Bear Naked and Bite Marks (6 page)

The cold, unforgiving front door stopped
her retreat, and when he placed one hand on the glass by her head, leaned in an
inch, and lowered his eyes to stare at her lips, everything inside of Melissa
stilled. He looked back at her face after a few seconds, and inhaled deeply
while holding her gaze with his own. A low hum of desire left his chest and speared
right into her body.

“You wouldn’t believe how easy it was to
find out all about you, Melissa Amelia Damien.” He seemed to purr out her name
even though he wasn’t of the feline variety.

Her lashes fluttered, but she forced
them to stay open. He leaned in another inch, and she should have pushed him
away. This felt like it was moving so fast. He might be her mate, but she had
just met him, and he was moving so fast, and being so forward. But she couldn’t
find the strength to do that. Instead, she found her hands clenching tightly
into fists, and she pressed her thighs together, hoping to stem off the flow of
her arousal, but actually creating pressure on her clit. Yeah, that had made it
a hell of a lot worse.

“I bet I could kiss you right now and
you’d clutch at me like you were starving for it, wouldn’t you,
mate
.” Before she could say anything
something seemed to snap inside of him, and his dark eyes flickered back to
blue. He took a step back and took his hat off only long enough to scrub a hand
over his head and down to his face. The movement caused his right shirtsleeve
to ride up, and Melissa caught a glimpse of the dark lines inked onto his
flesh. They appeared tribal, kind of, but there was something off about them.
He put his hat back in place, slipped his glasses over the bridge of his nose
to conceal his eyes from her, and breathed out roughly. Melissa finally
exhaled, not realizing she had been holding her breath the entire time she
watched him try to get himself in order. He cleared his throat a few times,
looked left and then right, and then when he finally seemed to move away from
the hypothetical edge, he offered her a smile, but it was a bit forced.

But she wasn’t about to let that go … whatever
in the hell
that
had been. “Don’t you
think that was a bit much? I mean, I know all about mates and the alpha
claiming mentality. But what in the hell was that?” His smile faded and for a
moment he did not respond, but the low growl that came from him was purely his
bear trying to come out once more.

“
Mate
,
you’d do well to not say anything right now, especially when it’s clear I’m
barely holding on as it is.” He shook his head and looked down at the pavement.
The muscle under his whisker-covered cheek flexed, and she knew that she needed
to tread lightly here. Clearly this male was far more animal than human, and
clearly he wasn’t used to a female with her … aggressive personality. Melissa
wasn’t the type to just submit to a male, not unless she was willingly doing
that in the bedroom. This male was grappling for control with his beast right
now, and a part of her melted at the fact that he was trying. Trying was the
least Melissa could do, too.

“You’re right.” A flicker of surprise
moved across his face, and she crossed her arms in annoyance. “You don’t have
to look so shocked. This is only the second time we are talking, and less than
an hour of knowing each other. It isn’t like you’re used to my sassiness.” The
corner of his mouth lifted, and this time it looked genuine, and if she was
being honest he looked damn good smiling.

“Sorry. It’s just in that short amount
of time I’ve known you all you’ve given me is the tug and pull attitude.” She
lifted one shoulder, and uncrossed her arms so she could let them fall to her
sides.

“Yeah, well spend a little more time
with me and you’ll come to realize that I have a whole lot of piss and vinegar
to give.” He started to chuckle, and the deep, rich sound was almost of
orgasmic quality. Her body wanted him like no other, and the pull of being
mates was so strong it was hard to resist at all, but she didn’t really want to
jump right into this. Maybe this went against the grain of who she had always
been, but she wanted to get to know him and not just jump in bed together.
Melissa wasn’t a stranger to having one-night stands, and in fact felt no shame
in it. She was an adult, a confident female, and she enjoyed sex. But this
wasn’t just a one night stand. This was a lifetime commitment.

“Declan
Faylon
.”
He held out his hand, and she eyed it.

“You want to shake my hand?” She was
teasing, but the heated look he gave her had her smile fading.

“Shaking your hand seems like a far
safer thing than what I really want to do to you.” His voice grew lower and
gruffer, and the flash of chocolate brown irises told her he was still barely
holding on to his sanity. She took a step forward and reached out to slip her
hand in his much bigger one. Melissa had never considered her small by any
means,
short yes, but slim, hell no. But this male, her mate,
was so tall and muscular, that she felt, dare she say, petite in front of him.
Having to crane her head back just to look in his face had her heart racing,
and feeling the way he gently tightened his hold on her hand at the same time
he brushed his thumb back and forth along her flesh had her pussy clenching
almost painfully. His throat worked as he swallowed, and she knew he could
scent how wet she was, because
she
could smell how aroused
he
was. The
need to look down at his crotch, knowing he was hard and wanting to see just
how much he tented his pants ran high within her, but she wasn’t going to.
Melissa could practice self-control. She could, and she would, right?

“Listen, I came here to see if you
wanted to have dinner with me tonight.” He rubbed the back of his neck, and
Melissa was struck by the fact he seemed nervous. That observation didn’t seem
to fit the aura that surrounded him. “Shit.” She looked at him curiously. “I’ve
never done this.” He gestured between the two of them.

“Done what? Ask a female out to dinner?”
She smiled, teasing him, but at the hard, serious look on his face she sobered.
“Seriously?”
He was gorgeous with a body that looked
like it was made out of marble. Yes, she had just thought that, but it was the
truth.

“Yeah, seriously.
To be perfectly honest with you I don’t spend time with females aside from....”
He snapped his mouth shut, and although he almost went there, Melissa also knew
he hadn’t meant to. He crossed his arms over his chest, and she knew she had pissed
him off, but then again she also knew what he
was
insinuating and the wolf inside of her bristled. It was a ludicrous reaction,
given the fact she was no budding virgin herself.

“Listen.” She pushed some hair off her
shoulder and wished she would have put the long, thick heavy mass up in a
chignon. “Can we start over? Maybe you leave out the ‘You Jane, I’m Tarzan’
mentality, and I’ll lighten up on my bitchiness, at least until we get to know
each other a little more?” He smirked, and she felt herself relaxing.

“Yeah, I can probably back off,
somewhat. At least until we know each other better.” When he winked she would
have swooned right there, because shit, did it look good on him. Okay, this was
a good start. They were making progress, actually talking instead of having
this Alpha vs. Bitch match, and she was feeling pretty good about that. “So,
Melissa, would you like to go to dinner with me? I’m new at this whole mate
thing, but you and I both know I won’t just walk away.” He didn’t say it cockily,
but there was an undertone of assertiveness and determination in his voice.
Melissa couldn’t get pissed at that, though. He was trying, obviously, and she
would just have to bite her tongue when the whole alphaness came off a little
strong. Besides, she wanted to see how this went, and where it ended. Taking
the day to think about everything, and what the girls had told her, put a lot
of perspective into Melissa. She could fight this every step of the way, or she
could submit on her own terms, because heaven help her there was a part of
Melissa that wanted to see how far this grizzly would go if she let him
dominate her.

Chapter Five

Melissa looked in her rearview mirror
for the twentieth time in the last five minutes. The dual headlights of
Declan’s SUV shown right behind her, and her heart pounded hard in her chest.
She pulled into the parking lot of a small Italian diner owned by a badger
shifter married couple. It was a newer establishment, only being opened less
than six month ago, but their pizza was homemade and the best Melissa had ever
eaten. Declan pulled up beside her, and for a moment all she did was sit there.
His name kept rolling around in her head, and even thinking it made her feel
sensitive in all of her erogenous zones. Melissa looked out the window and saw
him tightening and loosening his hands on the steering wheel. His jaw looked
clenched, like he might be grinding his teeth. He didn’t turn to look at her,
and she didn’t move until she saw his chest rise and fall once more, as if he
were exhaling forcefully. He tightened his hands on the steering wheel once
before he let go. Only when he exited the SUV did Melissa get out of her car and
meet him at the back of his vehicle. He kept his head lowered, but he seemed
tense now, almost angry.

“Are you okay?” He looked at her, and
she expected to see his chocolate eyes, but they were light blue. He offered
her a smile, and although she still sensed something was off about him she
didn’t press him
..

“I’m good.” His voice was so low, God,
it was so low, and masculine. He was the epitome of what a strong male was, but
it wasn’t only the fact he was built like a tank, but the presence and aura
that came from him.

“Okay.” She didn’t prod, because
whatever was bothering him wasn’t her business if he didn’t want to divulge it.
She just hoped this didn’t end up being a bad idea given the fact he was
suddenly in a funk.

****

Declan stayed one step behind Melissa,
and although he was barely hanging on as it was, he didn’t stop himself from
watching the way her ass moved under the tight material of her skirt. The skirt
itself wasn’t overly snug, but damn did she have a nice, big and juicy ass. In
fact, everything about her was so damn delicious that he had to adjust his dick
in his jeans as soon as he got in the SUV because the hard fucker had been digging
into his zipper. He knew she had sensed that there was something off with him,
but ever since he saw her yesterday his bear had been wanting out increasingly
more. The asshole had been persistent and strong beforehand, but now that he
had found his mate it was like some kind of switch had been turned on inside of
Declan, making the already fierce grizzly inside of him even more
temperamental. His animal wanted out, wanted to pin Melissa to the side of a
building, against his car, or better yet take her back to his place so he could
mark her up really fucking good. He wanted his twin puncture marks on the
smooth column of her throat, wanted his claws marks creating erotic raised
lines on her body, and wanted his cum and
scent
to
fill her body. His cock jerked, and he clenched his hands into fists. Fuck, he
wanted her, like right now, but he was going to need to get his shit together.

Before she reached the door he moved
quickly and got it for her. She seemed a bit taken aback at first, like she had
never had a male do that for her before, but then she blushed and Declan felt
like a damn kid that he pleased his female.

“Thank you.” She ducked her head and
moved past him, and that wonderful sweet smell that was his mate’s natural
scent filled his nose and made him even harder. The aroma of tomato sauce and
pasta was strong enough it masked Melissa’s smell, but not so much that Declan
couldn’t have found her if she wandered off. In fact, her scent was ingrained
in his brain, in his very cells, and there was no place on the fucking planet
that she could be that he wouldn’t find her.

“Good evening. Two?” The hostess was a
young human girl, probably still in high school. She smiled, and a flash of
silver from her braces caught the overhead light.

“Yeah.”
Declan cleared his voice because even he could hear the animal tones lurking
right beneath it. The waitress averted her eyes from him, and her uneasiness
was tangible, but Declan was used to it. His size and overall presence tended
to have people keeping the fuck away, but he had always preferred it that way.
Now he just felt slightly awkward because of it, and it was all because he had
found this little wolf a couple of days ago. The hostess showed them to their
table, one with a candle lit in the center, and situated right by a fire that
crackled softly. It was an intimate setting, but as much as he was trying to be
a gentleman, he felt completely out of place, given the fact this was not him,
or at least it had never been him before. The entire way here he had been
fighting with his animal. Hell, he had nearly shifted when he saw her coming
out of her office. The fucker was growing stronger inside of him with each
passing day, and Declan knew that if he didn’t claim her and put his mark on
her, it would only get worse. The only thing that could sate his beast was his
mate, but it was clear she was headstrong and wouldn’t be folding so easily. She
wanted to go slow, and so did he—to an extent. He didn’t want to fuck this up
with her, and so he’d let her lead, and let her decide when she was ready to
take this to the next level.
 
Declan had
pride that his mate was strong, even if his bear wanted her to submit easily to
him. But he was just too on edge, too feral inside to do the wine and dine
thing. All he had been thinking about since meeting her was getting between her
legs, and as bad as that sounded, it was the way of a male shifter when they
found their mate. Fucking her, claiming her, and marking her were all
essentially the same thing to them, and until they had that victory, that
relinquishment from their other half, they wouldn’t be centered. But he was
going to have to deal with the uncomfortable sensation inside of him until she
gave the all clear.