“None?”
“Well, I mean you could eat my pussy a bit more often. Pretty selfish how you only do it a few times a day actually.”
He growls. “Is that right?”
“Yes. Rude.” I squirm, hoping to distract him and myself, but he’s still pinning me down.
“Well I will put aside my selfishness just this once, but only if you do one thing for me first.”
“What?”
“Ask me.”
I snort. “Bas, eat my—”
His large hand covers my mouth, and he shakes his head. “No, Vera, ask me with the bond.”
I try to speak, to say I can’t do that, but it comes out as a muffled string of sounds. I wriggle but can’t get free, and to make matters worse, he pushes open my thighs and starts kissing down my lower belly only to stop and circle back up again, driving me nuts.
I writhe under him, but I can barely move. It’s no use. He’s so much bigger and stronger.
“M-mm. No, Ver. Ask me.”
Inside I’m screaming, but I also want to do it. I want to be able to do it. So I feel for the part of me that sensed him shift, that sensed his warm body in the cold woods today, and I imagine moving my lips very slowly.Please.
I feel his answer inside my mind rather than hearing it aloud.Please, what, Vera?
Please eat my pussy.
I’m grinning from ear to ear as he lifts his hand from my mouth and kisses over my mound. And then the grin falls from my lips and I’m moaning instead when he plants his mouth right over my clit and gives me just what I asked for.
TWENTY FOUR
Bastien
Vera’s scent is a complicated mix of things by late Sunday morning when it’s time to leave for her parents’ house. I suppose it’s technically still her house, since she hasn’t officially moved in with me, but I can’t think about it like that now.
I hold the door of my truck open for her, taking stock as she climbs past me—bright citrus and spice, sweat and creamy pleasure from the way I made her cum earlier this morning; the deep musky scent of me all over her and something else. Something a little bitter. It’s that last part I don’t like, but I know she’s struggling with her shift and maybe she’s also worried about her mom. No reason to assume it’s anything more than that. There are going to be things I can’t control, of course, but my bear would like to smooth out the road ahead of her before she even encounters any obstacles at all.
I’m conscious that our conversation about her graduation and her work situation wasn’t exactly resolved, but she just needs time to come around. I know she wants to be with me, and theeasiest way to make that happen is if we don’t put pressure on her to work. I’ve always wanted to be able to provide for a mate, and now that I’m in a position to do it, I couldn’t be more proud of how hard I worked and saved to become a homeowner before thirty. Not many people can say that these days.
I’m not looking forward to saying goodbye and sending her back to college for the week, but it’s got to be done. It’s only temporary anyway. Only five weeks until I have my girl with me permanently. I slide my hand over the center console to squeeze her thigh, and she shoots me a smile as she turns the volume on the stereo up. Soon she’s singing along, and even though her singing voice isn’t the sweetest siren’s song I’ve ever heard, I’m enjoying every second.
The weather has already eased from the frigid winter temperatures of a few months ago, and the sun breaks through the clouds as we pull into our street. “Can’t wait to start moving you in.”
Vera turns to me with wide eyes. “Oh wow. It feels like such a big deal. I don’t know how I feel about it. I mean good obviously, but it feels weird to officially be moving out of my den, even if I’m moving in next door.”
I pat her thigh, using one hand to turn the wheel and steer us around the corner. “Hey, you can take your time. There’s no rush. We’ll make you a new den.” I have to tell my bear to back off when he growls that there absolutely is a rush because what do you mean we won’t have our mate next to us every night as soon as physically possible?
She smiles. “Maybe there is a rush.”
Did I mention my girl is perfect?
I pull into the drive of her parents’ house, and she turns her face to me. “First Ballard family meal as an official member of the family. Are you excited?”
I laugh. “You bet. We’re going to wipe the floor with them at Pictionary now.”
“We always do.”
