Page 12 of Polar Fates
He laughs. “You’re not silly. You’redelicious.”
He clears his throat and even in the darkness, I can see a faint blush cover hischeeks.
“Notdelicious...”
I chuckle as he searches for the rightword.
“... appetising?”
My giggles turn intolaughter.
“Tempting?”
I stand on my toes and press my lips against his, shutting him up before he can say anything else. I’d rather not think of myself as a tasty morsel this bear is planning to enjoy. I want to do this on my ownterms.
He responds by wrapping his arms around me, but his lips stay closed. I nudge him with my tongue, making it obvious that I want more than just my lips on his, but he doesn’treact.
What’s wrong? From the way he holds me and the bulge pressing against my naked belly, it’s clear that he wants me. Then why isn’t he kissing meproperly?
I end the kiss before it’s even started and look at himquestioningly.
“You didn’t let me finish,” he whispers and I raise my eyebrows.Seriously?
I sigh. “What were you going to say that’s soimportant?”
He smiles bearishly. “Mine.”
Then his mouth is all I can think about as he kisses me with passion, his hands roaming over my back, his tongue invading me, his whole being surrounding me. I melt into his kiss, my lips moving without my doing. This is primal, nothing more, nothingless.
Somehow, we end up rolling in the snow, never-ending our kiss as we explore each other’s bodies, even when he enters me and we begin to move in synchrony with each other. Our moans combine into a song of love, higher and louder with everythrust.
The snow around us begins to melt when we come together, entwined in body andmind.
Five
I’ve not always been the quiet one, youknow.”
I’m wrapped in his warm arms, the snow around us long gone, melted by the heat of ourbodies.
I’mnot cold, nor wet, somehow the ground has dried while we were rolling around on it. I should be covered in mud but I’m not. This island is strange. Or maybe it’s the shifter magic affectingus.
I stay quiet, giving him time to tell me what he’s obviously wanting to get off his chest. In the past few days, he’s become less grumpy and more open. I like seeing this side of him; it’s very different from the Ràn I got to know back in the hut when all he’d say were one-word sentences. Of course, he’s not talking as much as Húnn and I doubt he’ll ever be as loud and cheery as Finn, but it’s definitely animprovement.
“You probably don’t know this but... Húnn and I are only half-brothers. We’ve got the same mother, but different fathers. At first, Húnn’s father, the man our mother was married to, didn’t know I wasn’t his. So the first few years of my life weren’t too bad. Quite happy, actually. My brother and I have always been close, and with only a year between us, we explored our little worldtogether.”
He pauses and I run my hand over his chest, hoping that he’ll get some comfort from it. Reassurance that I’m here for him, that I’mlistening.
“Then I shifted for the first time and it was clear that I wasn’this.”
“But you look so similar,” I interrupt him. “You almost look liketwins!”
“Bear families recognise each other by scent. And once he smelled my bear for the first time, he knew we weren’t related. Of course, he couldn’t tell anyone. The shame would have been toogreat.”
“But don’t bear females usually take severalpartners?”
“Yes, but our community had become very human over the years. Human convention had taken over and some men liked being the ones in charge. Like my... Húnn’s father. He was a very dominant man and couldn’t bear the thought that my mother had been with someone else. So while he couldn’t get rid of me, he was ableto...”
His voice is starting to tremble and I know that whatever he’s about to tell me must be terrible. I change my position until I’m lying on top of him, hugging himtight.
