Her words caught him off-guard. That was okay, because it scared her too. But if anything came out of the pain she suffered with her only family, it was to take every day she could with the people she loved. And honestly, she’d never stopped loving Adam.
“Do you know what that means?”
“It means what it should. That I’ll be yours and you’ll be mine.”
“And that your life as a mere human will be changed forever. Can you handle that?”
“What I can’t handle is being alone. Not anymore. Not after this.” Aurora held up the folded letter. “Not when I have my happiness so close.”
Adam rolled her to the side, his delicious weight pinning her in place. “You know you just proposed to me?”
“Blame it on the corporate upbringing, I suppose. Go after what you want kinda thing.”
A smile teased his lips. He leaned in and glanced small kisses along her collarbone and over the dip in her shoulder. Between her legs, his shaft grew hard again. The bulbous head already seeking entrance. She dipped and rolled her hips, sinking deeper into the quicksand of desire that threatened to swallow them whole. And she didn’t mind.
Strained against her sensitive entrance, Adam paused. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure whatever the letter says is won’t sway me one way or another. I want this. To be honest, I have wanted it since before I left. I was just too young to understand. I wanted you the first time you took me right here. The night we lost our virginity together should have been the night we mated. If you’ll have me now, we can spend the rest of our lives making up for lost time. Besides, getting furry and having claws isn’t such a bad thing.”
With a slow glide, he stretched her opening and took everything she offered to him.
CHATER NINE
Holding onto his control took every ounce of energy he possessed. Her tongue darted out and lashed against his nipples in turn, which drove him fucking crazy. Instinct drove him to mark her, claim her with his bite and make her as his. He wanted to take it slow. Didn’t want to scare her. She was making it so damn difficult.
Perspiration eased down his temple as he fought to rein in his beast. He rose to his knees and pulled her along with him. Swiftly he turned her, spreading her knees wide. Leaned back against him, her back to his front, be brushed the engorged head of his cock along the slippery seam of her pussy. His juices already spilling from her, and it made his shaft grow harder for her. He pulled her long hair to pool over her shoulder and wrapped the strands around his hand, tugging her head to the side, exposing her neck to his bite.
Her lashes lifted and she glanced at him, her gaze satisfied. Kiss-swollen lips parted, he angled her head to his and devoured her mouth. Tasted her with a sweep of his tongue. Her flushed features drove him harder into her core. She licked her lips and cried out.
Holding onto his arm around her waist, she moaned a throaty groan that reached between them. Not releasing the heavy tension tightening his balls was pure torture. Her tight core clutched him with a tight grip.
She pinched her nipples, making her pussy clench around his cock even tighter.
“Fuck, Aurora. You’re going to make me come. Not yet. Not fucking yet, woman.”
Not yet.
“Harder,” she commanded. He delivered.
Her eyes drifted closed as she skimmed her hand over his arm. He shuddered when her kitten claws raked against his shaft as he entered her. His fingers tightened in her hair and he forced himself to slow his pace. His mate had to reach peak with him.
He clamped her closer, raking his teeth along the juncture of her shoulder and neck in time with her nails. God, she made his control slip every second she touched him.
“Fuck it.” She had every nerve ending in his body on fire. He couldn’t hold on. He growled, lips peeling back to reveal sharp teeth.
She cupped his balls as his teeth broke flesh.
The flesh of her pussy rippled against his shaft. Each shuddering pulse of sensation her orgasm fed her only amplified through him. Electrical tendrils of magick bonded their minds, bodies and souls.
She screamed, her head falling back to rest on his shoulder. There was no going back from this. “Are you okay?” Barely able to think much less speak, he pressed kisses to her temple.
Her delicate body relaxed into his embrace. Gently he laid her out beneath him and scanned her face for any signs of regret. Her eyes drifted open. He couldn’t breathe from the beauty that looked back at him.
No longer solid emerald, his mate’s eyes now held the mark of an alpha werebear. Shafts of golden rays spiked through her irises to create a priceless jewel.
Reality finally hit in that second. She was his for now, forever.
“Yes, for now and forever, my mate.” She touched a hand to the side of her face. “Do my eyes look that different?”
She fell back against the makeshift blankets, parting her slender legs, her folds swollen from the lovemaking. Lightly she stroked a finger down one thigh and then up the other. Swiftly he gripped her hands and stilled her from touching the flesh he owned. If anyone got to play in the aftermath of their lovemaking, it was him. She cocked a brow as if to dare him to do something. “When I get you home, I’ll meet that dare.”
Her hot little fingers found something else to torture him with as she ran them through his tousled hair. “You failed to mention everything that came with the bite.” Aurora ran a finger over the flesh of her shoulder.
“It’s something you have to experience to believe,” he countered, watching her dazed and mesmerized expression shift to that of surprise and eventually acceptance. Mating a werebear came with a few benefits beyond amazing sex, if you asked him. When an alpha bit his mate, their minds connected. Past memories and feelings melded together to create a unique connection.
“Will you know my every thought?” Her tone didn’t give the slightest hint of worry away. Nor did the massive waves of energy forming between their newly minted connection.
He nodded. “And you mine. Does that scare you?” He leaned in and nipped at her bare shoulder. The pink flesh around his bite had already healed over, leaving barely a mark behind. Only enough for another werebear to know she was taken. Speedy recovery was another thing humans didn’t have and would take her a little while to grow accustomed to, if her shocked expression was anything to go by.
“I always had you in my head one way or another. This just makes it final.” She grabbed one of the blankets and raised up to stare down at him. “Oh my stars! Will I shift? Will it hurt? What color will I be? Will it be the same beautiful sable coloring you have?”
He chuckled, unable to hold back from her excitement. “Unlike my shifter cousins in Sweet Briar Hollow with their witch mates, you’ll have your first shift after our first born. The pregnancy will forge our DNA together permanently.”
“Children. A family.” Her eyes brightened, and he smiled when her fingers splayed over the expanse of her abdomen. Never did he think he would be lucky enough to have his mate come back to him. Now that he could reach out, touch her and love her... everything would change for them both.
“Does that make you happy?” Her answer frightened him more than he realized. If he didn’t literally count each heartbeat between his question and her next words, he would say everything in the world ground to a halt.
“Does it make you happy? A little late to ask, but still.”
“I can’t wait to get you home and make sure our activities produce a little Wylde child.” Her laugh warmed him. “Oh, do your cousin’s mates change?”
“No, they just share the telepathic connection.”
She smiled at that. “Will we meet them?”
“Probably sooner than expected.”
He could feel her surprise at his answer before the small skin between her brows pinched together.
“That’s a problem for another day. There are a few things a little closer to home we have to deal with first.
“What d
o you mean?”
“Your admirer from this morning has gotten into some trouble. Trouble he probably can’t get out of and resulted in this avalanche. A new resort is moving in on the land your father sold before he passed—”
“Oh no. What kind of problems?”
“The kind that could be problems for the den and Wylde Excursions. They’re a shady corporation willing to do anything for a buck. Sadly, so is the ice bear.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Not sure yet, but it will fall into my father’s hands to resolve since he invited him into our den. But let’s talk about it later.” He reached over her and fetched the folded piece of paper. Right now, they had other things to deal with.
“Sweetheart, when you’re ready, you’ll have to read this.” Aurora’s eyes narrowed on the folded envelope he held out to her.
“Let’s do it now.”
That surprised him. Staring down in confusion, she clarified for him. “If you’re with me, I can face anything.” He nodded as she continued. “I came here for answers, right?”
He gave a stiff nod. What if what she read in there made her rethink their mating? He bit back a string of expletives and mentally kicked his own ass for suggesting it.
Paper ripped and fear spiked his blood.
Dearest Daughter,
She paused to look up at him, tears already glittering in her eyes. Fuck, she was breaking him.
When I lost your mother, something in me broke. Something snapped and the father I once was morphed into a man afraid of losing something more precious. You, my child. The thought of losing you drove me to the extremes. Though I am too late, I see this now. At the time, taking you away from the danger was the answer. In actuality, I know I did you more harm than good. I only wished to protect you. One day when you are a mother, my actions will become clearer. Please forgive me this mistake. Forgive me for loving you so much I couldn’t breathe at the thought of losing you. Forgive me for taking you away from happiness you deserve. If my final wish has been honored, then this letter finds you in good company. At least let this be one mistake laid to rest with me. Take what makes your heart sing with joy, my child. Everything else will work out.
Love always,
Dad
“Dad. Not father as he preferred after mom died.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. Coming to his knees, Adam pulled her to him and held her until the last of her tears dried.
“Thank you.” He reveled in the way her soft lips brushed against his chest. That one small connection filled him with hope that he could be the man she needed him to be. Strong.
“Always.” Her mind enmeshed with his and the sensations that spiraled through his mate filled him.
“What did yours say?”
He blinked and paused a moment to filter out his thoughts from hers. A sense of anticipation filled his senses and but it came from her. “He said the natural thing a father would. He wished me the same happiness he found with your mother.”
“And,” she pushed.
“After begging my forgiveness, he asked a favor of me. To take care of the last piece of his heart left on this earth. The real gem of his life.” He turned her to face him. “And in some ways he made me a believer again.”
“Oh, in what?”
“Happiness. Love.”
“Me too.”
Off in the distance a whipping sound played at the furthest reaches of his hearing. “Are you ready to go home?”
Lifting her face to his, she leaned in and melded their bodies together as if she couldn’t get enough of him. The feeling was mutual.
“Is it possible to stay here forever and a day? Just you and me?”
“I’ll do you one better, my princess. How about a forever with me and a family that loves you as much as I do?”
She pinned him with a primitive, possessive look that would scare most men. To him it made his cock pulse with renewed desire.
In the midst of loss the least likely person to bring them together had spent his last breath making sure he had a hand in their fate. Pain had once ripped them apart, but now out of loss, love was found again.
“No matter what tomorrow brings, no matter what the future holds, your princess is here to stay.”
Within seconds she had him on his back, his thick cock poised at her entrance. The best kind of trouble he wanted to be balls-deep in.
“I love you,” she whispered and sank down until she held all of him with her sheath.
“God, help me, I love you too, Aurora.”
“Forever and a day.”
“Promise.”
THE END
***
Don’t miss a Wylde Den installment from Talina!
Wylde Den Book 2: Bear His Bond - Out Now!
Wylde Den Book 3: Bear Their Secret - Comign Soon!
A Note From Talina
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Bear His Mark!
I hope you enjoyed spending time with Adam and Aurora. I have a feeling Aurora has a few more secrets to reveal and Adam’s adventures have only begun now that he’s mated. You’ll be seeing more of them as we get to know all seven Wylde siblings in the stories to come.
Next up, when a Wylde bad boy falls, he falls hard and Everett is about to learn how wrong he is about love and mating in Bear His Bond. Truth be told, the Wylde brothers aren’t the only ones that fall hard. I’m nursing a huge crush on the Wylde men and I hope you love them as much as I do.
While you wait, keep reading the first chapter of Everett Wylde’s story, Bear His Bond, and the first chapter of Hexing the Alpha, the first book in the Hex My Heart magickal series that shares the same world as the Wylde Den series.
I hope you’ll keep in touch! To stay connected and keep up with all the releases in the Alaskan Den Men Collection you can sign up for Alaskan Den Men’s newsletter You’ll catch all our releases, special offers and other surprises the Denettes have in store for our readers! Also, join our readers group on Facebook and become a Denette!
To make sure you don’t miss a release in the Wylde Den you can sign up to my newsletter here. And to find out more about my books visit my website at www.talinaperkins.com. I love chatting with readers, so please don’t be shy!
Xoxo,
Talina
ALSO BY TALINA PERKINS
Hex My Heart Series
Hexing the Alpha
Jinxing the Alphas
Bewitching the Alpha
Enchanting the Alpha
Charming the Alphas
Other Available Series
WYLDE DEN SERIES
(An Alaskan Den Men mini-series)
Bear His Mark
Bear His Bond
Bear Their Secret
Sexy Siesta Series
(Military Romance)
His By Sunrise
Tequila Sunset
Sunrise for Three
Want more smokin’ hot
bear shifters?
Read on for a sneak peek
at the second book of the
Wylde Den Series
CHAPTER ONE
Everett Wylde played a dangerous game. Flirting with fate would leave him backed into a corner and facing a mate he didn’t want. How could he consign himself to such a fate? Shackle his bear to something neither of them could ever have?
He took another look at the beauty beneath him and the mark of his den on his shoulder flared with threads of powerful heat.
As the snow melted, the mating season slammed into his hometown of Claw Ridge with a vengeance. Summer, the peak of mating season, was still a month away. By the time fall rolled around again, there was no telling if anyone would be left standing.
Buzzing in his mind grew louder and threatened to drown out everything but the woman tempting the boundaries of his control.
Damn her. Why did she have to be so alluring to his bear? To push him so close to the edge with a simple smile?
Hadn’t he promised hims
elf he’d never let anyone close to him?
Whatever had his guts tied into matted knots made it hard to breathe the second her delicate body slid beneath him.
God help him, three days in the backwoods of Alaska with her would either leave him drained or dead.
He trailed a single finger over the blackened ink swirls of vines and flowers that decorated the smooth skin from her right thigh all the way up to grace the soft skin of her waist. Sparks shimmered and crackled where his skin met her supple curves. The mark on his right shoulder tingled and spoke to a deeper connection. One he had not felt since the death of his twin.
Damn her.
He flinched and pulled back as if the inked tethers of her tattoo twined around him. Every half hour, like a playlist on repeat in his head, he reminded himself it was nothing more than a fling.
Three more torturous, heavenly days and they parted ways. How many times could he make her peak in seventy-two hours? Would she forget him? Not likely. She returned to her world and he stayed in his. Playboy Everett didn’t pine, dammit. But he would make damn sure she did.
Darkness played at the contours of her heart-shaped face pressed into the pillows, and long shadows stretched across the room, barely brushing her golden skin.
The scent of fresh sea air and warm sunshine played with his senses. Some would argue sunshine didn’t smell. That was a lie. It smelled like happiness, hope, and a helluva a lot of trouble.
He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes, working his fingers into the delicate flesh above her hips.
Pepper moaned beneath him and sashayed her hips into his hardened shaft.
The soft, feminine sound reached into his chest and pulled on invisible threads of magick anchoring his heart—good thing too because it lurched in his chest.
A deep growl rumbled up the back of his throat.
Bear His Mark: Wylde Den One (Alaskan Den Men Book 1) Page 7
