Page 13 of Marked By the Possessive Polar Bear
“On?”
His eyes lock onto mine. “Whether I’ve got a reason to stay.”
And just like that, the air starts buzzing again with heat and possibility.
I clear my throat and sit straighter, suddenly hyper-aware of the space between us and wanting to erase it all. “Well, we’vegot a pretty good benefits package. Free coffee. Unstable hours. Occasional bear fights. You’ll fit in great.”
He laughs again, low and genuine. “Sounds like I’m right at home.”
And for some reason, that word makes my chest tighten in a way I’m not ready to examine.
Luckily, I don’t have to because Julian stands up and walks over, taking off his big headphones. I can hear Incubus playing through them. “Hey, Victoria, do we have anymore of those large bandages?”
“Yup,” I say, hopping off the stool before I combust. “I’ll get them.”
I take a deep breath as I head into the back storage room. It’s a mess back here, but I know where everything is. One day, I’ll organize it. Maybe.
I turn around with the bandages and crash right into Adrian’s big muscular chest. I suck in a breath as I look up and see the heat in his eyes.
“I didn’t get a tour of this room,” he says, although he doesn’t seem at all interested with the room. He hasn’t taken his eyes off me.
“Let me just…”
He takes the box of bandages from my hand, brushing my fingers with his and it makes him smile. “Julian! Catch!”
He tosses the bandages down the hall and I guess Julian catches them, but I can’t be sure because all of my focus is on the big sexy polar bear shifter towering in front of me.
“You know what’s going on here, don’t you?” he asks. “You know what this is.”
I just stare at him, mesmerized and confused at the same time. So many emotions are whipping through me like a category five hurricane.
“Victoria,” he says as he reaches those big strong ink-stained hands up to my face. I let out an involuntary moan as he cups my cheeks, holding them like they’re the most precious thing he’s ever touched. “We’re mates. You know that, right?”
I swallow hard as I stare into his beautiful icy blue eyes.
I feel foolish that it hadn’t clicked all day, but as soon as he says it, I know it’s true. My reaction to him, my bear’s reaction to him… our history, the intense feelings, the unquenchable yearning I have whenever I think of him, which is always. We must be mates.
We are mates.
“I…oh.”
I have no words. What can you say to that?
“I think I always suspected,” he says as his mouth leans a little closer to mine. My weight shifts onto my toes and my chin tilts up, desperately wanting to feel those sexy lips on mine. “But it took seeing you all grown up to know for sure.”
I lick my lips and that does it for him. He can’t hold himself back any longer.
He surges forward and his mouth claims mine.
There’s no hesitation—just heat and hunger and years of pent-up desire crashing between us like a wildfire. His lips are firm, warm, and commanding. Like he’s been dying to do this forever. Like this kiss has been clawing at him from the inside out.
And holy hell, it’s everything.
His hands slide into my hair, threading through the dark strands like he needs to feel all of me. He tilts my head just right and deepens the kiss, his tongue brushing mine, coaxing it, tasting it. I whimper as my hands find his chest and fist into the soft black cotton of his shirt, clinging to the solid heat of him.
He groans into my mouth and the sound vibrates straight down to my core. My pussy reacts, aching and throbbing and getting so wet that I let out a moan.
I’m kissing Adrian Cross. I’m kissing my lifelong crush. I’m kissing mymate.
