Page 33 of Her Painter Bear Mate

"No. I mean, last night was pretty impulsive. We didn't really talk about what it means, if it means anything at all. Was it the start of something? Just some fun?" Clarissa crossed her arms over her chest. "Any regrets?"

"Definitely no regrets. And it was fun. Very fun." Dee fought a yawn and ran her hand up and down her neck, exposing the back of her arm.

Clarissa froze. The pink marking on Dee's arm didn't stand out all that much but it was there and definitely new. A mating mark that looked suspiciously familiar.

She pointed it out. "You're marked?"

"What?" Dee gave her a frown, only blinking slowly.

"Your arm."

Dee had to contort her body to check, her eyes glazing over. "Shit, I didn't notice. Time just kind of slipped away and I forgot. I, um... Is it... Yours?"

There was both dread and hope in her voice which made Clarissa feel all the more conflicted. "Show it to me again?"

Dee stepped closer, evoking memories of last night. Clarissa's heartbeat quickened and her fingers tingled with the urge to touch the mating mark. She traced the lines, discovering she could do so with her eyes closed.

"It's mine," Clarissa breathed, not quite managing to swallow the lump in her throat. Of all the ways she expected this conversation to go, this wasn't it. They were fated.

Fated. She couldn't believe it was Dee, except that she could.

The blank look on Dee's face wasn't helpful though. "I... don't know what to say."

"Something. Anything."

"I'm only back in Crescent Valley temporarily. And I know the city isn't that far away but when I get in the painting zone, there's not really much room for anything else. And you've got the store and your sick dad who you can't leave." Dee's forehead creased, the thinking line only growing more pronounced as she continued. "It's not like I asked for this. I didn't come looking for a fated mate. "

With every word, Clarissa's stomach twisted tighter and tighter. There were stories about shifters being rejected by their fated mates but it was a rarity. She'd certainly never thought it would be happening to her.

"Are you saying you don't want to make it work?" Clarissa asked, her jaw clenching shut. She should've known that she'd be left behind again. This was just history repeating itself, like it wanted to make sure Clarissa remembered her place, that she was never going to get out of this little town and that it would never be enough for someone like Dee Lewis.

The realisation didn't even hurt as much as when she was a teenager.

Dee gave her a pained look. "No, I do want to make it work. We're fated mates. It's just not going to be easy."

A bitter taste filled Clarissa's mouth and her voice was tainted by it. She took a step back, suddenly desperate for space or air or something else she couldn't put her finger on. "Do you only want to make it work because we're fated? Would you be saying these exact things to someone else if you woke up with their mark? Or are you just done with me now your muse is back?"

"That's not fair," Dee whispered, sounding surprisingly hurt. "I'm here, aren't I? I stayed before I knew we were fated. I'm saying this to you, not to anyone else. I want to give this a try even if it's going to be hard."

It was a good point but Clarissa turned away, reaching for the hard edge of the counter to grip onto. She was too overwhelmed to be happy or excited, and those feelings confused her. Why wasn't she glad about this development? Why was she more distressed about Dee wanting to make something complicated work than her sneaking out of her bed?

Maybe it all sounded too good to be true. Dee Lewis was her fated mate and wanted to be with her and it all felt like a dream and a nightmare tangled together.

Dee's hand landed on her and the touch didn't just burn her shoulder, it made her shifter mark on her hip tingle. It reminded her of the lovely night they spent together, before they were fated, a choice entirely and truly just theirs.

She turned around, facing Dee's piercing gaze even though her heart was pounding. She didn't know if she wanted this, if she could allow herself to want this, but her worries melted away as Dee slid her hands up her arms. She melted into the embrace, only realising now that she had walls of her own to lower if this was going to work.

“Say yes,” Dee whispered in a strange turn of events. Usually, it was the shifter doing the convincing.

Clarissa lost herself in the depth of Dee’s eyes and found herself nodding. It was the only answer to this question because she did want it to work, she wanted it more than she ever let herself. She bridged the gap, connecting their mouths for a kiss that tasted of hope and memories at the same time. And it made perfect sense that they decided it here, in the craft store where their past, present, and future were colliding.

NINETEEN

Dee

For the next few months, Dee painted like a woman possessed, desperate to catch up on the time she missed. She didn't go back to her flat in the city just yet but made good use of her old studio at her parents' house. She painted until she was past hungry, until her fingers were cramping, until her brain felt like it had been stripped entirely of thoughts and sense. It was a haze, wonderful and unmemorable all at the same time. It consumed her and she loved it.

A desperate scratch came from the other side of her studio door and she put her brush into the cup. She'd never been a fan of interruptions because nothing was ever worth being disturbed for. That was different now.

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