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Warmth flowed over me as he moved his mouth over mine. My body finally ceased shaking, and I leaned up, wrapping my arms around his neck as our kiss deepened. The longer his tongue tangled with mine, the calmer my mind became and the more relaxed my body was. Even my sprained ankle wasn’t hurting much anymore. I guess I hadn’t hurt it as badly as I’d first thought, which I was grateful for.
When he broke the kiss, he kept his forehead against mine for a moment. Then he rose to his feet, keeping me in his arms as he moved. “Right, we’re out. Thank you for your help earlier, brothers.”
I didn’t bother trying to keep up with the men’s conversation as they continued speaking. I’d been so cold, my body shaking, that now that I was warm and calmer, I wanted to stay that way. Shifting my arms a little, I buried my face in against his throat, closed my eyes, and breathed in his musky scent. I allowed it to soothe me even further. I didn’t understand the effect he had on me, but right now, I didn’t care about the why, just that it was working. I’d worry about the rest later.
****
Neo
Jolie’s warm breath against my neck had me tightening my grip on her. I wanted nothing more than to strip her down and check over every inch of her for injury before I got inside her and claimed her as my own. All three of my brothers were smirking at me as they watched my mate nuzzle her face in tight against my skin. Despite only relieving her mating burn last night, she was deep under its spell again already. My heart swelled at the knowledge she was willingly taking comfort from me.
With a final nod to my brothers, I strode out the door and started walking toward my house. All four of us had our homes within walking distance of the business, something I was grateful for right now, because it meant I didn’t need to put my mate down to get her home. And that’s where I was taking her. My home was also her home. She just didn’t realize it yet. She would soon, though. Real soon.
I was still on edge from having to deal with her bastard of a foster father, and with her comment about thinking I was done with her earlier, I was hanging on by a thread. She had no fucking clue how much I wanted her, how much I would always want her.
Clearly, avoiding her this morning had been a mistake. I had been intending on finding her after work to talk to her about everything. It was just that I didn’t get that chance with what happened. No matter, we’d be discussing it all now. And now that her foster father was dealt with, she had no reason not to settle down. Hopefully. One of my questions for her was about the man she’d married. Was he out there waiting to come get her too? Her foster father had said he’d dealt with the man, but I wasn’t sure what that meant. I didn’t know him well enough to be sure he meant he’d killed the other man.
Once inside my house, I moved to sit on the lounge, keeping her on my lap. She was still rubbing herself over my neck and as much as I loved the fact she was rubbing my scent all over her face, it was distracting as all get out.
“Babe, we need to talk, and I can’t do that with you doing what you’re doing.”
She stilled, her whole body going rigid against me.
Before she could say a word or misinterpret what I’d said, I manhandled her until she sat straddling my legs, our faces now level. “Don’t take me the wrong way, Jolie. I want nothing more than to strip you bare, check every inch of your flesh for injury, and then fuck you senseless, but we need to talk before that can happen. If you keep teasing my neck like that, we wouldn’t get any talking done.”
That earned me a smirk, and some of the tension seeped from me. She was already recovering from her rough morning enough to smile.
“You said you have questions, and I can only imagine how many. How about I start with explaining about my vanishing act this morning?”
She gave me a nod as I ran my palms up and down her jean clad thighs.
“Obviously, being a bear shifter, I’m not like a normal man. There are things that happen for us that don’t for full humans. One of those things is the dreams that often happen after the first time we sleep with our mates. As in actual sleep, not sex. Last night was the first time you’ve allowed me to fall asleep beside you. Tell me, Jolie, what did you dream about last night?”
She winced and dropped her gaze away from mine for a few moments as her hands came up to play with the buttons on my shirt. “I dreamed of you growing up. And bears. Which seemed really strange at the time, but I guess in light of earlier, not so strange after all. Are you telling me that I wasn’t really dreaming but seeing your memories or something?”
“It’s an ‘or something’. But yeah, you saw images from my life. And I saw images from yours. I got ahellof a crash course on you, babe. It fucking broke my heart what you’ve been through, and it had my bear going fucking nuts wanting blood on your behalf. I woke before you and had no clue how to talk to you about any of it, so I snuck out and avoided you at work this morning. I had intended on grabbing you after work and explaining everything. I wasn’t going to freeze you out for long, babe. I just wasn’t capable of treating you the same way as before after I’d seen what you’d been through.”
Her gaze flicked up to mine, eyes wide in shock, showing clearly that my words had hurt her.
“Fuck. I didn’t mean it like that, Jolie. I mean that I didn’t think I could talk to you and not mention it. I was already protective over you, but after that dream, you have no idea how much I want to keep you locked away where you’d always be safe. Tell me, Jolie, is that bastard you married coming to look for you too? What did your foster father mean when he said he’d taken care of him?”
She shook her head as her fingers opened a few of my buttons then ran inside and against my chest. “I’m guessing Trent’s dead. That’s generally how he dealt with people who pissed him off. And if he’s not, I doubt he’ll come looking. He only wanted me as a wife to give him children. When he found out I couldn’t give him that, he told me he was going to annul our marriage. If he’s still alive, I doubt he’s even thought about me once since I ran.”
I could feel the tension in her body. She hadn’t wanted me to know she couldn’t have kids. I shifted to cup her face in my palms and lift her gaze to mine. “You’re not sterile, baby. You’re my mate. That means you can only have young with me.”
She stilled, running a curious gaze over me for a few moments. “I’ve had one hell of a day so far today, Neo. All of this shifter stuff is a lot to take in. I don’t know what to believe, whether you’re telling me the truth about this.”
I moved my palms from her face, down her body and thighs, before moving back up and going under the hem of her shirt so I could touch the smooth, soft skin over her ribs. I enjoyed the hell out of the shiver that ran through her when I did. “Jolie, I willneverlie to you. I’m your mate, and we will have cubs together without an issue. Just as soon as you let me claim you, that is.”
“Cubs?” Her voice went high-pitched on that one word, and I fought to hold in my chuckle.
“You’ll have babies, sweetheart. Adorable little human babies that when they turn one will start to shift between their forms.”
“And me?”
I didn’t pretend not to understand what she meant. “When I claim you, it’ll set off changes within you and you’ll become like me.”
Panic rose within me when the color drained from her face and she shook her head.
