“I don’t have much time,” he growled. “There’s issues with my clan. My brother is giving me problems.”
She bit her lip and nodded. “Then you better get started with the groveling.”
TWENTY-TWO
Cassie let the water drip down her back. She caressed her belly roll and grinned. A baby. She’d been wanting children for a while now. Especially since she got to hold little Avery.
It was like her life was finally going where it needed to be. Even if she hadn’t been expecting it. Not really. She’d been on birth control since she was a teen and it had never failed her until now. This was surreal.
Talen had gotten her pregnant on a one-night stand and then after he sent someone to tell her she was nothing but sex, he decided to show up and assume she’d just fall at his feet. Idiot.
She leaned her head forward under the spray and tried to imagine what her baby would look like. Would it be a boy or a girl? Would he or she have Talen’s fair skin or her darker one? Would he or she be grumpy or fun loving? The image of a little girl like Avery popped into her head. Then one of a little boy with Talen’s eyes and her no-nonsense attitude.
A pair of hands grabbed her from behind, caressing her back and sliding down to her hips.
She whirled around, sputtering water and wiping her eyes to glare at Talen.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?”
He raised his brows. “No. Why would I be?”
“You’re in my shower,” she said matter-of-factly. “I didn’t invite you in here.”
“You want me in here with you, Cassie. You miss me, my mate.”
She tried to shove him back but there was little room in the tiny shower. “You have your own room. Go take a shower over there.”
“I’ve missed you. I have dreamt of holding you for the past few days.”
She snorted. “Yeah. Right. Tell me why you’re really here, Talen.”
He cocked his head and pursed his lips. “I’m here because you’re my mate. I want you. I want you by my side and I want our offspring with both of us.”
She tried to stay angry but she wasn’t used to arguing with a naked man while she was naked as well. It was taking her out of her anger zone watching his abs tighten and his arm muscles shift. “Put some clothes on!”
His lips lifted into a naughty grin. “Why?”
“Because…because I can’t argue with you when we’re both naked.”
He nodded and instead of turning to get out of the shower, he came closer, taking over her space and curling one hand around her slick waist and cupping her neck with the other. “I don’t want to argue, mate. I missed you.”
No. She wouldn’t fall for that one. “Talen, this isn’t the time or the place--”
He dipped his head and cut her off, taking her lips in a sweet kiss. Had he been rough or wild, she might have had an easier time pushing him away, but as it was, her heart fluttered with the swipe of his tongue over her lips. He met her gaze and pulled back enough to let her grab a breath of air. “I missed you so much. Let me show you.”
She gulped back the desire wrecking her thinking ability and making her belly churn. She should send him to hell and ignore her body’s basic needs, but she wanted him and she wanted them on better terms. He was her child’s father. She didn’t want a hateful relationship with him. Not when she still had the hopes of something flourishing between them. It was stupid, but she couldn’t stop the hope.
She leaned forward, giving him her response with her lips. She curled her arms around his neck and grazed her nails over the back of his neck. God. He was so soft, his skin so warm and smooth. She was taken by surprise when he curled his hands around her ass, palming both cheeks and picked her up. Her legs immediately went around his hips. He pressed her back against the tiled shower wall, water pounding over both of them.
She couldn’t wait. She slid a hand between them, guiding his cock into her entrance and met his gaze.
“Please,” she murmured.
She might not want to want him, but she did. Right now, all her thoughts strayed from being angry to being his again.
He took her lips and dove his tongue into her mouth at the same time he drove his cock into her sex. He held her firmly against the tiled wall and grasped the back of her shoulder with his other hand while he fucked her. She felt the moment his fingers shifted into claws and the sharp points dug into the back of her shoulder.
He growled something that sounded a lot like “mine” between kisses. Her heart fluttered wildly with each of his driving thrusts. Her body beckoned for more. More of him. His cock. His delightful possession of her.
It went on, the warm water fell over them as he continued his scratching of her shoulder and fucking her like the end of the world was near. Maybe it was. At this point, she couldn’t find it in her to care.
She clung to his neck, kissing hard and rough. His hips pulled back and drove in at a speed she couldn’t keep up with. Her back stayed pressed on the wall while he filled her with his cock.
“God,” she moaned the one time she gasped for breath.
“Your welcoming heat is driving me crazy. I can’t hold on much longer.”
She shuddered at the intense pleasure that suddenly took hold of her. The orgasm had been unexpected. It rocked her hard. His drives slowed until he held stiff, his shaft thicker and bigger than before. Streams of semen filled her. She felt her body grow boneless and was glad he had her securely in his arms.
He carried her out of the shower, still firmly inside her, to the bed. He lay with her on top of him and draped a long towel over her back. Her long wet hair was pushed to the side.
“Give me a chance.”
“A chance for what?” She worried what he truly wanted because she knew he could hurt her more than he knew.
“To prove to you we can make things work. You’re not alone. Baby or no baby, I want to be with you.”
It took her a moment of debating but her heart was telling her to stop worrying so much and give the shifter a chance. She had never dated one of his kind and he might prove to be a better man than those in her past.
Plus, her hope was he was being honest because she wanted them to give their baby a family. A happy one. She would never chance it if she thought he might not be there for the right reasons.
“One chance, Tal. Prove to me you’re here for me and not to get your way and we might be able to make things work out.”
“I won’t let you down.” The conviction in his voice brought a smile to her face. She hoped he didn’t. She really hoped.
TWENTY-THREE
Talen took Gerri’s words to heart. He was going to show Cassie how much he cared for her. He spent the night learning the “Internet” and searching for ideas to please his mate. He should have listened to Dylan but he’d been too pressed for time to learn anything about Earth females. Now he had to work with what he learned on their old style information network. Everything would be a surprise for his love.
She’d agreed to give him a chance to show her how much he truly cared for her and that he would make an effort to show a relationship could work for them. Not just sex-based, though they had that well under control.
Bundled in winter warm apparel, Cassie parked in the community center’s parking lot. Talen hurried out of the passenger seat to open her car door. He’d learned a lot about “dating” and “how to make your woman orgasm multiple times.” Most of it he already knew, some things about romance were new to him. Other stuff would come in handy for later. Especially the sections on battery operated toys.
Due to a learning curve on map reading, they were late for their first outing. Talen took Cassie’s hand and hurried her down a hallway past children in various areas. Toddlers playing on padded floors with toys. One older group looked to be rehearsing for a play.
Coming upon a woman at a table outside a closed door, Talen said they had signed up online. “Hurry, take this,” she handed him a blue rolled up mat, “a
nd take the first open spot. Enjoy and congratulations.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Talen opened the door and rushed Cassie inside to the coat corner. They made such a commotion arguing about who was taking her coat and gloves off, the speaker cleared her throat from the front of the room.
Spread out across the room, pregnant couples sat on small blue mats on the floor. Cassie snapped her head to face him. “Talen, what exactly did you search for online?”
“Events for pregnant women,” he said with pride.
Cassie groaned then laughed, taking his hand and finding a vacant spot. After watching a video of a live birth, Talen thought he was going to be sick. His opinions on childbirth and mates changed. He would be the first of his clan to attend the birth of his child. All males would follow his example.
A couple hours later, Cassie helped a dizzy Talen to the passenger’s side of her car.
“Let me do all the breathing when the time comes. We don’t need you passing out again,” she said while she started up the engine. A hearty laugh erupted from her.
Talen smiled to himself, after swallowing more bile. Females gave birth all the time on Aurora.
Did none of the males attend their child’s birthing? He’d have to check with Alyx since he had three children. The birthing process worried him. Would Cassie have a lot of pain like the women in the videos? He didn’t like the idea of his mate in pain.
Sitting in the car, waiting for the heater to warm, Cassie was almost too afraid to ask. “So, Talen, what’s next?”
“I have purchased tickets for a thing called a movie.” Cassie let out a sigh of relief. “Movies were highly rated on date sites. Many comments referred to ’making out.’” A zing of heat raced to her core. That would just be the beginning.
Inside the dark theatre in the Southline Mall, Talen sniffed the piece of popcorn between his thumb and finger. “I much prefer the little chocolate drop to this dry thing. It sticks in my teeth.” The lights dimmed. Talen jumped up looking for danger. Cassie pulled him down and tried to hold back a chuckle.
“Talen, shhh. Sit down. It’s fine. They have to turn the lights down to see the movie.”
He slowly lowered to his seat, growling at those staring wide-eyed at him. She felt a little bad that he was so concerned about something as laid back as a movie theater. Twenty minutes later, she told herself she should have known better as she walked a few steps ahead of Talen, headed down the mall. “I’m sorry, love, but no one fights with glowing colored sticks.”
She huffed. “I’m fine with that. It was your insistence of convincing everyone in the theater, they had issues with. Plus they didn’t appreciate your constant demands to turn down the sound.”
“Your delicate ears can be damaged. The only thing that loud on our planet is a dragon roar during battle.”
Cassie stopped and spun toward him. He was so close that he bumped into her, grabbing her arms before she hit the ground. “My mate, you must be careful. You carry our heir. You must be tired.” He hefted Cassie into his arms. “Let us sit and rest.”
“Talen, put me down. You’re embarrassing me.” He carried her across the wide aisle separating one side of the mall from the other.
“Don’t worry. It’s my pleasure to take care of you. It’s my responsibility.”
“Stop, right there.” Cassie wiggled, but Talen held tightly until sitting on a bench, she on his lap. “Talen, first off, stop calling me ‘my mate.’”
“But you are, my mate, love.”
“Says who, beside you?”
Talen looked confused. “I don’t understand? We are born that way. It is not up to you or me to decide if we are mates. Gerri told me you might not understand, but I don’t really know how to explain it to you. That’s how it is on our planet. Our animal knows.”
“That’s just it. I don’t have an animal to tell me who’s perfect for me. I have to do it on my own. And I have chosen wrong in the past; so wrong that my life was turned upside down. I won’t let that happen again.”
“When we get to my planet, I will always protect you. There’s nothing you will want for. You are my priority.”
She huffed out a frustrated breath. “You can’t assume I’m going with you.”
“Then I will stay on this planet.” The assurance in his voice scared her into looking at him.
She spun to him. “Oh, no you’re not. You have a clan to run.”
He blew out a sigh. An intense feeling of loss slammed into her. Her heart broke. But these weren’t her feelings. She knew how she felt. These were someone else’s feelings. Someone who was sad and bewildered at the same time.
Is this what Talen felt for her? Was she somehow able to feel what he was feeling? If she was, he was not just sad, he was unsure how to proceed with her and wanting to do things to make her happy. Those were the strongest feelings she got at that moment. Great, she was not just pregnant, she was also delusional.
“Look, Talen. I admit I feel more than just attraction for you.” Okay, a lot more, but she’d start with that. She eyed a snack food restaurant across the way. “Let’s get a hot dog and talk where it’s quieter.”
Inside the small eatery, Cassie picked a booth while Talen got the food. He sniffed then scowled on his way to her. “Do you know what this meat smells like?”
Cassie put her hands up and waved them, along with a head shake. “Don’t tell me. I want to enjoy them still.”
“You should be safe. Under the chili, cheese, relish, mustard, and onions, the smell is covered.” His brow went up. “Still, I’ll watch you to make sure nothing harms you from this meal.”
TWENTY-FIVE
She scowled back. “Yeah, yeah. Just give it here. I’m starving.”
They ate in silence, Cassie not knowing what to say. She wanted Talen, but was afraid of all the change that would follow, along with the consequences for a wrong decision. Especially now. Dear god. Now she had a child to think about. If that didn’t send her into an instant panic attack she didn’t know what would. A child that depended on her to make the right choices for him or her. She couldn’t fuck up now.
“Talen, why did you leave the castle that next morning? Why didn’t you stay with me?” Dammit, she shouldn’t ask, but she really wanted to know. That morning she’d felt so much and him leaving had really hurt her. Then the fact he sent someone to remind her it was just sex had stomped any feelings blooming in her heart for him.
He sighed and took a moment before he answered. Was he preparing a lie? Thinking up an excuse to make it seem she wasn’t just a booty call. But that was all she was after, wasn’t it? Fuck, she was so confused.
“I had a situation at home that needed my attention. I planned to come back after you had awakened, but I was badly injured—”
“Injured? Talen, what happened?” Her belly flipped and she now wished she hadn’t eaten. The image of him bleeding and hurt tore at her insides.
“I hoped to not worry you with this. But there are no secrets between mates. My brother Paxten is sabotaging everything I do. I believe, no, I’m damn sure he wants control of the clan, but he won’t do what’s required to earn that position. He’s angry and resentful, and has caused conflict in the clan. Conflict we haven’t had in the time I’ve been in charge.”
“What kind of conflict?”
“The moment I woke beside you that morning, I was the happiest I have ever been in my life. I had you in my arms and we would be together forever. But my brother, who was under guard at the castle, escaped. He’s turned my world to hell since I’ve been leading the clan. I had to find him before he hurts someone like Bella or the babies.”
Cassie sucked in a hard breath. “He wouldn’t dare. Alyx would skin him alive.”
“I couldn’t take that chance. I went home and found the clan office being torn apart by three who followed Paxten. His delusional ideas are popular amongst the younger clan members. When I approached, they attacked me and my second-in-command.”
Pain entered his eyes. She saw the love for his people shining through the sadness. He had a huge heart, strong heart. Maybe he did care for her like he claimed. Maybe this could work. Hope started to grow in her wary heart again.
He looked at the half eaten meal, burying his eyes from her sight. Cassie lifted his chin to meet his eyes. “You had to protect yourself, Talen. Put any ache out of your mind. I see why you had to leave. You made the right choice.”
It made sense now that he left.
“I came back a few days later, after my healing sleep, but you were already gone.“ Cassie put her finger over his lips.
“I understand.” And she did. He hadn’t wanted to leave her. But what about that guy? So at least she knew she hadn’t been just a one-night stand. Was there a future between them? That was another story. “I have put everything together from Gerri introducing us to why you are here now. You don’t have to be here, baby or not. But you are. Even leaving your people in possible danger.” He sighed and nodded.
“I must get back, Cassie. But I’m not leaving without you. If you won’t come home for me, then do it for our cub. Let our clan doctor look you over to make sure everything is normal and on schedule.”
That made a lot of sense. There went her argument over not going back with him. Her doctor wouldn’t know a thing about birthing a baby bear. “All right. I will go with you. But just to see the doctor.”
A wide smile brightened Talen’s face. “You got it, my love.”
TWENTY-SIX
“You’ve made a wise decision, Cassie.” Gerri was pleased Cassie was leaving with Talen, even if it was only for a couple days. “I’ll be here when you return.” Cassie hugged her friend tightly and took Talen’s hand.
Moments later, Cassie was on her knees, throwing up her lunch on a foreign planet. Talen held her hair to the side and rubbed her back. “I’m sorry you don’t travel well through the portal, love. I’ve heard it takes time for humans to acclimate.”
Bearfoot and Pregnant: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Paranormal Dating Agency Book 10) Page 9
