~

 

Mine…

Bowie couldn’t resist deepening the kiss. She’d started it, and boy, did he want to take it to the next level.

Now that he’d tasted her, how could he resist wanting her, needing her, and falling for her?

She tasted sweet, she scented sweet, like peaches on a summer’s day, and Bowie fought to hold onto the beast within him that wanted nothing more than to take her down to the grass and claim her as theirs.

Their mate.

Their love.

Their life.

How could that be wrong? It didn’t feel wrong, it felt so right.

Bowie’s hands had been flat against the tree trunk with his fingers curled into the gaps of the bark. He’d been trying to hold onto his desire to touch her, and to know every inch of her intimately.

Now they roamed from her curvy hips, over her waist, and continued upward as he tried to resist the urge to rip off her clothes and feel her skin to skin.

Bowie’s beast growled within him, and he echoed that growl. When Mitzi grumbled out a growl of her own, Bowie didn’t think he would ever get enough of that sound. Enough of her.

His cock was harder than hell, and it ached for her. It twitched like it had a mind of its own, and fought against the restriction caused by the fabric of his jeans.

He wanted to rip his clothes off and do what came naturally, bury his cock to the hilt within her, and let his wild side out. But that was the problem, his wild side was too close to being his beast, and she deserved better than a monster loving her.

Bowie cupped her face in his hands and used every bit of willpower that he had within him to stop kissing her. His body had never been so alive, every inch of him was focused upon her.

He needed her — but, she needed him sane.

Bowie wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled against her neck. He loved the feel of her against his body, in his arms, and instinctively knew that fate was right — that was where she belonged.

He knew that he needed to get his shit together — not because of Rayner — not because of the clan — not even because Roland was having a cub — but because he wanted his mate.

“You’re stopping now?” Mitzi’s voice was breathless and he liked the sound of that. It meant that she’d been just as carried away as he had by their hot, sexy kisses, and touching — a lot of touching, but not enough – never enough.

Bowie wanted more touching, more kisses, more of her.

“Yes,” Bowie breathed out against her neck.

He couldn’t move, he couldn’t lift his head to look into her eyes, at her kissable lips, because he knew it would start the madness of desire all over again.

“Is there a good reason for that?” Mitzi asked. She was still trying to get a handle on the beast within her.

Her bear was clawing, scratching the itch that it had to be released and claim their mate. The only problem she had with that was that she wanted to claim Bowie first, human to human, and their bears could damn well wait their turn.

She wanted him skin to skin, his hard length thrust deep inside of her, his wild side on display as he took her over and over again, until neither of them could move a muscle. Done, complete, claimed and wrapped in each other’s arms, and on the start of the journey together to forever.

“If I don’t stop now I never will,” Bowie growled against her neck.

“And this you see as a bad thing?” Mitzi giggled.

Bowie did raise his head then. He looked into her dark eyes and saw the desire that was a mirror of his own.

Her kissable lips looked a little puffy from his demanding kisses, and the urge to kiss her again, and again, and again, rolled through him like a tidal wave that just wouldn’t stop.

“No.” Bowie scowled, he even gave a small shake of his head in denial. Not a bad thing, just bad timing.

“Then — hello?” Mitzi grinned, and it was a wicked grin that made his cock twitch in his jeans, a growl rumble deep within his broad chest, and his need for her skyrocket beyond all expectations.

“Tomorrow I fight Colt,” Bowie growled. Suddenly, that fight seemed like a really bad idea.

Bowie wanted to head-butt the tree trunk in a wakeup call to his damn, stupid brain. He’d found his mate — the love of his life — and Joshua, a ready-made family, and he’d risked all that for what?

If he’d only taken her in his arms and kissed her the first moment that he knew she was his mate, then none of this would have happened. He’d be happy, he’d be settled, and he’d be a family.

If only he hadn’t of been such a crazy bear for all of those years, he never would have second-guessed his beast, his mate, his desire to want her so damn much that he could change in a heartbeat of knowing her.

What had he done?

“You can take this guy, right?” Mitzi demanded.

“I…”

Now he was second-guessing his own worth. His beast was crazy and wild, unpredictable, but was it good enough to beat the man that had almost killed him once?

“The answer you’re looking for is yes,” Mitzi said.

She had a really bad feeling that was festering within her from Bowie’s hesitation to answer that question.

“Yes,” Bowie offered back.

“Why does that yes sound more like you’re not sure?”

“I’m sure,” Bowie lied.

He had to lie. When he’d first taken the challenge, jumped in with both feet, and revelled in the thought that soon he would set his mate free by not being around anymore, he hadn’t had to worry about whether he could beat Colt or not.

Now, the thought of losing that fight was unthinkable. It hurt, mentally and physically. It felt like a pain in his heart that was growing stronger and stronger.

He’d screwed up … again, he’d hurt another female, but this one was his mate.

What if Colt decided that the challenge was to the death?

What if Colt won again?

What if he never knew his mate as intended by fate?

“You’d better win, because Joshua and I need you,” Mitzi said.

And that was the truth of it. Bowie knew that he couldn’t lose the fight, couldn’t lose his life, because now he actually had something worth fighting for.