Page 42 of Destined Bear
The enforcers are shocked by my acceptance of blame, but Vivienne looks like she’s about to pass out. I want to steady her, but I don’t dare because I don’t know how she’ll react. I don’t want her humiliating me in front of the pack.
Suddenly, I understand how she felt when I had rebuked her all those years ago.
Isn’t karma a bitch?
“What?” Alessa laughs and slaps her leg.
“Shut up, Alessa.” Vivienne steps forward, her eyes set on me. “Do you really believe that? Or are you just saying that because…? Well, because…”
There’s still groaning among some of my pack members, and I whip my eyes toward them.
They fall silent and look at the ground uncomfortably.
“It took me a while to understand just how smart and sensible your advice can be,” I tell her. “My pride and anger got in the way five years ago, but the pack really could have saved alot of time and heartache if I had listened to you about securing the treaty with Ember Hollow from the start.”
The tension leaves Vivienne’s body.
“So, what then?” Sabo’s challenge rings out. “We aren’t going to retaliate against Stonecrest? Because you’re in love?”
“Sabo.” Heath’s single word drips with warning, but for once, I’m not consumed with anger against his defiance.
“We are going to retaliate,” I respond. “But we’re going to do it sensibly.”
I lead Vivienne deeper into the living room to sit, and, begrudgingly, the enforcers make room to let her pass. She perches tentatively on the edge of the sofa, and I sit beside her.
Alessa stands to give us space.
“What do you think we should do?” I ask my mate.
Vivienne’s eyes widen with the question, and I know she can see that something fundamental has changed between us. She recognizes that I’m finally ready to listen to her advice, rather than letting my pride get in the way.
Vivienne smiles and says, “Here is what I think we should do…”
After the meeting, I walk Vivienne back toward her mother’s suite, but as we turn the corner, her arms swing around my neck, and she presses her lips to mine. The unexpected kiss catches me off guard, and I fall back against the wall.
It doesn’t take me long to recover. My hands fall to cup her perfectly sculpted ass, and I spin her around so her back is to the wall, pressing my weight against her.
She pulls back slightly and stares at me wistfully. “Did you really mean everything you said earlier?”
“Every word. I should have told you sooner.”
“You wouldn’t have meant it sooner,” she responds.
My lips curl around the soft skin of her earlobe, and I nuzzle her gently, whispering about how much I love her and how I can’t wait to fuck her.
The tips of my fingers trail over her silken skin, along the hem of her jean skirt. I groan as my hand feels the heat already radiating from her, well before my thumb reaches her center.
Vivienne mewls as I pull her underwear aside roughly, allowing me more room to explore, my tongue trailing along the perfect lines of her clavicles and lower toward the swell of her cleavage.
A finger slips inside her center, and I relish the shudder of her body, her bond matching mine, our hearts syncing.
“I love you.” Her declaration makes me hotter, harder, and I push my weight against her more.
“I love you,” I rasp, adding another finger inside her, pinning her to the wall firmly as I coax her first orgasm out of her.
Her lithe form tenses, fingers curling into my back, and I feel her spill against me.
My cock throbs in anticipation. “I need to take you. Here.”
