Bear the Consequences

by Rochelle Paige

  His body pressed me into the mattress as he captured my lips in a punishing kiss, his tongue tangling with mine. I groaned into his mouth and tugged on his shirt so I could run my fingers over his warm skin. Alasdair broke the kiss and let me drag his shirt over his head. When I saw those tight, flexing muscles, all I wanted to do was lick my way along their ridges. Before I had a chance, he slid lower down my body until his tongue flicked over my nipple.

  “Alasdair,” I moaned, gripping his hair in an effort to pull him closer.

  “Every time I taste your tits, I want to mark you all over again,” he murmured. “Any time we’ve left the house and gone into town, I’ve watched other men as they’ve practically licked their lips staring at these, wanting to be where I am right now. But they’ll never get the chance because they’re mine. Aren’t they?”

  “Yes,” I hissed as he sucked my puckered nipple, tugging until it hit the roof of his mouth. I felt each pull deep in my belly, making my pussy grow damper. Before long, my legs parted and hugged his hips.

  “Go ahead,” I urged. “Mark me again.”

  “My little mate likes to wear my teeth marks on her skin, doesn’t she?” he murmured against my breast before he did exactly as I asked.

  “I do,” I sighed, my pussy clenching tightly as my desire spiked higher.

  “Spread them as far as you can,” he instructed, one hand gripping my knee and squeezing. “Show me how much you want me.”

  His heated gaze flared even hotter as my legs fell open until I was spread-eagle on the bed with the silky material from my drenched panties stretched tautly against my damp flesh. His eyes dropped lower and his lips tilted into a satisfied smirk before he traced his fingertips over my pussy.

  “Please,” I begged, my hips jerking up in search of a harder touch in just the right place to make me come.

  When he bent his head down and ran his tongue along the center of my panties, I whimpered. The feel of his hot breath over the wet fabric had me trembling with need.

  “I could happily roll around in your scent and wear it all day just thinking about this pussy,” he murmured. “But it’s your taste I’m craving right now.”

  It was all the warning I got before he shoved the gusset of my panties to the side. Stiffening his tongue, he flicked at my clit, over and over again, until I was writhing on the bed, my fingers digging into the mattress. I tried wrapping my legs around his head, but he wouldn’t allow it. He kept me wide open for his mouth as he drove me higher and higher, until I couldn’t take it any longer and my orgasm crashed over me.

  “Alasdair!” I cried out.

  “That’s right, princess. Mine is the name you’ll call out every damn time you climax,” he growled before pulling me into his arms. He must have been tired because it didn’t take long before his breathing evened out, letting me know he was sleeping.

  “But you’ll never really trust me, will you?” I whispered into the darkness, my heart heavy. I didn’t need him to answer the question to know the answer. He came to me night after night and took pleasure from my body—making sure he drove me wild in return, but never giving me the emotional connection I craved. The love I’d dreamed of ever since I was a little girl was outside my reach because I fell for a man whose family hates mine. A man who has managed to keep his heart safe from me while stealing mine so easily.

  Chapter 7

  Alasdair

  The schedule I’d been keeping needed to change—and soon. Since I’d found Finley and brought her home with me a few weeks ago, it felt like everyone wanted a piece of me. Meanwhile, the only person I wanted was my little mate, but we barely got to spend any time together.

  I glanced up at the stage. One of the strippers was in the middle of a routine designed to make every cock in the place hard, but I didn’t feel a thing. It wasn’t too long ago when I would have enjoyed a quick fuck with one of the women if they offered—no strings attached sex with no emotional attachment. Then Finley came into my life and I wouldn’t go back to the way it used to be for anything in this world. Just holding her in my arms when I woke up in the morning was better than the release I’d gotten with some random woman before her. Yet, even knowing this to be true, I was still managing to royally fuck things up with her.

  I caught the scent of a feline shifter and my gaze shifted from the stage to find one of our dancers from an out-of-town club strutting my way. A tiger I’d taken to my bed a time or two in the past.

  “Fuck,” I hissed at the seductive gleam in her eye as she stalked toward me with purpose.

  “I heard through the grapevine you have a mate waiting for you at home¸” Katya purred when she reached my table.

  “Then I guess the grapevine gets it right every once in a while. I do have a mate now,” I confirmed.

  She trailed a finger along my collar and I slapped her hand away. “Yet, here you sit, all by yourself.”

  “I’m at work, Katya. Speaking of which, what the fuck are you doing here?” I demanded, knowing damn well there wasn’t a business reason for her to be here—if there were, I’d already know about it.

  “I came to see you.”

  “Shouldn’t you be at work, where you belong?”

  “I am where I belong,” she whispered before plopping down onto my lap.

  I jumped out of my seat, dumping her on the floor. “Have you been drinking or something? Which part of ‘I have a mate’ do you not understand?”

  “The part where I took vacation time to come visit you because I missed you,” she huffed.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I growled. “Get your ass out of town now before you find yourself without a job.”

  “You can’t fire me!” she shrieked. “I’m the headliner for my club. If you fire me, you’ll piss off all your customers.”

  “I don’t give a fuck!” I roared, drawing everyone’s attention. “You know I’m mated, yet you still came in here to hit on me? Jumping in my fucking lap like you belong there? Nobody gets away with disrespecting my mate like that.”

  “Well, how the hell was I supposed to know that?” she demanded. “From what I’ve heard, your little wolf mate hasn’t exactly been welcomed with open arms here. I figured she was fair game.”

  The music had stopped and Katya was practically screeching. The stripper on stage wasn’t done with her whole set and another song should have come on, but apparently everyone was too busy eavesdropping on our conversation to pay attention to what they were supposed to be doing. I swiveled my head to glare at everyone and realized Katya was right. I hadn’t done anything to show the members of my clan or my employees that she was my mate and should be treated with respect. I had assumed it was obvious, but based on the shocked looks on everyone’s faces, I must have been insane to think that.

  “Just so everybody’s clear about this—my mate is not fair game. If you fuck with her, then I’m the one who’s gonna make you pay.” There were quick nods, letting me know they understood me. “Now, get back to work.”

  Katya looked at me, eyes open wide and shock evident on her face. “You love her?”

  “It’s none of your goddamn business. You’re one of our strippers, not my friend. Now, get the fuck gone before you really make me mad.”

  She scurried away from me, making it to the door just as it opened and Braden walked inside. When he glanced around the room, everyone finally had the sense to look away before the music started up again. His eyes locked with mine and I knew he could see the rage on my face. My bear was fighting for control, wanting to go after the feline who dared touched me. He was pushing hard for me to make her pay for the disrespect she’d given our mate and I was having one hell of a time pushing him back.

  “Looks like I missed all the fun,” Braden drawled as he took the seat across from me. “Katya always did like to stir up trouble.”

  “That little bitch had the nerve to plop herself into my lap and proposition me even though she knew I was mated to Finley,” I growled.
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  “Damn,” he whistled. “Why the hell would she think you’d be okay with that?”

  “Because apparently everyone around here had their fucking heads up their asses and thought I didn’t take my mating seriously.”

  “Shit, man,” he swore. “That’s not good.”

  I rubbed my hands over my face in frustration. “It’s not like I can even blame anyone but myself. I haven’t exactly been shouting from the rooftops how damn proud I am that she’s my mate.”

  “In your defense, we didn’t see any happily mated couples up close and personal growing up,” he replied.

  “That’s the thing, Braden. She did,” I stressed. “No matter what we might think about her dad, he raised her in a home where she saw that happy crap every day of her life. She grew up expecting a mate who would treat her the way her dad treated her mom. Instead, she ended up with me stumbling my way around in the dark trying to figure out how the hell to show her she means something to me—everything to me.”

  “Yeah, well, if that’s true, I’m sure she’ll cut you some slack. She seems like the forgiving sort.”

  I leveled him with a glare. “And how the fuck would you know if she’s ‘the forgiving sort’?” I snorted. “You and Camden don’t hang out at our house. You guys have made it crystal clear that your time with me is guy time and you don’t want her around.”

  He pounded his fist on the table. “Don’t fucking blame this on us, Dair. You’re the one who mated her. Not Camden and sure as hell not me.”

  “That’s what it comes down to, doesn’t it? You guys can’t get past the fact that she’s her father’s daughter,” I said tiredly, feeling like I was waging an uphill battle with my family—even within myself, if I were honest.

  “I know it’s not her fault,” he offered, “but every time I look at her, I picture Annora growing up and needing help but not getting it.”

  “Do you think that’s why dad’s been out of town so much the last few weeks?”

  Braden shrugged his shoulders. “It’s either that or council business and you’re the one he talks to about that shit.”

  “Not so much anymore. I feel like he’s trying to distance me from it.”

  “Maybe he’s more bothered by Finley than he’s letting on,” Braden sighed.

  “You’ve always been the glass half empty brother,” I joked. “Here I was hoping he was cutting me out of council business so I wouldn’t be involved in order to protect my mate.”

  “It’s possible,” he conceded. “I’ll talk to him about it and let him know I’m available to pick up the slack now that you’re mated.”

  “Thanks, bro,” I sighed, relieved to cross one thing off my list of responsibilities. “It means a lot to me.”

  “And how about we plan a family dinner for this weekend? Give us all a chance to get to know Finley a little better?” he offered.

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “It’s not like I volunteered to be tortured or something,” he scoffed. “Besides, it’s about time I got to know my new sister-in-law. I’ve been slacking on my duties and it’s about time I pulled my head out of my ass and treated her the way I’d want you guys to treat my mate...if I ever manage to find her.”

  “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you even hint at wanting a mate.”

  “Yeah, well,” he sighed. “It’s not like we talked about fated mates much growing up. After everything that’s happened, I finally understand why dad told us the basics and never pushed for us to look for our mates. But after seeing how happy Annora is with Parker and watching you find Finley, I wouldn’t mind finding some of that peace for myself.”

  “Peace? You clearly haven’t been listening to a word I’ve been saying tonight,” I grumbled. “I’ve been fucking up left and right with Finley.”

  “Then why don’t you go home now and make it up to her? I’ll cover for you here,” he offered.

  “I owe you one,” I tossed over my shoulder as I raced for the door, wanting to get out of there before he had a chance to change his mind. Maybe if I got home soon enough, I could even catch my little mate before she fell asleep.

  Chapter 8

  Finley

  The loneliness was starting to get to me more than anything. Three weeks had passed since Alasdair took me as his mate. Staring at the full moon shining so brightly in the night sky, I finally let go of the hope I’d been holding onto that he wanted me the way I always dreamed my mate would. If we were human, our relationship would have scared the crap out of me. I would have felt like we were moving way past the speed of light. But for shifters, three weeks was more than enough time for the mating bond to fully take hold and for Alasdair to want to go through with the claiming ceremony. Heck, if we’d both been wolf and the timing was different, our claiming could have even happened the same day as the mating. But it didn’t, and that damn full moon just kept taunting me!

  Mating was different for each group of shifters, but there was no possible way Alasdair wasn’t aware of what tonight would have meant to me as a wolf. His sister was mated to one and he’d been there for her claiming ceremony—the one that happened on the first full moon after her mating because that’s how it worked for wolves. Yet, here I sat, staring up at the moon shining in the night sky, all alone while my mate took care of urgent business.

  Suddenly, it was all too much for me to bear. I crawled into our bed, pulled the blankets over my head, buried my face in Alasdair’s pillow, and pulled his scent deep into my lungs. Overcome by sorrow, I sobbed wildly until I finally drifted to sleep.

  I heard Alasdair's steps on the stairs and glanced at the clock, noticing only a few hours had passed. Rolling over to my side of the bed, I turned away from the door and pretended to still be asleep. I wasn’t strong enough to face him right now.

  It didn’t take long before Alasdair climbed into bed beside me. “You asleep, my little mate?”

  Wrapping his arms around me, he pulled me into his body and nuzzled his face in my neck. Then he placed a gentle kiss on my lips, his tongue tracing lightly over them. I let out a little snore and breathed deeply, hoping he wouldn’t guess I was awake. When his scent hit me, a red haze clouded my vision as my wolf snarled in my head.

  “You came to my bed, the one you share with me, with another woman’s perfume on your skin?” His body froze above mine and I hurried to continue. “I can taste the vodka on my lips. So, which was it? Did you get trashed at the club tonight and cheat on me? Or did you have to drink enough alcohol so you could even stand to come home to me?”

  “Finley—“

  I cut him off. “I accepted our mating before I even knew your name. Your marks are all over my skin, and I wear them proudly. My home, my friends, and my family are hours away because I followed you here expecting us to build our family, our life. During the last three weeks, you haven’t done one single thing to bring me into your life outside of this bed. And, now, you’ve betrayed my trust.”

  “Finley, I know I’ve fucked up with you since you’ve been here, but I swear I didn’t do anything to betray you tonight. I never have and never will,” he swore.

  I knew what I smelled on his skin, but there he was, looking at me with honesty and conviction shining from his eyes. “How can I believe you?”

  “Do you honestly believe I would want hamburger when I have steak at home?” he joked.

  I paced away from the bed and stared out the window, not wanting to look at him anymore. “That’s your response? Seriously?”

  “No, Finley. That’s not my response,” he sighed before coming to stand in front of me and sinking to his knees. “I’m sorry, but it’s hard for me to believe you think I could want someone else when you’re waiting for me here at home. You’re my mate. The only woman I want.”

  “I need you to want me for me!” I yelled. “Not just because I’m the woman fate stuck you with.”

  The feelings I felt for Alasdair were so intense, need wasn’t a strong enough w
ord for it. I craved him, and it was killing me to know he didn’t crave me right back. He couldn’t possibly. If he did, he’d never be able to leave me so easily each morning. If he felt the same way, he’d call me throughout the day just to hear my voice. He’d want to spend time with me, getting to know me inside and out. It wouldn’t just be about sex. And after the last three weeks, I felt like that was all he really saw when he looked at me: the mate he wanted to fuck.

  “I’ve never wanted anyone this way before,” he growled, rising to his feet. “I don’t just want you, my little Finley. I need you so badly that I’d do just about anything in order to have you.”

  “Anything?” I cried, turning away from him and taking a couple steps toward the door before I turned back to face my mate again. The hurt inside me was building and I wanted to lash out. I wanted to make him feel some of the pain he’d given me. “How can I believe you when it feels like you’ve done nothing to show me you need me since I’ve been here?”

  “Don’t even think about running from me. I won’t let you get away,” he warned.

  My wolf whined in my head, feeling my confusion. My heart was torn between my desire to flee—to let my wolf run free and howl our misery at the moon—and my need for my mate. “My wolf is faster than your bear.”

  “Maybe,” he conceded, “but I’d never give up.”

  “Why?” I whispered. It was so hard to believe what he was saying. None of his actions since finding out who I was fit with what he was telling me now. But hope leaped back to life in my heart and I yearned for it to be true.

  “I need you,” he answered roughly as he marched toward me and wrapped his hands around my arms. “To hell with the reason.”

  When he yanked me against his body, I felt his hardness. My legs clenched with need and my mouth opened to him, allowing his tongue to push past my lips. I was always on a razor’s edge of need around him, and apparently, it didn’t matter whether I was hurt, angry, or frustrated. As our bodies collided, the need only spiked higher, until I didn’t care why he wanted me. I just needed him to take me.