Page 32 of Dante
And I would. I called for my beast, and he was entirely too happy to come out and meet Banner. He did exactly as I had thought—he sniffed certain parts, and Banner let out a warning growl, which I think actually surprised my beast because he looked at our mate.
“You don’t get to play with that. Only the human side of you.” Banner sat up and reached out for my head. He touched my ears before he moved his hand down to my nose. “You look so different from the others. But Atticus is a bit different-looking as well. But I guess that should be expected because I look different than other grizzly bears.”
I moved closer, really wanting the rest of our bond to fall into place. I sniffed Banner’s face, then moved to his neck where I’d kissed him. He laughed and scrunched his shoulder up, and I moved to the bite, which was still red instead of healed like I knew mine was. That would change in just a moment though.
I sniffed the bite, then licked over it several times before my beast deemed it truly sealed. I sat back and waited. Banner’s eyes widened, and he looked over at his shoulder again.
“Ow. Okay, that does burn.” The bite turned from red to dark, and I knew it was healing now. I didn’t know how long it would take for the flames to appear, but it didn’t matter. Our claimingwas complete, and my mate wouldn’t have any pain from the bite.
“It will only burn for a bit,”I told him. I didn’t know if he would hear me or not.
“I heard you,” he said with a smile. “I know you were seeing my memories, and I was trying to talk to you, but you weren’t hearing me,” Banner said.
“Can you talk to me through the bond now?”
“I don’t know. What should I say?”
I nodded, and after promising my beast that Banner and I would go for a run later or tomorrow, he let me have my human side back. I looked up from where I was kneeling on the floor and smiled at my mate. “You should say anything you want,” I told him. I moved closer, then crawled onto the couch and held myself above my mate. “Thank you,” I said. “For not being afraid of my beast.”
“He’s part of you,” Banner said. “I’ll never fear him.” He sighed. “Even in the jungle, before I knew what or who you were, I wasn’t afraid of you.”
I leaned down and kissed my mate. Somehow, I already knew that, but it was good to hear the words out loud. Since I’d been an idiot, we had some things to make up for, and it was time we started, so I set about seducing my newly claimed mate again.
Chapter 12
Banner
Ifelt kisses on my back and smiled. This was the absolute best way to wake up. I was naked, my body was sexually satisfied all the time, and I had a mate I was madly in love with who was, despite what he believed, the best mate ever.
We’d been mated sixteen days. I’d gone into heat almost immediately after, like within an hour after, and Dante had been the most attentive mate ever. I knew he felt guilty for staying away as long as he did, and again for forcing us into a dating stage for six weeks. Honestly, I was sure that was the reason I went into heat so quickly. I’d been claimed, and my body was saying…finally!
“Finally, huh?” Dante said as he continued to kiss up my spine.
I sighed. “Seriously though. This is the best way to wake up,” I said. My words were a bit muffled because my face was smooshed into my arm on the pillow, but I’d honestly never been happier than I was now. “I love you, Dante,” I told him, not wanting to wait to say those words. The kisses froze, and I felt a moment of panic through our bond. It was gone before Dante could hide it, but that was okay. I started to roll over so I could look up at my mate, and the panicked look was on his face. Ireached up and cupped his cheeks. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it back. But that’s how I feel, and I know that there are so many uncertainties in life to not say the words when you feel them. I know you care for me, and that’s enough.”
Dante scowled, and it looked like he was going to say something, but at that moment, I felt a sudden sharp pain in my stomach and then the absolute need to get to the bathroom. I pushed on my mate, and I was sure it was only because he was so caught off guard that I actually moved him off me. I rolled and ran for the bathroom but didn’t make it. I found myself throwing up in the doorway.
I wasn’t a stranger to getting sick. I’d been sick more times than I could count when I’d been held captive in the compound in Colombia. But this time, it felt so much different. I looked down at the mess on the floor and tried to make it make sense but couldn’t. My stomach revolted again, and I did my best to step around the mess and try to get to the sink, at least. I almost made it. The majority of the second purge made it into the sink. Some hit the counter, but I didn’t have time to worry about it at the moment. I was trying to make it to the toilet before I made any more of a mess everywhere.
I felt Dante’s warm hands on my hips, and he held a small trash can in front of me. “Here, take this,” he said. I reached for it and then felt my stomach roll just before I found myself on the amazing leather couch that my mate had claimed me on. I buried my face in the trash can just before another wave of purging bile exited me.
I felt something cool on the back of my neck and sighed. I knew what this was, and I was sure that Dante did as well. But really? Only sixteen days after we’d claimed one another? After several minutes of me just spitting the yuckiness from my mouth into the trash, I finally pulled my face out and looked over at mymate. He looked completely wrecked, and I was the one who had been throwing up.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I said. I took the cloth and wiped my face. “You know what happens when mates claim each other, and then the alpha gets all alpha-y and knots me all the time while I’m in heat.”
“I know you’re pregnant. I scented the baby last night. I’m worried about you though. What can I do to take care of you?”
“Mouthwash. Can I have a bit? And then some water?”
Dante nodded and held out a tiny-ass cup. I smiled a bit at the size of it, but I knew it had mouthwash in it. I swished the stuff around, spit it in the disgusting trash can, and then dropped it in with everything else before handing the trash off to my mate. He traded me that for a large glass of water. I sighed as I swallowed my first drink. It was soothing and exactly what I needed. I took several more drinks before I looked over at Dante. Gone was the trash, and I wondered if he’d taken care of the mess everywhere as well.
“You didn’t tell me I was pregnant? Why?”
“You were already asleep when I scented the change. I’m not surprised at all with how much we were knotted together during your heat.” I sighed. We both knew this was a very real possibility. We did nothing to try and avoid me getting pregnant. “But I’d like to discuss the other thing first.”
I gave my mate a confused look. “What other thing?”
“The ‘I love you, but you don’t have to say it back’ thing.” Dante tilted his head as he reached for my face. “Why would you think I don’t love you? It’s true that I don’t know what love is, that I’ve never experienced it before, but I do know that what I feel for you is love. I’ve had it described to me enough that I’m aware of what it is.”
