Chapter 8
BEXLEY
Her use of “us” gave me hope that she was asking because she could already see a future as my mate. I cupped her face gently and held her gaze. “It means I’m yours, and you’re mine. We have a bond that won’t break.”
A thread of uncertainty flickered in her eyes. “Not even with distance? I’m supposed to fly home tomorrow evening.”
I hated the thought of her leaving so soon, or at all. But nothing would keep me from my mate.
She looked away like she regretted saying it, but I tilted her chin back up so she could see how confident I was as I promised, “Now that you know what I am and who you are to me without running screaming out of the cottage, we’ll figure that out.”
“I guess it’s good I didn’t go with my first instinct when you said you were a shifter then,” she teased.
“Fuck, I want you so damn much.”
I hadn’t meant to say that, but she was just too tempting.
She swallowed, her breath catching. “Bexley, can I—?”
Her hand lifted, hovering in the space between us, waiting for permission.
I lowered my head a fraction. “Anything you want from me, little one.”
Her breath shivered out of her as she closed the space, her fingertips brushing the side of my throat. A soft sound escaped her, and my vision went white at the edges. Keeping my polar under control was getting more difficult.
I locked my jaw. “Rowan.”
“Hmm?” Her fingers slid higher, brushing my jaw, exploring me like she couldn’t stop herself.
“You’re going to undo me.”
Her smile was shy, but her eyes had darkened to green with the need burning in them. “Maybe I want to.”
“You’re playing with fire,” I warned, doing my best to ignore my hard-on.
“Maybe we can burn together.”
She moved closer, her knee bumping against mine, and one of the last tethers on my control snapped.
I should have held the line and backed away, putting a safe distance between us. But Rowan rose onto her toes, and her lips grazed mine. The rumble up my chest wasn’t human.
I kissed her slowly at first, savoring how she sighed into my mouth. Her hands tightened in my hair, and the kiss deepened, growing almost desperate.
She pulled back only enough to breathe against my lips, “Don’t hold back.”
My vision narrowed to her. “You’re making it damn near impossible to go slow.”
Her hands slid up my chest, hesitant at first, then bolder when I didn’t move away. Her fingers curled into my shirt, pulling me toward her.
I kissed her until she was breathless, melting into me completely. Until instinct roared to take her to the floor, lay her beneath me, and claim her in every way a mate could.
But I forced myself to break the kiss, panting against her mouth.
“Rowan,” I rasped, pressing my forehead to hers. “Tell me if you want me to stop.”
Her fingers tightened in my shirt. “I don’t.”
And with those two words, my control finally shattered.
I groaned into her mouth, my hands sliding to her waist to pull her flush against me.
This was the desire every mated shifter talked about in hushed tones. I was finally feeling it, all for Rowan.
“Baby,” I rasped against her lips, trailing kisses along her jaw and down the delicate column of her throat. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”
“Hopefully the same as you’re doing to me.”
I tugged her down to the nest of blankets on the floor, catching myself on my forearms so I didn’t crush her as she spread out on her back beneath me. She arched underneath me, her hands roaming my chest, shoulders, and back, as though she couldn’t decide where to touch first.
I kept kissing her, hungry but unhurried because I didn’t want to miss a spot on her curvy body. I tasted every inch of her neck, collarbone, and the soft skin just above her sweater. She smelled like something uniquely Rowan, made just for me, and it drove my bear wild.
“Wanted this since even before you walked into my restaurant,” I murmured, my voice rough as I tugged her sweater up and over her head.
Her bra was simple cotton, pale against her flushed skin, and the sight of her bare stomach made my mouth water. “Had to fight my polar just to keep from dragging you behind the grill and claiming you right there.”
Her breath hitched, and her eyes widened. “I didn’t even know I could feel like this.”
I paused, letting my thumb trace the edge of her bra. “I know, baby. Neither did I. Not until you.”
Her pretty blush spread across her chest, but she didn’t look away. Instead, she reached behind herself, fumbling with the clasp until it gave, and her bra fell away. I groaned low in my throat at the sight of her perfect breasts, her nipples already tight from the cold and the heat between us.
“Beautiful,” I breathed, lowering my head to circle one stiff peak with my tongue.
She arched with a soft cry, her fingers threading into my hair. I sucked harder, loving the way she trembled beneath me. Then I moved to the other side, lavishing it with the same attention.
My hand slid down her stomach, my fingers dipping beneath the waistband of her leggings. She lifted her hips without me asking, letting me peel the fabric away along with her panties until she was bare and glistening in the firelight.
I sat back on my heels for a moment, just drinking her in.
The curve of her hips, the soft swell of her thighs, and the slick heat between them called to me like a beacon.
My bear roared, demanding I taste, claim, and fill her sweet pussy.
But I wanted this to be perfect for my mate.
Rowan deserved more than for me to rut her like my animal wanted. At least for her first time.
I reached for the honey I’d used earlier, the bottle warm from sitting near the fire. Dipping two fingers into the golden liquid, I trailed them across her collarbone, watching her shiver as the sweetness dripped down her skin.
“Bexley,” she panted.
“Shh, baby. Let me taste you.” I leaned down, licking the honey from her skin in slow, deliberate strokes.
She moaned, her back arching, and I followed the trail lower, painting sticky lines across her breasts, stomach, and the sensitive dip of her navel.
Every inch I licked clean, I kissed, nipped, worshipped.
When I reached her core, I paused, letting my breath ghost over her damp flesh. “You’re so wet for me already, baby.”
“Please,” she whimpered, her thighs trembling. “I need more.”
I didn’t make her beg twice. I dragged my tongue through her drenched pussy in a long, slow stroke, groaning at the taste of the sweet honey mixed with her arousal. She cried out, her hips bucking off the floor, but I pinned her gently and spread her wider so I could feast.
I licked and sucked, circling her clit with firm pressure, then plunged my tongue inside her tight channel to fuck her with deep strokes. When she started shaking, I added a finger, stretching her gently and curling them to find that spot that made her gasp my name.
“Come for me, baby,” I growled against her, sucking her clit hard. “Let me feel you fall apart.”
She shattered with a broken cry, her thighs clamping around my head as her release flooded my mouth. I drank every drop, licking her through the aftershocks until she was trembling and boneless, her hazel eyes glassy with pleasure.
But I was nowhere near done.
I kissed my way back up her body, letting her taste herself on my lips as I settled between her thighs. My cock throbbed against her slick heat, aching to be inside her. “You still with me?”
She nodded, her fingers digging into my shoulders. “Yes. Please, Bexley. I need you inside me.”
I reached between us, guiding the head of my dick to her entrance. “Gonna go slow, baby. Tell me if it’s too much.”
I pressed in inch by inch, groaning at the tight, perfect heat enveloping me. She gasped, her nails biting into my back, and the sting made me even harder.
Instead of pulling away, she lifted her hips, taking more of me until I felt her tiny flinch when I breached the proof of her innocence. Then she held still until I was fully seated.
I stilled, letting her adjust while I kissed her softly. “You okay?”
She nodded, a small, dazed smile curving her lips. “Better than okay. You’re huge, but the stretch feels incredible.”
I started moving then—slow, deep rolls of my hips that felt instinctual even though this was all new for me too.
She moaned as her legs wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer. Her voice trembled with need as she whispered, “Harder. Please.”
I gave my mate what she wanted, thrusting deeper and faster. She met me stroke for stroke, little cries falling from her lips every time I bottomed out.
With my polar urging me on, my pace turned feral. “Gonna fill you so deep. Put my cubs in you and keep you forever.”
Her eyes went wide, then fluttered shut as another orgasm built. “Yes, please, Bexley!”
I reached between us, my thumb circling her clit in tight, relentless strokes. She shattered again, clenching around me so hard I saw stars. I followed with a roar, spilling deep inside her, marking her from the inside out.
We collapsed together, sweat-slick and panting, my arms wrapped protectively around her. She nuzzled into my chest, and I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
My mate was safe in my arms, sated and warm. For the first time I could remember, my bear was at peace.