Page 5 of Bear It All
“I saw you in the graveyard. Felt the power surrounding you. I’m only going to ask one more time, mate. Who is after you?” A shiver went down my spine, accompanied by an urge to bare my neck to Mikhail, to submit.
Power. Mate. After you.
Those words rang out in my head, shaking me from my stupor. Mikhail’s voice faded away in the roaring in my ears. Ice ran through my bloodstream, and panic overwhelmed me. Using more force than I should have, I called the wind to me, pushing Mikhail back so I could slip under his arm and out the door of his dorm room.
He knew.How soon until they came after me?My powers raced through me, and with an ease I hadn’t experienced before, I was able to hold the wind, using it to apply pressure on Mikhail’s door, giving me just enough time to flee.
Chapter 6
Mikhail
Keeping my body still, I enjoyed having my mate next to me. Despite the reasons for her being there, I couldn’t help the contentment that ran through me at having her in my space. I wanted her scent on my sheets. I wanted her to mark me as much as I planned to mark her. No one would question who she belonged to.
I was brought back to reality as Freya’s body started moving, her legs rubbing against each other restlessly as she arched her back on a moan. I was frozen in shock at first, afraid I was imagining it, but I couldn’t hold in the groan that ran through me.
“You smell amazing,” I told her as I tried to stop myself from clutching her to me and burying myself so deep inside of her that she didn’t know where she began, and I ended.
Her sweet voice reached my ears as she begged me to touch her, and I could have sworn I died and went to heaven. Wrapping my hand around her throat, I couldn’t help but eye her delicate neck—the pulse point that called to me, the perfect spot to mark herwith my fangs. She was begging, her eyes wild with need and her body on fire—formethis time.
“Misha,” her husky voice pleaded with me, and all my control went out the window. A buzz started over my skin, growing so strong I felt electrocuted. Freya was there, in my arms, her body crying out for me.
“Come on my hand, mate. Mark me as yours.” I growled into her hair, my hand pressing against her core. The thin cotton panties did nothing to hide how hot and wet she was. My hand cupped her ample breast, her nipple hardening under my palm. Everything about her was so beautifully responsive.
I rested my mouth over that sensitive spot at the base of her neck, right over her pulse, barely restraining myself from sinking my fangs into her delicate flesh. I felt her body going from rigid to jello, shivers running through it. Her scent was stronger after her orgasm, and it was intoxicating. I didn’t know what to say or do, feeling drugged and under her spell.
Before I could wrap my head around the reality of having Freya in my arms and in my bed, she was leaping away from me. I couldn’t hear what she said over the blood rushing to my head at the idea of her running from me. That was unacceptable—we had just found her, and she was going to try to leave?
Quickly, I had her pressed against the wall, her body instinctively closing the gap between ours. She wanted me. Freya could feel it, too, but was holding herself back. Nuzzling the tender slope of her neck,I inhaled her scent in a mighty gulp. My mouth watered. The instinct to bite and mark her was a hell of a distraction. I needed to focus on stopping her from fleeing now that we had finally found her.
“What are you running from, Little Storm?” I asked as I watched her eyes fill with emotion, her dark hair shining and disheveled. Freya’s body stiffened at that question, her emotions shutting down. A feeling like static electricity covered her skin, sending shocks to my form at all the places where our bodies touched.
Confused and feeling out of control, I tried using my powers as alpha on her, commanding Freya to tell me who was after her. The words were barely out of my mouth when a gust of wind, the likes of which I had never experienced, ripped Freya from my arms. I didn’t have any time to get my bearings. I felt like I was fighting through an invisible wall to get to my door.
By the time she was in the hallway, that wall weakened, and I managed to get my hand on the doorknob, only for it to snap shut against my attempts to open it. Ripping at my door, it didn’t budge. It was as if there was a tornado on the other side. Using all my strength, I pushed, but still couldn’t get it to open. Nearing the point of shifting, my body plowed through the frame, and I found myself sprawled in the hallway, the air eerily still.
“Mikhail! Dean’s office now!” Professor Tomlinsnapped at me in a tone that brooked no argument. With a low growl, I reluctantly followed him,knowing I needed to cool down before I faced Freya again. My mate had some explaining to do.
After Dean Caruthers bitched me out for causing a disturbance after lights out and destroying school property, I was released with a stern warning and a looming fee for the damage. It meant nothing to me, except delaying when I could see Freya again. As soon as I was excused from the dean’s office, I rushed to the women’s dorms.
Once there, Freya’s scent was stronger and mixed with mine. One inhale, and my heart started racing, my body hardening. She was mine, and my mate had to accept that soon. Placing a hand on her door, I took one last breath.Soon, mate. No more running.
It was time to claim what was mine.
Chapter 7
Freya
Collapsing on my bed, I tried to steady myself.
An hour later, after trying some breathing exercises, meditation, and a mild attempt at yoga, I wasn’t any more settled.What am I going to do?Mikhail knew something, but that didn’t mean he knew what I was. He held my fate in his hands, although he’d revealed more about himself in that encounter than anything I said or did had.Speaking of the things he can do with those hands…I slammed my eyes shut, trying to block out the memory of what his body felt like, the mindless need to touch him as much as I could.
What concerned me more was my desire to answer him. When he asked what I was running from, it took more restraint than I cared to admit not to just tell him everything. He had literally battled the storm to get to me. I’d felt the strength in his arms and in his ability. He was a formidable opponent on a good day, but there was no denying his supernatural strength. I had witnessed itfirsthand.
I spent the next week dutifully avoiding Mikhail. The idea of seeing him after all that had happened between us was far too much for me to handle. To make it even worse, rather than feeling better after my magical typhoon, I was still amped up. My body felt fizzy, like a can of soda that someone had shaken up and refused to crack open. I was full of power, and it was trying to get out at any turn.
Stuck in class, having difficulty staying awake, a cool breeze swept through the room, jolting me. I wasn’t even conscious of what I had been doing those last few days, my magic zipping out of me at various moments. Feeling the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, I turned to find Bianca staring at me from her reserved seat. She always sat in the back, surrounded by her closest friends. One look at her smug face made my powers flare up, and all of a sudden, the armrest I had a death grip on started heating up.
With a wince, I pulled my hand away and took a deep breath, trying to get back to some sort of calm. I had to go outside again, had to do something to get all that energy out of me. It was becoming increasingly harder to control. And as for hiding them, I was just barely doing that. I was lucky Misha was the one to catch me, even if the fact that he was a shifter was both a blessing and a curse.
