I let my head drop in my hand, and I feel a slight headache coming on. I hear Ray come into the cave, but I don’t even look up. I had no doubt he would defeat the other bear and come back for me. And now here he is.
I look up at him slowly and try to read his face, but it’s blank. He’s not giving anything away.
“Is this what you were talking about? Is this why we couldn’t be together?” I ask him.
He walks over to me and sits down beside me. “Yes.”
“You could have told me,” I accuse him.
He smirks a little, but stops when he sees how angry I am. “How do you even start that conversation, Keri? Hey by the way, I’m a bear shifter? It wouldn’t have gone well, and you know it.”
I pop up to my feet. “Fine. You’re a bear shifter. Can we go now?”
He grabs on to my hand and pulls me back down until I’m sitting on his lap. He has me turned so I have no choice but to look at him. “What is it?”
“There can be no witnesses,” he says softly, searching my eyes for understanding.
Confused, I ask him, “What does that mean?”
“That bear was an Eater. A rival to my club. Since you didn’t shift too at danger, he knows that you’re a human. His club, the Eaters, will make sure you die. My club will tell me that I need to either change you or kill you.”
I wait for him to laugh, but he doesn’t. He’s looking at me so seriously I have no doubt but to believe what he’s saying to me. “What does change me mean?”
His arms tighten around me as if he’s afraid I’m going to run or something. “If it was up to me, we would wait for your feelings to grow for me. I admit I don’t do the whole relationship deal. Well, I never have anyway, but I know what love feels like and this is it. I love you, Keri, and I can wait for you to love me back. But unfortunately, you don’t have a choice about becoming a shifter. Death is not an option.”
He loves me! Did he really just tell me he loves me and also say he can’t kill me? If he wasn’t being so serious right now, I would laugh. “You love me?”
“Yes,” he answers quickly. “I knew last night I loved you. Fuck, I knew before that.”
I take his words in stride, but really my insides are doing little flips. He loves me. “Okay, so what does this mean… I need to shift?”
He takes his time, spelling it all out, making sure I understand. I need to become a shifter if I want to live. I’m scared, there’s no doubt about it, but I don’t even question Ray about it. I may not have known him long, but I trust him. “I’ll do it.”
He nods his head as if he knew all along what my decision would be. “The first couple of times you shift, it will be painful. But it doesn’t last. Just breathe through it and know that you are going to be okay. You will be strong enough to do it.”
“Do you bite me or what? How do I become a shifter?”
He kisses me then and it’s hot and sensual. He doesn’t stop until I’m underneath of him, naked and pleading for him to take me. There’s a little bit of hesitation, wondering if it’s a bite I’m waiting for or what. The delay of it is too much and I have to ask. “I’m scared, Ray. Just bite me. Get it over with.”
“It’s not a bite, baby. It’s my cum inside you that will shift you. That’s why I pulled out last night. Fuck, I wanted to make you mine then, I almost did and then my conscience got the best of me. But not today. Today, I’m going to make you mine… forever.”
His lips capture mine as he slides between my legs, his long hard length penetrating me. He’s bucking inside of me and doesn’t try to control the wild urges ravaging through him. He pounds into me, and I beg him for more, because right now I don’t want anything more than to know I’m tied to Ray forever. I squeeze my core, remembering how it set him off the night before, and again he throws his head back, his hands on my waist as he thrusts in and out of me. His hand slides between my legs, caressing my hot, swollen bundle of nerves. He brings me to the edge and back again. I’m about to beg for it, for him to let me climax when he finally brings me to the very edge again. “Now, Keri. Be mine, baby. Forever.”