An Unexpected Affair (10 page)

He pulled away to get a better look at her expression but knew better than to stop his affections completely. With two fingers inside of her, and his thumb resting against the base of her clit, he drove her all the way over the cliff and into sweet relief.

With that, they'd unwittingly completed half of the journey all fated mates must undergo to finalize their bond: a selfless gift, the pleasuring of one partner by the other without expecting the same in return.

But as soon as she'd caught her breath, Clarice no longer seemed satisfied lying on her back. Derek observed her as she leaned up on her elbows and let her eyes focus on him again. She licked her lips - a gesture that he knew would keep driving him crazy as long as he was alive - and beckoned him to crawl up on top of her again.

"That was amazing," she breathed against his lips, before leaning further up for another taste of him. "Let's see what else is in store for us tonight."

Derek shuddered as her hand closed around his cock again and directed it straight at her slick entrance, his head coating itself in her sweet nectar. She bucked her hips, causing his thick cock to press against her harder though he couldn't quite enter her yet. He worried about hurting her, but the look in her eyes told him he had no choice but to proceed. She would accept no less than all he had to give.

He lowered himself, waiting as her body adjusted to him. The sensation as he finally entered her hot pussy was indescribable. It was as if he hadn't just entered her body, but invaded her mind as well. Her pleasure became his pleasure. They fed off one another, snowballing until it combined into one, and neither could tell anymore where one individual ended, and the other began.

Much to Derek's surprise, as well as Clarice's, judging from the expression on her face, her body accommodated his entire length and girth with ease.
As though we're made for one another
, Derek thought.
We are,
Clarice responded.

He started to move, each thrust of his met by a twitch of her hips. Even with her legs spread wide, he felt the stranglehold her pussy had on him as if trying to keep him inside of her as long as possible.

Derek loved how she felt against him; she provided the softness that his hard muscle lacked. Yin and yang, feminine and masculine, so different and yet so perfect together. With every move of his, he couldn't keep his eyes off the effect it had on her curves. He loved how her full breasts quivered when he pushed into her, as though they were teasing him, begging for attention.

He dove down and took her nipple into his mouth, eliciting a more primal groan from her lips. She was helpless again, pinned to the bed by his large physique, her thighs spread as wide as they would go, feet attempting to lock around his waist but having difficulty hanging on.

She reached out for his shoulders, running her fingernails over his tattoo. Her touch gave him shivers. Every move, every affection was as if it had been carefully choreographed. One paused, and the other took over, their bodies laboring away towards that common goal: complete surrender.

It started deep inside him; a twitch, which grew into a whirlwind of intense sensation that soon filled his whole body, before spilling over into hers. Sticky like honey, their pleasure clung to everything as it progressed, filling their veins, until their entire beings had been set alight.

A deep, primal groan left his lips, met by a cry from hers. Their movements sped up for a couple of strokes until Clarice's nails dug deeply into Derek's back. He shuddered into her, his cock twitching as he buried his seed into her depths.

When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves sitting upright: Clarice was held up firmly in Derek's strong arms. Their connection was complete. Selfless pleasure followed by the exchange of fluids and synchronized release.

They were spent, yet he refused to let her go, continuing to cradle her in his embrace until at last, their bodies relaxed, and they decided to lie down. Derek on his back, Clarice pressed up against him with her arm across his chest.

Clarice rested her head on Derek's shoulder and sighed deeply. Derek could hear her heartbeat slow down until it almost reached its normal rhythm.

"You must have a ton of questions," Derek remarked, as even Clarice's breaths had calmed back down.

"I imagine perhaps so do you."

"You write?" he asked.

Clarice smiled and nodded. "And you bake cakes."

"Who doesn't like cake?" Derek retorted with a grin.

"Nobody, I imagine." Clarice frowned as she collected her thoughts, and then raised her head to look up at him. "How come you're in my head? Is it always like this?"

"As far as I've heard, yes. I had no idea it would work with humans as well..."

"Mhmm... It's weird. Nice, but still a bit weird." Clarice chuckled.

"You must know, I never planned for this. I never expected to find someone I'd want to settle down with." Although Derek knew she felt the same, it was still awkward saying that kind of thing out loud.

Clarice let out a short laugh. "To think I came here to get away from people..."

"What's waiting for you back home?" Derek asked.

Clarice paused for a moment, her thoughts racing, though Derek couldn't pick up on any particular one of them. "Actually... Nothing much. My work is flexible, and I'd been planning to look for a different flat upon my return. The one where I'm living now already didn't feel quite right anymore."

Derek wanted to ask about the phone call that first evening, his worry that there was someone else in her life but bit his tongue. There was no need to pry further. She was here with him, and that was all that mattered. In time, they'd learn everything there was to know about each other.

He wrapped his arm around her tighter, enjoying the feeling of her soft, almost silky skin pressing against his side. She was his mate now, and nobody could get between them, especially once they'd make things official.

"I have to ask..." he started.

She raised her head slightly, looking him in the eye. "It's funny, knowing what you're going to say most of the time. Yes, I'd love to stay."

As he kept gazing into her amber eyes, Derek thought he could see a change in her. There was a new brilliance in her gaze, a sparkle. It wasn't subtle like you hear about but obvious to him like it would be to any other bear. No longer did she look completely human, but her eyes seemed to glow in the dark. Like the embers of a fire that had stopped burning brightly, but refused to extinguish itself completely.

"How does it work?" she asked. "You can change at will?"

"It takes a bit of practice to control the bear side of things, but yes."

"There are so many stories about werewolves, but I'd never heard of a werebear before," she remarked.

"We like to keep to ourselves away from people. Wolves are much more common."

"So there are actual werewolves too?" Clarice sighed and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Obviously she was still feeling the effects of her earlier ordeal, as well as the sweet exertion he'd just put her through.

"Yes, though I doubt you'll ever meet one. We don't exactly get along, bears and wolves."

Before she had a chance to ask another question, she was interrupted by a low rumble originating in her stomach. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled, an embarrassed smile forming on her lips.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I hope you like stew?" Although Derek didn't want to let her go, he jumped into action anyway and got up from the bed. How could he be so selfish, forgetting about her basic needs in his eagerness to get her into bed?

She sat up as well, observing him as he hurriedly put on the bare minimum of clothes.

"Stew sounds great."

Derek waited as she put on her panties, as well as a t-shirt of his that was so big it came down almost to her knees. Then they both headed for the kitchen, hand in hand, certain that no matter how many questions still needed to be answered, everything would work itself out.

Although Clarice had had the chance to get used to the idea of werebears for a few days now, the prospect of meeting Derek's only relatives, other than Aidan, was still weird and unnerving. They were bears as well, of course, and what little interaction she'd had with Aidan before he left suggested that not all bears would be too pleased that one of their own was pairing up with a human.

They had good reason to be suspicious if you took into account the stories they'd grown up on and the fact that they had few unique rules or laws of their own except the code of secrecy. At the same time, Clarice couldn't see how the powerful bond she shared with Derek could ever be considered bad.

Derek had quickly become her entire world.

Of course, she still had her writing; after a couple of days of rest following the accident she had been able to finish her novel and get it to her editor on time to meet the deadline.

She also still had Lily, her best friend, who found the idea of Clarice's whirlwind holiday romance quite bizarre. Clarice felt some regret that she couldn't confide in Lily, but she'd sworn to keep Derek's true nature a secret and so she wouldn't be able to break that trust no matter what.

Still, Clarice also felt bad that Lily couldn't be there on the day that her connection with Derek would be made official.

Bears didn't care much for tradition, and as such there were very few rituals and ceremonies they performed regularly. One of them, the most important, was the mating ritual.

Derek had explained it to her as basically a wedding for bears and their mates. Because they lived in such isolated places and didn't interact with many fellow bears, mating rituals were small affairs, often only involving the couple themselves and perhaps the occasional relative.

Today would be no different. Derek and Clarice would perform the ritual, under the watchful eye of Derek's elder cousin, Elise and her mate, Jack. Aidan - although invited - couldn't make it, which was just as well because Clarice was nervous enough already.

She looked in the mirror one last time, scrutinizing the long chiffon dress she'd purchased for the occasion. Her brown wavy hair she'd kept down, adorned only by a few flowers Derek had picked for her earlier. He really was quite the romantic when he wanted to be. Her make-up was also kept to a minimum, just how Derek liked it, but Clarice had insisted on disguising the remnants of the bruise on her forehead with some foundation anyway.

You're beautiful just as you are,
he'd said when she'd fretted over what to wear for today. Although it sounded like a cliché, he managed to say it in such a way that had completely convinced her.

Despite everything, it was still a bit surreal knowing that a man as gorgeous and built as Derek would admire her so completely. If she didn't feel it in her bones every time he was near, she would have had a hard time believing it. Things like this didn't happen to women like her, normally. Then again, normally, you'd never believe that shapeshifters existed either.

It's time,
Derek's voice entered her thoughts. He was waiting for her in the hall. She could sense him clearly, even if she couldn't see him yet.

Elise and Jack would be waiting outside in the garden. Derek had told her earlier that this was where the ritual was going to take place. The two of them would walk out together when the time came.

She smoothed down her dress, took a deep breath and opened the door. There he was.

Derek's eyes locked onto hers, and she felt herself fill with confidence. It was weird, different, how Derek could still her worries and insecurities just with his presence. She'd never felt that with any of her boyfriends from before, especially not with Alan. The more she thought about her past, the more convinced she became that everything up to this point had never felt quite real enough as if it had all just been pretend and make-believe.

I love you,
she thought. He responded with a smile and offered her his arm.

Together they walked along the broad hallway, through the lobby and out the main entrance of the farm, where an impressively tall middle-aged couple waited for them, just as Derek had foretold.

The woman turned, revealing features very similar to Derek and Aidan - the eyes, the shape of her nose, all were familiar. It was obvious that they were related.

She smiled and nodded at Clarice. The man, Jack presumably, just waited in place without looking back at the two of them. A stone giant, Clarice noted with a smile.

Clarice and Derek walked across the tree-lined lawn together, taking their position across from the couple and turned to face each other. It was chilly outside, as one would expect the weather to be in early October in the Scottish Highlands, but the excitement of their upcoming union had caused Clarice's skin to burn up so much that the cold failed to affect her.

Elise stepped ahead and handed each of them a pouch. Derek had explained what to do with the contents already, so Clarice knew to open hers, taking out the first of the two items inside.

"Derek," Clarice whispered, her voice shaking with residual nerves. "Please accept this, a red rose, as token of my love, and along with it my promise to walk beside you as your mate and mother to your cubs, as long as we both shall live."