Bear with Me (Half-breed Shifter Series) (6 page)

Chapter Five

Five minutes after Rhea had
bit him, Brick was still floating off his mating high. She’d fucking bit him,
marking him as hers just as he’d marked her as his. Lifting his hand, he
studied the petite bite mark on his wrist. Damn, even that looked sexy. But
then, his Rhea couldn’t do a thing that didn’t look hot.

She turned onto to her side,
facing him. And yep, that was hot too. With a big happy grin, she rolled her eyes.
“You are way too obsessed with that mark.”

“I’m thinking about cutting
off my arm and dry-freezing it so I can have this sucker framed.”

“Yuck! I refuse to hang body
parts on my wall...or have a one-armed mate.”

He glanced over at, her his
mouth falling open.
My wall
? “Shit. That’s right. We will be living
together after this, won’t we?” Then he cringed. “Damn, I don’t know about
that. It’s going to be hard living with a slob like you.”

Okay, fine. So he was the
slob and she was the neat freak.

“Oh...
you
.” Rhea
grabbed a pillow and slapped him in the face. He growled and leapt on her,
tackling her onto her back onto the bed, and pinning her down with his body.

His cock hardened, but he
didn’t slide inside her when she whimpered and opened her legs for him.
Instead, he just studied her face, amazed this was really happening. Expecting
to wake up any second, he grabbed a handful of sheets and swooped the blanket
over their heads until they were tented under it and covered completely.

“Remember when we used to
make blanket forts together in your parents living room?”

She nodded, her blue eyes
alive with delight as she grinned up at him. “Dane and Brynn would always poop
out and leave way before we did.”

“One night, we stayed up
late, laying on our stomach and facing each other while we rested our chins in
her hands and talked until dawn.”

“I remember,” she whispered,
her eyes alight with affection. “I swear we talked about everything that
night.”

He shook his head. “Not
everything. I never did tell you how much I wanted to kiss you that night. Or
do this.”

He sank his cock into her
slowly, and her eyes widened as her body accepted him, hugging his length tight
in her womb.

“I never actually thought
that wish would come true.” He pulled his cock almost all of way out before he
gradually eased back in. Hesitantly, he leaned down and hovered his mouth over
hers, waiting for her to accept him again, almost expecting her rejection.

Except his Rhea had never
been able to reject him. Not even when he’d stolen her right to pick her own
mate. She looped her arms around his neck and lifted her mouth to press it
against his. His tongue wetted the seam of her lips, and she opened, letting
him in, accepting more of him.

God, he loved her.

Slowly working his tongue and
cock in rhythm, going in and out at the same time, Brick made love to his mate,
wanting her to feel every single inch of him. She wrapped her legs around his
waist and dug her heels into his ass. Hauling her into his arms, he sat them
upright so she was straddling his lap. The sheets slipped down over his
shoulders but their bodies remained united.

He filled her until heat
spread up from his balls and out the tip of his dick. This orgasm was slow and
warm but lasted forever. When he filled her, he instinctively knew they’d just
created new life together. And as she rested her head on his shoulder
afterward, he held her close.

“I’m glad it was you,” she
said again, making his whole life worth living.

***

“Oh, my God. I’m about to
crawl the fucking walls.”

Rhea polished off the last
pork rib her mom had left on a plate by the door and wiped her mouth. “We could
leave any time, you know. It’s at least five hours between each heat wave now.
I think we could—”

“No fucking way,” Brick
growled as he continued to prowl and pace the room. If she didn’t know any
better, she’d swear he had some cat in him. Bears didn’t usually get this
restless. In fact, couldn’t they sleep in one spot for weeks at a time?

“We’ve only had five days of
this. Aren’t mating heats supposed to last like two weeks? I want my full two
weeks of nothing but you. And besides, you’re dad’s going to kill me the minute
we walk out of this room. I’d like to prolong my life for as long as possible,
thank you very much. Even if it’s only for a few days longer.”

Rhea sighed. “He’s not going
to—”

“You didn’t see his face the
first time I marked you. I swear to God, Rhea. He’s going to kill me.”

“You know what you need?” She
strolled to him and took his face in her hands.

He let out a delicious growl
and his eyes heated with desire. Stepping in closer to her, he guessed, “To
fuck you against this wall?”

“Mmm.” She licked her lips.
“That too. But first...you need to let your animal out to play, baby. You
haven’t done that once since my heat started. The poor guy probably feels
suffocated.”

Brick let out a bitter laugh.
“Yeah right. My huge bumbling bear would rip this poor, tiny room to shreds.”

With a grin, Rhea rubbed her
nose against his. “It’s too bad you don’t have a smaller animal...like mine.”
Leaping away from him, she morphed into her jaguar and gave him a hiss before
vaulting around the room.

He shook his head and
chuckled. “Cut it out, you tease. You know I can’t...”

But Rhea refused to relent.
No mate of hers was going to suffer from cabin fever. Darting close enough to
slide her tail along his leg, she zipped away again, knowing the predator in
him wouldn’t be able to deny her blatant challenge to a hunt.

Looking up at the ceiling, he
tapped his toe and folded his arms over his chest. “Nope,” he said to the
ceiling. “Not going to do. Not going to fall for that one.”

So Rhea did it again, rubbing
her hindquarters against his thigh this time. When she tried to escape him
again, he lunged after her. “Damn it,” he muttered, making her laugh in her
head because she knew she was winning. “That tail is mine, kitten.”

He pounced, literally pounced
after her. Rhea took off in delight, loving the chase. She glanced back,
knowing he’d be in his animal form. But she was expecting to see a bear...not
another jaguar.

Letting out a startled
scream, she tripped on a rug and went tumbling forward, landing in her naked
human form. “What the hell?” she squawked trying to sit up and whirl around at
the same time. But Brick had returned to his human form as well.

“Baby?” His eyes were worried
as he crouched beside her. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, only able
to gape at him. “I...you...Did you just turn into a...
jaguar
?”

He pulled back, staring at
her as if she’d gone insane. “No. You know my animal’s a bear.”

“But...no.” She swung her
head back and forth. “A bear was not what was chasing me just now. It was a
freaking jaguar.”

He sat back on his haunches,
just staring at her. “Are you sure?”

“Umm...
yeah
. It’s kind
of hard to confuse a jaguar with a bear.”

“But...” Now he was the one
shaking his head. “Okay, I was wishing I could be a jaguar when I leapt after
you, but...I’m a bear. I know I’m a bear.”

“What if you’re both? Dane’s
mate, Ari, is both a deer and a wolf.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Really?
I didn’t even know that was possible.”

“Sure. It’s just rare. Mostly
when two shifter species breed, the more dominant one will carry through to the
child. But sometimes, a minor form will carry through too, making you
duo-animagous.”

“Well, shit. I had no idea.”

“Try it again.” Growing
eager, Rhea sat up on her knees, watching in fascination as he drew in a long
breath and pop, turned into a jaguar, a full black-coated one, just like
brother.

“Oh, my God. You’re
beautiful.” She reached out a hand, cooing as she buried her fingers into his
sleek pelt. Brick purred and arched against her, approving of the way she
stroked him.

“I can’t believe you’re just
now discovering you had a minor form. It must’ve been pretty diluted.”

Brick nudged his nose into
her arm, and she realized he wanted to her change too, so both of their animals
could play. “Oh, you want to chase me again, do you?”

When he nodded his cat head,
she grinned. “Well, good luck catching me, mate. I’m one fast pussy.”

With that, she sprang away
from him, turning in mid-air before she landed on all fours. He dashed after
her with a hearty snarl. She wasn’t expecting his speed, and had to scramble
away clumsily. He caught her in seconds, and even though it irritated her, it
also pleased the hell out of her. Damn, but her man was good.

Playfully nipping at her
neck, he mounted her from behind, reveling in his conquest. When his loins
brushed against hers, Rhea couldn’t help but to react.

Just like that, another heat
wave struck. With a hissing growl, Brick brushed his fully hardened cock across
her pussy again, except this time, it was no accident.

***

Ten minutes later, Rhea
collapsed onto the bed, landing on her back and staring up at the ceiling in
awe. An embarrassed heat flushed her cheeks. “I cannot believe we just did
that.”

Brick only chuckled as he
flopped down beside her. “What? Had sex?”

She turned to stare at him
with wide eyes. “In our
animal forms
,” she whispered the confession.

“So? You’ve never done that
before?”

With a gasp, she slapped his
arm. “Hell, no! Are you saying you
have
?”

“Well, no. I never met
another bear shifter, and I didn’t even know I was part jaguar until now, so I
really hadn’t gotten the opportunity to.”

“But...
don’t you feel
naughty
?” She was back to whispering.

He leaned in close and
whispered back. “Why? We were both in our animal fur. We were both the same
species. And wait for it...we’re mates. What’s the big deal?”

“I don’t know. I just...I
always thought it’d be...wrong.”

“Because we’re also human?”

She bobbed her head and then burrowed
into him, hiding her face in his chest. “Well, we’re also jaguars too, baby.
And jaguars do it. So, why can’t we in our jaguar form?”

When she mumbled something in
response that she didn’t really want him to hear, he leaned in close and said,
“What was that? I didn’t hear you?”

Clearing her throat, she
lifted her face, but grew too embarrassed again. “I said I liked it,” she
mumbled against his chest.

“Oh, baby.” He sank his
fingers into her hair. “I did too. I always like it with you.”

Finally, she was able to look
up into his warm, brown eyes. “It was different,” she admitted, “I mean, it
felt...not really like human sex. But it was still good. I think...” And she
had to duck her face again. “I think I’d like to do it again sometime.”

His cock sprang to life
against her thigh. “Right now?”

Well, he was obviously on
board with that idea. But it was still too new and embarrassing for her. “No!
Not right now. Just...later. Maybe once a year...Or month.”

He just grinned and stroked
his fingers over her face. “As often as you want it, baby. I’m here to make
sure you get everything your precious heart desires.”

Rhea kissed his lips softly,
once against grateful it was Brick who’d ended up here like this, even
experiencing the tantalizing yet embarrassing parts with her. “I don’t think I
ever would’ve been able to try anything like this with anyone else.” Threading
her fingers through his, she held onto his hand and gazed into his eyes. “Only
with my best friend. I love you so much, Brick.”

He gulped audibly, and his
eyes went moist. “Jesus, Rhea. I love you too. Fuck, I think that’s the first
time anyone’s said those three words to me since I was living with my mother.”

“Well, it’s not the first
time I’ve felt it.” Pressing her forehead to his, Rhea rolled him into his back
and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. “You know I’ve loved your for years.”

“Yeah, as a friend. But even
then, you never actually said it before.” He gazed up at her, his brown eyes
warm with awe.

“Well, then I’m saying it
now. Again and again, I love you, Brick Lowery, half-breed bear and jaguar. I
love you as my best friend, and as my lover and mate.”

When she came down on him, he
arched up, his mouth gaping open and his eyes bulging.

“God damn,” he muttered, “You
feel so good around me. You always feel so fucking good.”

Taking her shoulders, he
lifted her up just enough to suck her nipples into his mouth. His teeth scraped
over sensitive skin while his cock plundered and dove deep.