Page 15 of Stranded With An Insatiable Shifter

I hope.

“What do you know about bear shifters?” I ask her.

“Besides them showing up naked and refusing to leave?”

“Yeah, besides that. What do you know about mates?”

She doesn’t answer. I think she’s holding her breath. I can’t hear it anymore.

“Each shifter has one fated mate,” I say in a low steady voice. “The bond is so intense, it’s life-changing. It’s all-consuming. It’s all that matters.”

I heard my dad and my brothers talking about the intensity of it, but I didn’t realize how strong it was until I felt it for myself. And I’ve barely had more than a taste…

“A bear shifter will wait their whole lives for their mate,” I continue. “No one else can tempt them. No one else can even turn their head. A shifter lives and breathes for their mate and their mate only. Once they’re together, the bond can never be broken. They’ll live the rest of their lives as one.”

I hear her start to breathe, but it’s low and shallow. She feels it. She must…

“The reason why I wanted you to look into my eyes, Jemma,” I say softly, “is that you’re my mate. And I’m yours. We belong together.”

I let that hang in the air.

“I know we didn’t start off on the right foot,” I continue, “but I’ll make you the happiest woman in the world if you give me a chance. That’s all I’m asking for. One chance.”

My heart is pounding as I wait for an answer.

After a long silent moment, I worry I won’t get one, but then the door slowly opens.

All the tension flows out of me. I feel like I might float away.

My mate steps out of the bus with her sparkling blue eyes gazing at me. It’s like she’s seeing me for the first time.

She’s stunning. Her long wavy brown hair tumbles down onto her shoulders. My fingers tingle as I imagine what it would feel like to sink my hands into her locks and pull her mouth to mine.

Those luscious lips… My mouth waters as I look at them.

She’s wearing scuffed-up jeans and an old gray sweater, but I’ve never seen clothes look so good on someone before. Those jeans are hugging her hips, her sweater is draped down over her round breasts, I can’t breathe as I take her in.

I’m in awe of her beauty.

“You’re perfect,” I whisper.

Those sexy pink lips curl into a grin. “You owe me a piece of beef jerky.”

I laugh as all of the stress and tension I’ve been holding for decades leaves me like someone just opened a drain. I’m with my mate. She’s finally here.

She doesn’t take her eyes off me. I can see that she feels it too. I can feel the intense need radiating off her.

“Anything for my mate,” I whisper.

She takes a deep breath as her blue eyes dart over my naked torso. “I don’t know about all that mate stuff, but you earned yourself a coffee. Do you want one?”

I don’t think I’ve ever smiled so wide in my life.

“Please.”

She heads over to the cooler beside her bus. “Are you hungry?”

“I haven’t eaten in two and a half weeks.”

---