Mate Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #3)(18)

“I’m not wearing panties,” she whispered against his lips with a wicked grin.

“Vixen.”

Tobias ran his hands up Vera’s back, and she shivered at how damned good his hands felt on her skin. So warm and strong. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she liked being petted. He brushed his tongue against hers one last time, then dipped his lips to her breast and drew her nipple in between his teeth. Vera arched her back with a gasp. She slid her hands behind his head and drew him closer, begging with a helpless sound in her throat as she rocked against his erection. His body tensed, and he sucked hard when she rolled her hips again. And on the third time, she lifted slightly and slid over the head of his cock. She took him slowly, inch by inch until she was filled with him.

She loved this. Loved that he had given her control. It showed his trust, and she needed that right now. Needed it after the secrets she’d exposed to him. There was a strange, warm spot in her chest that felt better the closer she was to him. A soft growl rattled his chest as she held him tightly and rocked her hips over and over again.

Tobias gripped her hair at the nape of her neck and kissed her harder. She bit his bottom lip in a feisty tease, and he pushed into her faster. So much pressure, and he felt so good inside of her. Big, but right. With a moan, she arched her head back so he could kiss and nibble his way down her neck. So close.

“Tobias,” she whispered, pleading. She dipped her lips to his neck and let off another soft growl because her animal was here. She was present and engaged, and Vera was losing herself.

Tobias’s hand gripped the back of her head, pulling her tighter against him as she trailed her kisses down the curve between his neck and shoulder. His breath came in pants, and his body contracted in the rhythm she’d set. He was getting close, too, and now her teeth were on him. So tempting. So…

She rolled her eyes closed as the pressure became blinding.

“Do it,” he demanded low.

“Mine,” she murmured just before she bit down. Orgasm exploded through her as she tasted iron.

Tobias grunted, holding her head tight against him, and froze, his body rigid. With a snarl, he pulsed inside of her as he released hot jets that warmed her from the inside out. Ecstasy throbbed through her, and she closed her eyes to the world just to give herself completely to this moment with Tobias. She released him and moved slowly over him, milking every aftershock.

Only when they both relaxed did she clean his wound, licking slowly. She hadn’t meant to hurt him, but it was a necessary and temporary pain. A bite for a bite, as her inner animal required.

Tobias claimed her out on Perl, and now she’d repaid him in kind. Now they were bound. Not by contract, but because they’d both chosen each other.

And no matter what muck came now, they would be in this together.

Tobias rolled back onto the pillows, taking her with him. He pulled the covers over them and cradled her. His heart wasn’t racing anymore as she rested her cheek on his chest. He was steady and calm, just how she felt. Secure in what they’d just done.

“I can’t have daughters,” he said softly, brushing a strand of hair off her forehead. “Only sons.”

“I know. We don’t have to worry about cubs now, though. As soon as I went into heat, I started taking birth control to stop it.”

“You did?”

She swallowed audibly in the dark. “On Perl, there was the risk that one of the misfits wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

He ran a thumb over the uneven scars on her arm. “What was Jonathan’s last name?”

“Greene. Why?”

“No reason.”

She huffed a soft laugh. “I can hear a lie, too.”

“When I was growing up, my mom wasn’t around, and my dad hibernated in the winters.”

With a frown for the turn in conversation, Vera lifted up enough to see his face. Her elbows on his chest, she rested her chin on the heels of her hands. “It won’t be like that when you have sons, Tobias. You won’t have to sleep the winters away anymore. I’ll make sure of it.”

He combed his fingers through her hair and sighed. “In the winters, one of my dad’s friends would take care of us before we started our own hibernations. He was this old, crotchety man. Grumpy, cussed every other word, and was about as affectionate as a rabid mountain goat. He never hugged me or my brothers, but he was the steady part of our lives.”

“What was his name?”

“Gus.” Tobias gave a distracted smile. “He used to call me Boy-Boy.”

She giggled and clamped her teeth onto his muscular chest, then released. “I like that nickname.”

“I still visit him. I don’t think my brothers cared for him much, but I go up to his cabin a few times a year, cut his firewood and give him money for supplies. He’s gnarled as an old tree and still cusses at me half the time, but I know it’s just his way of letting me know he cares. I want to be a Gus for our cubs someday. Not a Clayton.”

Vera’s lip trembled as she smiled and nodded. “Then you will be.”

He brushed his knuckle up her cheekbone. “Vera?”

“Yes, Boy-Boy.”

“You’ve done terrifying things to me.”

The smile slipped from her face. “What do you mean?”

“In a day, you’ve made me question everything and want things I’ve never hoped for before.”