Page 50 of Bearly Yours
I had two options here.
Anger and outrage that the bond had been completed without my permission—a violation of my right to choose—or gratitude. If left within my tainted dreams I would have died. Our bodies withered in that state, the magic of tainted sleep sucking the life out of us. It was not the way I would choose to go if my time were up on this earth.
And really, hadn’t I already chosen Roarke, over and over again? Sure, I wish I could have given the final permission for our bond to be completed, but Roarke and my alpha both knew my permission was a mere formality. My choice had already been made.
I’d gone from desperately in love with my best friend under what had seemed very hopeless circumstances, to my wildest dreams coming true. And even though it’d been just a week or so since we’d discovered we were mates, I’d known Roarke much longer, and loved him almost half that time. Iknewhim, heart,mind and soul, and let me tell you, wild horses couldn’t drag me away now.
So option two?
I tackled Roarke, which wasn’t hard considering I was still sitting in his lap, and squeezed him in as tight a hug as I could manage. In the silence of my bedroom later, I would puzzle over the presence in my heart that felt like a missing, lost piece had just slotted in and fused to me.
He exhaled in relief, and chuckled, clutching me tighter to his chest. I pulled away a little, and gave him a jaunty smile. “You really are the best mate ever.”
“Well I do try.”
I laughed and kissed his cheek, then turned to Dice and Alpha Riggs. “Thank you, both of you, for all of your help. And Alpha, you made the right choice.”
Alpha Riggs nodded, though I saw that his shoulders loosened a little bit, and he put a warm, comforting hand on my shoulder. “I’ll see Dice out, and then we’ll talk.”
I don’t think that he could help the small alpha push that his words came with. It was just a matter of course when you were an alpha, but I could tell because he always tried really hard to rein it in when he was around me and I was particularly sensitive.
“Yes, Alpha.”
He shook his head with a smile on his face, me not calling him Riggs in company now a joke between us.
I turned to Dice. “Thanks so much for coming over, and for everything that you did to help bring me back.” I looked into her eyes, searching forwhatI didn’t know. “I know it’s your job, but I really do appreciate it.”
Dice smiled. “It’s a calling, I always tell people. And it was my pleasure.”
She gathered up the odd bits, vials, and needles around the room, slung her bag over her shoulder, and left with the alpha.
I turned back to the fully emotional dragon in the room, almost afraid of what his expression would tell me. I found that I didn’t have to guess. Because of the new spot he inhabited within my mind and my emotions, I could feel him, and I knew. He was feeling a chaotic yet humbling mix of fury over my parents’ killer trying to trap me in a comatose state and drain my life away, luminous joy because he and I were past the first stage of bonding, with only our marriage and first intimate time together the last stage, and that he could feel me now, without doing his freaky soul looking thing that he did as a dragon.
And I could feel him as well.
The spark of his essence was so comfortable within me that my bear, for the first time in a long time, felt deeply content.
If there was ever a good time for a first kiss, this would not be it. I’d just been almost killed, and my parents’ killer was still out there roaming loose. Also, I’d been in a coma all day.
But Roarke was an everflame in my chest, and his adoration and deep love for me was filling my heart like a balloon filled with helium. I couldn’t look away from his glowing, beautiful blue eyes.
I knew his dragon was close to the surface—because of the glow—and he wanted to be present for what was happening between Roarke and I, and it filled me with joy. I welcomed Roarkeandhis dragon into our bond. Roarke’s eyes blazed, as though he could read my thoughts. His gaze was so warm and full of tenderness and love that I wanted to burrow close to him and hibernate for the winter. With him I felt like I was coming home.
We both inched closer to each other, my eyes trailing from his eyes to his lips, and there my gaze grew laser focused. Icouldn’t look away, not even if a parade tramped through my bedroom.
“I’m sorry that I worried you,” I whispered directly to his lips, my stomach swooping in delight when the pretty lips smiled at me. Seriously, why couldn’t I look away from my mate’s lips?
“It wasn’t your fault,” he assured me in a husky whisper. “I’m so glad you’re awake now.”
His lips hovered inches away from my own. His beautiful eyes lovingly caressed every inch of my face. “I have waited a very long lifetime for you,” he said softly, and there was such a depth of emotion in his voice and in the connection that I was feeling from our bond echoing in my own emotions that I trembled, my eyes prickling with moisture. Then his lips formed a half smile, and I managed to pull my gaze from his mouth to meet his eyes. “You’d better treat my tender, fair-maiden heart well.”
I didn’t laugh because I knew he really meant it. Not the fair maiden part, that was obviously a joke, but the warning to treat his tender heart well. It was true. My mate was incredibly tender hearted, and it was really starting to sink in that he adored me beyond all reason.
In fact, in that moment,everythingfinally sank in. The fact that I got to be with my best friend forever and ever, the fact that my story wouldn’t have a tragic ending, and that I wouldn’t have to watch as some other paranormal—who could never appreciate or love Roarke as I did—mate with him and break my heart. He was mine. I was his. And heaven help anyone that tried to tear us apart. I had a dragon shifter mate, and I wasn’t afraid to sick him on people.
With the twin realizations of how much he loved and adored me, I felt set free. All of my fears justwhooshedaway, and I suddenly very much wanted to kiss my mate. I leaned closer, my eyes watching his the whole time, grabbed fist-fulls of his darkshirt to pull him the last few inches to me, and kissed him, laying claim to those glorious lips that I finally got to taste.
And holy honey badgers were they glorious.
