Page 1 of Bear Your Fate

Prologue

Audra

“Need you,” Carrick growled, his bear gleaming from his eyes. I’d never had a man look at me with such need. How I wished it was caused by more than just the adrenaline still pumping in his veins and the victory from our battle fresh in our minds. I’d barely gotten him into his room, intending to check him over for any permanent damage caused by the protection spell the dark practitioner had weaved around the man who’d caused so much pain for Carrick and his family, before he’d prowled towards me and backed me against a wall.

“It’s just the heat of the battle making you feel this way,” I argued, my breath catching in my lungs when he wrapped his large hands around my hips and held me in place.

“It’s more than that,” he insisted in a deep purr. “I’ve faced many a fight over the years, and I’ve never felt quite like this before. Like my bear’s about to break through my skin so he can get to you.”

“Carrick.” His name came out as a moan when his fingers slid around and flipped open the button of my pants. His hand descended lower, until I caught his wrist to stop his progress. “You’re not thinking clearly. I’m a witch, a high priestess. You’re a bear shifter on the council for Goddess’s sake!”

“I didn’t hear you making the same argument when it came to my son mating your daughter.”

Damn him and his logic. He broke his wrist free from my hold to rub his fingers over my clit, making my hips roll. My thighs squeezed together, trapping his hand between them. “That’s different,” I whimpered. “They were doubly fated to be together, Selene as his mate and Camden as her consort.”

“Fuck fate!” he hissed. “Now that all my children are happily mated, fate can go take a flying leap. I’m the master of my own life, and right now the whole goddamn world can burn down around us while I’m buried deep inside your pussy for all I fucking care.”

He shoved a finger inside me, making me shudder. My mind was telling me to find a way to resist him, but the need coursing through me at his touch was impossible to ignore. The feel of his finger filling me was too damn good, it made me want more.

“So fucking tight. I’m not willing to wait another minute to feel you wrapped around me, Audra. The only thing that’s gonna stop me is if you tell me no.” He added another finger and shoved them deeper without any warning, sliding his knees between my legs and lifting me off my feet. “But you’re not going to say no, are you? Not with your tight, little pussy dripping wet around my fingers. You want this as much as I do.”

I did want it, damn him. I’d felt drawn to Carrick from the moment my eyes had landed on him. I’d even felt a pulse of heat in my left wrist, and for one brief moment my heart had soared when I thought he might be my consort, only to come crashing down when I checked for the telltale mark and found nothing there. I hadn’t had the time to deal with the feelings he evoked in me, not with the seriousness of the situation in which my daughter was embroiled. So I’d pushed them away, bottling them up deep inside where I’d planned to leave them. Forever. Only he wasn’t letting me get away with it any longer. Apparently, I hadn’t been the only one to feel the tug between us.

“Tell me,” he rasped, his breath hot in my ear. “I need to hear the words.”

“Yes, I want you.”

My admission was soft, but his reaction to it was anything but. His fingers continued to pump in and out of me, his leg holding me up while he used his other hand to work the button and zipper of his pants. He ground his palm against my clit on each upward thrust of his hand, and I had to force my eyes not to roll back in pleasure so I didn’t miss the sight of his cock springing free. Long and hard, with a drop of pre-come leaking from the tip. I wanted to taste it, badly. My tongue slipped over my bottom lip as I moaned.

“Dammit, I wanted to go slow the first time I took you, but that’s impossible, my little witch. I need you too much. I’ll take it slow the next time around,” he exhaled, lifting me higher to position his cock at my entrance.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, moaning at the feel of his hard flesh slipping through my wetness. He didn’t make me wait, pushing inside with one deep thrust and then holding still to allow me to adjust to his size. It was a good thing, too, since it had been quite a while since I’d taken a man to my bed, and I felt every inch of his invasion. It didn’t take long before I was writhing beneath his body.

“For the love of the Goddess, if you don’t start moving I’m going to have to make you.”

His bear bled into his eyes as a growl rumbled up his throat. “I’d love to see you try, little witch. But some other time because right now you’re going to take what I give you.”

One of his hands slid up to cup the back of my head, protecting it from banging against the wall. The other gripped my hip and held me in place, seemingly with very little effort. Then he pounded into me like he was trying to hammer me into the solid surface at my back.

“I’m not going to last. It’s been too long, and you feel so fucking good,” he moaned, rolling his hips. “I need you to come first, Audra. You can do that for me, can’t you?”

I arched my back, and the change in angle had him hitting even deeper inside me with the next thrust. His hand shifted from my hip, moving slightly inward until his thumb was at my clit, and with a couple flicks I gave him exactly what he’d asked for—my pussy clenching tight while I tried to smother my shout of completion.

“Fuck, yes!” he bellowed, falling right over edge with me.

Not that it slowed him down any. He just carried me over to his bed, dropped me onto the mattress, and proceeded to take me all over again. After the third time around, when I was completely exhausted, he pulled me close before passing out.

Whoever said adversity made for strange bedfellows couldn’t possibly have known what a massive understatement it was. I stared at the man sleeping next to me, his muscular frame tangled in the bed sheets. I was the worst mother ever, sleeping with my daughter’s new father-in-law while she was suffering from a serious case of magical recoil. But, somehow I had a feeling I’d find myself in the same spot again. Hopefully.

1

Carrick

“You’ve been like a bear with a sore paw for the past year.”

Turning away from the stove, I found the youngest of my triplet sons leaning against my kitchen counter. I’d left him and Selene in the living room while I’d checked on dinner, and Camden had managed to sneak up on me. There was concern shining from his eyes, and I had a feeling he wasn’t going to let the topic drop. It was a conversation I’d managed to avoid having with anyone, and I didn’t plan to open up about it now—especially not with my daughter-in-law in the other room.

“You’re right about half of that. I am a bear.” I lifted my hands and twisted my wrists so he could see both sides of them. “But my paws seem fine to me.”

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