Page 53 of Bear's Rejected Love

He understood. “It was terrifying, honestly. I’m still scared.”

Tabitha swallowed a lifetime’s worth of tears. She didn’t want to let them go. She wanted to be close. She surged across the couch and set her hand on Roan’s chest, right above his beating heart. That steady, sure beat was the best thing she’d ever felt.

“Maybe we should go get the kids.” He touched her face reverently. “I miss them. I don’t ever want to let them out of my sight again.”

Those words just about undid her. “Yeah. Although, it’s late. I bawled when we got back. It probably scared Corbin. He’s never seen me cry before. Silver likely just got everyone settled. We can still go, but they know they’re spending the night. They know we’ll get them first thing in the morning. Probably before the sun even rises. They don’t have to go to school tomorrow. It’s up to you, though.”

“Maybe it’s best that they’re there. They were all upset, and we spent so much time getting them calmed down. The clinic’s probably never seen so much action.”

Even though his two kidnappers had been allowed to go, they felt that Silver, Helena, and Ora had to know the truth. While it looked like they’d only wanted Roan, this was something that affected them all. Tomorrow Josephine would be carefully scanning them in case they had any tracking devices that had been missed. Tonight, the guards who patrolled the territory would be tripled just in case there was any comeback. Though after seeing the sheer terror on his captors’ faces, Tabitha hoped that they would keep their word.

“I’m glad Silver was there with them waiting for us when we pulled up. No one minded that the place was pure chaos. Josephine handled it so well. And Silver and Dom. They’re so sweet.”

“Silver’s been through a lot. She’s got the most level head. She chose a good mate. They never wanted to be together, but they eventually accepted it was inevitable and decided to love each other fiercely.” Tabitha knew that Silver and Roan had never been anything other than friends, but after all they’d gone through together, there was a bond between them that would always remain unbroken.

“That’s an oversimplification, I think,” she said with a smile.

She kept her hand on his chest. His heart beat a little too quickly, like he still hadn’t calmed down after that afternoon. Hers probably echoed it. She didn’t feel the least bit calm either. There was so much she wanted to say. So much she wanted to hear. Too much. A lifetime’s worth.

“Do you think that we might… that we might umm… be oversimplifying things too?”

“I wouldn’t say that all the time we’ve spent together and not together could ever be oversimplified. But if you’re asking me if I could see us being true mates and loving each other, there’s nothing I want more. Just Helena, Ora, Honor, Corbin, and you A family—my family. This place—our place.”

She’d been waiting what felt like a lifetime to hear those words. To be the one for this man and to have him be hers to care for and cherish and plan a future with. She was so overwhelmed she couldn’t say anything. She kissed his neck, lifted his hand and placed a ring of kisses around the bruised skin at his wrist. She did the same to the other, replacing the cold, metallic memory of those manacles with her softness. She kissed the other wrist and then kissed the spot over his beating heart.

“Come with me.” She didn’t have the strength to pull him off the couch, but he rose by himself. He let her take his hand. “I know that you’re still thinking about everything that happened. I am too. I want to think about something else. Actually, I just want to think about you.”

In her bedroom, she peeled off his scrubs. Josephine had given him a set when he’d left the clinic to wear instead of his clothes—which told the tale of all he’d gone through. As she eased the top over his head she was careful to avoid the bandage on the back of his neck.

When she was done stripping his clothing away, her hands shaking with the care and effort it took to be gentle, she stood back and just looked at him. The lights were on. It was bright in the room. She never wanted to turn them off and Roan stood before her, beautiful and hard.

After everything he’d gone through, she expected his walls to be up, hard and high, but there was nothing. Just him, stripped down in a way that he had never been before. He wanted her. He wanted to be a family. He wanted the words they’d said half a lifetime ago to be real.

He was breathtaking, as he always was, but what really stole her breath was that all his strength, all his pain, all his future joys and memories would be shared with her. Not as friends and not as roommates, but as true mates.

“Can I touch you?” she whispered.

She watched his abs tighten and the muscles in his thighs flex. Watched his biceps go taut as he flexed his fingers in towards his palms. “Yes.” He was holding himself back, holding himself still. He appeared to be barely breathing.

She felt the same as she approached him. He looked like a marble statue, like a work of art, but far more perfect for the scars that time and strangers had etched on his skin. She didn’t trace them again. She didn’t stop herself from touching them either. She wanted all of him. Every single inch of his skin. She spread her hand out and traced his chest, his pecs, his nipples, down to his carved out abs. He closed his eyes, and he didn’t try to pretend he wasn’t affected by what she was doing. She could see how hard he was, and it was obvious he wanted her, but he swayed slightly and not just from holding himself back and keeping himself in control. He swayed towards her touch, needing her with a desperation that wasn’t obvious but that she could see in the way his body trembled.

This man owned her heart. He owned her body, her soul, her whole life.

She traced a path to his cock and finally took him in her hand. He hissed, his body jerking forward for more of her touch. She slid her fist along the length of him. His eyes were closed when she looked up at his face. He was all hers, in her hands.

She slowly lowered herself down to the floor, down to her knees. She was trembling now too. Wearing too many clothes. Fully dressed. This wasn’t about her stripping herself down. She’d always been vulnerable. She’d always been naked for him. If he’d only asked her at any time in her life, she would have gone anywhere with him and given up anything to be at his side.

As she took him into her mouth, he bowed forward, still trembling as he held himself back. He slowly pushed into her mouth, twisting his fingers through her hair. She loved the way he caressed her scalp and then one of his hands made his way to the back of her neck. He left it there protectively, but didn’t push forward again. He didn’t guide her. He let her set the pace.

Tasting him was divine. She’d never done this before. He was huge and she was careful, using her hand and her mouth in tandem to take as much of him as she could.

He didn’t say anything, but he made small noises. A growl and a barely human groan.

She licked the length of him, circling the tip of his cock with her tongue. He was salty. Raw. Masculine.

She kept working him, wanting him to break for her, but he stopped her before that happened.

He lifted her up off the floor and peeled away her shirt. Tackled her pants. Her bra didn’t stand a chance and he was so rough with her panties they were half torn away coming off. He lifted her, taking her to the bed and setting her down gently.

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