by Moxie North
“If you need to get away from life, I will always find you a safe place to rest. I promise you that.” He wrapped his hands around to her stomach and pulled her against his chest. Resting his head on her shoulder he held her. Giving her the future staring out the window with her. All the possibilities, all the support physically and mentally he could show her.
Quinn couldn’t help but rest her head back against his shoulder.
“Damn, you make this feel good,” she murmured.
“Why wouldn’t it? If you knew how much I’ve been holding back so that I wouldn’t overwhelm you, you might truly run away. I can smell you, your shampoo, your perfume, even the brown sugar from your breakfast. You’re warm, soft, and the most amazing thing I have ever touched in my life.”
“Stop, I’m here, you don’t have to woo me.”
“That’s where you’re dead wrong. I do need to woo you. Every minute, of every day, for the rest of my life. I won’t ever let you forget how loved and cherished you are.”
Quinn twisted in his arms and put her hands up to his chest trying to give him a little shove that didn’t move him even an inch.
“Rain, you can’t just say you love me. It makes what I’m feeling seem wrong, like it’s a lie. You can’t love someone that quickly.”
“My animal says different, Quinn.”
Quinn stared up at him and saw his eyes grow bright like they had that night in the hallway and at breakfast. Except this time they got even brighter, the edges taking on a glowing gold color. The shape of his irises enlarged, his eyes appearing bigger.
She heard herself gasp, the sight in front of her was not her imagination or a trick of the lighting. It was otherworldly, a sight that wasn’t something she had seen outside of a movie. Rain was still there, but another being had come into the space between them. Another entity was clearly making it a threesome in the expensive hotel room.
“I—what?” she heard herself whisper. Her breath had caught in her throat, it was dry and she felt like her limbs were going numb. The same sensation she got whenever she looked down from a great height. It was that instinctual reaction that was an accumulation of all of her nerve endings firing in a warning to run.
Rain’s voice when he spoke was different, deeper, with a rumble that trailed off at the end of his words. “It’s still me, Quinn.”
“That doesn’t explain who you are,” she said, her voice still hushed. Quinn was surprised that she could even speak. Her body was screaming RUN! Her mind, the part of her that loved the puzzles of the universe, had to know so she stayed.
“I’m Rainier Rochon. I’m a senior at UW, and I’m also a bear shifter.”
“I’m sorry, a shifter?”
“An animal shifter, Quinn. I have two souls living inside me. Ever since I was conceived I’ve been together with him. We’re one with each other. Two souls and two bodies.”
Quinn shook her head; it was the only response she could give him. What he was saying didn’t make sense. It wasn’t possible, and it wasn’t anything close to what she thought he would be sharing with her. There was so much she didn’t understand in the world, it was big and confusing, but there were rules. People were people and animals were animals. There weren’t werewolves and bogeymen. Those were fairytales.
“You can see me—us, right now, Quinn. We’re real, and I wouldn’t have risked showing you if I didn’t think that you could believe in me. I get one shot in this world to find my true mate. My family, everyone that is together with their partners, are bonded for life. They all have loves that keep growing and growing. My parents are more in love today than they were yesterday. I’ve been waiting for that my whole life.
I was ready to wait decades until I found my One. Instead, I found you now. We have our whole lives to live together and I know that freaks you out. I get it, really I do. It’s huge and not something you should have to decide at twenty-one. But I don’t get a choice. You’re the one and only for me and there will never be anybody else. I know that I will love and cherish you until the day I die. It’s more than love at first sight.”
Quinn thought for a second to push him away. Instead, her fingers gripped his gray t-shirt. “I don’t understand that. I’ve never felt that before. I’ve never been in love, Rain.”
Rain reached up and cupped her face, smoothing his thumb over her cheek. He stared at her for a long moment. He sighed when he said, “I’ve never been in love either. But I don’t have any doubts about what I’m feeling and I know how fucking lucky I am that I don’t have any doubts. I want you to get to this place. I’m willing to wait for you to join me here.”
“Rain, what if I don’t understand what I just saw. You said that you’re a bear. That’s just words and honestly, it sounds crazy. Still, I saw your eyes and I can’t explain that rationally. I’m a little more freaked out about the love stuff than the sci-fi action going on in your eyes.”
Rain smiled at her, it was a look of understanding, love, and compassion. “Give me a chance to love you, Quinn. I won’t let you down. I can’t. My animal won’t let me. He wants you happy, he wants you safe and secure.”
Quinn gave him a nervous laugh. “I have a guy that says he loves me and also that there is a bear involved in that decision. For the record, like a bear, a real four-legged, hide your food when camping, bear?”
“A real bear. A big brown grizzly bear actually. He really wants to meet you.”
There were more questions than answers for Quinn. Without a clear starting place for her mind to grasp on to, she felt like she was having an out of body experience.
Needing some space, she pushed against his chest again and this time he let her go but followed her slowly as she walked away from him.
Quinn walked over to the couch and sat down on the edge of the cushion. She rubbed her palms over her knees in an attempt to get some tactile grounding. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Rain was inches away from her, but she couldn’t look at him. The desire to sort out her thoughts was even stronger than the strange pull that drew her eyes to him. Her brain went fuzzy and she felt too good just seeing him close by. No, this wasn’t a time to allow that seductive pull of what was easy to take over.
“Say I decide to believe you. What does that mean for me?”
Even though she didn’t want to look at him, she didn’t have a choice when he squatted down in front of her. He took her hands in his and turned them over, placing a warm kiss in each palm.
“It means whatever you want it to mean, Quinn. It means you can keep your life plans exactly as they are now. You can graduate, start your career, be the world’s most amazing social worker and make a difference. If you accept me, it just means I get to come along for the ride. I get to see you reach all your goals. I get to celebrate with you and remind you every day that you earned everything you’ve accomplished. There doesn’t have to be any negatives to this, just positives. I’ll be the lucky bastard that gets to stand proudly at your side.”
“And sex?”
“Well, I’d really hope for there to be sex. I mean, I am a man. But I hope that someday you can make the final leap with me. You’ll choose to bond with me forever, and we’ll live happily ever after like some terrible movie where we walk slowly into a sunset.”
“You really don’t know women, do you?”
He gave a chuckle. “No, I really don’t. But I don’t need to know women, I just need to know you.”
Quinn let out a sigh. She caught her lower lip between her teeth. Run and hide or stay and play? It was a tough call when there was so much riding on it. She wasn’t a bitch and she didn’t want to hurt Rain’s feelings by rejecting him. She wasn’t cruel, and truth be told, she wanted him... at least physically. His smell, and his size, made her think of all sorts of hot and naughty things.
“So—a bear?”
Rain’s lip twitched and he glanced down at her hands that were resting in his. He stared for a minute and when he looked up, that glow was back in hi
s eyes. Quinn felt something warm and hard against her palm. Glancing down she saw a long black claw sticking out from the tip of Rain’s finger. It was at least four inches long and very, very real. This was no trick.
“That’s fucking crazy,” she gasped.
“It is. I can’t deny it. It’s normal for me, but it’s not for you. It will take time. You don’t have to meet him until you’re ready. Just trust me that neither of us would ever do anything to hurt you. We love you, Quinn, you’re our heart from now on.”
“Damn you. Why is everything so different with you? I like how you smell. How fucked up is that? I feel safe with you, like nothing bad can happen when I’m with you. I think about you when you aren’t around. Actually, I obsess about you and it kind of pisses me off.”
“I’m sorry about that. I don’t want to cause you any kind of distress.”
“It pisses me off because I’m afraid to let you in, Rain. I’m afraid to even get used to you a little and have to deal with the outcome of you not being there anymore. I’ve had enough loss in my life. I don’t like it, it hurts.”
Rain brought his hands up to her face, the long bear claw was gone. “How do I get you to understand how devoted I am? My cousins have all mated to humans, well most of them. Their partners are happy; they are just as bonded to their partners as full shifter pairs. I’d have you talk to my sister-in-law, but she’s nuts and might talk you out of loving me just for the fun of it.”
“She sounds like someone I would like.”
“Oh, I have no doubt about that. What if I can arrange a meeting? Maybe just my brother and his mate. No big family thing, just them. Maybe it will make you feel a little more secure.”
Quinn lifted her finger up to run it along the softness of Rain’s lower lip. “You should be a politician. You can be very convincing.”
“It’s easy to be sincere when it’s the truth,” he said, his voice low and deep, before flicking out his tongue to lick the tip of her finger.
Quinn gasped because that one touch of his tongue against the pad of her finger made her pussy clench.
“Damn, you are going to be trouble for me,” she whispered.
“I really hope that’s not true. I don’t want to be trouble; I want to be your future happiness.”
She leaned forward and rested her forehead against his. “You are trouble, Rain Rochon, but you might just be the kind I need.”
Chapter 24
He was aware the possibility that his impetuousness of driving her to a hotel room could have backfired on him. She could have kicked him in the balls and left. She probably should have considering everything that he had just laid out for her. The bear, the love, the future, it was like he had dropped a Mentos in a bottle of soda and hoped for the best.
When he showed her his eyes he had waited for a scream. With his claw he expected that there would be a fist flying in his direction. Instead, at every turn his mate absorbed what he said, who he was, and she stayed. It was like Cash had said, she was meant for him. She wouldn’t reject who and what he was.
Rain would have been fine if they had used the hotel room for a private dinner and talking. The couch was comfy, the view was spectacular and it would still have been the best night of his life.
Instead, his mate, always keeping him on his toes, leaned over and touched her lips against his after saying he was going to be trouble for her.
He’d hesitated, if only for a moment. He wanted her too badly not to respond to her kiss. It was soft, sweet, and she tasted like all of his favorite things wrapped into one person.
The kiss started soft and hesitant. Rain wasn’t going to overwhelm her any more than he already had. So as he was planning how he was going to control himself, he wasn’t prepared when the soft hesitant kiss from Quinn turned into something much hotter and intense when she brought her hands up to the collar of his shirt and pulled him between her legs.
Rain wrapped his arms around her waist and took over the kiss. His tongue swept into her mouth as he breathed her in. Letting her scent coat him and sink into his pores. Her hands were on his neck, then tangling in his hair. She was making a mewling noise that had his cock straining against his zipper.
His bear wasn’t helping either. The only thought he was providing was, “Finally.”
Or maybe that was his thought too. Such a short time had passed, yet it felt like he had been waiting forever to have her in his arms. Now that they were alone in a room together and she had come willingly to the hotel with him, he felt a twinge of nerves.
Quinn was moaning and her breathing was rapid and he wanted to slow things down. Mostly for his sake, but also because this was not some quickie in the back seat of his dad’s car. This was the first time he would see his mate naked. The first time he’d be able to touch all of the softness that was her. It was a series of moments that he wanted to replay over and over for the rest of his life.
“Sweets, we can slow down. We have the room until we check out,” he said between kisses.
“That just means we can do it more than once,” she murmured as she continued kissing him.
“This is important to me and I want to make it important for you.”
She leaned back from him a bit and looked into his eyes. “I’m sorry, I forgot. You’re such a good kisser I forget that you haven’t done this before. No pressure or anything, don’t think I’m keeping score or comparing you to anyone.”
“You know by saying no pressure, that it could make pressure? I’m actually not worried about it. I already know you are perfect for me. That means in this grand scheme of fated mates, that I’m perfect for you, whatever that might be. If I feel like I’m lacking in experience, I can make up for it by showing you how much I love you.”
He saw her eyes get bright for a moment then she took a ragged breath. “Wow, now I’m feeling the pressure. I’m not sure what I feel, Rain. I know it’s something, I’m just not sure what to call it yet.”
“You don’t have to call it anything, just feel it. Give it the time to grow into something bigger for you.”
“I can handle that,” as she said the words her face relaxed as she leaned towards him, her eyes sliding closed.
Rain took that as a big shining green light to go ahead. He wanted to take control, pick her up and take her straight to the bed and spend an inordinate amount of time taking her clothes off. Then spend maybe an hour or two just running his hands over her body, learning every line, every curve until he had committed her to memory.
There was also the other side of him that wanted to strip her bare, and fuck her until he couldn’t see straight then mark her inside and out with his cum and his bite.
That probably would ruin the progress they had already made. He was thanking the Fates that they were as far along as they were. Every move seemed to bring him closer to the bonding union of him sealing his souls to his mate’s.
“Quinn, do you trust me?” He asked after he’d kissed her so hard that he had to break away to get a breath of air.
He saw her hesitate and it didn’t hurt so much as make him determined to remove all future doubt from her heart.
“Yes, I do, Rain.”
“Good,” he said, placing a small kiss on the tip of her nose.
Rain stood up and then scooped her into his arms. Her hands came around his neck and held on. His eyes stayed on hers as he carried her over to the bed and placed her in the middle. Instead of climbing in after her, he walked over to the thermostat and adjusted the temperature up a few degrees. Then he moved over to the console that was along the wall and opened a cabinet door and pulled out a couple of bottles of water.
He handed her one. Her eyes were on him like she was trying to figure him out.
“It’s just water unless you want something else,” he said to her.
Rain watched her eyes drop to his lap and he felt his dick twitch. Quinn’s eyes came back up to his.
“That’s a loaded question, Mr. Rochon.”
“I’m at a bit of a loss here. I know what I want to do, I’ve been dreaming about it since I met you, but I also don’t want to overwhelm you.”
She laughed lightly. “You think you’re going to overwhelm me? Maybe I’m concerned about the same thing. I don’t want this to be bad for you. It seems like this is a little... monumental for you. ” Maybe she should have avoided any references to monuments. She didn’t want him to think her expectations were that high.
“Quinn, it’s not monumental because it’s my first time ever. It’s important because it’s the first time with you. Nothing could be more important than that.”
“Then kiss me so we can stop debating it.”
She said it playfully, but it was definitely more of an order. Rain didn’t mind, he figured your average male would be over-thinking this moment. He was, but then again, so was his bear. Two opinions on what they should do were hard to drown out.
Kissing Quinn that was an easy thing to do. Kissing her made him feel like he actually had a grasp on the world swirling around him. Nothing mattered when he had her taste, her breath in his mouth, making him feel like he’d just conquered an army. School, graduating, even his clan came so far down the list compared to her.
Rain loved that the moment he kissed her, she started to moan. It was like she couldn’t help it. His bear he realized was keeping up a low rumble in his chest. As he leaned over her on the bed, he crawled over, careful not to put all his weight on her.
His hands started moving over her, feeling the firmness and curves under her clothes. He let his hand slip under the edge of her shirt, his thumb brushing the soft delicate skin.
“Rain, are you going to drag this out? For real?”
Rain leaned down and placed a kiss on the two inches of skin he’d revealed at her waist before looking up at her. “Yes.”
He heard her moan in frustration, then in annoyance when he went back to place open mouthed kisses along her waistband.
Pushing her shirt up, he revealed more skin for his mouth to explore. The sweet sounds coming out of her drove Rain on instinctually. The stroke of a finger, the touch of his lips, and the slide of his tongue was all led by her. Rain had pulled her shirt off with Quinn removing her bra before he could even think of figuring out the catches.
