CHAPTER 4

She’s here. Mate. Mine. Claim. Now. Marcus’ Bear was practically bellowing in his mind for him to go get the woman.

The beast had no problem recognizing her as his mate. Ugly clothes or not. Not that Marcus really gave a shit about what she wore. She had the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. Shit! She’s a normal.

What was he going to do? The woman was a stranger, a human for fuck’s sake! He couldn’t just walk up to her and say, hey there, my name is Marcus, and I can change into a big furry bear, who by the way, has chosen you for his mate, so do you want to come home with me and get to work on making some babies? This was so fucking bad.

Marcus paced back and forth across the wide floors of his luxury suite. His Bear roared again. Quiet! He demanded. He needed to think. To come up with a plan.

Hell, he needed a fucking drink too, but first he needed a minute to regain his control. His Bear was too close for him to leave the room.

It took all his strength and concentration to wrestle his Bear back to a relatively passive state, but Marcus knew it was too late. He’d sniffed his mate, and he wanted her. Now.

The buxom beauty didn’t know it yet, but she was his. Time for that plan. Oh, he had one alright. The first thing he wanted to do was peel off those ugly clothes to see just what she was hiding underneath.

Then he wanted to run his hands all over her. Quickly followed by his mouth. Then his tongue. Yes. Licking was good. He’d make sure his mate was ready. Hot and wet just for him and he’d lick her sweet, sweet honey. Swallow it all down. Grrr. Mine.

Easy now. His Bear roared. Clearly the beast thought he should move his ass. No. Slow it down, pal.

He should figure out his approach before he started imagining the curves that he instinctively knew his mate was hiding. He’d make sure she knew just how beautiful she was to him. That would be a fucking priority.

Marcus groaned. He closed his eyes, reciting multiplication tables. He tried to ignore the way his dick instantly flared to life at the mere thought of his mate’s lush curves. Fuck, his shorts were getting damned uncomfortable.

He knew he was in serious trouble if just imagining what her body would look like caused him to react like a green teenager. If her body proved half as lovely as her face, he knew he’d find heaven there.

She was made for him. Literally. There was no doubt in his mind she was his one true and fated mate. He smoothed a hand over his chest, his heart hammered away regardless of his efforts to calm down.

He simply couldn’t stop thinking about those sexy as hell eyes of hers. They had to be the most intense blue he’d ever seen. So blue they looked violet.

But what else? A mate was for life. Surely, they’d have more than just sex between them. He wondered if her mind was as quick and bright as her eyes promised.

The brief physical contact he shared with her in the hallway when she’d walked into him was enough to shoot awareness to every single one of his nerve endings.

He was shaking like a boy just remembering the feel of her! Would she be as soft as her shapely curves promised? Sure, she tried to hide them underneath that ridiculously oversized blouse she wore, but Marcus knew better.

He was just as anxious to know her mind. She’d been aware of him, he could smell her arousal, but she’d retained the ability to speak. Unlike him.

And the way she took him to task in the lobby for staring? She was feisty! He liked that. Marcus couldn’t wait to verbally spar with her. Almost as much as he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her.

Marcus wanted to strip her slowly and run his hands over every single inch of her. Fuck, eight times fifteen equals…

It was no good. Math was no match for the pull of his mate. His Bear was going into overdrive. He wanted her now, beneath him, hard and fast. He wanted to bury himself inside her, to feel her sheath him as perfectly as he knew she would. This woman was made for him.

His Bear was too riled up to be gentle. He wanted to rip off her clothes and stake his claim in the worst possible way, but that would be nuts.

He knew nothing about her! Marcus ran a frustrated hand over his face. His father had warned him in his youth that meeting his mate would be unlike anything he’d ever felt.

He’d listened dutifully to his father, but he never expected anything like this. He spent all of three minutes in the woman’s company, and he was like a horny teenager, hard as a fucking rock and aching like a damned cub!

Fuck! He needed time to think and plan his next move. And yes, he’d definitely be doing that over a drink. He left his room and held his breath as he passed her door. The last thing he needed was a whiff of her tupelo honey scent.

He barreled through the hotel doors onto the private beach. The cooling sand felt good under his feet. His flip-flops dangled from his fingers as he kicked along the surf.

Sunset on the island was beautiful, though he rarely had time to enjoy it. Even now when he took the time, it was bittersweet. Marcus had no one to share the moment with.

Claim her. He sucked in the salty sea air and stared out at the horizon. He’d be thirty-five this coming winter. He was alone except for his brothers and their business.

It was high time he settled down and had a family of his own. Maybe he could get used to the idea that he’d found his mate after all?

Marcus was sweating despite the cool breeze coming off the water. He unbuttoned his shirt about halfway down, but he still felt too warm. It was all this business about his mate. He needed to leave it for today. Maybe he could approach her with it slowly.

He ordered a tumbler of Clover Bite from a passing waiter. He gave the guy a big tip when he came back just moments later with his glass of artisan whiskey over two moon shaped ice cubes. He tossed it back and closed his eyes as the sweet, yet fiery liquor burned its way down his throat. What was he going to do?

He shook his head and sat down on the wrought iron chair and stared off into the distance. The sounds of laughter and music faded as he thought of how he would go about getting her to listen to him, but he had no real idea. This was new territory for him.

More laughter erupted from the bar, but he ignored it. Marcus hated crowds, but he didn’t relish the idea of having to walk a half mile every time he wanted a refill. So, he settled for a lone table and chair down the few stone steps off the patio where the hotel’s one and fabulously crowded tiki bar sat. At least the waiter would see him from there.

He shook his head and ignored the revelers. Normals had a way of turning even the most innocent evenings out into some sort of frat party nightmare. He wanted no part of the drama.

Judging from the hooting and hollering coming from the direction of the bar, another victim just walked in. He shook his head. Poor little lamb, she probably had no idea she just walked into the lion’s den.

Oh well, it was none of his business anyway...