by Moxie North
Eden understood how something so permanent could scare him. She was worried about the change in her life as well. Her life plan had been simple — work, sleep, work again. Now, there was so much more to anticipate. So many things she now wanted to do instead of the monotony of her job.
“But I wouldn’t want to. And after I, well, after we’re together physically, a little of me will live in you. You’ll be a little more Kindred and a little less human. We’ll grow old together, slowly. You’ll be healthier. That feeling between us? It will get stronger. For me, it’s everything I never knew I wanted. I’m not worried about changing my mind, it’s not my mind that wants you, it’s my heart and soul. You’re my mate, the only complement to my soul besides my animal and it was always meant to be you.”
Kellan rolled and pulled her into his arms. She pressed her face into the crook of his neck and breathed him in. He was hers. That was the most important thing.
Kellan felt his heart squeeze and knew that no matter what he was facing in the future, he wanted to face it with this woman by his side. This amazing person was strong, but soft as she lay in his arms. She looked at him like he was the one that could watch her back and she had no doubts about that fact. That knowledge was humbling and made him marvel at her even more than he already did. Eden didn’t need anyone to protect her, but maybe it wasn’t the physical he could shelter her from. Like a whisper in his mind, he knew somehow that she needed someone to protect the real woman that she was.
His Eden had secrets. Not big secrets, but important ones. There was someone deep inside that she rarely showed anyone and Kellan was starting to realize that he was the one that got to meet that person. The one that got to share in her secrets and protect them with his heart.
He was starting to think they really did have something to give each other. Kellan could see their future in her eyes. It was like a tether between them. A future path that they’d both get to walk, side by side.
“Eden, can I kiss you?”
A small smile came over her face and she looked so different from how she had when she was on duty. Her whole body was relaxed in his arms and he truly hoped it was because of him. If he could take the weight of her day off her shoulders, he’d know he was giving her something back.
“Please,” she said. Her voice was gentle, but her eyes on fire with something much more vibrant.
Kellan pulled her body up against his and he reached for her hips and twisted his body as he sealed his mouth over hers. He could feel her melt under him. Her leg hiked over his hip and hands clutched at his t-shirt.
He kissed her with all the emotions he was feeling. A power inside him was welling up, he wanted to kiss her, taste her, fuck her for hours. And that same little voice in his mind said she would be more than happy to participate. Her passion when she kissed him back set his cock to rock hard. Eden wasn’t timid, either. She kissed him hard, her tongue battling with his. She nipped at his lip and he made a low noise in his throat. Her eyes opened and he could see the silver in them flash briefly to yellow.
Kellan had always held back with his partners. He was strong and he was worried about hurting them. Eden could give as good as she got, maybe better.
Releasing her mouth, he said through panting breath. “Can we do this? Without making it permanent?”
Chapter 15
Eden had to replay his question through her mind. She’d been so caught up in the kiss and rubbing her body against him, she didn’t register his words the first time.
“What, sex?”
“Yes, do you have to…”
Eden had to pause and really think about it before she could answer. “No, I guess not. We could do it safely. As long as my DNA doesn’t mix with yours, we’re not bonded,” she said as the barest hint of a blush stole over her cheeks.
“And if I don’t want you to hold back?”
“Kellan, I can control myself. This is a big decision and you should make it when you’re ready. So if we need to be careful, I carry some condoms with me. Just in case anyone needs them,” she added quickly. It’d been a long time since she’d needed them. But with humans that wanted to try and trick a Kindred, getting pregnant by one was a quick way to a usually unhappy ending.
He was staring at her hard and Eden could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She could control herself, she’d have to. Her mate couldn’t be coerced into forever. She wanted him to choose it. Needed him to. Maybe when his troubles were over, they could bond. Until then, she’d just have to keep her animal at bay.
“No, I mean, why should we wait?”
Eden pushed up from him. “Because we met yesterday?” she said, shocked that she was the one that had to come up with a valid reason.
“So?”
“So? Kellan, humans can’t shift gears that fast. They need time to analyze, choose, change their minds, choose again. I’ve heard you can be very indecisive.”
“Thanks for that generalization,” he said with a wry smile. “You say that we’re destined to be together no matter what. So it’s just a matter of time before the outcome is the same, right?”
“I believe that to be true. But you need more time.”
Kellan gave her that same enigmatic smile again. “Do I?”
“Kellan Huntley, be serious. This is a once-in-a-lifetime decision. You need to… talk to your friends about it. Figure out if it’s what you really want.”
“That sounds like a delay tactic. My best friend is Kindred. What do you think he would tell me to do?” His tone implied that maybe Beau wasn’t the best person to get an alternative viewpoint from.
“Well, he would probably bite his mate before introducing himself. He is a wolf, after all,” Eden said with a sniff. “But if he was a true friend, that wanted your happiness, he’d tell you to take what the universe has offered. Take it with both hands and don’t let go.”
“That’s what I think he would say too. I know what my family will say, I know what my friends would say. But I don’t need them to tell me what I already know.” Kellan raised an eyebrow. “Can I take a guess that you don’t like wolves?”
“I like them just fine. They’re just… different. Bears want family and mates more than anything. We’d be happy living in a cabin in the woods far away from everything as long as we had our mates by our side. Wolves want the same thing, they just want to do all of it in a penthouse.”
“You’re a Kindred snob!” he mocked.
“I am not. I’m just saying that you should take your time. Maybe you won’t like me when you get to know me. I can be terrible to live with. I hate cleaning up after myself. I tend to eat on paper plates because I don’t do dishes. I have my clothes sent out to be washed. You could hold out for someone that wants to stay home warming your slippers,” she teased.
Kellan smiled at her and she felt her stomach flip. “If I didn’t like you, honestly, what would you do?”
Eden sighed. She knew the answer and it wasn’t going to help her case. “I’d show you every day how perfect I was for you and how perfect you are for me. How much better our lives could be together. I’d hope that one day, hopefully soon, you will see me like I’d see you. That is unless you have something against black bears?”
“And that’s just ridiculous. I already know that I’d be the luckiest man to have you. Some things are obvious. You’re special, Eden. With everything in my life up in the air, knowing what is growing in my heart, every time I look at you, it hits me again, that’s something I don’t want to lose.”
She placed her hand on his cheek and closed her eyes. “You won’t lose me either way,” she said, the words not wanting to come out. They were true, but she was also fighting against the choice he was making and she desperately wanted.
“Then there’s no reason to delay. I can’t tell what tomorrow will bring, but I do know I don’t want to wake up without you.”
Eden knew she should be the strong one, the one that made the tough choices for the sake of her mate. But he w
anted her. A human that she couldn’t compare to anyone she’d met before. A unique soul in all the world that spoke to the deepest part of who she was—as a Kindred, and as a woman.
“I don’t want to scare you. I feel so much for you, Kellan.”
“Like what? Mates don’t have secrets, do they?”
Eden shook her head. Mates shouldn’t have secrets. But being honest to the man that holds your heart, whether he knew it or not, was still tough.
“I loved you from the moment I saw your eyes. It felt like I’d floated off the ground. It sounds silly, but every time I see you, every time your eyes meet mine, I fall more in love. I don’t know how it’s possible, but it’s true.”
Kellan let out a breath. His hands came up to her face. “I know I’m falling in love with you, Eden. I know it because I’ve never felt this way before. You’re the first woman that’s ever said that to me and meant it.”
Shaking her head. “You can’t know that. I bet you’ve broken hundreds of hearts.” Eden didn’t want to think about the other women that had come before her. There was too much future to look forward to. But it didn’t stop a small part of her from thinking about the women that might be looking back at their time with him and wondering if they’d missed something special. They were missing out, and she would be happy to tell them if they ever had a chance to meet. Kellan was a man that returned love like a mirror. He couldn’t help but reflect it back to you.
“No, they knew I wasn’t all in. They could tell. Maybe I was waiting for you. Waiting for everything that was supposed to be. That makes me grateful for everything that’s happened to me. I was waiting for you, Eden.”
Eden closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to give her heart away. She could tell this man anything about herself and he wouldn’t feel differently about her. Her animal, her soul, told her that was true. He would help her be stronger, face them, and if she couldn’t? She was sure he’d fight her demons for her.
“There’s no going back,” she whispered one more time. She had to know that he wanted this, wanted her, before she let go of the iron grip she had on her desires.
Leaning forward and bringing his lips to her ear, he said softly, “Eden, I’m your mate. I want you naked under me. If I’m yours, then make me truly your mate. I want to wake up with you every day for the rest of my life.”
There was nothing more that needed to be said, and Eden let the tears she’d been holding back fall down her cheeks as she opened her eyes and smiled at him. “I never knew I wanted you,” she said.
“I didn’t know what I wanted until I met you,” he replied.
Eden’s mouth crashed against his as she kissed him hard. She pushed her hands into his hair and it felt so right. She had to trust this was what the universe wanted for her. And she couldn’t resist the urge to mark her man, once they were bonded he would wear her mark. It would be something that would link them forever.
She tugged at his shirt and helped him pull it over his head. She scratched her fingernails over his chest. The urge to dig in had to be held back. He wouldn’t heal as fast as a Kindred could when they shifted. The only mark she wanted on him was her mate mark.
She pushed off her jacket and pulled her shirt off and was kicking off her boots as Kellan kissed her. His hands kept bumping into hers, both of them desperate to be skin to skin.
“Damn, you’re sexy,” Kellan breathed as he moved down to her neck. Eden arched her neck to give him more room and focused on pushing her jeans over her hips. His cock pressed against her hips and she tilted her hips up against him as she rid herself of her jeans.
“I want you naked,” she growled.
Kellan broke away and pushed his pants off, freeing his erection. Eden forgot what she was doing and wrapped her hand around his hard cock. It was hers, after all; she should be able to handle it whenever she wanted.
Her mate let out a hiss and she couldn’t resist. Her mouth sealed around the tip of his cock just above her fingers and she swirled her tongue around the crown.
Kellan let out a moan and his voice was rough when he said, “Eden, I don’t know if I’m going to last if you do that.”
She released him from her mouth. “You’ll last,” she said, “or we’ll have to start all over again.”
Letting go of her prize, she pushed her jeans and socks off and lay back on the bed in her black bra and panties. From the look in Kellan’s eyes, he might not have expected the soft pink bows printed over the silky fabric. Eden liked nice lingerie; it made her feel like the real her even under her work clothes.
He glanced up at her and she smiled. “One of my many secrets.”
Kellan smiled. “If all your secrets are like this, I can’t wait to discover the rest of them.” His lips moved to the mound of her breast and he placed kisses along the edge of the fabric. His hand curled behind her and she could feel him searching for the clasp of her bra. Kellan’s mouth skimmed over the mate mark on her chest. The iridescent skin tingled as his lips touched the sensitive spot.
She wasn’t going to help with the clasp, she was enjoying the slow tease. “I have lots of secrets,” she said softly.
“Like?” he prodded.
“I can’t tell you so soon, that will spoil the fun.”
She felt him laugh against her skin and stretched with delight at the sensations building inside her.
The clasp of her bra finally gave way beneath his fingers and Kellan pulled down the cups of her bra to reveal her dusky rose nipples. They were tight and puckered; aching for him. She’d never been one to want her breasts kissed or touched. That would relate closer to making love than just fucking. Eden was all for fucking. The other… that was foreign to her.
“You have the most amazing breasts,” Kellan said, cupping them in his hands.
“There’s no way you could know that. So I’m going to assume you’re just exaggerating.”
Kellan covered one taut peak with his mouth and sucked hard. “No, not exaggerating.”
Eden still didn’t believe him, but she wasn’t going to argue about it. The feel of his mouth on her nipple shot fire through her body. Her nipples were tied to her stomach, then her pussy. Her muscles would clench then her pussy would tighten. She was wet, and her mind was running through all the different ways she wanted to experience her mate’s cock.
Rubbing her hips against his waist, she clung to him as he moved from nipple to nipple. The wet wake he left cooled in the air of the room. “You’re driving me crazy,” she said, gripping her hands tighter in his hair.
“Good, I’d be failing if I wasn’t.” Kellan slid a hand down over her stomach and dipped into the band of her silk panties.
She held still as his fingers inched to the prize. His hand stilled and she watched his head come up.
“Bare?” he asked.
“Totally. Easier in my work. You never know when you have to be in a skimpy bikini to lure in a bad guy.”
“Holy shit,” Kellan moaned. His hand brushed between her folds, wetting his fingers before circling back to her clit.
“Yes,” she hissed at him.
“You’re so wet and I’m so fucking hard.”
“I want you, don’t make me wait, Kellan.”
Kellan kissed her hot and hard then slid down her body, pulling the now damp piece of silk down over her hips.
“Not before I get a taste.”
Eden moaned. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“Oh, I hope so. A thousand little deaths. Over and over,” he promised, his breath teasing over her wet flesh.
Kellan pushed her legs apart and Eden slid one leg over his shoulder. His tongue slid over her pussy and she gripped the sheet tightly, digging her fingers into the fabric, so she wouldn’t hurt her mate. Her animal was roaring in her head and she fought the urge to partially shift. She could pull her animal out enough to scare or intimidate someone. But she didn’t want her mate distracted; no, she wanted him right where he was.
&n
bsp; She closed her eyes and let go. She didn’t worry if she made noise, didn’t worry what her mate would think. She was just herself. Zion would keep them safe, she didn’t need to worry about that.
After she’d bonded with Kellan, her ability to protect him would fall under Clan law. It was another way she was going to keep him safe.
Chapter 16
“You taste amazing,” Kellan said, his voice a low pant.
“Don’t stop, please,” Eden purred.
She felt a laugh against her skin. Apparently, the idea of stopping wasn’t part of his plan. She soaked in all the feelings, all the delightful zings of pleasure; her body was blooming and she was reveling in it.
Kellan didn’t stop. Instead, his hand dipped deeper into her tight opening. Swirling his finger, he plunged it inside her.
“More,” she moaned.
Kellan slid a second finger inside her and her hips bucked up against his hand. His mouth was teasing her, tasting her as she lifted her hips to get closer to him. “That’s perfect,” she breathed.
The pleasure was building inside Eden. Her animal wanted to find their release urgently, its goal was singular and focused.
“Wait for me,” Kellan said roughly as his fingers pumped into her.
“What? Seriously?” Eden thought that was a terrible idea. She knew what she wanted and it was just within her reach.
“Just until we’re together, for us.” His breath was warm against her skin and she truly didn’t want to deny him anything. She was feeling too good and was falling more in love with him with every touch.
“For the first time, then it’s game on,” she said, her voice growly.
She couldn’t see it, but she was sure Kellan smiled. Accepting the sweet feeling building in her, she focused on not letting herself fall over. Instead, the pleasure built and built, his hand bringing her to the edge over and over.
“Kellan, I want you,” she said, the slightest hint of pleading in her voice. Her body was shaking from holding back. Kellan’s body was tense and his muscles were tight, she knew he was focusing on her and holding himself back, too. They were going to have some long lovemaking sessions in the future if they were both trying to win on the restraint front.
