Chapter 13

Ishake my head. "No, I don't own you. I'll never own you, Dinah, but from the moment I scented you across the parking lot, you owned me. I am yours, Honeysuckle, until my dying breath. My heart, my body, and my soul are yours, and while you can live a happy and full life without me, I am nothing without you."

She pulls back and lowers her chin, pushing the top of her head against my sternum. Silence descends and I stare up at the full moon taunting me overhead.

Time. I need more time.

"Will you teach me all the things?" Her voice is angelic as she lifts her head to look me in the eye.

"Everything."

She smiles. "And take me to all the places?"

"Everywhere."

She trails her fingers up my chest and loops her arms around my neck. "And let me read all the books?"

I grin. "Every single one of them."

Dinah kisses me and rests her forehead against mine. "While I may be your fated mate, you are my soulmate, and I don't want to live a full life with anyone other than you. I may not have animal instinct, but your scent drives me crazy too. I was lost when I found you, but in you I found home. So please, Kade—claim me, mark me, and make me yours, because I fear I'm also nothing without you."

"You'll never regret choosing me." I stand with her wrapped around my waist and lay her down on the boulder, kissing her long and hard with a lifetime full of promises transferring from my lips to hers. My fingers dance lightly over her body, unzipping the back of her dress and letting the bodice slip off her shoulders. I would've preferred her first time to be a full-night affair in my comfortable bed, but my bear and I can't wait another hour when her arousal hangs thick in the air. Trailing kisses down her body, I slide the delicate red lace panties down her legs, replacing them with my tongue on the inside of her thighs. While I've gotten her off a few times today with my fingers, my mouth has been watering for another taste of her. I suck and lick her clit until she's grinding her pussy against my lips, her climax building easier with each release.

It takes another minute before her hands are in my hair, and she cries out to the stars and moon overhead as her pussy pulsates and sweet creamy nectar slides down my throat. I press my face harder into her cunt, my fangs elongating as my desire to mark her moves to the forefront.

Wait. Not yet. Let's be inside our mate when we mark her.

My bear seems to like that idea, because my canines retract as I crawl up her body and place kisses against her moon-bathed skin. Claiming Dinah's lips again, I roll onto my back and pull her on top of me, her wet heat pressed against my aching cock. I sit up and unfasten her bra, revealing her pert nipples that I've only teased through thin cotton fabric to my hungry eyes. "Sweet Fates, Dinah. You are perfect in every way."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. You're beautiful, sweet, kind—and mine." I reach between us to hold my cock at an angle. "I want you on top for the first time. You'll be able to control how hard and fast I enter your body. It might hurt a bit, but I've been stretching you all day with my fingers, so hopefully it won't be that bad."

"I'm not scared." Dinah lifts, inhaling sharply as the head of my cock breaches her tight hole.

Sucking in my breath, I grip her hips and hold perfectly still as she slowly lowers until my cock fills and stretches her warm depths—the backs of her thighs resting on the tops of mine.

We pant in unison, neither of us moving a muscle as her pussy spasms and adjusts to my size. Dinah's brown eyes are wide as she stares into mine that no doubt shine in the moonlight. My bear is at the forefront, ready to claim our mate. I press my thumb to her clit and whisper against her mouth. "When you're ready, move your hips."

She moves slowly at first, her arousal coating and slickening my cock, allowing my thick length to slide in and out of her. But my mate is a fast learner, quickly figuring out what feels good and what feels great. Best part, she's greedy for more.

Dinah throws her head back, her breasts presenting themselves for me to feast upon as she establishes a rhythm, riding me while chasing her next orgasm. I slide one hand up her spine and wrap my fingers around the back of her neck while clamping my teeth down on her pert nipples, biting and sucking one and then the other.

"More," Dinah whimpers—the solitary word causing my fangs to descend as my balls tighten up and cum races up my shaft.

Her pussy clamps down on my cock as I shoot cum deep into her womb, my canines piercing the soft tissue on the side of her ample breast. A series of tremors take hold of Dinah's body as she shakes and convulses, her cunt releasing a stream of orgasms in rapid fire—one after another until there are too many to count. Her screams echo off the rocks in the canyon below us, and I'd be shocked if every shifter within a fifty-mile radius didn't hear her.

Fuck yeah. That's right. That's my mate—the one I've marked and claimed—screaming her pleasure.

She slumps forward, gasping for breath as my fangs retract and I lick the small puncture wounds until they close. I lift my head to find her smiling down at me. "That was amazing."

"Yes, it was."

"You marked me. Is your bear happy now?"

My bear rolls onto his back with his paws in the air like a cub at play. I grin, lay back, and mimic his posture. "He's thrilled, and so am I."

Dinah drapes herself over my chest. "Me too."

Wrapping my arms around her, I hold her in comfortable silence. My bear is content for the first time in days, months, maybe ever. I don't know what the future holds. Obviously my SpecOpsSierra brethren—plus Wiley and Nan—accept my human mate, but what about the rest of the MC or local pack?

What about my family in Fortune Falls?

There's still a lot to figure out. Plus, there's Jimmy who may or may not freak out once he's no longer medicated.

One walk through town, and every shifter who passes us will pick up on my serum in her blood, her scent irrevocably changed to everyone but me. Word will spread like wildfire tomorrow, and by tomorrow night I'll know if we have to leave town and settle somewhere else. Luckily, I'm one of the biggest and fiercest fuckers here, so I doubt anyone will be stupid enough to challenge me. But I also want Dinah to have the best life possible, which means I will move us somewhere welcoming to her regardless of what that means to my bear. He and I can figure it out. We've lived around humans who didn't know what we were in the military, so a new town will be easy.

A new town with an enormous library for my mate to indulge in.

"Kade?"

"Yes, Honeysuckle?"

"We're bonded now?" She traces circles on my chest but doesn't lift her head.

"Yes."

"Mated?"

"Yes."

She gasps. "Am I going to turn into a bear?"

I chuckle and kiss the top of her head, loving her curious brain. "No. It doesn't work that way."

"Will our children be bears?"

Ah, the tricky question. "They won't be bears, but they might be shifters like me."

"Might be?" She pulls back and looks at me with a furrowed brow.

I brush the strands that have fallen loose from her braids back from her cheeks and smooth my thumb over the creases in her forehead. "Already worried about our children?"

"I guess there's a lot to learn."

"Not really. It's like all genetics. As a shifter, I have human genes, bear genes, and something that makes them work together seamlessly. You're fully human, which means the odds of our children being fully human is higher. However my shifter genes are stronger, so time will tell. We could have children who don't shift for the first time until they're adults, or they can shift as an adolescent like I did, or maybe they never will at all."

"How young were you when you first shifted?"

I think back. "Eight or nine, but both of my parents were shifters."

"Were?"

Sighing, I frame her face and pull her close, kissing her lips softly. "That's a long story for another day."

"Will you introduce me to your family?"

"Yes. Soon."

Dinah rests her head against my shoulder, her lips brushing against my throat. "Kade?"

"Yes, Honeysuckle?"

"Are we married?"

"As far as shifters are concerned, yes. But as human law goes, no. Do you want to be?"

She lifts her head, her eyes shimmering in the moonlight. "I have no birth certificate. No identification. Technically, I don't exist in the real world. Neither does Jimmy. How will we get married?"

"You don't have to worry about that. I know people and we'll make life easier for both of you. Birth certificates, IDs, passports, basic credit history—whatever you need to live a good life."

"You know people?" She arches her brow.

I grin. "Most shifters are born and raised off the grid, so we have learned how to integrate into society later in life. The same tools will work for you and Jimmy. I told you the moment we met, I'll protect you—both of you."

Dinah nods and looks off into the distance. "Kade?"

"Yes, Honeysuckle?"

"Do you love me?"

Shit. I completely forgot to use the words that I feel with every fiber of my being, but as a human she couldn't possibly understand that. "With everything I have and more. I know you don't understand, but you saved my life tonight by accepting my mark. What I feel for you goes beyond love. It's unbreakable and all-consuming. Yes, Dinah, I love you."

Her cheeks brighten, and she turns her smile to me. "I love you too."

My bear purrs, her words hitting differently than I expected. I've been so worried about finding my fated mate, I completely forgot about nurturing my human heart.

"Thank you for loving me," I whisper before claiming her lips again and slipping my tongue inside her mouth. I kiss my mate, my future wife, my reason for living with everything I have.

Dinah responds perfectly, reaching between us to find my cock hard and ready for round two. She takes control, lining us up, and lowers until she engulfs me with her warm, welcoming pussy.

I grip her hips and arch my back, pushing my cock deeper and eliciting a gasp of pleasure from her lips. I won't lay her down on this stupid boulder and risk the granite scratching her delicate skin, but once I get her home, I'll show her what it's like to be devoured by your mate. She rolls her hips and rides me like a vixen with a lifetime of sexual experience, but it's our bond and her reaction to my pheromones that gives her raw seductive courage and sensual power.

One of the many benefits of being fated mates.

"Oh!" she mewls, tossing her head back and looking to the night sky. "I can't believe how good this feels. It's like my entire body is alive for the first time. The pleasure is so overwhelming, I can't decide what I like best."

I chuckle, cupping her breasts and rolling her nipples between my thumbs and forefingers. A touch of pain and she hisses, her pussy tightening on my cock. "You don't have to decide what you like best. We can do it all. The only thing you ever have to do is tell me what you don't like. There's no judgment with me. No shame. Whatever my mate wants, she gets. Always."

She brings her head down, a huge smile causing her dimples to show. "You're going to spoil me."

"Damn right. That's my job." I press my thumb against her clit, ratcheting up her pleasure and pushing her toward orgasm. Her inner walls clamp down on my cock seconds before she comes, her pulsating cunt spurring my release.

"That one was different from the last one." She collapses on my chest once again, peppering my pecs with kisses.

I stroke her back and smooth her hair, reveling in the moment with my mate. "Each one will be different. Clit versus vaginal versus anal. Toys versus oral versus penetration. They're all a little different. But none will be as intense as when I sink my teeth into you."

"Can we do that more than once?"

"Yes, Honeysuckle. Not nightly, because I'm sure the wounds will be tender for a few days, and the idea of hurting you even for a second bothers me. But every once in a while?—"

"Let's make it our full moon ritual. Kind of like a monthly anniversary."

She doesn't know how perfect she is at this moment, as this is exactly what fated shifter pairs do. "That is an excellent idea. I love you, Dinah."

"I love you, Kade."

"Come on." I kiss her while lifting her off my cock. "Let's go home so I can make love to you properly."

She sits on the rock, putting on the articles of clothing as I find and hand them to her—all except the red lace panties which I slip into my pocket.

"Are you keeping my panties?"

"Yep." I help her off the boulder and interlace our fingers, walking back to the truck.

"Why?"

Leaning in, I kiss her temple and purr in her ear. "Because we still have an hour drive ahead of us and I want to play with my mate's pussy on the way home."

"Oh." She giggles. "Okay."