Chapter 9
NINE
Lark
I don’t remember falling asleep.
One minute, I’m wrapped around Harris, my body boneless and blissfully sore. The next, I wake up to soft morning light and the warm weight of his arm draped over my waist.
His scent clings to me—pine and firewood and him—and his chest rises and falls steadily against my back.
I should feel overwhelmed, maybe even scared, but mostly… I feel safe. Claimed. Wanted in a way I’ve never experienced before.
I shift slightly, and his grip tightens.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he murmurs sleepily, his lips brushing the curve of my shoulder where his mark now sits—tender and tingling.
I smile, even though my heart gives a strange little flutter. “Nowhere. Just stretching.”
He rolls me onto my back, pinning me with those golden eyes, and kisses me slow and deep—like he’s not ready to let me go yet.
Maybe I’m not ready either.
My body heats, and I spread my legs wider, rubbing that wet, needy part of myself against his hard length.
“Fuck, mate,” he groans as he slowly pushes inside me.
We both moan as he moves in and out at a lazy pace.
“Are you going to let me taste you?” I ask.
He swears, burying his face in my neck. “Fuck, my mate. You’re going to make me come already.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I tease.
He nips at my shoulder. “I only come once you’ve come.”
I cling to him as he grips my leg, hiking it higher on his hip as he fucks me harder.
It’s almost embarrassing how fast he can get me off. I swear, he only has to look at me, touch me lightly, and I’m right there on the edge.
But right now, I want to tease him, test his restraint.
“Please let me taste you,” I beg. “It’s only fair, after all. You got to taste me last night.”
He screws his eyes up tight like he’s in pain. “Lark,” he chokes out, his hips slamming against mine. “Please, mate.”
“I’ve never done it before, but you could tell me what to do,” I say seductively. “We can see how much of your cock I can take down my throat.”
“Fuck!” he shouts.
I grin mischievously. “I bet with some practice, I could take all of it. What do you say, Harris? Want to help me practice?”
“Lark,” he grunts in warning.
He’s close to the edge, to snapping, and I’m dying to push him over.
“Fuck my mouth… mate,” I whisper.
“Dammit!”
The next thing I know, he’s flipped me onto my hands and knees, and he’s pounding into me.
“Naughty little mate,” he grits between his teeth.
He fucks me hard, and I brace myself against the mattress, meeting each of his thrusts.
Now I’m the one who’s close. With two more strokes, I fly over the edge, screaming his name as I come.
My arms collapse, and my face lands on a pillow as Harris continues to pound into me roughly.
“Little tease,” he snarls.
I turn my head. “I wasn’t teasing. I want you to fuck my mouth.”
“Lark!” he growls, spilling deep inside of me a second later.
I pout over my shoulder at him, and he groans as he pulls out, collapsing on the bed next to me. I crawl closer, nudging his legs apart so I can fit between them.
“Lark,” he warns.
I grin up at him. “You said that you’d help me practice,” I remind him as I wrap my hand around his sticky cock.
“Fucking hell,” he curses as I stroke him.
I keep my eyes locked with his as I lean forward and wrap my lips around his tip. He tastes salty from our releases, and I moan as I take more of him into my mouth. He bumps the back of my throat, and I swallow.
“Lark, fucking hell, you’re good at that.”
Humming happily, I do it again, starting a slow rhythm. Stroke, suck, swallow. Over and over.
I soon get into my stride and pick up the pace. I squeeze his cock, twisting my hand around the part of him I can’t fit in my mouth. He swells on my tongue, and I know he’s close to coming again.
I work faster, wanting him to come in my mouth, and he curses as I moan around his cock. I look up, wanting to watch him as he comes, and as soon as my eyes lock with his golden gaze, he comes.
“Lark,” he moans as his salty release fills my mouth.
I swallow quickly, licking up every drop before smiling at him.
“Well, you don’t need any more practice,” he huffs as he drags me up his body.
I giggle. “So, you don’t want me to do that again?”
He groans. “Mate, you can do that any damn time that you want,” he says as he nudges my legs apart and thrusts into me.
His lips claim mine, and just like that, I’m lost in him.
We spend the rest of the morning tangled in each other.
Touching. Tasting. Whispering soft words to each other between long kisses. His hands memorize every inch of me like I might disappear, and I give him everything without a second thought.
But when the sun is high, and I finally sit on the edge of the bed, something inside me tightens as reality returns.
It creeps back in, pulling at the corners of this dream we’ve been wrapped in.
I glance over my shoulder, watching Harris stretch and yawn. He has no idea of the storm brewing inside me.
“I need to head into work for a bit,” he says apologetically.
I smile, though it feels tight. Fake. “Okay.”
“I’ll be home tonight. We can have a late dinner,” he suggests.
I nod.
He crawls closer on the bed and wraps his arms around me, burying his face in my neck. “I’m so excited to finally have you here. To start this next chapter in our lives.”
I nod again, but deep down, I’m freaking out.
What the heck was I thinking? Is this what I want? Do I want to give up my job, my apartment, my life to move to this small town and be with this man I just met?
“This is crazy,” I whisper.
He frowns. “What is?”
“This.” I motion between us. “All of it. I came here for a vacation. One week. And now I’m…” I trail off, brushing my fingers over the mark on my shoulder. “This changes everything.”
His jaw tightens, but he stays quiet.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admit. “Back home, I have a life. A job. A routine. My parents. Friends who don’t turn into bears.”
“Is that what’s bothering you?” he asks, his voice calm. “That I’m not human?”
“No,” I say quickly. “It’s not that. It’s just… this was supposed to be a break. A reset. Not an upheaval of my entire existence.”
His eyes darken, and he sits up slowly. “So, what are you saying?”
“I don’t know,” I reply honestly. “I need to think.”
He nods stiffly, standing and pulling on a pair of jeans. “I get it. You’re overwhelmed.”
I look down at my hands. “I’m not saying I don’t care about you. I do. I just?—”
“I have to go in for a few hours,” he says, cutting me off gently. “We’ve had more fires popping up around town. Suspicious ones. I’ll be back later.”
I nod, even though I want to ask him to stay.
He leans down and kisses my forehead. It’s soft. Sweet. But the air is thick and heavy with tension.
“I’ll see you tonight,” he says before walking out the door.
And just like that, I’m alone.
I pull the blanket tighter around me and walk to the window, staring out over the small town nestled between the trees.
It’s beautiful. Peaceful. Quiet.
But is it mine ?
Can I give up everything I’ve known for a man I just met? For a life I never expected?
I don’t have answers yet.
Only questions.
And a wild, aching pull in my chest that feels a lot like love… and a little like fear.