Chapter 35
Kodi
When we finally reach my favorite spot, Anya is nearly asleep on my back. My bear walks in a few circles and plops down in the snow. Waiting. It’ll be any minute now.
From where she still lies on my back, Anya runs her fingers through my fur earning a purr from my bear. She hums in happiness just as a tiny spark of color bursts across the sky.
Anirniq. I get her attention and pull her from the brink of sleep.
“Hmm?” she grumbles. My girl has been enjoying her holiday rest, but I’ll have to risk her wrath for this.
You’ll be mad if you miss this, I say teasingly. She wiggles and raises from where she's lying on my back.
Just as she stretches her arms above her head and her eyes peek open, the very beginning of steady streams of color begin to splash across the sky.
I move my bear into a seated position so that she gracefully slides off my back, landing on her feet, keeping one arm rested on me as I lie in the snow, curling my body into a semi-circle, making myself comfortable.
Get the backpack and grab the blankets. One for you to sit on, and one for you to cover up with.
The smile that overtakes her features fills me with pride.
Mam also packed a thermos of her hot cocoa for you.
If I thought her smile was radiant before, the look on her face that my mother did something for her has my heart clenching in my chest as her eyes fill with tears.
Join me, I plead with her through the bond. She sniffles but nods and moves toward me, laying the thicker blanket on the snow-covered ground before settling in on top it, scooting into my body, and covering herself with the fluffier blanket covered in pink Christmas presents.
“Are these the northern lights?” she asks quietly as if she could scare the natural phenomenon away like a skittish fish.
It will be. Those little flashes of color are only the beginning.
As we wait, she sips on her hot cocoa, and we enjoy having a quiet moment to ourselves after the busyness of our trip so far. My mind also wanders to thinking about my recent retirement. If she wants to, maybe we could move here . . . home.
As the thought crosses my mind, the intake of Anya’s breath catches my attention and draws my eyes to the sky; to one of my absolute favorite things about being home.
The northern lights overwhelm the sky.
Ribbons of sparkling green light dance across the entirety of the sky above us. They shimmer, arc, and sway, pops of blue and pink glowing within the green.
Anya scrambles out of her little alcove of my body and positions herself in front of me with tears now streaming down her face. “It’s not a mermaid truck!”
I’m glad I’m not in my human form because laughing your ass off when your woman cries is a big fat no-no, but that’s exactly what I do.
No, Anirniq, it’s not a mermaid truck.
“Kodi, this is so beautiful. The lights. Your family. Your home. This town.” She keeps crying and kissing me between her words. Something just clicks, and I know we can find a way to come home.
Unable to stand not touching her any longer, I shift back into my human form, relishing in the frigid temperatures around us as I grasp onto her and overtake her mouth with mine.
I break away from her for just a moment to adjust the thick blanket on the snow and gently lay her on it before leaning in to devour her mouth once more.
“This wasn’t part of my plan . . . just so you know . . . you’ll be the first woman . . . I’ve kissed beneath the lights.” I don’t know why it’s important for me to tell her that between kisses, but it is.
She kisses me harder, arching into me when she breathes, “I want to be the first and only woman you make love to beneath the northern lights, Bear.”
Groaning against her neck, I maneuver us so that her legs are straight, toes pointing towards the sky and I tug her leggings enough to reach her wet center. I move my hand to circle her clit, but she barks and stops me.
“No. I need you. Now. Please.” And who the hell am I to tell her otherwise?
Lining myself up, I sink into her, torturously slow, making sure I feel every single inch of her heated core. “Feels. So. Fucking. Good.” I pant through gritted teeth.
Her cries are carried away on the light breeze as I bottom out and find a steady rhythm that makes her clench around me.
With the stars twinkling, the northern lights blazing, and the moon hanging in the night sky, every fiber of my being feels complete. I have my mate. I’m home.
“I love you so fucking much,” I say through harsh breaths.
There are tears in her eyes again, but I know they’re from everything we both feel catapulting through our bond between us. She doesn’t answer me, but nods furiously, before another moan overtakes her and she throws her head back.
Feeling her body begin to twitch like it does before her climax, I find her bundle of nerves once more, massaging it with my thumb while keeping a steady pace when she screams my name.
I follow her into climax, not knotting her this time because I don’t want her to get too cold out here in the tundra.
When the high of release wanes, I shift back into my bear to keep her warm, as she pulls and tugs her leggings back over her perfect ass.
“How long will they last?” she whispers into the night like she wasn’t just howling her pleasure around us, but I won’t call her out this time.
It could be minutes, or it could be hours. I didn’t check the full radar expectations.
“Can we stay until it ends?” Her voice once again sleepy but clinging to her consciousness.
We can stay as long as you like. And she has no idea how much I mean those words.