Page 12 of Wrong Number, Right Grizzly (Dial M For Mates #7)

RONAN

I’d be lying if I said everything I learned this afternoon wasn’t a lot to take in, especially when he told me about mating marks. So much better than a ring, but also very intense.

Nix had gone from being a stranger I couldn’t get out of my head, to a shifter who turned into a bear, to my mate in one conversation.

Mate. How easily I accepted that label and all that it entailed.

It was like Nix had given me the answers to all of my questions with that one simple word.

I now understood why I was so drawn to him, why being around him had me feeling so complete, why I longed for him as I drove away, and why I missed him so terribly that I had to return back to his place.

Nix was my mate.

In the same way I knew that bear was him before I saw it with my eyes and heard it with my ears, I knew he was my mate before ever hearing that term used in that way. Nix was mine. I was his. And together, we were going to build a life.

We hadn’t gotten very far in the planning of what that life would look like, instead spending the rest of the day snuggling together and enjoying each other’s presence.

I might not’ve known what these feelings were, initially.

Nix, however, he’d seen and recognized it immediately.

If it had hurt me as badly as it did to go back to my place and work, how he must have felt at the time.

To me he’d been a crush, somebody I really liked, someone I believed I was growing strong feelings for.

To him, it was completely different. There had never been a second’s doubt of who I was in his life.

“Why are you crying?” His thumb wiped a tear that had escaped.

We were in the kitchen making dinner, and I got lost in my chopping of carrots. If they had been onions, I would’ve had a built-in excuse, but no one cried over carrots. Not that I wanted or needed one. It didn’t feel right hiding anything from him.

“I was just thinking.” I dropped the knife and stepped into his waiting arms. “It must have really hurt when I left.”

“Oh, sweet omega mine. Are you crying for me?”

I looked up at him and nodded. “I don’t want you feeling pain like that.

And it hit me so hard before I even knew about who we were to each other, but you knew…

you already knew.” The tears started falling in earnest. He held me, reassuring me, kissing me on my head as I pulled myself back together.

I’d never had anybody in my life where I could be this open and vulnerable about my emotions.

It was going to take some getting used to, but also, I slid into it with ease. Nix was my safe place.

“Do we have to eat now?” I took a step back once all the tears had run dry and I was feeling better, my hands resting on his hips.

“No, we don’t have to eat. Why? Do you not feel well?”

“That’s not it.” I stood on my tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “Mark me, Nix. Make me yours for real.”

“There’s no rush, omega mine. None.” He kissed my forehead sweetly. “We can take our time.”

“I’m not rushing. Believe me, I’m not. If you’d only seen me when I was trying to work, you’d know… you’d understand.” I pressed my lips to his, barely a peck, then rubbed my cheek along his, leaving it there. “Please, Nix. I want this. No. I need this.”

He pulled back. “I don’t think I could turn you down if I wanted to.” Nix brought his lips to mine for a deep kiss and picked me up, carrying me into the bedroom.

This time was different. This wasn’t about hormones and need—although it was there in the undercurrent. This was about the two of us connecting, coming together as one. Our first time had been great, but this… this was life-changing.

He took off my shirt, kissing the bare skin as it was uncovered. Slowly, ever so slowly, like he was worshiping me. And then I did the same to him.

There was no frenzied hurry. We took our time exploring each other with our lips and our fingers, before working the buckles of each other’s pants and alleviating each other of the last of our clothing.

He stood in front of me and took my breath away.

It was hard to believe that this man was mine and not just for the night or while we dated.

He was mine until I took my last breath.

I climbed onto the bed, holding his hand to bring him along with me.

We laid on our sides facing each other, just staring into each other’s eyes.

There was so much love there. And this time when I looked, I could see not only him, but also his beast not far behind.

The trust his bear had in me to let me see him this way.

“I love you.” I put my hand on the back of his neck. “I love you so much.” I pulled him toward me for a kiss, still slow and sweet.

Our kiss deepened, our emotions becoming more needy as our bodies lay flush against each other, our hardening cocks pressed together between us. And still, we used the time to explore each other’s mouths, taking in each other’s scents, savoring each other’s presence.

I was so slick, so ready for him, but still we didn’t rush. Our fingers started to explore each other’s bodies, my leg wrapping around his hip, unable to get close enough to him. And then his hand wandered lower and lower until he wrapped around my length, checking it slowly.

Nix had me squirming, rolling onto my back, no longer content with our pace, now begging for more.

“I need you inside me,” I said against his lips, and then kissed across his cheek and down his neck to his shoulder, scraping my teeth where I knew my mark would soon be.

I wasn’t scared of biting him. Something told me that it would come naturally, that I had nothing to fear about any of this.

He placed a pillow under my hips and fingered my slick entrance with one digit, then added another and another. I was writhing beneath him, desperately seeking more.

“Please,” I begged.

“Anything and everything for you, Ronan.” He lined himself up with my entrance and slid inside me, his eyes watching mine the entire time as if waiting for my cue for him to move. I tilted my hips slightly and yanked him down for a kiss.

“Move,” the words were muffled, but he understood the assignment.

Our bodies moved together, each motion intentional, like a promise of love and forever.

As needy as we both were, this was more about communicating our love and our devotion than it was about sating that need.

We were coming together as well, both figuratively and physically.

There was a beauty in it that had me in awe.

I wanted to stay like this forever, but it felt too good, too amazing, and all too soon, I was squirming beneath him, begging to come. He reached between us, barely running his fingers over my length before I was shooting my cum between us.

And then I lunged forward and sank my teeth into his shoulder. It was instinctual, and I felt how right it was the second my lips reached his flesh and my teeth broke through. We were meant to be. My body knew exactly what I needed to do.

Nix let out a growl, his hips slamming one final thrust into me as he filled me with his cum, and as his knot grew, his teeth latched down on my shoulder and sank in deep.

In that instant, I felt a connection between us form that no one could ever break.

He was mine. My mate. My love. My everything.