Saturdays are my busiest day, and today I barely get lunch in. But my last client is late, and I’m starving, so I grab some cheese before I wander into the living room to see if I can find my mother. Earlier, I heard the sounds of her unpacking and her footsteps on the stairs, but we haven’t spoken since this morning. I think about how oddly she was acting then.

After I check upstairs, I realize she’s not here, and I go back to the kitchen to get my phone to call her. I see a message from the guy who is supposed to be here by now, telling me he has to cancel. He was booked with me for two hours, and since my mother thinks I won’t be done until five, I have time to kill. I smile as I think about Lance, but first I need to make sure we’re alone for what I have planned.

I call my mom.

“Hey, honey,” she says when she answers.

“Hey, Mom. Where are you?”

“Oh, you know me. Busy, busy, busy. I’ve got a couple more things to do, and I’ll be back right around five so we can talk. Since I have you, can I ask a favor?”

“Sure. What is it?

“Would you mind terribly if tonight was just about us? It’s not that I don’t want to meet Lance. I do. But I feel like we need a night alone together.”

Her request is a little disappointing, but I quickly realize that waiting for her to meet Lance is probably a good idea. I want to make sure Mom’s as open to him as she can be, and that probably requires time for her to adjust to the idea of me being with a werebear. “That’s fine, Mom. You can meet him another time.”

She lets out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Dawn. Look at us being so grown up and not fighting.” She chuckles. “I’ll be home soon.”

“You’re welcome, Mom. I’ll see you then.”

While my mother doesn’t want to see Lance, it doesn’t mean I don’t. And I plan to capitalize on the short amount of time I have free. I call him. When he answers, I launch into my plan. “My last client cancelled on me, and my mother won’t be home until five.”

“This is a booty call.” He laughs.

“It really is, because Mom has requested tonight be just the two of us. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You haven’t met my parents yet either.” Lance’s sister just had triplets a few weeks ago, and his parents have been in Connecticut to help her out with their first grandchildren. “Have your girls’ night, and don’t worry about me.”

“I’m glad you’re not upset. Now hurry up and get over here. We don’t have much time.”

“An hour and a half won’t be enough?”

I chuckle. “Of you? Never.”

He lets out his sexy growl and then says, “On my way.”

When Lance arrives, I grab his hand and tug him upstairs to my room.

“Wow.” He chuckles when I release him and pull my shirt over my head. “Maybe we should spend a night apart more often.”

I shake my head. “No.” My jeans drop to the floor with a whoosh. “The fact you aren’t going to be with me again tonight is almost unbearable. Now what are you waiting for? Take off your clothes.”

“Right.” He scans me with his gaze as I remove my panties, and he moves a little faster to get undressed.

Once he’s naked, I step close to him and slide my hands up his chest while he grabs my bottom, but when he leans down to kiss me, I cut it short. “On the bed,” I order. He grins at me as he climbs onto my bed and moves back to lean on his elbows. I waggle my eyebrows as I begin to crawl over him, and I grab his cock and drag my tongue up the shaft.

He lets out a small moan and threads his fingers through my hair. “I like booty calls.”

I continue to tease him with my tongue as I stroke his cock with one hand and fondle his balls with another. He quivers beneath my touch without any filter. Just like Lance has let me into his life, and I’ve taken him into mine. This is the man I want to please without him asking.

His moans and grunts fuel my desire for him. And I’m teasing myself as much as him when I deny what I want to bring him to the edge. When Lance begins to buck his hips, I take him in my mouth, and he groans with pleasure. I work him over until he’s close to orgasm, and then I stop. He whimpers. For a few days, I’ve wanted to ask him to bond with me, so I lift up to gaze at him. “You don’t have any doubts we’re soul mates do you?”

“Not at all. Do you?”

I shake my head. “I’m asking because I’m ready to bond with you. If you are.”

“Oh, Dawn.” His grin covers his face. “Wow.” He shakes his head, and I notice his eyes are glassy. “I feel like you just proposed to me.”

I chuckle. “I think I just did.”

“Yes.” He glances down at his erection. “But this is not the story I’m going to tell our kids.” He sits up and reaches for me.

I say, “Let’s talk about that later.” Now that he’s agreed, I’m also desperate with a need to bond. I straddle his lap to guide him into my channel, slick with anticipation, and I let out a satisfied moan as I lower myself so he’ll fill me. It’s only the beginning of what I want, and I start to ride him to feel more. Slowly at first, but as I let go and fall into our sexual dance, I get taken away.

When my movements become frantic and my cries louder, Lance flips me onto my back and hovers over me to gaze deeply into my eyes. “Are you ready?”

I nod. “Yes.” My heart is tight as I try to hold my emotions, and I say, “I love you so much. Mark me, Lance.”

“I love you too, Dawn.”

I watch as he lets his bear teeth extend, and he moves slowly toward my shoulder at the base of my neck. I arch to allow him better access as I wait for the pain. Lance laps at me first and pumps his hips to bring me toward my release. I move with him, and at the point I’m about to crash, he sinks his teeth into my flesh. White-hot heat, red-hot pleasure, and golden-yellow love drown me in a delirious cocktail that makes me scream out. And as I do, I see us standing together as the threads of our love intertwine between us in an unbreakable bond. I let out a gasp at the beauty that encompasses all my senses.

“Yes,” Lance says. He smiles down at me as he communicates with me telepathically now that we’re bonded. “I saw it too. And it’s more beautiful than I imagined.”

I snuggle into his embrace as I think about how my life is forever changed. And in my heart, I know this is where I’m supposed to be.