by Tara Gill
“You didn’t have to do that,” she was saying. “The damage isn’t your fault to pay for. It was ours.”
I inhaled again. There was a reek of coffee, but above everything I smelled my mate.
My half-shifter mate.
A whiff of bear underlay the bouquet of fragrances that emanated from her – vanilla, coffee, and a hint of feminine arousal. She wasn’t full werebear. But at least one of her parents was.
“It matters to me that I take care of you. I hope you didn’t mind me staring at you in there. You’re beautiful, and I just couldn’t take my eyes off you. This is not me being sleazy. I’ve never approached a woman like this, but there’s something about you. I couldn’t stay away.”
An adorable blush covered her cheeks when I called her beautiful, but she met my gaze frankly. “I don’t respond to men this way either, but I know what you mean.”
Her confirmation of the attraction only solidified my need. My cock throbbed, and my bear swiped through my skin, fighting to claw its way out.
My breath quickened. I needed to decide fast how to handle this relationship.
Option one: Court her in the manner of humans. Date her for weeks before hitting each of the bases.
Meh.
The other option? Mate her the shifter way. When shifters found their mates, everything was shut down and locked up in hours. They typically hid themselves away and fucked for days and then set up house a short while later.
My cock pressed against my zipper insistently. The thought of dropping her home after a date at the movies, with just a kiss, made me grit my teeth. I needed to do this the shifter way for my own sanity. But I would respect her wishes.
We can’t wait. Ask her. My bear wanted her to give the green light to go fast.
“Jasmine, I’m from Clearwater. Do you know what that means?” If she was aware of her shifter origins, she would know that Clearwater was a town made up of werebear residents.
“You’re a shifter?” she asked eyes rounded.
Were-gold flashed over my eyes. “Yes, let me show you. Will you spend today with me? I promise that you’ll be safe with me. I’d die before I ever hurt you.”
She blinked. Vulnerable eyes appraised me. I tried my best to give off sincere vibes. Deciding to spend the day with an unknown male, even if a potential mate, was a scary decision for any woman. While my senses screamed that she was my mate, as a half-shifter Jasmine wouldn’t be able to know that about me one hundred percent. I needed to appear like a stand-up guy, one she could trust with her safety.
It worked, and to my relief, she nodded slowly. Her body swayed towards me, almost without her own volition, but after a moment, she straightened, lips firming.
“Okay…” she murmured tentatively and gave me a tremulous smile. Her eyes looked uncertain, hopeful and begged me not to let her down. “I’m free today. Let me tell my friend.”
The tiny blonde was talking on her phone a few paces to the left, making wild, aggravated gestures as she spoke. Walking over, Jasmine grasped her elbow. They whispered among themselves. I pretended not to hear although their words sounded as clear as if they were talking right into my ear.
They came over and Jasmine said, “Reuben, this is Maxine.”
Through green-framed glasses, Maxine looked at me assessingly as she shook my hand. A short woman with riotous blonde curls, she wore an expensive suit and had the air of a banker.
“Reuben, a pleasure. Thanks for paying for me at the shop. I owe you a hundred and twenty dollars,” she said crisply.
“Don’t mention it. Glad to help Jasmine’s friend out. Maxine, if you don’t mind, I’m going to borrow Jasmine for the afternoon.”
“Call me Max. Jasmine is the best — if you hurt her, I will disembowel you,” she warned with a shark-like smile.
Wow, what a little ball-buster. I was glad that Jasmine had a protective friend like her, though.
“Hurting her means hurting me. I would never do that,” I said sincerely. “She’s in the safest hands she can be, trust me.”
Max shrugged. “I don’t. Can I have a look at your driving license, maybe see some ID?” she asked frankly.
Jasmine frowned at her. “There’s no need to do that.”
“Its no problem,” I assured Jasmine as I handed over my driving license to Max. “I’m glad your friend is being smart about your safety.”
“Wow, you look good in this and no one looks good in their driving license pic!” Max exclaimed.
I only smiled and continued staring at Jasmine. She was chewing on her lip again. She did that whenever she was nervous, I suspected. They looked pink and irritated. My lips ached to kiss and soothe them, lick them.
Max took a snap of my license with her phone and handed it back.
“Have fun, Jazz!” Max left with a thumbs-up and a wink, already Stan ping on her phone with her other hand and nearly colliding with a poor teenage kid walking his Labrador. The kid jumped out of the way, pulling his dog from the danger of Max’s pointed heels just in time.
I turned us around, my hand again at Jasmine’s back. My fingers ached for her skin and I wasn’t above using any small excuse I could to touch her. “She is human? How did you become friends?” I didn’t sense any were-blood in Max.
Jasmine’s gaze darted up to mine. “Her mother and mine used to be close. And yep, she is human.”
“Used to be close?”
Jasmine swallowed hard and her eyes clouded. “Yes, my mother passed on a few years ago. Car accident.”
“I’m sorry Jasmine. Do you have other family – your father, siblings?”
“I was an only child. Dad died when I was small. He fought in the shifter forces in the Middle East. But Max is like my sister. We’re pretty close.”
Jasmine was alone in the world, the same as me. My heart ached for her. “Then I’m glad you have her. She seems protective of you.”
Jasmine hung her face and said softly. “Yeah, Max can seem like that. Even though she can be a bit clumsy, she’s really smart — both with numbers and people. Max says I’m too trusting for my own good. But…I don’t know, I guess I just like believing the best of people. Makes the world seem brighter. Maybe that makes me a fool.” She shrugged, gave an uncomfortable laugh and tried to change the subject. “What about you?”
She met my gaze for a fleeting second, the expression in her face self-conscious, as I stroked the bare skin at her lower back with my thumb. The vulnerability I sensed in her roused my protective instincts.
“I’ll gladly tell you everything about myself. Only I need to hold you.” My bear needed to hold her. It pushed through my skin. Her eyes widened at the flashing of my eyes between bear and human.
“Of course.” She halted and reached out as if to hug me.
But I stood unmoving, “Skin to skin holding. My bear is aching to feel you in the bare. My hotel is nearby; please, say you’ll come with me and let me hold you. I won’t ask for anything more than you wish to give. We can even go to your home, if you feel safer there.”
“My home is more than half an hour away.” She ran a shaky hand through her thick curls and met my gaze full on, her cheeks flushed. “Let’s go to your place.”
Shifter or no, the fact that she took me at my word and was willing to come to my place showed that her words about her trusting nature were only too true. My heart twisted both in happiness and in fear at what this sick, god-awful world could do to someone so naïve. I vowed to myself that I’d never let anyone hurt her — I would be Jasmine’s shield.
At the same time, I felt ten-feet tall at this display of her trust in me.
I hurried her up to the boutique hotel where I’d booked a room earlier in the day. My arm around her waist, I glared at anyone who stared at her too long. She didn’t seem to notice, but she was stunning, and I had to discourage a couple of jackasses who gawked at her with appreciative eyes.
I couldn’t wait to hold my Jasmine.
Chapter 3
As we strolled to Reuben’s place, my veins sang. A profound sense of belonging, of security, of having finally found my place in the world settled into my soul. I’d never felt so right in my skin. My gait was bouncy, and I tried not to beam. I ached for Reuben’s touch, but I didn’t say anything not wanting to appear forward.
From my mother, I’d heard this was normal between shifter mates. Mom would have been delighted to know about Reuben. She’d always hoped I’d end up with a shifter, having experienced the true and soul-deep devotion of a shifter mate herself.
We reached Reuben’s hotel. It was a nice enough place with a spacious lobby and a gorgeous chandelier. The receptionist, an impeccably made-up brunette didn’t take her eyes off Reuben. Other women stood straighter when he passed by, their admiring gaze touching on his biceps, his body, his profile. I felt like growling at them, which was quite unlike me.
I tried to calm myself down. What woman wouldn’t notice a man like Reuben?
In the coffee shop, even I, someone who was normally clueless about men had noticed him — this massive, bear-like brooding man who sat unaccompanied at the corner table. He’d worn a slight frown as he tapped at his phone, as if a problem vexed him.
My appreciative gaze had roamed over his figure: thick mahogany hair, appealing bone structure, a lush lower lip, framed by two-day-old stubble. Dressed in clean, pressed jeans, boots, and a gray Henley, maybe 6’6 or taller, with thick muscles everywhere, he was stunning. He also radiated danger. Confidence. Power. You didn’t have to know him to be aware of the menace he exuded, the warning not to cross him. It was tangible, yet not human. Something I’d perceived to be other. He was all alpha and his very presence demanded that lower beings on the food chain tread with care — and they did, their primitive instincts warning them of what their brains didn’t realize. People did a double take when they’d glanced at him and walked with wary steps around him.
“The lift is this way,” Reuben directed me with a hand on my back. The stroke of his thumb on my bare skin was driving me mad.
His room was on the second floor and was well-lighted with cream-colored woodwork and a pleasant view, but I was in no shape to appreciate it. Reuben shut the door behind us and braced his arms on it, not facing me. In a tone speaking of supressed agitation, he said, “I fucking need to feel your bare skin next to mine!”
“I know. I feel it too.” I was flushed, and my breath came in pants. I pressed my palm against my lower belly as it twisted hotly.
Reuben started pulling off his clothes and wide-eyed, I stared at his nude body, at his erect, inflamed cock which leaked at the tip.
“Do you like what you see?” he asked in a gruff voice.
“Mmhm.” I nodded fervently. “You’re…gorgeous.”
“Thanks.” He barked a short laugh and stepped closer.
“I…just…Is this normal? I mean this is all happening so quickly.” Uncertain of the speed and intensity of all this, I rubbed damp hands on my favorite jeans.
“You said your Dad was werebear. Haven’t you been around werebear couples when they mate? Its hard for them to physically be away from each other. But we don’t have to do this if you don’t want. I can control myself. Maybe we could just hold each other and…talk.” He made a move towards my jeans as if to cover up again.
I stared at my feet. “Let me think.” I chewed on my lip, keeping my gaze averted from his body so as not to be tempted. From the uncanny attraction that burgeoned in me when Reuben and I had spoken in the coffee shop, I’d already speculated that he might be my mate. The touch of his hand on my bare skin, the rush of electricity that sizzled through me confirmed it in my mind.
When I’d told Max that I was leaving with Reuben, of course she was wary on my behalf and insisted on getting a snap of his ID, unaware that Reuben was my mate and would die rather than hurt me. Most shifter mates mated within hours of finding each other and set up home soon after. It was a shifter thing. Humans could never understand.
So why was I hesitating? Why was I fighting my body?
I tossed my hair back. “Oh, to hell with it!” A flare of atypical recklessness took over me, bolstered by the urgency of my body’s need for this man and I tugged at my jacket with shaking hands. “You said you needed skin on skin.” My libido was crying out for satisfaction, for closeness with this man.
Stepping towards me, Reuben took my hands and brought them to his mouth. I smiled at him tremulously. Placing a tender kiss on my palms, he positioned them on his chest. My fingers curled on his skin.
“Let me do it.” He helped me out of my cropped T-shirt revealing my black bra and my belly-button ring.
He groaned and touched the ring. “That’s so hot.”
Not bothering with the front clasp of the bra, he wrenched the cups down to expose my breasts. The tips were curled tightly in arousal. “I have to taste these,” he gritted out. “Stop me if it’s too much.”
I licked my dry lips. As if I’d stop him. No way, I needed him to touch me, taste me before I burst from frustration. “No, that’s fine.”
He sat on the bed, tugged me between his outspread legs and nuzzled my breasts, while his thumbs brushed their soft undersides. Then he took a nipple in his mouth and sucked.
I cried out. This was heaven. His sucking had a direct line to my vagina and with his every draw, a string seemed to pull down there, tugging and pulling until I was strung tight.
I wound my hands into his thick hair and pulled him closer, as my hips moved back and forth in tiny, automatic movements. With a small kiss to the tip of my breast, he switched my attention to its twin. As he sucked hard at my nipple, my moans became louder.
Reuben broke off, his voice rough as his eyes burned into me. “Let’s find out if we can make you come just from nipple-play. What do you say?”
I felt needy and dizzy. Most of my weight was supported by Reuben’s hands around my waist. Blinking, I managed, “Wow, I’ve never felt so sensitive there before.”
At my words, he scowled. “No thoughts of other men or of the times they made you come, please. Right now, only you and I exist — is that clear?” His voice was a growl and his calloused fingers dug into my skin.
I tried to think while breathing fast. Why was he so angry all of a sudden? At my confusion, his demeanor softened.
“Okay,” I said touching my tongue to my lip. His eyes flared as he kneaded my ass and my attention dropped to his firm lips, that sensual lower lip. Tentatively I asked, “Can I kiss you?”
He stilled, looking both surprised and happy. “Of course, my Jasmine. You can kiss me anytime.”
My hands on his shoulders tightened then relaxed, moving in light circles as I explored his skin. It was so fascinating – that sleek muscle underneath, the light cover of hair, the masculine skin so different from mine. “It’s just that all morning I’ve fantasized about how you’d kiss me,” I admitted softly.
I brushed my lips against his. The kiss started out as tentative, then I pressed the tip of my tongue to his closed mouth, asking for entrance. The next thing I knew, I was in Reuben’s lap straddling him. Reuben’s hands twisted in my hair and held me still while he ravaged my mouth.
I pushed against his chest. “Reu..Reuben. Need. To. Breathe.”
His hold loosened, and I leaned pack panting, while his hands stroked my sides. “Sorry baby, got carried away. Maybe you should lay on the bed. It will be more comfortable.”
Once I lay supine, he helped me with my jeans until a scrap of black lace panties was my only covering. He rubbed his hand over his mouth as his eyes roved over me.
My legs moved restlessly as he stared, and the silence grew. It cost me courage to let him look at me so boldly.
“You’re stunning, my mate,” Seeing my embarrassment, he hurried to reassure me.
A warm feeling bloomed in my chest. No one had ever called me ‘stunning’ before. “I’m glad. That you like my body. I like yours, too,” I whispered
.
He looked pained. “That’s good. I’m glad I please you,” he said in a hoarse voice, grasping his cock at the root. “He is hungry for you too. And so is my bear. But they’ll have to wait. Because I need to see you coming on my fingers, on my mouth first.” He positioned himself over me and pushed my breasts together, so he could take both my nipples in his mouth. He sucked and nibbled at them until my nipples were swollen and bright red.
It drove me crazy and I pressed my thighs together. “Reuben, I need to…I’m going to...”
“I’m going to suck your tits so good. Be a good mate and come when I tell you to,” He crooned and ran a light finger over my puffy lips. Unable to help myself, I opened my mouth and sucked his finger.
Reuben’s eyes flared. Mesmerized, he thrust his finger deeper into my mouth right to the knuckle. I sucked in my cheeks as he moved his finger in and out. His eyes avid on my mouth, he grew more and more flushed.
“Fuck!” he swore as he pulled away. His hands shook, and he kneaded my breasts again. Pinching one nipple, he caught the other between the edges of my teeth. His knee pressed against the soaked crotch of my panties.
“Come, Jasmine!” he ordered, and bit my nipple, simultaneously grinding his knee into my clit and pinching my other nipple hard. A bunch of sensations hit me, and I fell over the edge.
“Reuben, yes!” My hips arched, I shuddered repeatedly as I came, moaning his name. As I arched my back, he kept his knee pressed to my groin drawing out my orgasm. I gasped, shook, and sobbed, almost out of my mind with passion. Reuben soothed me with gentle touches and brought me down.
“Shh, it’s all right. I have you. You’re gorgeous, do you know that? I want to do this to you over and over again and never stop.” He muttered other endearments which I was too lost to hear.
Once I calmed, trying to deal with the mind-blowing sensations I’d just experienced, he lifted my chin to meet his eyes.
“He needs to come.” He rubbed his other hand up and down his painfully engorged cock.
