Chapter 37
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN
Idon’t know how she finds me, but she always does.
I love her court, but sometimes there are too many people, buildings, and walls.
I’m a bear, so I crave nature. I knew what it would mean when I tied myself to her.
There is no going back, and I wouldn’t want to, but sometimes I lope into the trees that surround the court and give into the wilderness.
My bear knows she’s here before I do and lifts his head.
When she appears, he barrels towards her, careful not to hurt her, but we still knock her back as she laughs and pets us.
“I figured you would be hiding here,” she teases as she cradles my face, kissing along my muzzle.
“I’m glad you enjoy the forest. I’m even happier to see you change back and forth so easily. ”
She knows my past, and she’s happy for me.
Rubbing against her, my bear pushes his scent into her skin.
That’s all I will allow. She is my mate, but I will never force that issue.
I share her bed and life, and that is enough.
She bonded with Frost, and I am happy for them both, but a bear’s mating is different.
It’s brutal, hard, and unbreakable. I will never push that on her.
This will be enough as long as she is at my side.
Like she senses my thoughts, she strokes my head.
“I’ve been thinking . . . . Frost says I’m his mate, Luan says I’m his queen, and Bellami says I’m his partner.
You said I belong to you and your bear. They mate as well, don’t they?
I researched and asked Tate. She said it would be agony for a bear to find their mate and not complete the ritual, that they would fight it every waking moment, unable to rest until their souls are linked.
So . . . why have you not asked me? Elskede is what bears call their mates, is it not? ”
I change back. “I would never ask.”
“But it’s true.” She nods like she didn’t know until now. “You’ve been suffering this entire time for me. Why?”
“You never wished to be chained again. A mating is like that, something unbreakable,” I admit. “It’s enough for me to be at your side like this.”
“No, it’s not,” she snaps. “Do not lie to me. Ask me. Ask me, Corbin, what you and your bear desire.”
“Elara—”
“Ask,” she orders.
“Would you mate with me?” The words slip out before I mean them to.
“Yes.” The word makes me freeze, and she grins. “I would have if you asked me any day before now, even when I wasn’t sure. I’m glad you waited so I didn’t mess this up. I have my home and my people, and my heart is healing. It’s yours, all yours. Yes, I will mate with you.”
“Elara . . .”
“Well? What are you waiting for? Unless you don’t want me anymore—” I tackle her back, and her laughter fades to a smile as I cup her face, dirt and leaves in her beautiful hair.
“It will hurt,” I warn.
“What doesn’t?” She kisses me softly. “Mate me, my bear. Let the gods witness it. I don’t want to break this connection between us. I want you forever, so do your worst. I can handle it.”
Snarling, I rip her dress away before she can protest. I can’t be gentle tonight, my bear riding me hard. Elara jerks from the force but she gasps and arches into the night air, her thighs opening as I fall over her like a possessed beast.
I feel the change as my bear fights me, wanting out.
My skin rolls and swells, hair sprouting across me.
My teeth lengthen in anticipation of sinking into her pretty, golden flesh and scarring it forever with our mark, and my cock swells to the point of pain, so I carefully lie between her thighs.
Wary of my fangs, I lap at her cunt until she grinds into my face, and when I accidentally rub a fang across her clit, she comes apart for me with a scream.
Sliding my tongue down, I lick up her cream, tasting her release before moving up her body.
Gripping my length, I carefully rub against her cunt, coating myself in her wetness to ease this for her.
I’ve never heard of a bear mating outside of its kind, but if anyone can endure and thrive in this mating, it is my Elara.
She is stronger than any female bear I have met, and when her eyes lock on mine, she grins like she knows my thoughts.
She rolls us, and shock ripples through me as her nails dig into my partially changed torso as she lowers herself onto my length, working her way to the base.
Her head drops back as my mate starts to move, claiming me.
She isn’t afraid, even when she lowers her eyes and sees my half-changed state.
It cannot be pretty. My face has lengthened into more of a muzzle, and my glowing eyes are reflected in hers.
I’m more beast than man, but her cunt tightens around me as if she likes what she sees, and it strips away the last shred of humanity I have.
Wrapping myself around her, I flip us once more, pulling from her body to roll her, then I slam her into the grassy earth. I tilt her hips up until she’s in the air, and then I slide my length back inside her welcoming, wet cunt as she screams for me.
I cannot speak, not with my mouth changed, but growls leave my muzzle in a constant stream, a warning from my bear to its mate.
I worry it will frighten her, but she’s fighting to take more, so I give her what she wants.
I take her hard and fast from behind, her cries filling the forest as she drips around my length.
My mate takes every inch of me like a good fucking girl.
She looks so fucking perfect. Her hair is mussed and messy, and her golden skin is streaked with dirt and wilderness.
Elara was made to be mated by me.
At this moment, there is nothing but us and this bond urging us on until she screams below me.
The call of her golden flesh rides me, and my teeth gnash together, the sharp edges cutting up my too human mouth.
I don’t want to hurt her, so I hold on for as long as I can.
When I feel her reach her release, I cannot hold back.
I bury my teeth in the top of her shoulder, where my mark will be exposed to all.
Her scream is one of pleasure and pain as she shatters around me, and my bear gnaws at her skin, marking her for eternity.
I pin her as I rut her, hard and feral. Her cunt is forced to accept me as she whines, lying limp below me. My teeth dig in harder until I taste her blood, which is sweet and delicious.
“Corbin.” My name is a breath as her pretty ass pushes back to take me deeper, and I feel my own pleasure clawing at my back.
Before my hook sets in, I want to see her face, to watch her eyes as this mate bond clicks into place, so I drag her to her knees and take her from this angle until she’s gasping and arching for me, then I pull free and flip her around.
Pinning her to the earth, I slam back into her and sink my mouth back into the wound on her shoulder.
She cries out, her nails slicing up my back—no better compliment for a bear than that—and when she comes for me again, clenching on my cock, I cannot hold back.
My cock swells inside her, and my knot releases. It locks us in place, and she screams as she feels it. Neither of us is able to move as our pleasure explodes between us.
My release is endless, filling her up as I kneel and look at my sweaty, dirty mate below me. Her mouth is parted and raw from her own teeth, and trails of blood slowly drip down her shoulder. Grunting, I bury myself deeper, filling her completely, and her eyes roll back as she comes again.
It pulls another release from me, and I feel my knot lessen a little at that. All this pent-up need for my mate makes it impossibly big, and I know it has to hurt, especially when she slumps into the earth, breathing raggedly.
“How do we make it go down?” she rasps, her cheeks ruddy and streaked with dirt as she glances between our bodies.
“It will after a few rounds.” My voice is little more than a growl, my fangs coated in her blood.
“A few?” Her eyes widen as I grin and rock my hips, pushing it deeper until she whimpers, writhing in the dirt.
I move as much as I can, pushing my knot against her walls as steady streams of cum slip from me, taking hold of her pretty cunt as I lower myself over her.
I lick the mark on her perfect skin, knowing it must be very sensitive.
Between mates, it’s said to be as good as licking their clit or cock, and from her reaction, it must be true.
She clenches down on my hook and comes again for me, pulling more cum from me.
I can slip partially out of her, but then her cunt clamps down, holding me prisoner.
Her cry is more filled with pain than pleasure, so I press between our bodies, rubbing her clit until she’s locking up below me again, squeezing me so well, I can’t help but release once more.
When my knot and hook are lessened enough, I work myself from her channel.
Stretching her to the brim and spilling the rest of my seed as it slowly goes down.
Her eyes are closed, and her chest heaves with her breaths, so I gather her in my arms and carry her farther into the forest, to the den my bear made. Once she is settled and comfortable, I cover her cunt so none of my seed can escape and hold my mate, then I fall into a deep slumber.