Page 27 of A Very Beary Christmas
Chapter 15
Sam
Chloe was handling things better than I had hoped. Not only had she accepted that shifters were real, but she seemed relieved, happy, even, that I was one. That was a good start, but we still had a long way to go.
I moved back behind the counter and pulled on my jeans, aware of her sneaking peeks from beneath half-shuttered lashes. That did nothing to ease the mating heat threatening to burn me from the inside out. As if being around her wasn’t enough of an aphrodisiac, scenting her arousal and knowing she wanted me just as badly made resisting the call almost impossible.
That was the next thing we had to talk about.
“Chloe, I don’t quite know how to explain this. For me and my kind, it’s instinctual knowledge, but to a non-shifter, it might not make a lot of sense at first. You see, shifters have mates, and—”
“I’m yours,” she stated.
“What?”
“I’m yours,” she repeated, her voice stronger and more confident. “I’m your mate.”
“Yes,” I confirmed, stunned.
“How long have you known?”
“Since the first day you walked into second grade,” I admitted. “Like I said, it’s instinctual. I took one look at you and knew you were the one for me.”
She blinked, and another fat tear rolled down her cheek.
“More happy tears?” I asked.
She nodded.
Both bear and man wanted to go over and hold her again, so we did.
“It makes sense now,” she said quietly.
“What does?”
“Why you were so kind to me back then.”
“Partly, I suppose, but I would have been your friend regardless. A mate is so much more than that, though, Chloe. She’s our one. Our only. Once we find the one who’s meant for us, no one else will ever do.”
She lifted her head as the meaning of what I had just told her sank in. “You mean, you’ve never ...?”
“Kissed another girl? Went on a date? Hooked-up? No, never. It would have been pointless, Chloe.”
She turned and straddled my lap. Her feminine heat soaked into my raging hard-on, making it impossible to stifle my groan. I gripped her hips, needing to hold her still before I came in my pants like some pubescent cub.
“Me neither.”
“What?” I hardly dared to hope.
“I thought there was something wrong with me,” she admitted, “because I’ve never wanted to do any of those things.”
“And now?”
“Now, I can’t imaginenotdoing them ... with you.”
My bear rose up in triumph and roared. “We’ll learn together, then. When you’re ready.”
Her eyes softened as she cupped my face. “I’m so ready, Sam.”
