Page 8 of Marked By The Grouchy Grizzly

My mate is sitting in front of me, looking up at me with these big brown eyes and my world is changing in real time. It’s morphing and twisting and transforming all around me as I stare at this stunning angel in awe.

Nothing will ever be the same.

My mate is here. Finally.

And I’m not sure what that means.

I’ve been waiting my entire life for this moment. Waiting, dreaming, aching for it, and now that it’s here, I don’t know how to handle it.

I don’t know what to do. What to say.

“I’d like it on the back of my shoulder,” Lainey says in a sweet melodic tone. It awakens a possessive part of me—a part that wants to pick her up and carry her back to my cabin.

I’m so thrown that I don’t even process what she’s saying.She pulls off her sweater and I suck in a sharp breath when I see her sitting on my chair in her white tank top.

The bare skin of her shoulders, arms, and neck sparks a need in me that I know won’t be quenched until I’m buried deep inside her. I want to kiss every inch of her skin. I want to bury my head between her legs and taste her sweetness.

She’s breathing a little heavy—either from nerves over getting a tattoo or from being in the presence of her mate for the first time—but whatever it is, her round breasts are moving up and down in a hypnotic rhythm. I glance at them and they’re so gorgeous and tempting that it’s painful to look away.

“Julian!” Victoria says in a sharp tone. “Julian!”

“Huh?” I mutter as I shoot my sister an annoyed glance. “What?!”

Why is my little sister ruining this moment? Why is she even here?

“I said, I drew the lily tattoo,” she says, looking at me funny again. “Here’s the stencil.”

I shake my head, trying to clear it as I grab the stencil and glance at it. It’s a beautiful flower and will look so sexy on my mate’s skin. I can’t wait to put it on her. To mark her with my ink. I want to mark her in other ways as well, but we’ll just have to start with this.

She’s touching her neck as she looks at the flower, leaning forward enough that I can see her cleavage. My cock hardens to steel when I see those shifting breasts, knowing I’ll be seeing them in their full glory soon enough.

“I love it,” she says, but she’s looking at me when she says the words. My bear grumbles happily inside. I haven’t felt him this content in… ever.

She turns around and lifts her blonde hair up as I place the sticky stencil on her skin. I can’t breathe when I finally touch her. She’s so fucking perfect. Her skin is so soft.

Goosebumps appear on her arms as I trace the petals ofthe lily with my fingertip. They appear on mine when I hear her short breaths.

“I’m dancing tonight at The Banana Hammock,” Curt says to the room of uninterested people. “Allthe clothes come off.”

The two other girls laugh, but my girl doesn’t. She’s too focused on my touch.

“Are you going to come, Victoria?” he asks my sister.

“I’m afraid not,” she says, continuing to tattoo his chest.

“Why not? I’ve asked you over a dozen times and you always say no.”

“I have plans.”

“What plans?” he says, not knowing when to take the L and slink away.

“I’m sitting at home and staring at the wall,” she says. Magnus chuckles.

Curt scoffs. “How about you ladies? Do you have plans tonight, lily girl?”

I realize that he’s talking to my mate and my whole body tightens. My hands squeeze into fists. I slowly turn to him as a low vicious growl rips out of my throat.

Victoria holds her breath as she looks up at me, finally realizing what’s going on. She looks at me, then at Lainey, and then back at me, her eyes wide.

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