Brenin cursed the weather. He’d not thought this through. Bringing the female here put temptation in his way every single damn minute she remained. Already, her scent taunted him. He needed to get out of the room and take care of himself. Which…just no. Way to feel like a teenager with no control whatsoever all over again.
He’d had plenty of relationships before, but he’d never met someone who was such a perfect physical match for him. He didn’t believe in the fated mates bullcrap. It was mere biology, and biology could be overruled, so he’d make sure he didn’t give in to the feelings. After all, the mated thing was simply a shifter version of the human eyes-across-a-crowded-room, only stronger. It wasn’t some sort of edict set in stone whereby the couple had to get together.
He turned and stared out of the window. The blizzard only seemed to get worse as he watched the dizzying dance of a million unique flakes. Perhaps if he took the off-roader, he’d make it.
“Don’t think about it.” Kyle came to his side, gaze fixed out the window. “You’ll end up getting stuck, and then this one will really panic.” He kept his voice low so the female wouldn’t be able to hear.
“She doesn’t seem particularly soothed by my presence.” Brenin hated to admit his mate didn’t benefit from their hormonal link.
“Trust me, she is. You leave, and she’ll likely freak out. Don’t need the hassle. It’ll clear soon enough.”
Bren frowned at the scene out the window again. He didn’t think so.
“I’m going to make some soup,” Aiyana announced. “We can all have some in a while.” At the door, she paused and turned back to their guest. “What’s your name, my sweet?”
“Charlotte. Although, friends call me Charlie.”
Charlotte. Her name rolled around in his head, immediately making itself at home. He loved her name. Both versions of it. Charlie sounded cute, and she certainly had a lot of cute going on. Charlotte rang with sophistication.
Her accent did a number on him, too. All lilting, soft consonants. Coupled with her husky voice, it went straight to his cock.
“I’m going to go see where Eric is with those painkillers,” Kyle announced.
Brenin immediately shot Justin a look, demanding he, at least, stay. But the insolent brat merely shrugged and followed Kyle out of the room with a grin.
Utter bastards. Bren’s rational, human side screamed at him to follow the others out of the room. His instinctive, animal side wanted nothing more than to stay and glory in the female’s presence. His internal tug-of-war already exhausted him and she’d only been around for an hour or so. How would he cope with maybe a day of this?
“Can I have another sip of water, please?” Charlie’s soft voice ghosted across the room, teasing the hairs on his arm.
“Of course.” He rushed to her side, his bear already wanting to do everything in its power to keep her safe and comfortable. Sometimes, he hated being a bear; they were more protective of their mates than the wolves, big cats, or even the dragons. Bears were fearsome but also soft as shit beneath the aggression and hard demeanor. Not all bears; some were utter bastards, of course. But most…scratch the surface and they were more teddy bear than grizzly, at least when it came to the females. Look at Eric, utterly gone for his woman. Do anything for her.
He filled the glass and went over to Charlie.
When he handed her the glass, their fingers brushed and a thousand tiny sparks danced along his fingertips. She raised the water to her lips, but her hand shook and she spilled it down her chin.
Bren grabbed a napkin from the tray and dabbed at her skin. His stare lingered on her mouth as he dried the drops of water, wanting more than anything to lick them from her. Her gaze roamed his face in return, landing on his mouth, only to take flight and alight on his eyes for a brief moment, before taking in his jaw and back up once more to his eyes. A bright blue butterfly, painting his skin with hot, tight lust wherever it landed.
He wanted to taste her so badly it hurt. For one brief moment, he yearned to simply forget all his rules about humans and bears. Forget his parents’ disastrous relationship. Forget everything and simply drown in this female.
Desire sparked so hot in his belly he lost the battle. Moving on autopilot, Bren stretched his arm out and grazed her jaw with his fingers. Charlotte’s eyes widened and her sexy as sin mouth rounded into a perfect little “O” of surprise.
Bastard that he was, Bren took advantage of her momentary shock and leaned in, brushing his lips against the soft skin at the side of her mouth. She stilled, frozen in his grasp, but she didn’t object or pull away. Taking this as implicit permission, he moved his lips to touch hers. Their warm softness immediately became his new favorite thing. Better than ice cream or beer or catching fresh salmon in cool summer streams.
As he deepened the kiss, she moaned and darted her tongue out to swipe at him. He responded immediately and her taste quenched every thirst he’d ever had. Like eating watermelon and drinking fresh, ice-cold water all at the same time. She both sated him and tormented him. Giving him everything he’d needed…and nothing that would ever be enough.
Charlie pulled away from him with a gasp. Her eyes were wild, her lips red and swollen, and her pale cheeks flushed a gorgeous pink. But her forehead creased and she ran a shaky hand through her hair.
“What the hell was that?”
Shit. Time to apologize for taking advantage of the situation. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have. Trust me, I’m real sorry. I just—”
“No. You shouldn’t have.” Her voice shook a little when she spoke, and he hated to have scared her. “Don’t do it again.”
Her heartbeat pulsed fast and high in her throat, and he suddenly got it. She ached in exactly the same way he did. Her body responded to him with the same fire and need, and he guessed it freaked her out.
“I don’t go around kissing strangers. I reserve those kind of activities for my boyfriend.”
She had a boyfriend? The image of her with another male hit hard. A blow to the head with a baseball bat. He moved away to the window, needing to dispel the feelings. His bear hated the idea and roared within.
“What does your boyfriend do?” He tried to keep his voice even.
“He…well, he’s…” She sighed. “We broke up. But in general, I only kiss people I am in a relationship with. That’s the point. I don’t appreciate being molested by a stranger.”
Oh, his bear liked this news a lot more.
He hoped the way she’d gotten herself all rattled came down to how fucking intense their kiss had been.
She’d felt safe. Like home. Yet, at the same time, she screamed danger and excitement. A wild thing he’d never truly know or tame. He didn’t want to tame her either. He wanted this feral, scary feeling between them to last forever. Oh, its edges may dull over time as their bond grew, but she’d always retain that part of herself capable of felling him with a simple touch of her lips. It was how the mating bond worked.
Wait! What? No. No. No. There’d be no future. No time for their bond to grow. This couldn’t be.
He only had to think of his father, still grieving the human mate who’d refused to turn, and in doing so, died many years before her mate. A bear without its mate proved a sad and melancholy creature. Added to which, Bren himself may have been unable to shift and experience his bear. Young born of a non-turned human only possessed a 50 percent chance of becoming an adult able to shift. He would not take the risk with his own young.
Needing to get away and clear his head, he muttered something about things to do and walked out of the room. He didn’t turn back to see how Charlotte took his leaving.
He wandered about the house aimlessly until the scent of food drew him to the kitchen. Aiyana and Eric worked side by side. They moved around each other in a choreographed dance. Close, but not getting in one another’s way. His heart stuttered for a moment. Charlotte offered him a chance at this, but she also came wrapped up in a huge risk. One he didn’t want to take.
“Stop thinking so loud. Come over here and help us.” Aiyana turned to him.
“Sorry.” He didn’t want to ruin their moment with his depressive mood.
“Don’t be sorry. Here.” She pushed the chopping board at him and some sticks of celery. “Be a sweetheart and cut these up.”
He did as told and chopped the vegetables, the repetitive movement soothing.
“You know, what your father went through is rare.” Aiyana kept her voice low and gentle. “I turned. All the other human mates I know did, too. Jacob turned. As did Clara. Your mother…she’s not usual.”
“I know. But it’s a risk I can’t take. When you’ve seen it up close…what it does to the mate left behind… My father…he’s a ghost of himself. Less than a shadow. I can’t risk it.”
“I understand. But a bear without a mate isn’t much better. And who’s to say such a match will cross your path again? The chances are this is it for you, Bren. Walk away and your bear may never want another. Those relationships you had in the past won’t work for you going forward, it would be like eating the worst meal in the world after gorging on gourmet food. You won’t want others in the same way if you let her go.”
He sighed and threw the knife down. He was done talking about this and needed to work out some of his angst. Not waiting to hear any more from Aiyana, he grunted a “later” and headed out of the room and toward the gym at the end of the downstairs hallway. Once there, he set about lifting some heavy weights. At least he didn’t need to change, thanks to already wearing sweats and a T-shirt. Within five minutes, his muscles burned pleasantly and his skin ran slick with sweat.
His burning need for Charlotte receded as he punished his body with the most intense workout he’d done in months. If he needed to come and work out five times a day to beat this, then he’d do so. And tomorrow, he’d take the damn four-wheel drive out no matter what. He needed the female gone. The sooner, the better.