Page 28 of A Very Beary Christmas
As much as I loved hearing the words, she needed to know everything.
“I’m not just talking about sex, Chloe. You are my mate; already imprinted upon my heart and soul. You need to be absolutely, positively sure, because if I make love to you, Iwillmark you. I won’t be able to help myself. Our mating bond will be sealed, and it will be unbreakable.”
She lowered her head and brushed her lips across mine. “Well, in that case ... let’s do this.”
My cock throbbed, on board with moving forward immediately. My brain, however, still held onto some control by the finest of threads.
“I don’t think you understand.”
“I get it. We make love. I’m yours, you’re mine.Forever.”
I opened my mouth to say more, but she stopped me by pressing a finger to my lips.
“I have been dreaming about you since before I met you, Sam. Whether I consciously knew it or not, I put you in every one of my paintings, because you were already an integral part of my soul. Making it official is just decorative icing on a cake that was baked a long time ago.”
I drew her in for a deep, soul-searing kiss. In it, I felt the absolute conviction of her words. She believed in me. She believed in us. There was no reason to delay any longer.
I rose from the sofa with Chloe in my arms and took her into the bedroom. There, I laid her down gently and stretched out beside her. Now that she had agreed to be mine, I was going to savor her like I needed to.
I trailed kisses along her jaw, down her neck, licking at the spot where I would mark her and make her mine forever. She shivered beneath me, burrowing her hands in my hair in encouragement and returning my kisses with equal passion.
As I trailed my lips southward along her collarbone, toward the creamy swell of her breast, I slipped my hand beneath her top. Her skin was so smooth, so soft.
I lifted the top over her head and stared at my mate. She was beautiful. And she was all mine.
“You’re shaking,” she whispered.
I was. I was so amped-up, so filled with joy and wonder and the desire to claim that my entire body was vibrating with the effort of holding back.
“I want you so much, but I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
Her absolute confidence was humbling, and I vowed that I would never let her down. As I had already admitted, I didn’t have a lot of experience with this sort of thing. I did know, however, that I was much bigger than her and that proper preparation was key.
We undressed each other, relishing the feel of skin to skin contact for the first time. I couldn’t imagine anything better as I explored her body with my hands and mouth, and she did the same. There was some fumbling involved, but that was okay. We were discovering each other together, and nature was leading the way.
“Sam, please,” she pleaded later in breathy pants, tugging on my hair.
I lifted my head from between her legs, drunk on the arousal of my mate. As much as I would have liked to continue my delectable feast, she was right. We had a claiming to be getting on with.
I rose up over her, our bodies aligning perfectly for what was coming next. She was wet and slick and primed. Still, I hesitated.
“It’s okay, Sam,” she said, looking deep into my eyes. “I need this. I needyou. Now.”
I pushed forward slowly, feeling her part around me. I paused when I hit resistance.
“I love you, Chloe,” I told her.
“I love you, too, Sam.”
One rock of my hips was all it took to be seated deep inside my mate.
She sucked in a breath, digging her nails into my skin.
“You okay?” I breathed.
“Yeah. Just give me a minute.”
