Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Lucas

I had been taking notes since the moment we met Imogen, trying to work out what made her tick. Books and art, that's what I got loud and clear, though what the hell she had stashed in that box she'd hidden away when we moved her in plagued me. Maybe there was something else in there, something else she needed, and I wanted to be the one to provide it.

Because doing so filled me with this warm feeling that filtered all the way through my body, better even than a spoonful of her stew.

Maybe because that wide-eyed look of wonder was just as delicious. My mate looked like a kid in a candy shop, and I wanted to find a way to make every day like that. An art studio, fully stocked, next door? The possibility of studying art or even writing at university? Whatever she wanted, that's what I needed to provide, but right now I tried to just enjoy this.

"The stew's amazing, Imogen," I said, even though I wanted to say so much more.

She flushed, her cheeks going even pinker.

"If I'd known about this I would've made something fancier."

"You don't need to do that," I replied. "All we need is you…" My throat felt like it was going to close up, because while I'd heard tales of bear shifters finding their mates, they omitted this.

At some point you had to put your whole self out there, vulnerable and aching, and hope your mate still chose you. That's what these books contained–I knew because I'd gone far beyond her list of damaged books.

Finding rare books was my jam, and I'd emailed every contact, every rare bookshop I could to find each one of her wish list, but as I trawled through the listings, I found more. More books with similar themes, with strong reviews, that other readers with similar interests to my mate had bought, so I'd purchased them as well. That meant each box contained her past–books that were well loved–but…

It also contained a future.

Of discovering new books, new authors, and new characters to fall in love with, and this time I'd be right there with her as it happened.

I wanted to start pulling books out, showing them to her like a kid proud of their finger painting or something, but before I could, Kyle set his bowl back on the tray with a clunk.

"So, truth or dare you said?" He grinned at Asher. "I'll go first."

"Of course you would volunteer." Asher rolled his eyes. "OK, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

That smug smile, the way he looked Imogen over with complete certainty, I wish I had that kind of confidence. She wiggled a little where she sat before putting her bowl aside, but in the end, she wasn't the one to assign a dare.

"Read a sex scene from one of Imogen's books." Asher's dry tone had me snorting and Kyle's jaw muscle flexing. Nothing had him running for the door like reading. "Imogen?" Asher nodded to the boxes. "You can assign the reading material."

"Somehow, I'm part of Kyle's dare?" she muttered, but she went to the boxes anyway, running her fingers along the spines and that's when she looked up.

Her eyes met mine, widening when she realised exactly what I'd bought her, but she pulled one book out with a shirtless man and a bear on the cover. A quick flick through the pages told me this was a favourite. She opened it on a specific chapter and then tapped the page.

"Bastian…" Kyle cleared his throat and then glanced around the room, actually looking uncomfortable for once. "Bastian pulled Joanna closer, his mouth finding her neck as he tugged her hard against him. His rock hard member throbbed at the scent of her, the feel of her, as she…" He glanced up at Asher. "Exactly how much am I reading?"

"How about when they seal the deal?" Asher drawled.

"Right. So, as she moved against him. The heat of her sought his, her hips moving instinctively, setting a rhythm that had them both groaning…'

As fun as it was listening to Kyle fumble his way through this, I couldn't focus on the words, not when Imogen was in the room. Instead, I watched her grin, laugh, and then blush just a little, her hand rubbing against the carpet as he continued. It was her scent that undid me.

The sweetest honey when she first walked in, with just an acidic edge of surprise, that quickly softened as she saw everything we'd done so far and what we intended to do before we were finished. What I intended for us to do to complete this job.

That selfish thought took my breath away, unwanted and unneeded. I'd brought Kyle in on the idea from the start because that's what you did as a sleuth: worked together as a team to please our mate. But I wasn't doing that right now. I was just watching him make her laugh and sigh with a book I'd hand selected. I wanted to be the one to read it to her, I realised. Away from everyone else, I wanted her tucked up against me, hopefully naked and happy, I wanted to choose whichever book she preferred, and I'd read it until she was done listening and needed to choreograph her own sex scenes. But right as frustration rode me, Kyle finally came to an end, performing a little seated bow before tossing the book back into the box.

"OK, that was amazing." Imogen tried for sarcasm but just ended up sounding all breathy. "If you'd read me a book like that…" He got a hot, secret little look before she forged on. "Well, things would've progressed so much faster."

"Books are the way to a lady's heart and between her legs. Got it," Kyle said. "So, who's next?"

My lips moved, wanting to say something, anything, if it meant having my turn, but Asher cut me off.

"Truth."

"This bite…" Imogen said. I saw it now, lurid and red, but I knew it'd fade down to something close to her natural skin colour. "Why is it so sensitive? Like, not painful."

He'd claimed her? I stared at Asher, but he was entirely focussed on Imogen, so instead I got a sheepish look from Kyle. He knew as well, that while we were working, Asher… I watched my sleuth mate slide in behind Imogen, placing his legs on either side of hers as his fingers pushed her hair away. Asher pressed a gentle kiss to her neck, his lips fitting the bite he'd left upon her, and it was then I saw exactly what she meant. Her whole body undulated against his, fluid as a wave, as he sucked the skin.

"Oh! Oh…"

Imogen was putty in his hands, soft and open to him, her hands going behind her neck to hold him right where he was. His tongue worked, then his fangs did, provoking more and more sensation from her until her breath was coming in little pants. Rather than bringing her to climax, he pulled away, eyes burning like blue fire before he growled.

"It feels like that because you're mine." His focus shifted to us. "All of ours. Because the bear gods are kind and would only ever make the marking process a pleasurable one. Every time one of us touches this mark going forward, you'll remember how I made you feel, how all of us will continue to please you every day we have together."

A gentle kiss against the mark had her shivering.

"So, truth or dare, Imogen?"

Dare , I mentally prompted. Say dare , because I knew what I'd do. I'd dare her to come to me, curl in my arms and stay there for the entire night, just for the feel of her. I'd dare her to open the boxes and see every selection and give me her thoughts. I'd dare her to read every book, now, later, for the rest of our lives. Of course, that's when she turned around and faced Asher with hazy eyes.

"Dare."

"I dare you to let me give you another set of bite marks to match those."

Kyle's voice silenced me, his light tone doing a terrible job of masking how he really felt. Like always, he was making a joke of the thing that was actually really important to him. Imogen didn't see that, though, her eyes jerking to take him in, searching, then softening before she moved a little closer. Crawling on her hands and knees, I hated that, it forced me to move forward and remove the tray, the bowls shaking as she was pulled into his arms.

"Is that what you want?" she asked.

"More than surf and turf. More than lamb roast. Even more than steak and blowjob day." Imogen snorted at his reply, but he forged on, tucking her hair on the unmarked side of her neck away. "More than anything else in the world."

"Oh well, in that case…"

She barely breathed that out, rising up on her knees before dropping her head. I looked away before I saw them kiss. A wet sound told me everything I needed to know. That he kissed the skin first, making her sensitive, long for his touch, right before he struck. A strangled sound and I was forced to look back in time to see her arms being thrown out wide like she was falling, right before he caught her.

Fangs dug into skin, arms went around her, holding her tight, right as she fought his hold. I rose up, ready to free her, when I saw I'd misread the situation. Imogen wasn't hurting, trying to get away from Kyle, but to get closer. She clung to his shoulders, his mouth closing over the mark he'd made, sucking hard on the skin, right before they pulled back to stare at each other.

He'd know just what was going on in her head, that's what killed me. Every thought she chose to share, every feeling. They'd be tied as tightly as two people could be, bound at the soul level. That would happen for me too, I knew that academically, but rational thought was shoved aside as the bear flexed within me. He was always a pretty chill presence inside me, but not now. Claws formed and fur prickled across my arms as he pushed forward, wanting to insert himself in what was happening.

But that's not how this worked.

Each of us in turn would find the moment to claim our mate, and mine would come. Just not now. I admit I had fantasies of this each time I bought a book or selected furniture, thinking of the moment when I would finally know Imogen was mine. Perhaps that's why I was moving towards the door now.

"Lucas—" Asher said.

"Just a minute." I paused in the doorway and held out a hand. "Just give me a moment, please."

Just one second to collect myself, to keep all the feelings that raged in my breast and drove the bear mad tamped down. Now was not my time, I breathed that terrible knowledge in and then out, but it would come. It would surely come. With a nod, I walked down the hallway, intent on letting the rest of my sleuth enjoy theirs.