by Mary Calmes
It was an incredible thought: I could shift later. Reluctantly, I moved off him and sat down at his side, waiting until he finished with his duties so we could return to our den and play.
AFTER VY finished talking to his ket and talking on the phone and talking to the teenage wolf plastered to Chris’s side and talking to the parents of all the hawks and making sure everyone who needed it was getting medical care, we finally headed home. Enjoying the freedom that came with being in my bear form, I didn’t want to shift back, so I climbed into the back of his truck, and he drove us home.
“I’ve never driven with a bear in the back,” he said when he climbed out of his truck. I was waiting outside his door, having jumped out as soon as he parked in his driveway. “I think people were giving me strange looks.”
He was smiling and happy, and that made me happy, so I bumped my head against his belly. It was only then that I remembered he’d been hurt. In the field with all the other blood and with so much adrenaline pumping, the scrapes under his clothes hadn’t registered. But now we were home, and his blood was all I could smell.
Whining loudly, I moved my nose against the side of his shirt, trying to shove it up so I could see the wounds, lick them, clean them.
Vy giggled and smacked me away. “That tickles!”
Though he thought I was still playing, my amusement was gone. My mate was injured and I needed to tend to him. That wasn’t going to happen in my bear form, I realized, so I shifted into my man.
“What happened?” Vy said, still grinning and chuckling. “I thought we were going to race. Are you chick—” He stopped midword when our gazes met.
Things that were simple for me as a bear, were, not surprisingly, much more intense when I crumpled that part of me down and shifted into my human. My bear innately recognized in Vy what Vy had always recognized in me—we were mates. To my animal, that was obvious and natural, and it raised protective, possessive instincts. In my bear form, I was satisfied being near him and ensuring that he was safe and that nobody else got too close.
As a human, the realization had a very different effect. My heart soared and raced. My breathing quickened. My skin felt burning hot and freezing cold. And I was instantly and painfully hard.
“Vy,” I rasped. I gulped and trembled. “Mate.”
“Oh,” he whispered, his eyes filling. “I thought you’d never… and that was okay, but”—he stepped closer, pressing the length of his body against mine—“yes. I’m your mate.”
Wrapping my arms around him, I tugged him forward and up, lifted him off his feet, and buried my face in his neck.
“Can you feel it?” he rasped, tangling his hands in my hair. “Can you feel the bond?”
What I felt was indescribable. As a man, I already loved Vy. I also liked him, admired him, and respected him. Those feelings made it hard for me to keep my hands and mouth off him. But after shifting, I also felt my bear’s satisfaction at being complete, at finding a home, at finding my mate. It was overwhelming—joy and love and deep, pulsating desire.
“Vy.” My voice broke on the short word. I needed him so much I shook. The scent of his skin, the vein in his neck, made my gums itch and my mouth water. Snapping my head up, I stared at him in shock. “I want to bite you,” I said, surprised by the urge.
Instead of being repulsed or terrified, Vy’s eyes dilated and he moaned, “Yes.” He tilted his head back and pulled my face forward, pressing my mouth to his neck. “Finally. Please. Yes.”
The journey from front yard to bedroom was a blur, but we made it. I had been naked from my shift, and Vy’s clothes lay in tatters somewhere between the front door and his bedroom.
“Why are we in the bathroom?” he whined. “I thought you were taking me to bed.”
“You’re hurt,” I explained as I kissed my way down his gorgeous but bruised and scraped body. “I need to clean you and bandage you and—”
“Robert, so help me, if you do anything other than fuck me and bite me right this second, I will shift and peck your eyes out.” As if that wasn’t cute enough, he grabbed his dick and shook it at me. I was on my haunches, so it was at eye level. “Do you see how hard I am?” he asked, his expression perfectly serious. “I could die if you don’t take care of this.”
“We wouldn’t want that,” I said softly.
“Right?” he said. “I mean, what good is cleaning a scratch or two if I die of hard dick?” He thrust his hips forward. “Fix it.”
I laughed so hard it was impossible to be worried. Instead, I buried my face against his groin and held on tight. “You’re amazing.”
“I’m horny.” He pushed at my shoulders. “Are you listening, you big bear?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Well, then—” He took a deep breath. “Claim me.”
“I will,” I promised before kissing his hip. “But first I’m going to take care of you, make sure your injuries are healing, and clean you up.”
“Robert, that’s not what I—”
Darting my eyes up, I met his gaze. “You’re mine, remember?”
He gulped and nodded.
“It’s my job to take care of you.” I cupped his balls. “I have to take care of you.”
A needy whimper was his response.
Smiling, I held his shaft up and looked into his eyes as I said, “But first I’ll take care of this beauty.” I lapped at his crown. “After all, we don’t want you to die of hard dick.”
Not giving him a chance to answer, I swallowed him down, sucking on his rigid flesh as I caressed his tender orbs. Vy moaned and begged and called my name as I focused all my energy on wringing every ounce of pleasure I could from him. When he clutched my head, cried out, and pulsed down my throat, I felt content deep in my core. Having satisfied my mate, I could focus on caring for him and ensuring his injuries would heal and weren’t causing him pain.
“That’s not… that isn’t….” He was having a hard time completing a sentence, which meant I’d done a good job.
I rumbled deep in my chest in satisfaction. I rose to my feet, scooped him up, and stepped into the tub.
“Robert,” he sighed and combed his fingers through the hair on my chest. “You always make me feel so good.”
Inside, I crowed. Outside, I kissed his forehead and adjusted the water.
“Let me take care of you too,” he whispered as he slowly lowered his hand toward my groin.
But I had to make sure he was healthy. Had to.
“After I’m done, little bird.” I set him down. “Stand still so I can clean you.”
Whether it was because he understood my need to check on him or simply because he was obeying me, Vy remained passive, letting me wash him and rinse him, letting me examine every bruise and mark. Any anger I had about his being in danger and other men putting their hands on him dissipated as I felt the proof that he was safe and whole.
My bird healed quickly—all shifters did—but he was stronger than most, so what once were gashes had turned already into new pink skin. The bruises were visible; it’d take a few days for those to go away, but they didn’t seem overly tender to the touch. No portion of his body escaped my appraisal. None.
“Turn around,” I whispered in his ear as I wound my arms around his waist and massaged his ass. “I want to check on this pretty backside.”
He was aroused again; I could feel the evidence pushing against my leg. But when I looked at his face carefully, I noticed he was a little flushed and he was trembling.
“New plan,” I said as I reached over to the faucet and turned off the water. “We can finish this in bed, so you can lie down.”
He nodded, and I got us out of the tub, dried off, and in bed.
“Robert?” Vy whispered. He looked relaxed and secure. “Will you claim me now?”
I brushed his hair off his face and gazed into his beautiful eyes. They were mostly gold right then with just a hint of green. “Are you sure you want me to do this to you?” I asked. “It’ll hurt.
”
He furrowed his brow in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Suddenly, I wondered if we were talking about different things, different desires. I dipped my chin, feeling like a monster. Why would my body urge me to hurt a man I loved?
“Please don’t,” Vy said, cupping my cheeks between both his hands and raising my face so our gazes met. “Don’t hide from me.”
It was a fair request. “I think maybe my bear’s urges are a lot to deal with right now, but I’ll get myself under control; I promise.”
“No.” The word was firm, certain.
“No?”
“I don’t want you under control.” Vy traced my jaw with one finger. “You told me once that what happens in here is just between us.” He took a deep breath. “Out there in the world you can keep controlling yourself, you can watch your bear, but here, with me—” He bit his lip. “I want all of you, Robert—the man and the bear, all your desires and urges and feelings.”
“You don’t understand.” I gulped. “What I’m feeling… what I want—” I dropped my gaze to his neck. “I want to hurt you.”
“No, you don’t,” he said confidently.
“Vy, I—”
“Explain what you’re feeling. Tell me.”
“I want to bite you,” I said quietly. Then I raised my hand to the side of his neck and said, “Here. I want—” Deep breath. “I want to sink my teeth under your skin and taste your blood.” I looked away. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? I want those things too. It’s a claiming, Robert. That’s how it’s done.”
“It is?” I asked in surprise. “For all shifters? Not just bears?”
Being raised by human parents, I didn’t know all the intricacies of shifter interactions. My bear I knew, because he was part of me. And I’d seen and heard a lot in my travels. But the details of mating weren’t something I would have been able to observe, and they hadn’t ever come up in conversation.
“Yes,” Vy said. “It’s the same for all of us. A bite to the neck. It’s how we claim our mates.” He looked at me appraisingly. “Why are you so worried about this?”
I would have thought the answer was obvious. “Because I don’t want to hurt you, little bird. I never want to hurt you.”
“Oh, Robert, no. When mates bite each other to cement the bond, it doesn’t hurt.”
“It doesn’t? But there’s blood….”
He shook his head. “No. From what I understand, it actually feels good.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Like, really, really good.”
I ran my finger over the vein pulsing on the side of his neck, and he trembled. “What happens?” I whispered.
“When?”
Darting my gaze from his neck to his eyes, I said, “After I claim you. What happens?” I licked my lips. “I mean, I already want you, already love you.” I moved my hand until I had it wrapped around his throat. “I already own you.”
“Oh fuck.” Vy’s eyes rolled back in his head. “You make me crazy. That dark voice, the way you look at me. The way you touch me.” He fluttered his eyes open and softly caressed my forearm, not trying to push me away but instead seeming to thank me without words. “Yeah, I’m yours.”
I’d never tire of hearing him confirm that; it satisfied me on a fundamental level. “So what changes after a claiming?”
“I don’t know, exactly,” he admitted. “From what I’ve heard, our animals come together, and we get closer, more deeply connected.”
It was hard to imagine a deeper connection to Vy. He was already everything to me, more than I ever could have hoped for. But the thought of binding him to me further held appeal, and I no longer knew whether that was because of the possessive instincts of my bear or the desires of my man; maybe they were one and the same.
“If I hurt you, tell me, and I’ll stop.”
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. “You won’t hurt me, Robert. It isn’t in you.” I opened my mouth to contradict him, but before I could speak, he said, “But if you try, remember, I’m kuar of my ket. I’m strong enough to stop you and fast enough to fly away if I can’t.”
That was true, and it soothed me, knowing he’d be there to back me up, to control the situation if I couldn’t control myself.
“Feel better?” he asked with a soft smile, apparently tuned into my emotions.
“Yes.” I grinned.
“Good.”
We lay there, smiling at each other like a couple of loons.
“Hey, you think maybe you want to kiss me or something?” Vy asked after a few minutes.
I pounced, growling as I flopped him onto his back and crouched above him. “Haven’t you ever heard it’s dangerous to tease a bear?”
He laughed as I gnawed on him, nothing hard or painful, just movements of my teeth over his skin. “I think the expression is ‘Don’t poke a bear,’” he pointed out.
Immediately, I palmed his cock and waggled my eyebrows.
“Well, if you don’t want me to poke you with that, quit being so sexy all the time.”
“You think I’m sexy?” I asked quietly.
“You know I do.”
“I know.” I bent down and flicked my tongue over the top of his shaft. “But today, when I shifted and…. You weren’t scared?”
“Of you?” Vy shook his head. “No. Not for one second. I knew you’d never hurt me, and I was right.”
Pleased with that answer, I grunted and then sucked on his balls. His taste and scent never failed to ramp me up and make me want more. I spread his legs wide and settled between them, licking, sucking, making him tremble and moan.
“Turn over,” I said, my voice coming out thick and heavy with arousal.
Without a word, Vy rolled onto his belly. “Like this?” he asked as he looked at me over his shoulder.
“So beautiful.” I ran my hand down his back, over the curve of his ass. “You’re stunning.”
The sides of his lips turned up, and his cheeks reddened.
“Get comfortable, little bird.” I spread his cheeks wide. “I’m going to be a while.”
The sound he made when I took my first lick of his channel was a strangled gurgle. After that came moans, gasps, cries, and sighs. The opera of his noises was as intoxicating as the taste of his body. I lapped my tongue over the wrinkled skin of his pucker, pushed it inside his hot passage, and fucked him with it over and over again.
Only when I had him completely relaxed and open for me did I rise to my knees and reach for the lube. I pushed a finger into his hole and pumped it in and out of him while I slicked my rigid dick.
Vy looked at me, his gold eyes heavy-lidded and his plump, shiny lips parted. Wanting to see his face when I took him, I tangled my fingers in his hair and held him in place while I pressed inside.
“Yes,” he hissed, the word drawn-out and relieved. “Need you.”
The feeling was mutual. Setting a comfortable rhythm, I plunged in and out of his depths, watching his face, his eyes, enjoying the pleasure I saw there.
“Love how you feel inside,” I told him.
“Oh God.” He pushed back against me. “I wanna cum so bad.”
I pulled out and shoved back in hard.
“Please, Robert.” He rocked back and forth, fucking himself on my dick. “Please let me.”
The wording alone would have driven me to the brink, his asking for my permission; add to it the pleasure of his tight heat and the way he made my heart swell, and I had no chance of lasting. Tugging his head to the side, I looked at the pale skin on his neck and plunged down, piercing his skin with my teeth, which had shifted to the sharp canines of my bear, and releasing his essence.
“Robert!” he screamed. I felt him tense and then smelled his cum.
I toppled over the edge with him, licking his blood into my mouth and shooting my seed into his channel.
“So good,” he said breathlessly.
I lapped over the wound I’d made and felt a stab of satisfaction at seeing my mark on his skin.
“So unbelievably good,” he repeated.
Gathering him in my arms, I rolled onto my back and cuddled him against me. “Love you,” I rasped. “So much.”
ONE OF the things I enjoyed most about Vy’s cozy den was waking up with him in the morning. He always slept tangled with me, pressed against my side, his limbs draped over my chest and hip. Sometimes I’d feel his breath ghosting over my skin before I opened my eyes. If I woke before him and kissed his forehead or combed my fingers through his hair, he’d make these adorable little sounds and cuddle in closer.
It was my favorite part of the day, seeing my mate content. He had no worries about his ket, no stress from his responsibilities. When I held him in my arms and he slept peacefully, he wasn’t anybody’s kuar or friend or son. He was all mine, and I reveled in it.
“Vy,” I whispered into his ear and then tugged his earlobe between my teeth. “Little bird?”
“Mmph.” He huddled closer.
“It’s time to get up.”
“Don’t wanna,” he mumbled.
I had kept him up late the previous night, working him over with my mouth and my hands before fucking him into the mattress. Well, truth be told, I’d done that every night for the previous few weeks, so he had to be beyond exhausted. And I couldn’t stop biting him. He was delicious, and he came whenever I did it; plus, I wanted to make sure my mark stayed very, very visible on his neck. Everyone needed to see that he had been claimed, that he was mine.
Rubbing my palm over the matching mark Vy had put on my neck, I sighed happily. “I know you’re tired. Maybe we can take a nap later, but my parents will be here any minute, and I thought—”
“Your parents!” He shot up, eyes wide open. “Shit! I forgot.” He shoved the covers away. “Damn it!” He jumped out of bed. “Fuck!”
“Whoa, slow down.” I held my arms up. “We’ve talked about this. My parents are harmless. They’re hippies. They won’t hurt you. The worst thing they might do is try to get you stoned.”
