“What brought you to this great realization?”
He looked uncomfortable for a minute, then chuckled. “Honestly, I realized I’d been a dick almost immediately. I’m not so clueless that I can’t tell when I’ve been talking out of my ass. But I was still confused. I really did believe that stuff I told you, about brown bears not mating the way other shifters do.”
“Then what changed your mind? Because obviously you feel something if you’ve admitted there’s a bond between us.”
This time he actually squirmed while he hesitated.
“It was my mother,” he finally mumbled.
Annie blinked. “Your mother.”
“Yeah. She came to see me this afternoon, and she told me a story I’d never heard before. About her family, and the aunt I never knew.”
Annie listened while Jonas related the tale his mother had shared with him. She couldn’t imagine going through that kind of trauma and feeling that the nature of her own inner beast was to blame.
Lupines could play pretty rough, and they held on to some pretty primitive behaviors of their own. Mate hunts, in particular, drew a little too deeply on the feral wolves inside them for Annie’s taste. But in general, she’d never feared her beast, and never really worried about losing control of it. Not to the extent where she thought it could kill someone and leave her with no remorse for what they had done.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “For your mom and your grandparents. For your aunt’s mate. That’s something no one should have to go through.”
“I know. But that’s what shaped the rest of my mom’s life, and our entire clan. Hell, it shaped most of brown-bear society from what I can tell. Once the story spread, it really hit home with our kind. Almost all the clans ended up adopting the same kind of no-tolerance policies toward loss of control that my parents did. So what started out with my mom really did become an ‘all brown bears’ kind of thing.
“But the point was never to deny the mating instinct. They just wanted to keep control even under the influence of such a powerful emotional state. Keeping your cool became so much a part of them and of the clan that we started to think we didn’t feel the same things other shifters did. When the truth was, we felt them even more deeply.”
Annie slid her arms around Jonas’s neck and drew him to her in a long, tight hug. “Control is a good thing, especially for a shifter. We shouldn’t ever forget how strong we are, or what we’re capable of when our animal instincts are aroused. But we also can’t forget that we’re living, breathing people, and we deserve to feel our feelings. All of them, good and bad.”
“You’re right.” Jonas buried his face in her neck and returned her embrace, holding her as if she was the center of his universe. The most precious thing in his world. “I found that out the hard way. I couldn’t stop what I was feeling for you. And after a while, I stopped wanting to try.”
“Good.” Annie pulled back to smile at him, letting the joy she felt at being in her mate’s arms shine through her expression. “That means there’s room for you to want something new. What’s it going to be?”
His eyes bled to bear, irises expanding until no more white was visible. Annie felt her belly clench, low and tight, as her wolf responded.
“There’s only one thing I want now.” His voice came out in a low rumble that made her press her thighs together. “And that’s you. Mate.”
Chapter Eleven
Annie felt her jaws aching, her fangs wanting to descend, to prepare her for marking her mate. Judging by the heat in his molasses-dark gaze, she wouldn’t be surprised if Jonas was fighting the very same sensation. But there would be time for that later.
Right now, she was alone with her mate—her acknowledged and willing mate—for the first time, and Annie wanted to explore. She wanted to touch him, to taste him, and she had no intention of denying herself. Not anymore.
This time, she initiated the kiss. She leaned in, savoring the anticipation, keeping her eyes open while she brushed her mouth against his. Once, twice.
The third time, she sank in. Her eyes drifted closed, her lips parted, and she drowned in the decadent flavor of her mate.
Jonas groaned into her mouth. His arms tightened around her, crushing her to him. Annie reveled in it. As far as she was concerned, she couldn’t get close enough to him. Especially not with all the clothes that still separated them, skin from skin.
Her fingers flew to the buttons of his shirt and ran into the maddening barrier of his tie. A snarl escaped and she yanked at the knot, making the silk whisper as it slid fast against itself. In seconds, she tossed the offending fabric aside and attacked the placket of tiny fastenings that held his shirt closed.
He returned the favor, tugging at her cotton blouse until the material gave with a loud rrrrrrip. Brushing the fragments away, he stroked his hands over her bare sides until she shivered with the intensity of her arousal.
She gasped against his lips. “Want.”
He grunted in agreement. His deft fingers flicked open the clasp of her bra, then let her shrug out of it while he dispensed with his shirt and jacket. Scooping her into his arms, he stepped out of his shoes and left them behind with the rest of the debris as he began carrying her across the room.
Annie pulled back from devouring his mouth just long enough to frown at him. “Where are we going?”
“Bed.”
Oh. Okay, then.
She dove back into the kiss, letting him worry about things like walls and doorways. She had better things to do, like running her hands all over the heavy, rippling muscles of his back and shoulders. The power he commanded gave her wolf a fierce satisfaction. They had mated a strong hunter, a dangerous predator. He would protect them and their pups against any possible threat.
He was worthy.
Annie cared less about that and more about the way those muscles made her want to trace the dents and bulges with her tongue. She could imagine the salty flavor of his skin, and it made her mouth water. She needed that taste on her tongue. Needed him.
Jonas carried her into a dim room lit only by the moonlight that streamed in through the multiple windows. She didn’t bother trying to see the décor, no matter how good her night vision might be. All she cared about was that the room had a bed.
Her mate laid her on it, then spent an instant ridding them of the rest of their clothing before he climbed in above her.
Her arms and legs parted in welcome. She felt him settle between her thighs and shivered at the overload of sensation. His skin felt hot and rough against hers. His weight pressed her into the mattress, pinning her beneath him. She reveled in it.
He loomed over her, nearly blocking out the light, but she had no trouble seeing his face. He wore an expression almost savage in its intensity, and all of it was focused on her.
“Mate,” he growled, and Annie responded with a feral grin of anticipation.
“Then take me.”
He leapt to the challenge.
Hard hands closed around her wrists, yanking her arms above her head and locking them in place. His chest settled over hers, his weight a restraint that foiled any attempt she might make to elude him. As if she weren’t exactly where she wanted to be.
She strained to get her hands free, not because she intended to fight him, but because she wanted to touch him. She wanted to feel his skin beneath her hands, wanted to feel his muscles flexing as he moved above her. She wanted everything, every single possible sensation, and she wanted them all right now.
It drove her crazy that her mate had gotten this far, had brought them together, naked and pressed tight together, and all he was doing was kissing her. Long, lazy, drugging kisses that both consumed and provoked her. She couldn’t get enough of his taste, the feel of his hot mouth and wicked tongue, but she needed so much more. She needed him inside her.
Whining with frustration, she bucked her hips against him. When he failed to respond properly, she curled her legs around his hips and tried to use th
eir strength to maneuver herself into a better position. Meaning one that lined his cock up with her aching, empty pussy.
He chuckled against her and moved with more of that unexpected speed. Before she could gasp, he shifted his grip and weight and flipped her effortlessly onto her belly.
“Ah ah ah,” he breathed into her ear, stirring her hair into another teasing touch. “Bad girl. No rushing.”
Annie snarled into a pillow and writhed beneath him, but her mate was too strong. He secured her easily, barely seeming to notice her struggles. While she was squirming and trying to free her hands so she could get them on him, he pressed her into the mattress and began to drag his mouth across her burning skin.
Her eyes nearly rolled back in her head.
His lips and tongue teased her, tracing the long column of her spine. Down one side and up the other. Teeth dragged across the edge of her shoulder blades until her breath sobbed out of her in desperate bursts. When they scraped, then closed around the nape of her neck, something inside her snapped.
So the bear thought he could have it all his way, did he? Her wolf begged to disagree.
He might have thought this position would give him greater control over her, but he’d forgotten something very important. Placing his mate on her belly only put her in the perfect position to tempt their beasts to the surface.
Annie let herself go boneless beneath him. Immediately, Jonas relaxed his grip, accepting her surrender. Sucker.
She didn’t bother trying to jerk her hands free. The renewed struggle would have only resulted in his quick and fierce response. Instead, she wiggled her hips and undulated slowly beneath him, stroking his body with hers. She felt his erection grow even thicker against the cheeks of her ass and knew she had him.
It didn’t take much effort to pull her legs to the side until she could brace her knees against the mattress. With his weight pinning her, she still didn’t have much leverage, but a little was enough. All she needed was to lift her ass against his hips and mimic the position of a submissive mate.
“Please,” she whimpered.
Her voice sounded breathless and a little desperate. She had no need to fake either, but she felt his entire body harden in response.
“Mate. Please.”
This time, Jonas was the one who snapped.
He reared back, releasing her wrists so he could grab her hips and yank them back until her weight rested mostly on her spread knees. She didn’t bother pretending to struggle, and used her newly freed hands to position herself in front of him. Head down, ass up, palms braced against the cool cotton sheets.
Her mate wasted no more time. Bracing himself behind her, he leaned over until his chest draped like a blanket of coals across her back. Once again, his breath fanned her skin as he growled into her ear.
“Mine.”
He entered her with a single thrust. She threw her head back and howled her pleasure, every nerve in her body buzzing with joy. Her mate. Her male. Joined with her, one body and one soul.
At that moment, though, her body had her attention.
She shoved back against him, needing to feel him moving inside her. She felt desperate for the friction of his cock stroking within her. With a snarl he began a heavy, driving rhythm that had her gasping and straining under him. She tried to meet his thrusts, but the position limited her movements, and she found herself unable to do much more than to take him. To clasp him with her body and feel herself drowning in sensation.
He pressed against her back, breath panting in her ear, and braced his hands beside her head. She felt surrounded by him, enveloped by him. He filled her body and her senses, and it still wasn’t enough. The tension in her belly drew tighter and tighter, but she needed more to throw her over the edge.
“Please,” she begged.
Her mate growled and increased the speed of his thrusts until she couldn’t keep track of his movements or the powerful waves of pleasure buffeting her senses. Their skin was slick with sweat, and her muscles trembled with the effort of holding herself in place. She couldn’t take much more.
“Please.”
“Mine!”
His hips snapped hard against hers, burying himself high and deep inside her at the same instant that his fangs struck. They sank into the base of her neck, piercing the skin and marking her forever.
Mated.
His.
Bonded.
Annie let out a long, ululating howl as she splintered apart and tumbled into ecstasy. She felt the pain of the mate bite, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he had claimed her. They had claimed each other.
And they remained joined, bodies pressed together as they collapsed into blissful sleep.
Epilogue
Waking with an armful of warm, soft woman could definitely convince Jonas of the benefits of being mated. As could having his mate turn to him the instant she opened her eyes and wish him the best good morning he’d ever experienced.
In fact, it was such a good morning, he almost needed another nap by the time she finished.
Instead, he cuddled Annie to his side and simply savored the feel of her in his arms. His mate. Had those words really seemed so terrifying such a short time ago?
He snorted.
“What’s the matter?”
Annie tilted her head back to look at him. Her eyes remained heavy-lidded with sleep and sensual satisfaction, and her hair draped over the pillow in a wave of coffee-colored curls. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Absolutely nothing,” he said, and leaned down to steal another kiss. Several very pleasurable minutes passed. Yet more evidence in favor of mating.
In other words, additional proof that he really had acted like a flaming asshole.
“You know,” Annie said, tracing a pattern on his chest with the tip of a slender finger. “You never did let me give you my preliminary report.”
Jonas frowned. “What report?”
She snorted. “My report on your clan’s population issues. You remember. It’s the reason why we met in the first place. You needed my expertise to solve your complex fertility problems.”
“Oh. Right.”
Jonas felt a trickle of embarrassment. What could he say? He’d been a little distracted. He cleared his throat.
“So what did you find, Dr. Cryer?”
“You mean other than the fact that your clan doesn’t have a fertility problem?”
He pulled back to stare down at his mate in shock. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, it’s like I tried to tell you before I was so rudely kidnapped.” She grinned at him and shifted away to prop herself up against a pile of pillows, tucking the sheet up over her breasts. “While recent studies have shown that matebonded couples produce more children than nonbonded couples, since you brown bears do, in fact, mate like other shifters, that shouldn’t have too much bearing on North Lake’s situation.”
“Then what does? I told you, none of the bears in my generation have produced any cubs yet. Not one.”
“But that’s just the point. You’re bears,” she emphasized when he continued to stare at her. “Regular brown bears have the slowest reproductive rate of any land animal in North America. Aside from the musk ox. Females don’t breed at all until they’re between four and nine years old. Based on life expectancy, that’s roughly equivalent to over thirty for a bear shifter.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Annie rolled her eyes. “Think about it, Jonas. You’re only thirty-six. How many of the female bears in your generation are much over thirty themselves? They’re just now coming into their reproductive years. I’d be shocked if any of them had managed to have cubs by this point.”
Jonas shook his head. “But—”
“Besides which,” his mate continued, “they have a female bear’s unique reproductive tricks to deal with, which might be something we could address if it really becomes necessary down the road.”
“Honestly, do you know nothing about your own species’ breeding habits?” she teased. “Female bears delay embryonic implantation after mating and fertilization occur until they achieve the ideal conditions for pregnancy. If those conditions aren’t met, implantation might not occur at all. With normal bears, that means until they’ve accumulated enough fat to carry them through hibernation. But with bear shifters, it would be any number of things—proper nutrition, low stress levels, secure finances or relationships. That’s what we could address, if the females wanted it. We could use drugs to encourage implantation regardless of outside circumstances. As long as adequate prenatal care is provided, it shouldn’t cause any issues.”
His mind blown, Jonas tried to deal with the idea that his concern had never been a concern at all. “But what about the lower birth rate in the previous couple of generations?”
Annie pursed her lips. “Well, I have a few theories about that, but I don’t see any reason to be all that worried at the moment. I have a feeling that since the adoption of greater emphasis on control and civilization among your clans there may have been a slight reduction in the percentage of matebonded pairs, so that could have had some effect.”
A wave of relief threatened to wash Jonas under. His clan really would be safe, and he had a certified genius around to ensure it.
He tugged her back against his side and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Honey, this is amazing news. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“I might have an idea about that.” She grinned and sent her fingers climbing up his bare chest. “Which brings me to the final part of my theory.”
Already distracted by his mate’s touch, Jonas just hummed and leaned down to nuzzle her neck. “Hmm, really.”
Annie shivered. “Yes, really. Inbreeding.”
“Inbreeding?” Jonas jerked back to frown down at his smirking mate. “You’re calling the brown bears inbred?”
“Well, if the chromosomes fit . . .” She giggled at his expression. “Okay, so inbreeding is an extreme term, but you said it yourself, sweetie. Brown bears keep separate from other bears. You might say you’re too different, but the truth is, I think you could use an injection of new blood into your gene pool. There really is such a thing as hybrid vigor, you know.”
Something to Howl About Page 7
