Page 13 of The Bear's Chosen Mate
“I need you,” he moaned, his lips brushing her skin and making goose bumps rise.
“Of course you do.You’re sick, I’m your friend—”
“Want you as my lover.Always have, and now I can keep you.”
Great.He was so feverish he was delusional.It was tough to say the words, but she made herself tell the truth.“We’re not lovers, dude.We’re good,goodfriends who shouldn’t be lying tangled up with each other.You’re going to regret this in the morning.”
“Never regret.Want to pick, not have fate decide.Want you for always.Want you as my mate.”
Mate—
Did he say mate?her cat murmured.How…unexpected.
Shit.Understanding slipped in between one aching pulse and the next.No one who’d spent any time around polar bear shifters was unaware of the mating fever and all its consequences.
Oh no.Oh no, no,no.Because as much as she’d had a lustful, long-term crush on the man, there was no way in hell she was letting him make a mistake like this.
Kaylee tightened her grip on his hair and jerked her hands.Hard.
She pulled out a chunk of his hair, and he budged all of three inches.It was far enough to look him in the eye.“James.Buddy.Pal o’ mine.Do you have the mating fever?”
His lips were lifted in a delicious smile.His gaze dropped to stare at her as if she were dessert and he’d been a very good boy.“I have you.You’re in my arms.I’m going to make love to you all night long, and then in the morning, I’m going to start again, and I’m never going to stop.Never, not even when we’re old.Even then I’ll tell you all the dirty things I want to do to you, and we’ll always be together.”
Yeah.Awesome.Definitely mating fever.
Kaylee patted his cheek gently.“Right.So, maybe it’s not a good idea I’m here right now.Since you’re mating feverish and all, and I’m not a very good person to be your mate.”
“Perfect person.”He frowned, growling low.“Kaylee perfect.”
His bear was in his eyes.Shit.
She caressed him again, attempting to soothe the beast.“Okay, big guy.I need to…”Think.Think, Kaylee.“I need to do something first.Okay?You need to go have a shower, and I need to get the thing from the thing.”
Confusion twisted his face.“Really?”
“Uh-huh.”She nodded, scratching his shoulder.
The bear looked back at her.
“You go shower,” she whispered.“I’ll be right back.”
His reluctance to leave was obvious, but she kept smiling and nodding encouragingly.“I need a shower?”
She didn’t remember hearing that mating fever made guys stupid, but hey, she had to play with the hand they’d been dealt.“Shower.While I get the thing.”
For one split second she thought she was a goner.He rocked against her slowly, hard muscles and smooth skin teasing her to the edge of sanity.
But then he rose, staring at her with dark bear eyes as he brought her to her feet beside him.He bent slightly and lifted her chin.“I’m going to take a shower, and when I get back, you’re mine.”
Kaylee wasn’t ready for the kiss he planted on her.For the heat and the urgency, and the way her entire body ached and begged her to follow him into the shower and let him do his worst.
But when he stepped back, ragged breaths shaking his chest, his eyes bright with fever, she knew she had to do the right thing.
The instant he entered the bathroom, she moved.She yanked the towel off her head, bunched her hair into a knot and fixed it in place with an elastic band she found on the dresser.
She grabbed her wet shoes and the clothes she’d hung over chairs to dry, then raced down the hallway, pausing just long enough to put on the shoes and slip the rest of her things into a bag she found on the kitchen counter.
Outside the window, the storm was in full swing.
