Chapter Twenty-Six
I turn over on the stiff leather couch, groaning as I try to find a comfortable position. The second I open my eyes, I let out a sharp scream, finding Bear sitting quietly on the coffee table merely inches away, silently watching me sleep in the dim morning light.?
“Fuck’s sake, Bear!” I gasp, clutching my hand tightly over my racing heart. “That is officially the second time you’ve snuck up and done that!”
“Sorry,” he grumbles, a low, sheepish rumble in his chest.
I shift onto my back and reach out, wrapping my fingers around his broad hand. Taking that as his cue, he carefully shifts his massive frame onto the tiny couch to cuddle with me. He ends up pretty much completely on top of me, his heavy head resting heavily in the crook of my neck while I wrap my arms around his broad back. I gently stroke the hard muscles of his arms, closing my eyes in pure content.
“How’s your head holding up?” I murmur into his dark hair.
“Fine,” he answers smoothly. “I don’t get hangovers.”
“Bitch,” I mutter under my breath.
He let out a low chuckle, pressing a warm kiss against my shoulder blade. “Sorry I broke your bed frame.”
“It’s totally fine,” I mumble, smiling into the quiet room. “Honestly, it was so worth it just to see you completely wasted.”
He let out a miserable groan, hiding his face in my neck, which only made me giggle. “God, I hate myself.”
“Who did you even go out drinking with anyway?” I ask softly.
“Darren,” he answers, his voice dropping into a quieter, serious tone. “We really needed to sit down and actually talk things through.”
“That was a really good idea,” I state softly.
He hums, pausing for a long beat before speaking again. “I’m sorry I’ve been acting so distant with you lately, Daniella.”
“What—?”
“Mac told Darren, who turned around and told me,” He admits quietly, pulling back from my neck just enough to look at me before pressing a soft, lingering kiss to my lips. “About what Mac said at the house.”
“That you don’t deserve me?” I question gently. He gave a quiet, heavy nod. “Mitch... I love—”
“I know,” he cut me off softly, his emerald eyes dark with a sudden, painful vulnerability. “Still doesn’t mean she isn’t completely right.”
“She isn’t right!” I argue fiercely, running my hand up to cup his jawline. “Bear, you are the absolute most perfect guy for me. You take care of me, you cherish me, and you certainly don’t go around cheating on me with my mother.”
He let out a genuine, low chuckle at that, his eyes softening slightly.
“It still got to me,” he mumbles, his jaw tightening as he looks away. “Especially since her opinion actually matters to me.”
“Because you guys are so close,” I state gently.
“Well... we were close,” he mutters bitterly.
Without warning, he let out a sharp grunt and pushes himself off me, standing up from the couch. “I—I have to go.”
“Don’t go,” I whisper, sitting up quickly on the cushions. “Mitchell, don’t shut me out right now.”
“I’m not—”
“You are!” I state firmly, standing up to face him. “Every single time something gets too emotional or real, you completely retreat and leave!”
He lets out a heavy huff, running both hands aggressively through his dark hair until it stuck up in every direction. “Because it’s too fucking painful, Danny!” he admits, his voice breaking slightly.
He squeezes his eyes shut, taking a deep, ragged breath to compose himself. I close the distance between us, standing right in front of his chest. “Talk to me,” I whisper softly.
“I can’t,” he croaks out.
“Bear, talk to me,” I say, letting a firm, unyielding edge into my tone.
He slowly opens his eyes, and my heart completely broke seeing the gloss of unshed tears threatening to spill over his lashes. “She’s literally one of the closest people in the world to me,” he whispers, his chest heaving. “And she said something like that. How am I supposed to just bounce back from that, when all that keeps replaying in my head on a loop is Mac telling me I don’t deserve you?”
My heart aches for him. A sudden, terrifying thought crosses my mind. “H-have you been taking your meds, Mitch?”
“Of course, I fucking have!” he growls, his hands clutching tightly at his hair again as he let out a frustrated groan. “They only do so much, Daniella!”
Without another word, I reach out and gently slid my small hand into his massive, trembling palm. I slowly led him away from the living room and straight into his bedroom. I laid down on the mattress, lightly patting the empty space beside me. He slowly climbs in, pulling me close until his heavy head rested flat against my chest.
“I love you so much, Mitchell,” I whisper into the quiet, running my fingers continuously through his hair.
He let out a long, contented hum against my skin. “I love you too, Daniella.”
----
Sunday was strictly cleaning day for Bear and me. By mid-morning alone, I had already scrubbed my room, disinfected the entire bathroom, and swept the living room floor. Bear, on the other hand, had spent the entire morning lazily stretched out on the sofa, mindlessly watching episodes of How I Met Your Mother.
Suddenly, a sharp knock echoes at the front door. I pause mid-stroke with the mop, setting it against the bucket, and walk over to open it.
Mac stands in the hallway. In her hand, she was holding a cold six-pack of beer.
“Is Mitch home?” she asks quietly. I gave a small nod, swinging the door wide to let her in.
Bear looks up from the couch, his face instantly twisting into a dark scowl the second he recognized her. Without a word, he turned his attention strictly back to the TV screen.
Mac walks straight into the living room, deliberately stepping right in front of the television to block his view. “I came here to say I’m sorry, Mitchell.”
Bear let out a harsh, disbelieving huff. “Sure you did.”
“I am, truly,” she argues, her tone softening with raw honesty. “I was entirely wrong to say what I said. In actual fact, you two are incredible for each other.”
“So then why the hell say it in the first place?” Bear asks coldly, not looking up.
“Because I’m currently on these intense hormonal medications to try and get pregnant,” Mac admits, wrapping her arms around her waist. “And my emotions have been completely all over the place lately.”
“That’s really no excuse, Mac,” Bear says flatly.
“I was jealous!” she confesses loudly, her eyes glossing over. “Not because I have any romantic feelings for you, Mitchell,” she quickly clarifies, glancing at me. “But because I deeply miss having that kind of intense, passionate spark in my own relationship with Darren.”
Bear raises an eyebrow, his gaze dropping to her hand. “Is that beer?”
Mac nods silently. Bear sat up on the couch, patting the leather cushion beside him. Mac walks over, sinking into the seat next to him.
“Do you want to play Call of Duty with me?” Bear offers quietly.
A small, genuine smile broke through Mac’s tears. “I’d actually really like that, Bear.”
“I’ll go throw some lunch together for us,” I chime in happily, glad the storm had passed. They both gave me appreciative nods as I walk into the kitchen. I grabbed a baking sheet, pulling a pack of frozen sausage rolls from the freezer and popping them straight into the hot oven.
“So... what exactly are you on meds for now?” Bear asks from the living room, setting up the console.
“The doctor thinks I’m slowly starting to go infertile,” Mac states quietly over the sound of the game starting up. “Which... isn’t great news, considering Darren and I desperately want to give Natasha a sibling.”
“I’m really sorry to hear that, Mac,” Bear grumbles genuinely.
“It’s fine,” Mac murmurs softly, a tear escaping down her cheek. “We’ll find another way through it.”
“You guys are the best parents,” Bear says firmly, his voice filled with a rare warmth. “You definitely deserve to have more kids.”
“Thanks, Bear,” Mac sobs, her composure completely breaking. Bear reaches out, awkwardly patting her trembling shoulder in a comforting gesture. “God, I’m so sorry I’m being such a chaotic mess today,” she cried.
“It’s fine,” he murmurs awkwardly, clearly out of his element with crying women.
I quickly walk over, stepping in to relieve Bear by pulling Mac into a warm, supportive hug. She buries her face directly into my shoulder, sobbing heavily as her fingers tightly clutched onto the oversized hoodie I was wearing.
It was, of course, Bear’s massive hoodie. And under it, I was only wearing a pair of extremely skimpy, dangerously short cotton shorts. As Mac clutches tightly at the thick fabric of the hoodie, it hitches up my thighs, giving Bear an absolute, unobstructed view of my bare ass.
And he was taking full advantage of it. I could literally feel his intense, burning gaze scorching holes into my skin.
“Mac, you really need to go now,” Bear suddenly blurts out, pushing himself off the couch.
I whip my head around, glaring at him fiercely. “Not yet! She’s upset—”
Mac pulls back from the hug, wiping her tear-stained cheek with the back of her hand, a small, knowing smirk catching on her lips. “It’s totally fine, Danny. Trust me, I know when a man is staring down his girlfriend’s ass.”
“You can stay as long as you need—” I offer.
“No, I’ll be totally fine,” she murmurs warmly, patting my arm. “I want to go catch up with Ying anyway.”
I smile softly at her. “Tell Liv I say hi!”
“I definitely will,” Mac nods.
We share one last quick hug, and Bear even steps in to give her a brief, solid squeeze before she heads out the front door. The second the heavy latch clicked shut, I turn around—only to be instantly attacked by Bear.
Not in a violent way, of course. He drops straight to his knees on the hardwood floor, grabbing my thighs and pressing hot, desperate kisses along the soft skin of my inner legs.
“You are so fucking hot, Daniella,” he whispers against my skin.
Before I could even catch my breath, he stands up, effortlessly scooping me over his massive shoulder like a sack of flour and carrying me straight down the hallway toward his bedroom.
He threw me onto his mattress, his large hands immediately grabbing the bottom of his hoodie and ripping it completely over my head.
I giggle, pulling at the waistband of his trousers. “At the rate you keep tearing through my clothes, you’re going to have to go out and buy me a whole new wardrobe of hoodies, Mitchell.”
“Why on earth would I ever do that?” he growls darkly, leaning down until his lips were inches from mine. I let out a sharp gasp as his thumbs suddenly flicks over both of my hardened nipples through my bare chest. “When you could just be completely naked around me at all times?”
“What, even in public?” I tease, a playful smirk on my lips. “Other men would be able to see me like that, Be—”
I let out a loud, breathless moan as his hot mouth violently descends, clamping over my right nipple and sucking hungrily. Fuck.
“Don’t you ever joke about that,” he growls darkly against my wet skin.
In one fluid motion, he hooks his fingers into my shorts and lace underwear, yanking them both down my legs in a single go and tossing them carelessly across the floor. He didn’t waste another second, burying his face directly between my open thighs, his mouth clamping flush over my swollen pussy lips.
Using that incredible, masterfully trained tongue of his, he began to completely ruin me, licking and thrusting against my heat while his thumb worked in fast, firm circles over my aching clit.
The pleasure was so sudden and intense that I fell straight over the edge in seconds. My fingers dug wildly into his thick hair, my back arching completely off the mattress as a ragged scream of his name tore from my throat. “MITCHELL!!”
But he didn’t stop there.
He stays right between my legs, ruthless and unyielding, eating me out through wave after rolling wave of pure euphoria until I had shattered at least four more times. My entire body was shaking violently, my voice completely shot, reduced to an incoherent, sobbing mess of pure pleasure.
And right there in the quiet of his bedroom, completely overwhelmed by him... I blissfully pass out.