Page 16 of Coveted By The Bear (When Worlds Collide #1)

“ W ell?” I stood there waiting for her to respond.

The tray I carried held two mugs filled with fresh coffee and a plate of rye toast with butter.

I was frozen in place.

While Hope took a shower and got dressed for our meeting with the Barvale Clan Alpha and council, I’d made breakfast and coffee.

Cooking for my mate was a perk I didn’t see coming, but ever since yesterday afternoon, when I’d made her lunch, I knew it was something I’d want to do more regularly.

A woman like her needed someone to care for her and tend to her needs.

Me. She needed me.

She smelled fresh as a daisy, looked just as sweet and pretty as one, too, with her damp hair pulled away from her face in a loose braid. She wore a long dark yellow dress with tiny red and blue flowers dancing across the material.

It was loose and flowy, but it did nothing to hide her perfect curves.

So fucking pretty.

My mate was a veritable fucking beauty queen. She didn’t need ball gowns and heels. Hell, she looked fantastic in a loose cotton dress and sandals.

Her body was angled towards the windows. I was so damn tense, I thought I would snap.

It wasn’t perfect.

The deck, I mean. Not Hope.

Hope was absolutely perfect.

But the deck was not finished. Not just yet. But it was good and started. I’d opened the windows next to the dining table for her to see when she came down to eat.

“You did all this?” she whispered, her big brown eyes filling with tears as she looked out at the construction.

My chest tightened, and panic threatened to fill me.

“Shit. I’m sorry. I can take it down. I should have asked permission?—”

“Shut up,” she mumbled and jumped at me.

I had a split second to decide and wound up dropping the tray on the table and spilling some coffee just so I could catch her.

“Thank you. It’s beautiful,” she said into my chest.

“Hey, now. It ain’t done yet. If you don’t like it, I can do it differently.”

“No! Don’t change a thing. It’s perfect, Miles. And it’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,” she said, and her honey crisp apple fragrance grew stronger.

It did that when she was happy. My body heated and my Bear purred with the realization. Fucking purred.

My animal was a fucking monster. Trained in battle. A Soldier since before I could legally drive, But one night with my mate and she’d tamed the beast.

“Quite the response for a little yard work,” I said, but I could feel my face stretching as I held her in my arms and kissed the top of her head.

“It’s more than that and you know it,” she replied, and kissed the spot over my chest that was thudding with the force of my pounding heart.

That under used muscle was pounding heavily against my breastbone and I wondered if maybe it would break right on through at the rate it was going.

I was all in now.

Might as well tell her how I feel.

“You know, I’d do anything for you, right? Like anything at all.”

“I would do that for you, too,” she whispered, warming me from the inside out.

Truth.

“Come on, before it gets cold,” I said, nudging her into her seat.

“Mmm. Smells good,” she said, looking at the platters of eggs, bacon, toast, and sliced fruit.

I waited for her to make her choices before I loaded my own plate.

“I swear, if I ate like you, I’d be big as a house,” she said with a giggle.

Fuck, she was cute.

“Shifters burn through a lot of calories. I have to eat a lot to keep up with the demands of both my forms.”

“I see. So your Bear. Is he independent of you?” she asked, frowning adorably.

“Shifters are dual-natured. I am the Bear, and he is me. We’re two sides of the same soul. But yeah, sometimes he has autonomous thoughts and feelings.”

“Oh,” she replied, and bit into a slice of melon.

My attention was held captive by the thoughtful way she chewed and how her lips pressed together as she ate. So much so, I almost missed her next question.

“So, what does Bear think of me?”

“Bear? You named him?” I grinned at her blush.

“You know what I mean, Miles,” she said my name and rolled her eyes playfully.

Hoped averted her gaze and gnawed her lower lip. The scent of her embarrassment made me frown. I meant it as a tease, but I wasn’t making fun of her.

I needed her to know that. So, I took her hand in mine, giving it a tug until she looked at me.

“Hey, you can call me or Bear anything you like. And if you want to know I will tell you how Bear feels about you, Hope,” I said, holding her gaze.

“Yes?”

“Bear loves you. I love you, too. Mate. Mine,” I whispered reverently, and pulled her up out of her chair so she could straddle my legs.

“You didn’t eat,” she said.

“I’m about to,” I growled.

I lifted her by the waist and sat her down on the table, pushing the dishes back at the same time. Dropping to my knees, I slid my hands up her thighs, smoothing that long skirt all the way to her hips.

I moaned when I saw the slip of cotton she had on beneath her dress.

“Are those teddy bears, woman?”

Hope bit her lower lip and nodded, and fuck me, I was so turned on. She didn’t need lace and silk to be sexy.

Just a pair of teddy bear printed cotton briefs, and I was panting for her like a fucking lap dog.

“Careful. Lift,” I instructed, not wanting to rip these.

She lifted her butt, and I slid her panties right off, tucking them in my pocket for later.

“That’s it. Show me that pretty pink pussy, Baby.”

I pressed on her knees, and she dropped them open, her own breathing just as heavy and strained as mine.

Her slit was glistening with her arousal, swollen and wet with the force of her desire.

“Fuck. Mine,” I grunted, and dipped my head, sliding my tongue across her honeyed folds.

“Gods, you taste so good.”

“Miles!” She keened, pulling on my hair as I dove in headfirst, eating her like a starved man.

“Keep those legs open, Hope,” I commanded when she tried to close them.

“Good Girl,” I grunted when she obeyed.

Her eyes were wide and on mine. I kept them open as I licked and lapped at her, memorizing every nuance of flavor, every note that led to her pleasure.

I unbuckled my jeans and reached inside, taking my dick in hand.

I couldn’t not touch myself while I feasted on my woman. She was so fucking hot.

I reached between her legs, gathering her essence in my hand, and rubbed it up and down my cock.

“Miles, please,” she begged, flexing her hips as I sucked her tiny little nubbin.

I knew what she needed. What she craved.

I stood up, notching my dick at her needy little entrance.

“That’s it, Pretty Girl. Let me in. Let. Me. In!” I growled.

Then I slammed my hips forward, driving my entire length into her tight, hot pussy in one hard thrust.

“Mine!”