Tyler froze.

“You…felt that too?” He looked as bewildered as Mary felt right now.

Something inside of her eased when she realized that this hadn’t been some trick on his part. Apparently, his bear hadn’t warned him, either.

I’m mated? You mated him without asking me? she demanded of her wolf.

You wanted him as your mate. Why else are you having sex with him?

“What on earth is going on?” she asked, hoping against hope that her wolf was just playing a cruel trick on her…even though her lupine half had never been anything but brutally honest with her.

In response, Tyler closed his eyes and went completely still. Still cradled in his strong hands, her arms and legs wrapped around him, Mary waited.

When Tyler opened his eyes again, the human hazel had been completely consumed by shifter gold. He smiled brilliantly down at her.

“After all this time, I didn’t think I’d ever find my mate. Holy shit.”

Those last two words were breathed in wonder, not spoken as a curse.

“But…this can’t be happening,” Mary protested, bewildered. “We’ve been dating for less than a day!”

And now I’m committed to him. Forever.

She tried to summon outrage. Or at least worry about the fact that her wolf had chosen a lifetime bond to a bear shifter she barely knew.

Tyler Swanson, the one-time Teen Terror of Bearpaw Ridge.

Tyler Swanson, the head of a very successful construction firm, she reminded herself. Loyal son to his Ordinary mother. Volunteer firefighter.

My mate.

With that thought came a deep, warm sense of rightness that spread outward from her chest. This was right. He was right…and he was hers.

“Are you okay?” he asked,

She nodded.

“Good.” Tyler moved against her, reminding her about what they’d been doing before lightning struck. “Let’s talk about this later.”

Mary drew a sharp breath as her body agreed wholeheartedly, and she drew his face down to hers so that she could resume their kiss.

In response, Tyler growled against her mouth. His fingers dug into her hips as he resumed thrusting, sending jolts of pure sensation through her with every powerful movement.

It didn’t take long before Mary’s climax started deep inside her belly and spread out with powerful pulses of pleasure. It went on and on without dying away, lifting her on waves as if she were surfing a sea of overwhelming pleasure.

Tyler stiffened against her and roared, a deep primal sound that vibrated through her, body and soul. She felt every muscle in his body tense as he came, his thrusts going even deeper and harder than before.

It felt good to know that he was enjoying the sex as much as she was.

When he was done, he shifted his grip and lowered her gently until her feet touched the floor.

Okay, time to talk about what just happened, Mary thought as he slid open the shower door and swiftly disposed of the used condom in the bathroom’s waste basket.

But that thought was driven out of her mind when Tyler grabbed a mesh puff, squirted it with some unscented shower gel, and began to lather her skin with gentle circular strokes.

She quickly discovered that as satisfying as their frantic bout of lovemaking had been, she wasn’t anywhere close to done.

Neither was Tyler. He was ruthlessly thorough in scrubbing her from head to toe, letting the shower puff linger lovingly over her sensitive nipples until she was panting and sliding her hands over his chest and torso in slippery caresses.

When he bent to give her another one of those deep, mind-blowing kisses, Mary reached down eagerly for his rapidly reviving cock. It pulsed eagerly against her palm as she slid her fingers around the thick, bare shaft.

She fisted him, then drew her hand slowly up his length, enjoying Tyler’s reaction. When she reached the swollen, sensitive head, she caressed it with a wet thumb and was gratified to hear him groan.

That sound was music to her ears. She gave his lips a gentle nip and broke the kiss as she sank to the tile floor of the shower and took him into her mouth.

His fingers sank into her wet hair as she began to caress him with her lips and tongue.

Time disappeared, flowing over and around her like the warm water from the shower as she drank in his taste, his scent, and best of all, the sounds he made as she worked to pleasure him.

She felt powerful and sexy to be able to drive her mate to distraction like this. Her arousal, rekindled by his caresses, flared to urgent, throbbing heat between her legs as she sensed him nearing climax.

“Mary,” he groaned. She felt him trying to pull out of her mouth and resisted. “I’m going to—”

She interrupted him with a wicked swirl of her tongue, applied some suction, and felt the bone-deep tremble of his orgasm begin in the hard muscles of his thighs and buttocks.

Tyler clutched at her, his hips jerking helplessly with his release as she drank him down, enjoying her newfound power over him.

When he was done, he lifted her tenderly to her feet and just held her in his arms under the spray of the shower. She rested her cheek against the broad, wet expanse of his chest and listened as his breathing gradually slowed and the frantic beat of his heart calmed.

He made her feel cherished and safe in a way that none of her other lovers ever had.

“What the hell did I do to deserve you?” Tyler murmured and kissed her softly on the forehead.

“Tyler Swanson, you can’t fool me. I know that you’re a gorgeous, sexy, and kind man,” she said, not sure how to handle the conflicting emotions coursing through her. “You’re definitely underappreciated in these parts.”

His arms tightened around her, and she realized that he had needed to hear that. “Thank you.”

Mary hugged him, then went up tiptoes to kiss him. “You’re a good person,” she told him between light, teasing kisses on his lips. “But just bad enough to show a girl a really good time.”

He laughed, a deep rumbling sound that moved through her. “I’m glad to hear that you’re having a good time so far.” He paused and cupped her face between his big hands. “I’ll do my best to show you that I can be a good mate.”

She knew that she should be worrying how her parents and her pack were going react to the news of her unexpected mating. She didn’t bother lying to herself. It was going to be rough.

But all she could think about right now was how sexy—and happy—Tyler looked, smiling down at her.

Mine. All mine now.

“Hey, what do you say we dry off and move to my bed?” He grinned down at her, glowing with happiness.

Because of me. I did this to him. The realization awed and humbled her.

“I mean, our bed,” he corrected himself. His smile deepened and became something that heated up her arousal a notch. “I want to see if I can make you scream my name again.”

Mary couldn’t help returning his grin. His happiness was infectious, and it made the warmth inside her glow and expand like a miniature sun. “Challenge accepted.”

* * *

Over the next few hours, Mary learned three things about her new mate: he took wagers seriously; he had incredible stamina; and his bed was extremely comfortable.

Feeling as warm and boneless as melting butter after the best sex of her life, she was now cuddled against him.

“I’ve never been so happy to lose a bet in my life,” she murmured sleepily.

Tyler rewarded her with one of his rumbling laughs and stroked her bare stomach. “That was fun. And you’re incredibly sexy when you’re screaming my name.”

“I can’t believe we used up a whole box of condoms,” she said.

His laugh this time sounded smug. “Well, it was a pretty small box. Remind me to buy a decent-sized box tomorrow.”

“I’ll make an appointment with my doctor in Salmon as soon as I can and get a birth control prescription,” she promised.

There was short silence, then Tyler asked, “Hey, do you want kids?”

Mary hesitated. This was the kind of conversation that they really should have had before sealing the mate bond. “Yeah. I mean, if you want kids too.”

“I don’t know.” Tyler curled his big, warm body around her, spooning her. His breath stirred her hair and sent shivers down her spine as his hand came around to cup her breast. “I mean, I really like my cousin Eddie’s kids. They’re cool and fun to be around. But I worry that if I have any of my own, I’ll fuck up by treating them the way that my dad treated me.”

Her wolf growled softly at the idea that Tyler had been mistreated as a child.

“You won’t, because you’re worried you will,” she said, reaching up and putting her hand over his. “And if you mess up, I’ll let you know. But I know that you’ll try your best to be a good dad.”

He blew out a long breath, and she felt him relax against her. “Yeah, I’ll do everything I can to be an awesome dad. That’s all I can do, right? Try my best?”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short. Your best is pretty damned impressive.” She wriggled her butt against him and added, “I’m going to be lucky if I can walk in the morning…and you heard the sheriff. I have to be out at Hawkins Hardware bright and early.”

“Don’t worry,” Tyler assured her. “I’ll take care of you.”

* * *

“Ooh, naked-man coffee! My favorite kind,” Mary said the next morning as she sat up in bed—his bed, which made Tyler happier than he cared to admit—looking sexily disheveled.

She let the sheet slide to her waist, revealing adorably freckled shoulders and her gorgeous breasts…and a big blue bite mark on her left shoulder. Tyler felt a twinge at the sight—he’d been trying to rein in his bear’s enthusiasm last night.

But Mary didn’t seem to care.

She stretched and yawned, then looked him up and down with an appreciation that warmed him to his toes. Her gaze lingered on the steaming mug in his hand, made with a generous splash of milk, no sugar, just like he remembered from their breakfast together yesterday.

“So you’ve had naked-man coffee before?” Tyler asked, unable to suppress a tiny spark of jealousy.

Mary grinned up at him. “Only in my dreams. But it’s definitely something I could get used to.”

Tyler tried to keep a straight face as he handed her the steaming mug, made just as he remembered from their breakfast together. “So…that’s a hint?”

“Well, I suspect you don’t take orders well,” she shot back.

He laughed, more with relief than anything else, and sat on the edge of the bed to drink his own coffee.

Though their mating last night had taken him by surprise—and her too, by the sound of it—Tyler felt drunk with happiness about being mated at last.

He’d dated a lot of women, both shifter and Ordinary, during his years in Portland. He’d had a great time with most of them, had relationships with a few of them for weeks or months, but none of them had ever made him feel the way Mary did.

Knowing he was now bonded to someone who had his back filled a space inside him that had been empty since he was a kid. She was so perfect in every way—beautiful, funny, great in bed—and she thought he was a good person.

He’d stayed awake for a while after she drifted off to sleep in his arms, worried that she’d wake up with regrets about the fact that they had somehow managed to seal a mating bond on their very first date.

And to think that just yesterday morning, I was worrying about moving too fast and scaring her off…

“What’s on your mind?” she asked, when he’d been lost in thought for a few minutes.

Okay, here goes…what was that thing that Grandma Betty always said? “In for a penny, in for a pound?”

“From now on, I don’t want you sleeping in my spare bedroom,” Tyler said firmly. “You’re my mate, and I want you here, next to me, each and every night. I promise I’ll bring you coffee naked every morning if that’s what it takes to convince you. “

Mary was sitting with her head bowed over her mug of coffee, and her tangled hair hid her expression.

He froze. Did I just fuck this up?

Then he saw her mischievous smile and felt the pressure ease.

“Well…” she said slowly, “I guess that would be okay. I mean, you don’t snore. Much.”

“You don’t snore at all, as far as I can tell,” he informed her.

“And naked-man coffee every morning pretty much seals the deal,” she told him. “I’m yours, baby.”

He laughed with relief. Then he sobered up, and it was his turn to study the depths of his coffee mug.

“Uh, are you okay with…this?” He waved his hand to encompass both the bed and their mating. “Being with me?” He swallowed hard. “Being my mate? I’m not sorry about that part,” he hurried to assure her. “But you know all hell is going to break loose when everyone finds out about us, right?”

Mary lowered her mug and stared at him for a long moment. He felt her gaze pierce his soul, but he had no idea what she was thinking. Despite her words to the contrary, was she sorry about what had happened? Was she feeling trapped?

“This feels right. Like I belong here, with you,” she said finally. “I don’t understand how this happened so quickly, but yes, I’m your mate now, and everyone else can just—“

“Fuck off?” he suggested helpfully.

Joy bubbled up inside him at her acceptance. No matter how he felt about Mary, he sure as hell hadn’t wanted her as an unwilling mate.

“—go jump in a lake,” she finished with mock severity.

Then she leaned forward and kissed him, long and deep and slow.

Even after all the times they’d had sex last night, the touch of her lips against his still felt like a live wire connected directly to his cock.

Tyler plucked the coffee mug out of her hand, plunked it down on the nightstand, lifted her onto his lap, and proceeded to show her just how sexy she was in the morning.

His bear felt a primal need to thoroughly mark her with his scent before she left the house and spent all day in the company of other males.

And his human half just plain loved driving her crazy with desire. It was a fucking ego trip to see how she responded to his every touch and kiss with honest passion.

Tyler had always loved showing his dates a really good time, because it usually led to an even better second date, but making love to his mate opened his senses to a whole new world of intense pleasure.

Just kissing Mary was enough to give him a hard-on, and when he was buried in her hot, welcoming depths, it felt like coming home.

If “coming home” feels like a mind-blowing orgasm, then yeah, I won’t ever get tired of doing this every night and every morning.

Like right now. She was straddling his thighs, her back to his chest, impaled to the hilt on his hard cock. Her slick, hot flesh fit him like a glove, and he had both hands on her soft, deliciously sensitive breasts as she arched and writhed on his lap.

Tyler buried his face in her shoulder-length mass of sweet-smelling golden hair and played with her breasts, enjoying every gasp and movement as the scents of their arousal intensified the experience.

“Tyler…please…” she moaned as his fingers plucked at her nipples.

“I want to feel you come,” he growled and nipped the nape of her neck.

He released one breast and slid his right hand over her stomach and down her belly. His fingertips skimmed over her pussy, the folds pulled taut around the place where they were joined. He found and stroked her clit with a feather-light touch at the same moment that he pinched her nipple with his left hand.

She squeaked in the most appealing way, and her hips jerked as if he’d just applied an electric shock to her. Her inner flesh squeezed his cock like a fist, and it felt like fucking heaven.

He grinned with satisfaction and set to work.

It didn’t take long before he was able to push her over the brink. He loved how she panted and gasped his name as her inner muscles rippled powerfully around him.

Her response drove him crazy, and he began to move, driving eagerly upwards into her slick heat as his own orgasm gathered like a storm deep inside him.

Every muscle in his body tensed as he came. It started at the base of his spine and poured out of him like a river of white-hot lava, a rush of heat and fire and intense pleasure that threatened to melt his spine.

“That was almost better than naked-man coffee,” she murmured afterwards, when she was cuddled up next to him, flushed and a little sweaty.

He’d already figured out that his new mate had a wicked sense of humor under her usually serious expression. He liked that.

“Almost?” he asked in mock outrage, gathering her in and kissing the top of her head. “Almost?”

“Well, you make really good coffee,” she said and turned her head to kiss his chest.

Mary apparently caught sight of his bedside alarm clock as she did that, because she immediately pushed up in sudden alarm. “Crap! I need to get ready for work!”

She scrambled out of the bed and ran for the shower. Tyler’s bed instantly felt lonely and cold.

“I’ll make us breakfast,” he called after her.