Page 10 of Bear Your Fate

“It isn’t enough that you won the battle over where I’m staying; you want me to be reliant on you for my transportation too?”

He didn’t answer until after he’d tugged me towards his truck and we’d pulled out of the parking lot. “I’d like for you to be reliant on me for a fuck of a lot more than shelter and transportation, but that’s not why I said you didn’t need to rent a car.”

I wasn’t willing to touch the first part of his statement with a ten-foot pole. Not when we were headed to his home. Alone. And especially not while my heart raced at the implication heavy in his words. So I focused on the latter half of his comment instead. “Then why did you say it?”

The grin he flashed me made him seem younger. Playful even. “Because this baby”—he patted the dashboard—“isn’t the only vehicle I own, so you can borrow one of mine.”

“One of yours?” I echoed, my head cocking to the side as I studied him. I was confused since I’d only ever seen him drive his truck in all the time I’d spent in Bear Creek back when we’d all first met a year ago as well as when I’d visited again over the holidays. “I’m assuming that means you have more than two, or else you would’ve just said I could borrow your other car?”

His smile grew wider. “Quite a few more than two.”

“How did I never know you were a car aficionado?”

His gaze switched back to the road, but I still caught the gleam of his bear in his eyes. “Because we had a lot of shit going down when you first got here, and then once it was all over I was a fuck of a lot more interested in showing you my bedroom than the contents of the barn out back where I keep most of my collection.”

“Carrick,” I sighed, in a mixture of frustration and need. “If I’m going to stay with you while I’m in town and we’re going to work together, you can’t keep tossing out statements like that. What happened between us was”—I searched for a word that truly fit what we’d shared and came up short—“incredible, but we need to leave it in the past where it belongs.”

“First of all,” he growled, reaching out to grab my hand and lace his fingers through mine. “There’s no if about you staying with me, it’s a done deal. The only thing up in the air about that decision is if you’re going to sleep where you belong—beside me in my bed—or in one of my guest rooms.”

“Definitely a guest room. Our kids are much too observant for us to make any other decision without them asking questions I’d prefer not to answer.”

“You wanna fall asleep in another bed, I’m not gonna stop you from doing so. But I’m sure as fuck gonna do my best to try to get you to change your mind.” His hold on me tightened. “The kids aren’t going to begrudge us our happiness; not even if we find it together as a couple.”

A couple. I hadn’t allowed myself to think of us as such. It was too tempting. But now that he’d voiced it in that deep, raspy voice of his...I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get the thought out of my head ever again.

“Same with us working together. You already told Damien that you’d step in to Selene’s role on the council. I guarantee you that the first call Damien made was to Seth. There’s no backing out of the commitment now.” He brushed his thumb over my knuckles. “And the only way you work with the council is with me at your side, taking your back. You’re not facing that challenge alone. No fucking way. Not while I still have breath in my body.”

Oh my Goddess. This time it was my hand that clenched his. How could it not after he’d made a declaration like that? It had been too long since I’d had someone in my life willing to act as my shield against the world—if ever. My biological parents certainly hadn’t; I didn’t even know who they were. My adoptive parents hadn’t been much better since they’d tossed me out of their home as soon as they realized I was a witch. I’d only been a teenager when they’d told me I was evil. That I had tainted blood coursing through my veins and it wasn’t theirs.

They hadn’t wanted me. Neither had the man who’d fathered Selene, which hadn’t been too big of a blow since I hadn’t loved him and he wasn’t the consort the Goddess had intended for me.

My coven stood with me, but as their high priestess it was my responsibility to protect them. The same was true with my daughter.

But Carrick...he was a different story. There was no doubt in my mind that he meant what he’d just said. He was a protector at heart, and he considered me worthy of his defense. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I can come up with a few ideas.” He lifted our hands to press a kiss against my knuckles before pulling into the driveway leading to his house. “But I have a feeling you’re going to do your best to try to resist all of my suggestions.”

Ten minutes ago, he would have been right since it’s exactly what I should have done. For both our sakes, as well as for our children. But he’d been impossible to resist before, and his declaration only made him even more so. “What if I don’t?”

Instead of pulling into the attached garage, he hit the brakes hard in front of the house and threw the engine into park. “Then I’ll do my best to convince you that’s a decision you should keep on making.”

“Carrick.” His name was the barest whisper of sound, but he caught it anyway.

“No. Fuck,” he bit out. “Don’t second-guess yourself. Let me have this, even if it’s just for one night.”

That’s how we’d rationalized it the last two times; as only one night. Maybe we’d meant it back then, but we’d be lying to ourselves if we believed that’s all it was going to be now with us living under the same roof. But I still grabbed onto that justification to give us both what we wanted. “Yes, just for tonight I promise not to second-guess myself.”

He jumped out of the truck and rounded to my side before I’d even gotten my door all the way open. He yanked on it and pulled me out, carrying me into his house and up the stairs straight into his bedroom. In no time flat, he had both of us stripped out of our clothes. Then he slid his fingers between my legs and pressed down on my clitoris, making me cry out.

“Need you so fucking much,” he growled, gliding his fingers down through my wetness to the entrance of my body and circling it. “And it feels like you need me just as much.”

“I do,” I moaned, my nails digging into his shoulders as he pushed two of his fingers inside me. “So don’t be a tease and give me what I want.”

“Ah, but I’ve only gotten you to agree to one night. I need to make it last.” He worked his fingers inside me, quickly bringing me close to the edge and then slowing down so I wouldn’t fly over it.

“Carrick.” I tried to tighten my legs in an attempt to give myself the pressure I desperately needed.

“You’re going to need patience, my sweet witch”—he twisted his wrist and rubbed against my G-spot, driving me wild—“unless you want to give me more than this one night.”

---