She breaks away gasping, and I bury my face in her neck, lapping at her skin, kissing and hunting for the place that bears my mark.
Mine.
“My mate.”
She moans as I drag my teeth along the spot. “I didn’t know how much I needed to hear you say that.”
“Did I say that out loud?”
Her laughter turns into a gasp when I let her slide lower until my solid erection is pressed firmly up against the seam of her thighs. The only thing that separates us is her panties and my trousers, and even that is not enough to stop her feeling the whole length of me as I rock my hips.
“N-no. I don’t think so. I don’t know. Feels like you wouldn’t need to. I can’t explain. I love that you missed me. That you wantme.”
I lean down to press my forehead against hers, breathing hard. “Ver, I’m sorry. I fucked this up at every chance you gave me. I wish I could have put into words what that night in the cave meant to me. What you mean to me. I was too scared of what it meant and of scaring you away. It was like for once my bear took over and once I’d bitten you and I could see my mark on you and see you full of me I realized you were mine all along, or you were meant to be.”
A sob lifts her chest, and she trembles in my arms. It’s like a goddamn knife to my guts. “Don’t cry, Ver. I’m sorry.” I don’t care if they are probably happy tears. It still rubs up wrong against every instinct in me.
I brush her tears away with my thumb and find her looking at me. Her expression is one I’ve never seen on her face before—shock, awe. If I was a braver bear I might name it love.
“I didn’t want to let myself hope,” she whispers.
I frown.
She’s not finished. “I’ve spent half my childhood hoping and squashing it down, knowing you’d never pick me.”
“Of course I w—”
“Would you hush and listen?” She cuts me off, and I can’t help laughing at my fierce little mate. If anyone ever doubted she has the heart of a shifter they’d only need to see her now.
“I lathered myself in perfume at Christmas so you wouldn’t smell how much I want you. How that never went away. Because I didn’t want you to stop being in my life. I can’t shift. I don’t know what that means for my children or the mate bond or any of that stuff, and I hate the idea of you compromising. I just wanted you around in whatever form I could have.”
I can’t stay quiet any longer. “Vera, I’m not compromising. I meant what I said before; you’re perfect. You’re perfect for me. Shift or no shift, magic or no magic—though I promise you there’s magic. I feel it. It wouldn’t matter. I want you. I belong to you.”
The sigh that leaves her sounds like her soul just left her body. It reverberates through her entire body, drawing a purr from me that blows out her pupils and makes her lips drop open. “Bas, I feel the same. I’m sorry I rejected you before. I should have listened—really listened. Can we make up for lost time now?”
“If you let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for it.”
She trembles, her small body shaking in my arms and her scent flooding the room. “Fuck me.”
I shake my head.
Her brows draw down, and then I see realization dawn on her face. “Make love to me?”
“With pleasure,” I growl, walking in two large strides to the tiny bed to lay her down.
Immediately she’s writhing in my arms, reaching for contact on every part of her body. Somehow I drag myself away long enough to pull the sweater up and over her head. She sits to help me do it, revealing the thin white tank top which is all she has on underneath. Her nipples strain through the fabric, and my mouth waters too much to wait.
I lower my head and suck on them, wetting the material with my mouth, turning it translucent until it barely hides the pink, taut peaks.
I’m on my knees by the single bed, leaning over Vera. My cock throbs inside my trousers, but I don’t dare take him out yet in case it’s over too quickly.
Her back bows as I drag my hands over her waist and down toward her hips. But she still has panties on, and right now that feels absolutely unbearable.
Nudging my beast to the surface, I let my face shift until sharp teeth and claws replace my blunt human teeth and nails. Then I tear the panties right off her body, baring her perfect pussy to me so I can draw in a deep breath and savor the scent.
“Gods, look at you. Look at that hairy little cunt.”
She laughs, but it quickly turns into a moan when I spread her legs and lave my tongue through her slit like I’ll die if I go another minute without her slick coating me.
