Boarlander Silverback (Boarlander Bears #3)(25)

Alison stepped into the waves and stood on the sandy bottom for a moment, water lapping at her bare thighs as she took in the roiling dark clouds over the mountains. In the distance, lightning flashed through the sky in blinding veins of electricity. The storm would be here in half an hour, she guessed.

She held her breath and dove into the water, then swam toward the falls as long as her lungs could stand it. When she broke the surface, she was right by the pounding water. She inhaled deeply and ducked under. It was beautiful beneath the surface. Muted rays of light illuminated the underwater world, and bubbles danced toward the surface. Alison swam deep enough to avoid the harsh falling water on her back, then came up for air on the other side. Kirk sat on a ledge just under the water’s surface, chest heaving as he stared at the underside of the waterfall.

With a slow blink, he lowered his lightened gold eyes to hers. “I see you.”

With a frown, she cut through the water to where he sat. She rested between his legs, kicking at the waves languidly. “What do you mean?”

“You asked me how I imagine my future, and I see you.”

“That scares you.”

Kirk ducked his chin to his chest and snorted. “Nothing scared me before you came along, and suddenly I have this huge thing to protect.”

“You don’t have to protect me.”

“No, I mean, I have a shot at happiness, and it’s terrifying to think it’s up to me to keep it intact. I have this beautiful woman, and all my life I’ve screwed up. Couldn’t keep things together. Couldn’t do what I was supposed to. And I can’t bind you to me, Ally. I can’t put my last name on you or claim you. I’ll just have to stomach this feeling that you’ll really see me and leave when I disappoint you.”

“You silly man,” she murmured, pressing her breasts against the rock he sat on so she could be closer to him. “You’re the only one who has ever fit me. Where am I gonna go? This place,” she said, rolling her gaze over the rocky cliff face behind him, “feels more like home to me than any other.”

“How?”

“Because you’re here. And that bullshit about me not having your last name or not claiming me...” She pressed her finger against the bullet hole scar on his shoulder. “You already bear my mark.”

With a slight frown, Kirk looked at his shoulder. “You shot me. That’s not a claiming mark.”

“Says who? I gave it to you. I’ve told you you’re mine. I’ve chosen you. I marked you, and I’m not going anywhere. Rules be damned, we’re bound. Now, ask me what I see in my future?”

Kirk traced the intricate tattoos along her collar bone and whispered, “How do you imagine your future?”

She smiled up at him. “I see you, too.”

“You do?” He said it with his head cocked like he didn’t believe her.

She laughed. For an intelligent man, he could be dense when it came to matters of the heart. “Obviously, Kirk. I came up here ready to roll some heads because I thought you were looking for another mate. I felt like a jealous psychopath.”

“Yeah, that was crazy,” he muttered through a baiting grin. “I have to admit, though, I liked seeing you all riled up over me.” He pushed her damp hair from her forehead and murmured, “Possessive little Ally Cat.”

She clamped her teeth onto his rib cage and grinned. “Mine, mine, mine. Now stop pushing me away. I don’t like chasing you.”

“Do that again,” he whispered, his eyes sparking with desire.

Her heart banged against her chest at how hungry he looked. Slowly, deliberately, she bit the skin over his ribs again, harder this time. Kirk groaned and rocked his body toward her as if he couldn’t help himself. She’d left a circle of indentations where her teeth had almost broken his skin, and suddenly, she couldn’t remember exactly what the new law stated. Did it include humans biting shifters? She thought not. And even if so, she was having a really hard time caring right now. Those law changes were f*cked up anyway. She knew the people here better now. Kirk wasn’t just trying to procreate. None of them were. They were just looking for ways to feel like they belonged to the people they loved. And she loved him. Loved him.

Her breath hitched as she climbed onto his lap, and she gasped at how hard his erection was as she straddled him. The waves lapped at her ribs. She gripped the back of his hair with one hand, then ran her fingernails lightly down the scar on his shoulder—the one she’d given him. It was unfinished. His admission that it wasn’t a claiming mark said as much.

Alison rocked her hips forward, stroking her sex against his hard cock. Kirk gripped her waist and pulled her closer. She sipped at his lips, bit his bottom lip, then moved to his neck, where she teased him there with her teeth, too. This was his warning, and if he didn’t want this, she would stop the instant he told her to. But Kirk bucked against her, and as if he could read her mind, guided her head down his neck toward his bullet scar.

His muscles were taut, bulging, flexed just under the mark, like he was ready. Prepared. Wanting. “Do it,” he whispered, brushing his hand up her spine, then gripping the back of her neck.

Don’t think.

Alison bit him. Hard. Harder.

“More,” he gritted out. “Make it count.”

She tasted iron but still she clamped down until her jaw wouldn’t tighten any further. This moment was huge. It was sluffing off any remaining fear and diving in, heart first. There was no taking back her feelings after this. No taking back how devoted she already was. She pulled away and stared at the mark she’d made. A perfect circle around the bullet hole. It looked like an eclipse.