Bear with Me (#2, Completed)

14. I understand 🌶️🌶️🌶️

CALLUM

A rich, deep fragrance invaded my senses. The sweetly floral and slightly spicy, honey-like notes were so familiar that I could almost taste the sweetness of the scent on my tongue. I craved it and it drove me wild.

Rose oil. Scarlett. My mate.

My eyes snapped open when my brain finally connected the dots. And sure enough, there she was- her strawberry blonde head rested on the edges of my bed as she slept while she sat on the chair beside it.

I looked to see where I was and realised that it was my own bed, in my cabin, that I was in. I had no clue how I got here. The last thing I remembered was getting tasered by the humans after my mate, but I was definitely relieved to see that I was home and that my mate was safely by my side.

Despite my best efforts to move without waking her up, I was content to see those beautiful green orbs look at me as she pushed herself off the bed and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"You are awake." The happiness in her voice made me happy in return. "I was so worried about you."

"I thought you never wanted to hear from me again," I teased her, but I also secretly hoped that what she said back at the pub after our fallout was no longer true. I didn't want her to be angry with me anymore and I was dead set on telling her the whole truth this time.

Flame reached for me, caressing my cheek with her soft hand. Her touch zapped me with electricity but, unlike with the tasers, my body relaxed and relished the emotions that it stirred in me.

"Scarlet, I--"

"Don't. You don't have to explain anything." Her lips tipped up in a gentle half-smile. "Riley and the others told me the truth."

I lay in bed, more stunned by what she just told me than I ever was by the tasers. " So, you mean that you know? You know everything?"

My words came out with hesitation, not sure if I heard right. I was mesmerized by every small movement of hers, but I drew a sharp breath when she stood up and moved nearer, sitting on the bed, as close to me as she could.

"I do. I know that we are mates, Callum. And this is all very crazy for me- I did not know that shifters even existed until a few hours ago, let alone that I had a mate. But it all makes sense now. My tattoo- well, mating text- the pull I feel towards you. The desperate cry of every cell in me to be with you...." She paused and looked at me from underneath her long eyelashes. Goodness, she was stunning. "It all makes sense, Callum- we are meant to be...Mate."

My heart was beating so fast as I listened to her that I half expected it to jump out of my chest and burst with happiness. Good thing that Jack was nowhere close by, or he would have once again told me off for sounding or looking like a lovesick teddy bear.

Without wasting another second, I pulled her towards me and my lips meshed with hers. She tasted like dark wild honey- complex, intense and robust- and I savoured it all as my tongue explored hers like a starved man, desperate to make up for the lost time.

Our kiss left me breathless when we finally pulled apart but, even more so, it made me want more. I wanted to explore her whole body, to kiss every inch of her skin and then to sink myself deep inside her, bringing her to heights she had never known before. Mahon was scratching at the back of my mind, demanding for us to claim and mark out mate, and make her ours forever. Our mate. Our Luna. Our queen.

"Callum." My name rolled off her tongue with such a need mixed with desire that I was going to come just at the sound of her voice, like some inexperienced teenage boy. But frankly, none of the women I had before mattered- the only one that I was destined to be with was my Flame. She was going to be my one and only, my soulmate and my other half. As far as being with my mate was concerned, I might as well have been a virgin because nothing could have prepared me for how my body was ready to ignite under her mere gaze.