Mating Season (Morgan Clan Bears, Book 1) Read online

  “But I can’t bite you,” she said, reaching up to touch her own teeth. “I don’t have fangs like a female of your kind would have.”

  “Oh, Tessa,” he flinched. “There is always a way.”

  “How?” she continued. “Tell me.”

  “I can always change you into what I am,” he offered, watching as her eyes widened. The one thing he didn’t want to do was scare her, but the look of shock on her face proved he may have done just that.

  “Really?” she asked, clearing her throat.

  “It’s not easy,” he replied, swallowing hard at the thought. “It’s painful.”

  “How painful?”

  “Like someone is breaking all of your bones over and over again for three days while you transform into one of us,” he admitted. “I will have to be sedated, because once I mark you and give you my blood, we are bonded for eternity. Your pain will be my pain, and your agony will be mine, as well.”

  “Is there medicine that can sedate me, too?” she cringed. “I’ve had broken bones, Drake, and I don’t like what you’re saying…what you’re suggesting.”

  “The last thing I want to do is put you in any type of pain,” he growled. “I would rather cut off my own arms and bleed out on the ground.”

  “Is there a medicine, Drake?” she pressed.

  “Yes,” he nodded, “but it’s not very effective. You’ll still feel pain.”

  “Okay,” she said, quieting as she released his hand.

  The bear inside him roared, demanding he go after her when she walked ahead of him. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to be his. The anger boiled up inside him. This was why humans were no good for them.

  “Tessa?” he called out, taking a step forward, but paused when she spun around. Her arms were crossed over her chest like she was protecting herself. She was scared, and he could scent the fear on the breeze.

  “I want you to do it,” she stated. “If it means I can be as strong as you and your brothers, I want in.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t understand all of these feelings I’m having when I’m around you, Drake, but my heart is telling me that everything you’re telling me is true.”

  “It’s all true,” he promised, taking three large steps to grab ahold of his mate.

  “Then mate me, Drake Morgan,” she breathed as his lips crashed down on hers.

  “I’m demanding,” he warned.

  “And grumpy,” she added as he scooped her up in his arms.

  “I like control,” he continued. “And I know you only want that inside the bedroom. I accept that fully.”

  “I faithfully give you control over me, but only when I am on my knees before you,” she vowed, resting her forehead against the crook of his neck. Her fingers tangled in his long, corkscrew curls as he marched toward his home…their home. Tessa was finally going to be his.

  He didn’t set her down until they entered his room. The need inside his body was a full-on raging inferno. It’d been a long time since he had a woman in his bed, but this was different. This was his mating.

  “Undress,” he ordered. “I want to see what’s mine.”

  Tessa kicked off her shoes and socks, standing from the bed to remove her top. Drake’s eyes roamed her body as she shimmied out of her track pants. She wore a white lace bra with matching panties. The bra cupped her breasts enough for them to swell over the material. He wanted nothing more than to use his claws to shred them, but he wouldn’t. He wanted her to prove she was willing to give him every part of herself.

  Tessa didn’t hesitate as she unhooked her bra, sliding the straps down her arms. She bent at the waist and removed her panties, standing up straight to hold them out to the side before letting go. The sheer material drifted to the floor with the weight of a feather.

  “Beautiful,” he said in awe.

  “Thank you…Sir,” she replied, taking a knee. She was slow on her descent, but when her second knee landed, he knew she was destined to be his. Drake’s heart burst open when she rested on the back of her legs.

  Drake removed his shirt and walked to Tessa’s left side, resting his hand on her shoulder “What are your hard limits?”

  “No belts.” She paused to take a deep breath. Drake knew she was reliving her time with Bradley, and he was going to do everything in his power to wipe that motherfucker from her mind. “No fists…of any kind. No fire. No blades.”

  “What are you safewords?” he continued, taking a moment to run his big palm over her soft hair. He wanted to braid it for their mating. It was long enough he could still wrap it around his hand as he mounted her from behind.

  “Red, yellow, green,” she stated, not moving from her place. It broke his heart that she had that training, not from a good Dom, but from years of abuse.

  “I want to braid your hair,” he told her. On her nod, Drake laid his palm on top of her head, directing her to bow. She complied without complaint and waited patiently for him to twist the hair as he preferred. He kept a hair tie on his side table for his own hair and used that to bind the ends of her braid.

  “Are you wet for me already, Tessa?” he asked as he finished. Drake used his index finger to lift her face, and what he saw there undid him.

  Trust.

  “Yes, Sir,” she smiled.

  Drake held out his hand and waited for Tessa to take it. When she did, he helped her to her feet and spun her around so quickly, she gasped.

  “Bend over the bed,” he ordered as he pressed his palm to the spot between her shoulder blades. Tessa moaned so lightly she probably didn’t think he noticed, but he did, and the sound was like music to his ears.

  Drake knelt behind her and ran his hand over her thighs. Her pussy was right at mouth level, and the sight before him made his mouth water. He tightened his hold on her hips and ran his tongue over her clit, stopping to nibble at her folds. “I’ve had one taste, and I’m already addicted.”

  Tessa’s thighs quivered with each slow pass of his tongue. Her moans of pleasure increased as he continued. Her breathing increased, and he released her, smiling when she let out a vicious curse.

  “On your back, mate,” he ordered.

  Tessa climbed on the bed and rested her head on one of the pillows. Drake removed his jeans and joined her. She groaned out in frustration when he laid down next to her. A smirk formed on his lips when she closed her eyes. “I will mount you when you are primed for me.”

  “Yes, Sir,” she breathed out.

  Drake kissed her hard, his hand sliding between her legs. His fingers danced across her pussy, pulling back when she lifted her hips in a silent plea for release.

  “The more you demand of me, the slower I will go,” he warned.

  Tessa nodded and squinted her eyes. She was trying, and he loved watching her need build. The blush to her pale cheeks mesmerized him. He wanted to taste every inch of her body. It didn’t matter if he took all night to find his release. Making sure Tessa was satisfied was his top priority.

  “Touch me, Tessa,” he ordered.

  “Do you like that?” Drake’s eyes roamed Tessa’s body. Her nipples were tight, pink buds, and he grasped the outside of one of her thick thighs. He knew he should just give her what she wanted, but making his mate squirm from the delayed satisfaction turned him on. He was a patient man when it came right down to it and could hold out for a while. Oh, he would eventually satisfy her, but for now, she would have to wait for release.

  “Yes, yes, I do, Sir,” she whimpered.

  “I’ve waited forever to find you, my mate.”

  Drake climbed between her legs and Tessa wrapped her arms around his neck. Their eyes were on each other as he pushed his cock against her. The moment they connected, he felt his world right itself. He moved slowly, allowing her to adjust to him. Tessa threw her legs over his hips and accepted the kiss he gave her as he increased his thrusts.

  “You cannot come until I bite you,” he ordered.

  “Yes, Sir,” she
answered with a smile, and those two words were all he needed to hear.

  He’d found his true mate, and she was everything he’d hoped she would be.

  There was only one man she’d kneel before, and he was a deadly beast capable of killing her. Drake’s body swelled as he covered her during their love-making. He said he was dominant, but he was also a patient lover. Maybe with time he would change? Like Bradley had?

  No, she couldn’t think that way. Drake was different. He was a shifter, and shifters were loyal and loving. Even at the diner, the panthers had told her the same thing. The way they talked about their mates and their children was a testament to their love for their forever mate.

  Forever mate.

  She wanted to test the saying on her tongue, but she wouldn’t do it while Drake was around. Especially while he was buried deep inside her.

  “Tessa,” he growled. “Don’t think. Just feel, little one.”

  “Yes, Sir,” she replied, shaking all thoughts from her mind.

  Tessa felt her body relax the moment Drake wrapped his huge hand around her neck. There was no pressure against the column of her throat until he slid his hand up to her jaw in a dominant hold. The movement held her face immobile, and she felt the stirrings of an orgasm waiting on the wings of his next move. Even with this dominant hold he had over her, she trusted Drake with everything she had.

  Drake’s eyes flashed gold as his beast made itself known, and he slid from her body. His mouth opened and fangs grew from where his human teeth once were. The sight before her was raw and wild. She panted hard, feeling his cock where it laid heavily against the inside of her thigh. All she had to do was shift, and he’d slide right into her pussy again…right where she wanted him…right where she needed him.

  “You are mine now, Tessa,” he growled, his voice thickening with each word. “I’m going to mount you from behind and bite your neck to mark you. If you’re going to stop me, now would be the time.”

  “Do it, Drake,” she panted, still unable to move her head. “Make me yours.”

  He released her, his hands working fast to push her over to her belly. Those large hands of his grasped her hips and lifted her ass into the air. She knew better than to move, and she was right. Drake’s hand wrapped around the braid in her hair as he slid his thick cock back into her. The change of position bubbled her orgasm to the brink.

  “I need to come,” she begged on a soft breath.

  “You will when I mark you,” he growled as he pulled her upright on the bed. She was on her knees facing away from him as he pounded into her body. Oh, god, she needed him so bad.

  “Do it,” she begged. “Please?”

  A snarl echoed in the room as he tilted her head to the side. The strike of his teeth into the spot where her neck and shoulders met sent her into a release so intense, all she could do was whimper. It didn’t matter. Drake knew what he was doing as he gave her everything she needed.

  Tessa closed her eyes and let the orgasm consume her. Drake’s punishing thrusts fed her need to be taken. She smiled into the darkness as he slowed, finally coming to a stop when his own release subsided.

  He lowered her to the mattress and curled his body around her, pulling just a thin sheet over their bodies. He kissed the spot on her neck where he’d bitten her, and she hummed her contentment.

  “You okay?” he whispered against her ear. At no time had he let go of her hair or the hold he had on her hip. The left side of her neck throbbed from his bite, but it subsided the moment he made a pass over it with his tongue.

  “I’m good,” she sighed, going limp in his arms. There was no way she could move after a that. “Tired.”

  “We will sleep,” he promised, helping her to lay on her side. He spooned up behind her and kissed the spot where he’d just bitten her. “It’s healed already, but the scar remains, Tessa.”

  “That means we are forever mates?” she asked, finally hearing the words from her own lips. She liked the sound of it.

  “Yes, Tessa,” he breathed against her skin. “If we were not, the bite would’ve vanished after it healed.”

  “So, I’m yours?” she asked, needing to hear it one more time.

  “Yes, Tessa…You are mine.”

  Chapter 11

  The next morning, Tessa looked in the bathroom mirror and pressed her fingers to the spot on her neck. There were two scars, but no scabs. The marks looked like they were months old inside of eight hours.

  “My saliva healed it,” Drake spoke as he entered the bathroom. Tessa looked at him through the mirror. Drake was shirtless, but wore his denim jeans. Her eyes roamed his chest and traveled up to his eyes. “The scar tells other males you are mine.”

  “I remember you saying that.” She paused to turn around. Drake took her hands into his as she approached, leaning down to kiss her softly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Are you going to change me into what you are?” she asked.

  “I don’t want you to be in pain,” he said, releasing her hand to stroke her cheek. “I also want you to be sure.”

  “Do you want me to be like you?” she pushed, capturing his hand as he continued to touch her skin.

  The connection was stronger. She could feel the electricity more so now that Drake had bitten her. He wasn’t lying to her. Everything he’d promised was happening. Even the thought of being in pain to be with him was at the forefront of her mind, but it didn’t matter. She wanted to change.

  She wanted to be a beast like him.

  “I want you, little one,” Drake said as he closed his eyes tight. “I know I hated humans. Well, I still do, but you’ve changed me. I didn’t know I’d find a mate outside of my kind.”

  “But do you want me to be a bear?” she continued. “I have to know, Drake.”

  “I want you to be like me, but it kills me to know you will be in pain,” he cursed, wiping a hand over his face. Tessa could see the indecision in his expression.

  “How bad will it be for you?” she asked.

  “We will both survive,” he answered.

  “Drake,” she growled, becoming agitated with his lack of answers. “You’re skirting around what I’m asking you.”

  “I will be fine,” he stated as he cleared his throat and grabbed a towel from the shelf behind the door. “I need to shower and get you to the diner.”

  “Okay,” she softly said and dropped her head. He wasn’t going to answer her.

  Tessa busied herself as he stepped into the shower. The frosted glass hid him from her, but she could see his silhouette as he dipped his head under the spray. Oh, she wanted to undress and step in there with him, but she refrained.

  She willed him to look at her…to talk to her, but he just pressed his palms to the cool tile and hung his head. Please, look at me. Tell me something.

  “Tessa,” he moaned, turning his head to the side. She couldn’t see him looking at her through the glass, but she could feel his gaze, and it was intense. So much so, she touched the center of her chest as she waited for him to respond. “Please, go finish getting ready for work.”

  Tessa’s breath rushed out of her lungs. His demand was followed by a rumbling from inside the shower. She wasn’t afraid of Drake, but she knew if he and his bear were agitated, they felt strongly about whatever it was running through their minds.

  She backed out of the bathroom and grabbed her shoes, sitting on the side of the bed to tie them. Drake emerged after several minutes and walked up to her before taking a knee at her feet.

  “I will talk with a shifter doc today and get some answers on what we need to do to keep you comfortable,” he promised. “My brothers will be here, too.”

  “For you or for me?” she asked.

  “For both of us, because I don’t know if I will be able to handle seeing you in pain without going insane.”

  “I don’t want you to see me in pain if it will inflict pain on you, Drake,” she worried.

  “Let’s get through our d
ay, and I will have answers by dinner.” He plastered on a smile, standing up to take her hand.

  Tessa agreed with a nod and followed him out of his underground living quarters. Well, she guessed it’d be hers now too. She looked around the hallway as they made the slight incline toward the living room, and realized she liked being so tucked away.

  “I could get used to this,” she whispered, not realizing she’d said it loud enough for him to hear, when he stopped and turned around.

  “Get used to what?” he asked, reaching back to take her hand. There was that connection again.

  “Living here,” she blushed.

  “This is already yours, Tessa,” he explained. “You are my forever mate.”

  “What about love, Drake?” she asked as soon as the thought popped in her head. Did she love this man? Maybe? Possibly?

  “Our kind doesn’t work quite the way humans do, Tessa,” he said, leaning against the wall. He crossed his booted ankles, and she looked down at them when his spurs clinked at the action. God, she loved those spurs, and wouldn’t mind if he wore them every single day. “We find our mates, and love follows.”

  “How do you know that you will fall in love with your mate?” she pressed, asking another twenty damned questions. Tessa couldn’t help it…she was just curious.

  “Because it always happens,” he shrugged. “I’ve never met a couple who didn’t fall in love.”

  She wouldn’t admit it to him now, but she already had some major affection for him ever since he fed her that beef stew. He’d claimed to hate humans, had even been a major asshole to her, but when he realized she was hungry, the kind-hearted man he really was came out to provide for her. With Bradley showing up in town, and with Tulley calling in Drake to help Tessa out that night, she saw Drake Morgan for exactly who he was…passionate and caring. He loved his brothers, even if he wouldn’t admit it, and he provided a home for them and their future mates.

  “Come on, we’re going to be late,” he urged, and pushed away from the wall.