Chapter 15
Kylian
Erick doesn’t claim me in the shower like I hoped he would.
Instead, he quickly washes my body while taking care between my legs.
He doesn’t tease me and his fingers don’t penetrate me again.
He said he’s worried I’ll be sore and wants to take it easy on me but he doesn’t understand what he’s done.
My mate has woken up a hunger that cannot be satisfied.
As I sit in his truck while he pumps gas, picking at the sandwich he insists I eat, all I can think about is spreading my legs and welcoming him in.
I want to feel the stretch when he pushes his thick cock inside of me.
I throb with the idea of it—so much so I feel wetness pushing out and soaking my panties as my pussy clenches in anticipation.
I'm flushed again but this is a different kind of fever. This isn't the same itchy desperation for the unknown. Now I know what to expect and I want more. Right. Now.
Erick and Cricket say something to each other, bump fists, and then my mate swings open the driver door. He inhales deeply, his eyes turning into melted gold. “Fuck, babygirl. Are you wet for me right now?”
“How long until we get there?” I pull off my sweater, my nipples pebbling in the cold air.
His eyes trail over my breast, his breathing ragged. “It's just under two hours to the cave but I have another idea. How would you feel about taking me to James’s house on our way to the mountains?”
I frown, the idea of James’s home dampening my mood. “Why?”
Erick climbs in and starts the engine, pulling out of the gas station and onto the highway.
“I need to send him a message so we can end this once and for all. I don’t want to spend another twenty-four hours focused on anyone other than you.
He’s already consumed too much of my attention with his bullshit. ”
Staring out the window, I check in with my feelings about seeing James’s home again.
It doesn’t bother me as much as I would think.
Maybe that’s because Erick will be with me.
Or maybe it’s the vengeful need I have to make James pay for all the destruction he caused today.
I could’ve walked away forever Friday night, but he couldn’t let me go and now I want him to suffer before he dies.
Wow. Who knew I could be so bloodthirsty?
An idea hits me. A wicked, devious, hateful, deliciously petty idea.
I turn to look at Erick, his brow raising before he takes his eyes off the road. “Is that a yes, babygirl?”
“He lives near the universities.”
“Perfect.” Erick pulls out his phone and dictates a text to Cricket, letting him know which direction we’re heading.
“Are they coming with us?” I hope not because that will ruin my plans.
“They’ll wait outside and watch for unexpected visitors.”
“Good.” I place my hand high on his thigh and flex my fingers against the rough denim.
Erick lets out a low growl and side eyes me with a mischievous smirk. “I’m going to have my hands full with you as my mate, aren’t I?”
“Would that be a bad thing?” Grinning, I scrape my fingernails across the denim clad bulge growing harder by the second in his pants.
“I’ll love every minute.”
“Erick?” I pop my seatbelt and move until I am kneeling on my seat.
He closes his eyes for a second and takes a deep breath. “Yes, babygirl?”
“I want to taste you again.” My pussy clenches as I put sickly sweetness into my voice. I’m not sure where this playful, sex kitten confidence is coming from but I don’t hate it. Lana and Alyssa would die to see me acting like this—I’m being so sex positive right now.
“Do you? Or is it really that you want to come again?” His voice is deep and rich and vibrates from his chest. Glancing at me, his eyes reflect a golden glow that tells me he’s as turned on as I am.
“Can’t I have both?” I think, wishing he could hear my thoughts.
Erick takes his eyes off the road to look at me, his lips held in a firm line.
Then I hear it again, the faint murmuring, muted as if being carried on the wind or floating above while I’m underwater.
I close my eyes and concentrate, the same five sounds repeating themselves, getting a tad closer and clearer each time.
My bear rises out of the shadows again and shakes her full body, as if she hears it too and is fighting the intrusion.
No. Don’t fight it. It’s not going to hurt us. I tell her.
She stops shaking and sits down, looking back at me as if I was standing in the blacked out cave with her.
“Can you hear me, babygirl?” My mate’s voice comes through crystal clear.
I gasp and open my eyes, a big smile spreading on Erick’s face. “You did hear me.”
“I did. Did you hear me?”
“Kind of. Your projection was garbled, but it’s enough to know that with some training you’ll eventually be able to speak telepathically with me.”
Bouncing in my seat, I throw my arms around his neck. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“You don’t have to thank me, babygirl.”
“Yes, I do because if you hadn’t been there for Kade and if you weren’t the kind of friend who’d drop everything to be there for Kash, then we never would’ve met. I wouldn’t have seen my bear today, or tapped into my telepathic abilities just now, or had my first orgasm.”
He grins. “Technically, it was your second and we would’ve met at Kade’s wedding.”
“Sure, two months from now. But considering how quickly James escalated this weekend, who knows what would’ve happened to me between now and then.”
The muscle in Erick’s jaw ticks, as if this had never occurred to him.
I press a kiss to his cheek and rest my head on his shoulder. “That doesn’t matter now. We did meet, just as the Fates meant for us to.”
Erick says nothing and to my dismay he keeps both hands on the steering wheel until I reluctantly move back to my seat and sit down. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No.” He puts his hand on my thigh reassuringly. “I’m just thinking about the Fates, the things I can give to you as your mate, and the things I cannot.”
“You’ve already given me so much in one day, I can’t imagine needing any more.
” I smile and interlace my fingers with his.
My insides are buzzing with excitement, all the things I’ve ever wanted are coming to me in rapid fire.
I’m sure my bear will come when Erick claims me and then I’ll have everything I’ve ever wanted.
I’ll be a shifter, like the rest of my family.
I’ll be able to speak telepathically like most of the shifters I know.
I’ll be normal, like everyone else—or at least like everyone I’ve ever known who happens to be extraordinary shifters.
I’ll be mated, married, and in lo—
I glance over at Erick, the intrusive thought hitting me square in the chest. Two shifters recognizing each other as their fated mates doesn’t mean love, does it?
My parents were a fated pairing, but they were also in love.
From Kade’s perspective, Dinah is his fated mate and they certainly seem like they are in love.
Surely Dinah has to love Kade to put up with his overbearing ass and my brother openly adores her in a way I didn’t know was possible.
The same goes for Karter and Valery—otherwise she would’ve left him behind like she originally planned.
Do I love Erick?
That he might not love me breaks my heart, which makes me think I’m well on my way to falling for him.
Supposedly our animals know when we’ve found our mate—if the Fates have blessed us—but no one ever talks about caring for our human hearts.
Human relationships are messy, if TV and social media are to be believed, but shifter matings are primal and instinctual. Undeniable.
Until, I guess, our human brains and hearts deny them.
Erick looks over and flashes me a small, somewhat sad, smile, his fingers tightening around mine.
“You’ll always need more, Kylian, and I want to give you everything you need, want, and desire—but there are one or two things I won’t give you.
It’s something you should think about, an unfortunate consequence of being mated to me. ”
“Like what?”
“Kids.”
My lips part and I immediately feel sorry for Erick.
It must be hard to be a bear shifter and not be able to produce offspring but the truth is I’ve never thought much about having kids.
I’ve been the de facto mother to the terrorists since they were six years old.
Things changed when they shifted and my role morphed from the mom they clung to when hurt, tired, or scared into the nagging older sister who never let them have any fun.
Maybe I’ve missed the days they relied on me but it didn’t leave a vacant maternal hole that needed to be filled.
“Do you want to be a mother?” he asks when I say nothing.
I shrug. “I’ve never really thought about it. Our mom abandoned us when I was ten years old and I’ve been filling the role at home ever since. Even after the boys shifted and pulled away, I kept up taking care of everyone else.”
“You deserve to have someone take care of you for a change.”
“Are you happy with having a mate and no cubs of your own?” I ask, knowing he’s waiting for me to give him a better answer.
Maybe that’s why he didn’t claim me at home—because he wanted me to know this important fact about him first. But I’ve been playing mom for so long, I’m not interested in worrying about future kids right now.
I’m feeling selfish and want what will make me happy—and everything within me says that is Erick.
“I’ve always known it will be this way.” He shrugs, a sad resoluteness to his voice.
Spreading my legs and bringing one knee up on the console between us, I slide our join hands between my thighs and flash him a teasing smile.
“I’m going to be an amazing aunt. And with six horny brothers, I have no doubt I’ll have a million nieces and nephews to fawn over in no time. I won’t have time for my own kids.”
Erick cups my pussy through my leggings and groans, “Are you sure?”
I nod. “Yes, mate.”
“Fucking Fates, I don’t deserve you.” Erick pulls his hand back. “Lay your seat back, babygirl. Let’s see how worked up I can get you in the next twenty minutes.”