"What if you don't? What if this is exactly what both of us need?"
"You're either the bravest person I've ever met or the most reckless."
"Can't I be both?"
Despite everything, he smiles. It's small, barely there, but it transforms his whole face. Makes him look younger, lighter.
"Yeah," he says with a smile. "You can be both."
And then he's kissing me again, slower this time, like he's savoring it. Like he's allowing himself to believe this might actually be real. I kiss him back and try not to think about how my whole world just tilted on its axis.
How yesterday I was a travel vlogger who thought she knew how the universe worked.
And today I'm standing in a cabin on a mountain, kissing a bear shifter who might just be my fated mate.
Life is weird.
But also?
Life is pretty damn good.
Chapter 10 - Rhett
I'm kissing her and it's everything.
Her lips are soft, yielding, but also demanding. She kisses me back with an eagerness that makes my head spin, her fingers digging into my shoulders hard enough to leave marks.
I don't care. I want her marks on me. Want evidence that this is real, that she's choosing this, choosing me.
The bear is purring so loudly I can feel the vibration in my chest. It's content in a way I've never experienced: not in combat, not in isolation, not ever. This is what it's been waiting for. What we've both been waiting for without knowing it.
*Mate,* the bear rumbles. *Ours. Mine. Perfect.*
I break the kiss long enough to trail my mouth along her jaw, down her neck. She tilts her head back, giving me access, and makes a small sound that goes straight to my cock.
Fuck. I'm already hard, have been since the moment our lips touched, and every little noise she makes just makes it worse.
Better. Makes it better.
The bear stirs, pushing forward. Not aggressively, not violently, but with purpose. With need.
*More,* it demands. *Want more. Need more. Claim her.*
Claim.
Not just kiss, not just touch. The bear wants to claim her in the most primal, irreversible way possible. Wants to mate with her, bind her to us completely, make her ours in a way that transcends any human concept of relationship.
My cock throbs at the thought, straining against my jeans, and the bear growls its approval.
I step back abruptly, breaking contact.
Autumn makes a sound of protest, her eyes flying open. Her lips are swollen, her cheeks flushed, her breathing uneven.
"What's wrong?" she asks, reaching for me.
I catch her hands before she can touch me again. If she touches me right now, I won't be able to stop.
"The bear," I manage, my voice coming out rough, almost guttural. "It wants more."
