.” My grandmother’s shrill voice rang out from down the hall.
I rolled my eyes at the pity party she was throwing for herself.
“I mean it. You’re just making this worse.”
I clenched my teeth as I loaded up the dishwasher before closing the door and starting it, the hum of the machine drowning out her bitching. I didn’t know why I was here either, especially given the fact she didn’t want me to help her. She would be content to sit in her own piss, just so she didn’t have to have anyone in her house.
Wiping my hands on a rag, I tossed it back on the counter. I was working on getting her a nursing assistant to come to the house, simply because I couldn’t be here any longer. She gave me a daily reminder that I wasn’t welcome. Whatever had happened in her life to make her so bitter and cold was driving her family away.
I turned and grabbed my purse and keys and headed out the front door just as I heard her bitching more. Shutting the door behind me, I sat on the porch for a minute, staring off into the woods. The lot she owned was nothing more than an acre, but surrounding her was thick forest owned by a rather wealthy couple down the road.
Three days had passed since the bar incident with Zakari. And for those three days I hadn’t been able to get him out of my head. Even my grandmother’s insistent complaining couldn’t stop me from thinking about him constantly.
My body was on fire day in and day out. He was the first thing I thought about when I woke up, and the last thing on my mind as I went to bed. I had never been this aroused in my life, never needed someone this badly.
Even talking to my father, hearing his reassurance that things would get better, that I’d be home soon enough, leaving this small town, pained me. Thinking about that had my stomach clenching and a sweat breaking out over my brow.
Over the last seventy-two hours, I felt my need for him growing stronger. He was the only one who could make me feel complete, I knew that deep in my very marrow. And as I thought about his presence my heart raced. I thought about what I had left back home with my father.
An apartment he rented to me for next to nothing, a family position that would never have me advancing in anything, aside from keeping his business on the level. He was really my only family, but even so I knew there was no future for me there, no real life where I could have a family of my own.
A life where I could love and be loved.
I closed my eyes and shook my head, strong and foreign emotions consuming me. I found myself walking to my car and climbing inside, shutting the door and curling my fingers around the steering wheel. I put the key in the ignition, cranked the engine, and backed out of the driveway. I had no idea where I was going to go, but I just knew I had to drive to clear my head and get my bearings.
My body and mind were telling me to go to Zakari. It was like this rope, and one end of the rope was tied around my waist. Every day I felt myself growing closer to him, unable to back away.
And I didn’t want to. I wanted to be as close as two people could be. It was crazy, ludicrous even, but I realized it had become my life.
I’d been driving for five minutes when I saw a glare in the rearview mirror from the car behind me. No, not a car, a truck. Zakari’s truck. Without thinking, without even knowing what I was doing, I found myself pulling over to a small rest area off to the side.
I cut the engine and climbed out of the car just as he parked on the other side of me. Bracing my hands on the hood of my car, I glared at him. He climbed out, his big body unfolding from the driver seat, this easy-going expression on his face, but one that didn’t fool me. His body was tense, his knuckles white from how tightly he had his hands curled into fists.
“Are you in the habit of following me now, stalking me?” I lifted an eyebrow, knowing maybe I should’ve been a little weirded out about this, that he was here right now, but finding myself turned on.
“I’ll be
honest,” he said and grinned, moving to the side so he could shut the truck door. “I’m not above stalking my mate to make sure she’s okay.”
My heart beat a little faster at his confession. In the morning light, he was even more handsome in a rugged, almost brutal manner.
“But that’s not what I was doing today. I was actually coming into town to pick up some supplies, hoping to run into you, because it’s been three days.”
I swallowed roughly and licked my lips. “Three days?” I pretended like I didn’t know what he was talking about, but the way his nostrils flared slightly told me he knew that I was full of shit. I had no doubt he could smell my arousal, especially given the fact there was a slight breeze blowing his way, probably amplifying everything.
Could he smell that I was wet? Could he smell that I didn’t want to fight this, that I was ready to be his?
And am I? Ready to be his?
He walked around my car and was a few feet from me now. I held my breath, not breathing, my head tilted back as I stared into his face.
For long moments we didn’t speak, and I swore he didn’t breathe either. His eyes flashed, this yellow breaking through the blue like a spark of lightning, or maybe a lightbulb blowing out, that flash before darkness. It was instant, sudden, and was gone as fast as it had come.
“You feel that between us?”
I found myself nodding.
“That’s real. That’s our truth.” His voice was low. He leaned forward. “You can run, you can hide, but I guarantee you one thing, Bethany.” He grinned and I saw his teeth, his canines. They were elongated. My heart pumped harder at that sight, and my pussy became wetter. “I’ll find you. Anywhere, at any time. Your scent is engrained in my body. You’re mine. Forever.”
And then I found myself in his arms, his hand cupping the back of my head, his lips on mine. I should have stopped him, should have pushed him away, tried to fight this, but the fact remained I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
I didn’t want to.
I found myself rising on my toes and adding more pressure to his mouth with mine. I speared my hands in his hair, the feeling of his scruff scraping along my jaw and cheeks. It turned me on more, if that was even possible. My pussy was wet, my nipples hard, and my heart raced from the endorphins and arousal pumping through my veins.
“Tell me what you want and it’s yours.” The way he said those words, whispered roughly against my lips, had my inner pussy muscles clenching almost painfully.
It was like my body was cursing me for not stripping down and spreading my legs for him, letting him shove what I knew was a huge cock into me. God, he felt so thick and long against my belly, the denim of his jeans and the layers of my clothing doing nothing to hide how massive he really was.
I pulled away and looked up into his face. God, this man was so brutally handsome that it had my breath catching. For a suspended moment I said nothing, didn’t know if I could be this bold, this brazen. But my body and mind were fighting a war right now, and common sense, logical reasoning, was not winning out over my need to be claimed.
“Take me to your house.” I swallowed. “Claim me.”
Chapter Five
Bethany
We found ourselves back in his cabin, one tucked away in the woods. It was ethereal, wild, and made my arousal climb, if that was possible.
The sight of him, the way he looked at me, was full of desire, extreme need, and possession. And it was all aimed right at me. He wanted me, this big and strong, territorial bear shifter wanted me, needed to claim me, mark me. I knew that as well as I knew I was wet for him, desired him like I’d never desired anyone or anything else in my life.
The scent of him came to me like a warm, arousing blanket, and I breathed out roughly. He watched me like the primal, savage beast that lurked within him. He was close, so close that I felt his heat slam into me.
“The bed, mate. Go to the bed so I can claim you.”
I edged toward the bed, not knowing how this would play out, but knowing I wanted this more than I had ever wanted anything in my life.
The sexual tension that moved between us burned me alive. I felt the edge of the bed hit the back of my knees and I slowly sank down to the mattress, the scent of him filling my head. He stalked forward, his gaze trained right on me. When he growled again, the sound speared right to my clit.
God, right now the air that surrounded us was so primitive, so electrified. The blood rushed through my veins, endorphins and adrenaline making my heart pound faster, harder. He was in front of me seconds later, his body so big, growing bigger by the second because his bear was right there at the surface, right there and ready to claim me.
I felt this energy move through me and found myself standing, the space between us so thick.
Run. Make him catch me. Make this good.
Those words played in my head like a broken record.
He wanted to chase me, to have a hunt, to chase after his mate. I felt it as if it were coming from me, as if this wasn’t just his bear calling the shots.
I ducked to the side and started running through the cabin, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my veins so fast I felt lightheaded. The growl that came from behind me had my hands shaking and my lips turning up into a grin of excitement.
Before I got more than twenty feet, not like I’d know where I was going anyway, he slammed into me from behind, twisted us, and used his body to cushion me as we crashed to the floor. I was on top of him now, my legs spread over his narrow hips.
“Mate,” he grunted and lifted his hips up, causing his huge, hard cock to press against my thighs. I gasped at the feeling, grew wetter because of this virile man underneath me.
And then he moved so I was the one underneath him.
“Bethany,” he said low, rough. “Mine.”
He pressed more of his weight against me. Zakari leaned in close so his mouth was right next to mine, just an inch away.
“Tell me what you need,” he whispered.
“You,” was my only reply. I lifted my hands and speared my fingers into his hair, pulling him closer as we kissed, so his lips were now pressed against mine and I tasted the intoxicating flavor of my mate.
Zakari pressed his hard body against mine and a soft cry left me. I wanted us both naked, wanted to feel the thick steel rod between his legs pressed right up against my pussy. He ground himself against me, and a deep groan left him.
“All mine.” He thrust himself against me, back and forth, his denim-clad cock rubbing along my pussy. I needed our clothes off. He pulled back, his mouth slightly parted. I saw his teeth, his canines slightly elongated, his bear right there underneath the surface of his human self.
His hands were by my head, his nails, now claws, digging lightly into the hardwood floor, the noise loud, deafening.
“I’m trying to be gentle, to control myself with you—”
“Don’t,” I said, cutting him off.
He stared at my mouth and then lowered his face again, so his lips brushed along mine. I lifted my head slightly, needing that pressure against my lips.
“You are my mate and I am in control,” he said softly and pulled back an inch. “Right now, give yourself to me, give everything to me, Bethany.” He moved his head to the crook of my neck, ran the tip of his nose up the length of my throat, and inhaled deeply. “Yes, I need all of you.”
“You have me,” I answered immediately.
He slowly lifted his head and stared down at me. I couldn’t stop myself from staring at his mouth, wanting his lips back on mine.
“Zakari. Please.” I clearly wasn’t above begging at this point.
A satisfied sound left him. He ground his very hard erection into me again, and a small sound of desire left me, something I couldn’t have stopped even if I wanted to.
I didn’t care that this was fast, intense, or that I knew how this night would end, that I’d be in his bed, under Zakari, his cock stretching me, filling me.
>
He went back to sucking, licking at my throat, this gruff sound leaving him continuously. He was grinding himself against me, over and over again until I knew I could get off from this alone.
“Yes,” he said low, needy.
A shiver worked through me at the very knowledge that I was about to be claimed, fully mated by this grizzly bear.
He pulled back and was off me in a matter of seconds. I still lay there, staring up at him as he started getting undressed. He took off his shirt first, showing me his chest covered in short dark hair. His pectoral muscles were defined, his abdomen ribbed with rolling hills.
He still had his jeans on, but the very stiff, very defined erection lying across one of his thighs, pressed against the denim, had my mouth watering.
“You see what you do to me?”
I lifted my gaze from his crotch to stare into his face.
“You see how fucking hard you make me?” I lowered my gaze back down just in time to see him grabbing himself, curling his fingers around the outline of his dick, moving his palm up and down the length.
I couldn’t speak, so I nodded my answer, wanting nothing more than for him to tear the clothes from my body like a barbarian. “I—” Before I could finish my sentence, Zakari let out this low, deep sound and reached down to help me off the ground.
I stood there for only a second before I saw the flash of Zakari’s bear move to the surface. In the next moment, he had my clothes off, the tattered remains being torn precisely, meticulously from my body. He had his hands on my hips, his nails claws, that needle-like pressure able to cut me in two, yet he held me so gently.
And here I stood, naked, ready … willing.