I nodded nervously. “Thinking about it.”
Sky
“Well, if that is your wish, I will not stop you.”
I swallowed. Was it awful of me to wish that he would stop me? I had to make up my mind. “I’m nervous. That’s silly, isn’t it? I mean, you’ve seen me naked. In lots of ways. And all sorts of positions.”
He growled. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about that right now.”
I laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, right.”
Silence settled on us and I thought about leaving again. This type of awkwardness was a first for us. I hated it.
“I don’t know what to say. Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”
“Say what you’re thinking, Sky. I would like to know what you want from me so that I can provide it.”
I played with the hem of my dress. “I talked to the boys last night. And this morning. They said that I’m happier with you.”
Beast sat forward. “Are you?”
“I think so.” I hurried on. “I mean, yes. I am. I don’t like when you’re being too controlling of me, though. Nothing changes that, Beast. I’m my own person. I want to work and I don’t want you there constantly, hovering and watching me and attacking people who are rude to me or who touch me. I can handle myself in the café. I’ve done it for years. Also, I don’t want you making decisions that affect my life without asking me. That’s not how relationships work.”
“I’m learning that.”
“I… I feel strongly about you. I like what we have and what we do. I feel happy with you, that’s true. I just… I can’t be with you if you don’t treat me like an equal.”
Beast leaned even closer to me. “You are not my equal. You are better than me. You are so precious to me that I got carried away. The feeling of finding one’s mate is intense for a dragon. It’s all-consuming. The very thought of something happening to you and me not being there to protect you, well, it made me go a little crazy. I can do better though. I will try hard.”
I scooted towards him. “Are you going to let me live my own life?”
He grimaced, but nodded. “I cannot promise that I will be perfect at first, only that I will try. I will not bother you at work, and I was wrong to jeopardize the job that you love.”
“And you won’t just make decisions for me without consulting me?”
“I will do everything I can to make you happy, Sky. Whatever it is you need or want, it is my privilege to provide.” When he rubbed his hands over his hair, I noticed that they were trembling slightly. He was as emotionally on edge as I was. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I handled this all wrong, but it doesn’t make my feelings, or anything we’ve shared less sincere.”
I sighed and leaned back in the chair. “Well, then.”
He stared at me. “What?”
I fought the smile that was blossoming inside of me. It was still terrifying. Committing to him wasn’t just some light frivolity of the moment thing, not to me. It meant forever with him. I was beginning to see that my life with him in it could be great. Our lives, his, mine, and Nick and Casey’s.
“What, Sky?”
I stood up and walked around his chair. “I didn’t get a great sleep last night. I was thinking maybe we could take a nap.” I waggled my eyebrows hoping he’d get the hint.
“A nap?” His voice sounded unamused, but he still stayed where he was, waiting for me to clarify.
“A nap.” I put my hands on his shoulders and smiled down at him. “Aren’t you feeling tired, Beast?” This time I winked and grinned seductively.
His eyes widened and he nodded. “Yes. Very.”
I crooked my finger at him. “Come on, then.”
He followed behind me, not touching me. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
I tossed a look at him over my shoulder. “Beast, you already signed our futures. You tied us together forever. I’ve just decided that, besides the fact that you didn’t consult me first, you made a good choice.”
* * *
“Fuuuck.”
I stood in front of his bed and reached behind me to untie the dress straps at my neck. “You offering?”
Beast watched as my dress slid down my body, leaving me completely naked. “Tell me what you want, Sky.”
I crawled onto his bed, slinking like a cat, my heart pounding. “I like when you take control here in the bedroom. When it comes to our sex life, I like my bossy, demanding Beast taking what he wants when he wants it. In here.”
He yanked his shirt over his head. “You’re sure?”
I nodded. “I missed you.”
He kicked off his pants and climbed on the bed with me. Wrapping his arms around me, he eased me down, hovering over me. “I missed you, my little mate, so fucking much.”
“I’m still scared, Beast. I’m scared, but I’d be crazy to walk away from this. I feel what you feel.” I put my hand over his heart. “I don’t understand it, yet, but it’s there.”
“Love.”
I buried my face in his chest and grinned. “Maybe.”
He kissed the top of my head. “I’ll take maybe.”
There was more to be said, but it could wait. Beast kissed his way down my body and took his time feasting on me, making me come multiple times before he eased into me. Slow, easy, and steady, he rocked into me again and again until we both cried out our orgasms together. It felt perfect.
Beast held me in his arms as we both fought to regain our breath in the afterglow of our love making. “What do you think about marriage?”
I was still breathing hard, my heart pounding. “What?”
“Marriage. Cezar said it’s a thing that humans do when they love each other.”
I licked my suddenly dry lips. “Yeah, they do. Some of them.”
“Good because I went out and bought our marriage certificate. I signed it and sent it in. I will give you a ring, but we are married, little one.”
I sat straight up and my forehead bounced off of his chin as he sat up with me. “What?!”
He laughed. “Just kidding.”
I slapped his chest and then shoved him. “You jerk! You scared the bejeezus out of me!”
He kissed me and pulled me closer against his body. “Is the idea of marriage to me so scary?”
I thought about it and shrugged lightly. “It wasn’t the marriage. It was the control thing again.”
He nodded. “So, if I asked, you would be okay with it?”
“Beast…”
He reached towards the bedside table and my heart stopped. “Sky, I want to spend forever with you.”
His voice was solemn and serious and I clutched at my chest, my jaw dropping. What was happening? When Beast came back with a little bag of chocolates, one of which he popped into his mouth, I laughed out loud and slapped his chest again. “Stop it!”
He grinned and smeared a piece of the chocolate on my collar bone. “Eventually. When you are ready. We have time, little one. For now, I’m happy to just lick chocolate off you and live our lives like this.”
“And the boys?”
“And the young males—boys.” He licked the chocolate off and moaned. “You taste like heaven.”
“What do you know about heaven, dragon?”
He met my eyes, his gaze burning into me with the intensity of dragon fire. “I know it intimately, mate. The taste, the feel, the sensation of you squeezing me as you come…”
I tilted my head back and moaned as he ran his tongue over the mark on my shoulder. “You are my heaven.”
Maybe it was the mate bond—he’d said that we would each start to feel what the other felt—but in that moment I knew exactly what he meant. He, too, was the closest to heaven that I’d ever felt.
The End.
Bears of Burden
In the southwestern town of Burden, Texas, good ol’ bears Hawthorne, Wyatt, Hutch, Sterling, and Sam, and Matt are livin’ easy. Beer flows freely, and pretty women are abundant. The last thing the shifters of Burd
en are thinking about is finding a mate or settling down. But, fate has its own plan…
Thorn
Wyatt
Hutch
Sterling
Sam
Matt
Bears of Burden Complete Box Set (best deal)
She-Shifters of Hell’s Corner
(Spin off series of Bears of Burden)
In the late 1800’s, on a homestead in New Mexico, a female shifter named Helen Cartwright, widowed under mysterious circumstances, knew there was power in the feminine bonds of sisterhood. She provided an oasis for those like herself, women who had been dealt the short end of the stick. Like magic, women have flocked to the tiny town of Helen’s Corner ever since. Although, nowadays, some call the town by another name, Hell’s Crazy Corner.
Wolf Boss
Wolf Detective
Wolf Soldier
Bear Outlaw
Wolf Purebred
She-Shifters of Hell’s Corner Box Set (Best Deal)
Shifters of Denver
Nathan: Billionaire Bear- A matchmaker meets her match.
Byron: Heartbreaker Bear- A sexy heartbreaker with eyes for just one woman.
Xavier: Bad Bear - She’s a good girl. He’s a bad bear.
Nathan: Billionaire Bear
Byron: Heartbreaker Bear
Xavier: Bad Bear
Shifters of Denver Complete Box Set
Kodiak Island Shifters
On Port Ursa in Kodiak Island Alaska, the Sterling brothers are kind of a big deal.
They own a nationwide chain of outfitter retail stores that they grew from their father’s little backwoods camping supply shop.
The only thing missing from the hot bear shifters’ lives are mates! But, not for long…
Billionaire Bear’s Bride (COLTON)
The Bear’s Flamingo Bride (WYATT)
Military Bear’s Mate (TUCKER)
Rancher Bears
When the patriarch of the Long family dies, he leaves a will that has each of his five son’s scrambling to find a mate. Underneath it all, they find that family is what matters most.
Rancher Bear’s Baby
Rancher Bear’s Mail Order Mate
Rancher Bear’s Surprise Package
Rancher Bear’s Secret
Rancher Bear’s Desire
Rancher Bears’ Merry Christmas
Rancher Bears Complete Box Set
Fire Breathing Beast: Dragons of the Bayou Book 1 Page 11
