Page 35 of Snowed In With the Grizzly

Or maybe he’s not so cut up about it after all. Maybe life will just go on for him.

And that’s how it should be. I just want him to be happy. I know he needs to find his true mate and fall in love. And not some puny human, but a fierce shifter lady who deserves all his strength and protectiveness.

As much as the thought of him meeting another girl tears me apart.

We spend the whole time eating, talking, snuggling in bed, and mating, over and over again. We have sex so often, we don’t need clothes. I just pad around naked, until he gets that look in his eye, and he possesses me again. On the bed, bent over the table. In the shower. On the rug in front of the fire.

He tells me he can’t get enough of me, and I feel like a goddess under his gaze. Like someone special.

Such beautiful moments. And I’m trying my best to live in the moment, but I can’t forget that the clock is ticking. Every minute counting off our time together.

Every kiss, every touch, every thrust is bittersweet. A little piece of ecstasy, and a dagger in my heart.

I wish so bad that this was forever.

If only Charlie was safe, I wouldn’t go back. I’d leave my father to deal with the consequences of his greed and cruelty by himself.

But she’s not safe. As long as DiMarco doesn’t have me, she’ll always be in danger.

And I’m the only one who can fix that.

* * *

In the evening,I insist on cooking—some meat, tomato sauce and pasta dish. Not as tasty as Jaxton’s steaks, but he devours it, making sexy sounds of appreciation.

“You’ll have to teach me that recipe,” he says.

We’ve been saying things like this to each other the whole time. Discussing a future that we both know can never happen. At the beginning it was kind of fun, but now it’s killing me.

That night, he takes his time with me, undressing me tenderly, then licking my pussy until I come three times. And then he fucks me long and hard, in ten different positions, before finishing from behind with his teeth grazing the back of my neck. He’s done this a bunch of times now, and I know what it means—he wants to mark me with his teeth. But he always holds back, then makes a sound like it’s costing him a lot. Like the man and animal are at war. I want to have his mark. I Imagine having it there all my life, comforting me. But I wonder what it would mean to him—if it would mean he couldn’t take another.

When we’re both thoroughly sated, and my body can’t take any more pleasure, Jaxton wraps me up in his arms, and pulls the thick comforter around us, and we fall asleep.

But half an hour later, I’m awake again. Thinking about tomorrow. Thinking that when I wake up, it’s the last time I’ll ever see him.

* * *

I must’ve driftedoff at some point, because when I next open my eyes, it’s morning. I stare out at the little crack of daylight between the curtains, and a feeling starts to grow inside me.

How could I even think of leaving Jaxton? He’s my mate. The moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was the one. I felt it when I saw him standing there, half-naked in the snow, holding the axe. He’s mine. And I’m his. And I’ll do whatever it takes to be with him. Fight anyone. Even my father. But first—I’m gonna wake him up with a kiss. I turn over onto my left side, already reaching for him.

But he’s not there, and the sheets on his side of the bed are cold.

Weird.Did he go to the bathroom?

No, the bathroom door’s wide open. A bad feeling is building inside me. I jerk upright, dart across the room and check it anyway. Then I rush back to bed, confused, stupidly believing that he might still be there after all.

Maybe he went out early? Went off to do some beary thing like hunting in the woods or something. But… there’s a piece of paper on the kitchen table. Heart hammering, I unfold it with trembling fingers, already suspecting what it’s going to say:

Good morning, Sweet Rowan,

The snowplows had been out already, and the road is clear all the way down, but please drive safe.

Jaxton xxx

That’s all.Stomach lurching, I read it over and over, trying to understand his words. But my brain won’t untangle them. He’s not coming back. He left already. There’s no secret meaning in there. It’s pretty darn obvious. This is goodbye.

My throat closes up and the back of my eyes sting. I swallow hard, take a couple of deep breaths. He decided to leave early to spare us the pain of parting. I guess it makes sense. It’s the kind of thing I might have done, too.

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