Page 29 of Midlife Forgotten Mate

But for him, he knew Taylee was right. Or maybe it was only because she was his mate that he felt that perfection. If she’d been human and not a shifter, he would have loved her with all his heart just the same.

“I want to be together.” She leaned forward and scraped her teeth over his jaw. “Here in the woods. Under the stars.”

“It’s cold, Taylee.”

She laughed softly again, the sound rushing through his skin since her lips were on his neck, and then, dear god, her tongue. “I have no doubt we’ll stay warm enough.”

Chapter 11

Taylee

Frantic wasn’t the right word for how fast they tore their clothes off.

Taylee’s hands had never moved so fast. Her leggings were torn away. The thong she wore underneath. Kier’s sweater. His t-shirt. His worn-in jeans that felt like frayed clouds against her palms. His boxers. There was a frenzy of kisses.

It didn’t feel weird to be naked. It didn’t feel familiar to her either, but her brain wasn’t chanting out a litany of what she should know and what she didn’t. Kier might be familiar with her body, but she’d changed. They hadn’t been together this way since she’d given birth. She was healing and then the accident happened, and she had to heal from that too.

Would she be different? She’d looked at herself naked in the mirror after showering so many times. She felt like a stranger in her own body most of those times, but she was getting used to it.

Her belly was surprisingly flat for just having had a child a few months before. She could even see her abs again. Probably because everyone commented on how much weight she’d lost since she’d been hurt. Her breasts were round and firm. Probably on the small side, but she only wasn’t okay with that because it still stung that her milk had dried up. She couldn’t even remember the joy of feeding her own child. Every single time she’d looked at herself, she couldn’t tell that she’d ever carried a baby. There were no marks anywhere. She found her body tight and lithe and muscular. Sleek limbs and a hidden strength in a small frame.

She shivered violently when Kier picked her up and set her down on the pile of their clothing. He was worried that she was cold, but that was the last thing she felt.

She buried her hands in his thick, dark hair and pulled until it probably hurt. She pulled him down to her as she spread her legs. Maybe she should have felt shy, but she didn’t. The only thing she wanted was her mate. She wanted a little bit of pain with that pleasure. Kier was all gentle and goodness, but she wouldn’t mind if he was a bit rough with her. She was thrilled by his size, how fucking huge he was. The rawness of her emotions flayed her open. She wasn’t just desperate for him, her body wanted to be used and pleasured, desired andfucked. She might be in human form and she and her bear might not be on the best terms, but at the moment, she thought about the thrill of being outside, on the ground, of it being just them, naked in the woods, elemental and rough, like animals.

She pulled on Kier again. She wanted him covering her. He was naked, and he was just staring down at her in awe, and she didn’t want him to hesitate. She dragged him up just enough that she could get her hands on his huge shoulders. She sunk her nails into the muscles, clawing at him.

“Kier…”

“Don’t want to hurt you,” he groaned. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you, I want you so bad.”

“That’s okay. I know. It’s okay if it hurts a little.”

“You’re—are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine. I’m fully healed. At least my body is. We know the other part is a work in progress, but all of me wants this. All of me wants you. I’m not going to regret it later. I’m not going to get hurt the way you think. Did I like it like that before? A little bit…wild?”

“Yes.” He was so close. So deliciously close. Heat poured off his body. She felt so small beneath him. “Yes, you did.”

“Then I still do.” Goosebumps broke out all over her skin. She still wasn’t cold. Shivering, but she was burning up. “I already know you’re in love with me, Kier. You never stopped. I’m learning how to fall in love with you too. It’s going to take some time for me, but I understand that you’ve felt that way for some time. I’m sorry I’ve challenged it. Tried to stamp it out. Tried to tell you it wasn’t good enough and tried to be not enough. I’m sorry I wasn’t brave. I get that it isn’t going to go away. You’re going to love me for the rest of my life. Even if we weren’t together, you’d love me as the mother of your child, as a friend. Maybe you’d never stop longing for me. I don’t want to find out. I don’t want you to pine for me. I’m not going to break your heart. I’m still falling, and that’s okay. Because wherever I am right now, I’m sofuckingsure that I need you. I need you inside me right now, filling me up, fucking me into the ground.”

“God, Taylee. Jesus.” It looked like he was physically tormented. She knew it was only because he was holding back that he was hurting. She understood that well. She was hurting too.

The tension in her body was the most painful thing that she’d ever felt. There was so much pressure. She couldn’t remember ever being satisfied. She couldn’t remember how her body reacted to pleasure. She was going to put all her faith in Kier to guide her through.

She dug her nails harder into his shoulder, until he relented and dipped his head.

“Show me what I liked. If I don’t like it now, I’ll tell you to stop or change it up. Nothing is wrong. Nothing, Kier. I don’t want any barriers. There are no limits. Just us, relearning each other, discovering each other the same way I’m going to relearn those stars.” She looked past him, up to the night sky. There were so many sprinkled up there, like snowflakes dusting a soft black blanket. That blanket was airy and never ending, unlike the ground beneath her, which was so hard and earthy, damp and cold. It was all perfect and welcoming. She didn’t need a bed. She didn’t want a bed. She just wanted this. It felt like home. It felt like she was coming home to Kier and to her own body. She no longer felt like such a stranger, living in a shell of meat and bone and blood, a spirit that didn’t belong.

As if he sensed that moment of elation for her as that new sensation became a corporeal thought, he bent his head and bit her breast. She gasped at the sting, but he suckled the mark and ran his tongue over it. He skimmed over her nipple. As soon as his tongue found the bud, her back arched off the ground. She made an animal sound, a half scream that caught in her throat.

She dug her nails harder into his shoulder. She wasn’t going to be gentle either.

His mouth felt so good. She opened her legs, wrapping them around his waist. She could feel his hardness pressed into her belly, the wetness there. She let her hands roam over his arms, and then she got bold. She reached between them, curling a little, and as he claimed her mouth in a brutal kiss, she wrapped her hand around his cock. He was long and hard, throbbing, spilling moisture all over her palm.

She shifted against him, all hard muscle, all hard ground beneath her. Her eyes were already closed when she fitted him to her entrance. He felt so big there. Impossibly big. She ached thinking about him pushing into her. Spreading her wide open. Physically, they seemed like an improbable match, but she imagined taking all of him.

She kept rolling her hips, driving him crazy, gyrating against the length of him. He bumped against her clit once. Again. She lapped at his lips, making strangled noises. She was all raw need. It wasn’t enough to tease herself like that. She spread her thighs wider, until they trembled around his hips. She moved until the head of his cock was at her entrance again, but this time, there was no teasing. This time, he moved, flexing his hips so that he pushed inside her.

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