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He rolled over immediately, bringing me with him. I watched his face in the dim light, realizing that something was different.

“Are those your fangs?” I asked, pressing one finger against the tip of one long canine that was now protruding past his lower lip. The tooth was wider than my pinkie finger.

“My bear wants me to mark you,” he mumbled, his eyes closed as if he was grasping at his control. “But I told him we need to wait.”

I noticed he said ‘wait’, not that it wasn’t going to happen. It should have bothered me, but somehow it felt inevitable at that moment. I didn’t want to analyze it too much, so I just shifted closer and rested my head on his biceps. He slid his arm around my waist, pulling me even closer, and we stayed that way for a long, long time.

Ollie

Iwoke up to Nora sliding from beneath my arm and rolling out of bed.

“Where are you going?” I grumbled, my voice thick with sleep.

Based on the look of the sky, it was close to dawn.

“I have to pee,” she threw over her shoulder. “I’ll be back.”

True to her word, she returned a few minutes later, her gait different than it had been last night.

“Are you okay?” I asked, sitting up and trying not to get distracted by the sight of her breasts jiggling as she walked.

“Oh yeah, I’m just stiff,” she sighed. “I used muscles last night that I haven’t used in so long I forgot they existed.”

I couldn’t help but feel a rush of masculine pride at her words. We’d made love three times last night and I proudly gave my mate a total of five orgasms despite her protestations that she couldn’t come more than once or twice a night.

Sleeping with her in my arms had been like heaven. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to mark her. But I knew she wasn’t ready yet, so I’d pushed back my bear and staked my claim in other ways – making sure I got my scent over every inch of her body and leaving a trail of little bite marks all over her neck and breasts.

Nora settled back in my arms with a sigh, snuggling close. Inside me the bear sighed contentedly.

“What are you doing today?” I asked.

She got a little line between her eyebrows as she thought. “It’s Saturday, so I don’t have to work. I’ll probably do a little laundry and practice some spells, maybe watch a movie or something.”

“Or you could stay with me,” I suggested as casually as I could. “We could go into town for breakfast and come back here.”

I hated the idea of leaving here, but I hadn’t done any grocery shopping the last few days and our options for breakfast were limited. Plus my bear was excited about the idea of showing her off while she was wearing our scent.

“But what would we do if we come back here?” she asked teasingly. Her little hand slid between us, her fingers wrapping around my cock which was hard again. It didn’t take much with Nora.

I rolled onto my back, pulling her on top of me. “Whatever you want to do, mate.”

Much later we headed into town in Nora’s SUV, parking in front of the town’s diner and finding a booth in front of the windows. The diner had been an institution in town for years. Owned by two elderly Greek badger shifters, it was the epicenter of town life.

We’d scarcely sat down when Mr. Xenakis hustled over, menus in hand. “Mr. Bear,” he said teasingly. “There is no carrying out today?”

Given that I’d placed dozens of orders here and never once ate inside the restaurant, I couldn’t blame the badger shifter for his surprise.

“No, I’m eating in today. Have you met Nora yet?”

“Ah yes, you are Sage’s cousin, yes?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I am Taki and that is my mate, Toula,” he pointed at the woman watching us from the kitchen. No doubt Mrs. Xenakis was notifying the gossip network about our breakfast as we spoke. “I have heard that you met your mate. This is very good news.”

I nodded, not wanting to encourage him while Nora still had doubts. “Can we get some coffee please?”

“Coming right up.”