We moved into action, cleaning up the campsite and packing everything in the cars.
Twenty minutes later, I stood there and waved at my family driving away then did the same for Ronnie’s until it was just Ronnie and me standing there, his car to my left, mine to my right.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to hang back with you?”
I looked at him and smiled, shaking my head. “I’m sure. But thank you.” There were a few moments of silence, and then he finally nodded.
“Have a safe trip back and send me a text when you’re home so I know you got there, okay?”
I smiled again and nodded. “Okay.” I inhaled deeply as he started making his way toward his car, but before he got in, I called out to him. “Ronnie?” He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “I’m really sorry about everything. I’m sorry about you getting hurt. I’m sorry about things not happening between us.” I thought saying this again out loud would’ve been weird, but it felt natural. “I guess I’m just sorry about a lot of things.”
He faced me and gave me a genuine smile. “The only thing I want is for you to be happy.”
Ronnie was such a good guy, and I knew he’d find someone who deserved him. And I was sorry I wasn’t that person, because Ronnie was a catch and he’d make some girl very happy one day.
He got into his car and I watched him leave, lifting my hand and waving goodbye. I stood there for a few moments, and when I couldn’t see his car any longer, I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly. Several seconds passed as the wind whistled through the leaves on the branches that surrounded me.
“I know you’re there,” I said and opened my eyes, turning around slowly. I saw Damon standing between two thick oaks, his body seeming just as big as those trunks, just as sturdy and strong. Powerful.
He had on a flannel shirt that molded to his impressive body, the worn jeans he wore fitting him perfectly. His body was big but lean, his muscles defined like a swimmer’s. I instantly felt myself heat, become aroused. But this wasn’t just about desire. The feelings I had were much stronger, more pure and genuine. I felt connected to him, as if I’d known him forever, as if I’d been searching for him my entire life and hadn’t actually realized it.
I saw a flash of gold in his eyes and knew his bear was right there. I found myself taking a step closer, then another and another, until we were only a few feet apart now, until I could smell the cologne he wore—or maybe it was his natural scent, a smell that had my heart racing and my body lighting up.
I didn’t know what to say, what to do next. In my heart, I knew what I wanted, and that was him. Damon. My bear-shifting mate. But logically, I knew this was fast, intense. Was it reality?
He took a step toward me and I held my breath. “It’s reality. Truth. It’s our reality.” He ate up the distance in a few long, stealthy strides, and when he was right in front of me, I tipped my head back and looked into his dark eyes. He had a day’s worth of scruff covering his jaw and cheeks, this masculine appearance that made me so feel so very feminine. All I could feel, hear, smell… was Damon. And I wanted more. I wanted so much more I wanted to breathe it.
I wanted to live it.
The words were right on the tip of my tongue, words I never thought I’d utter to a man, let alone one I didn’t even know. But I did know him. I felt like Damon had been a part of my life for as long as I could remember, this faceless presence in my fantasies, in my desires and wants and needs.
Say the words. Tell him what you’ve wanted to say for your entire life.
Those words played over and over in my head, and the whole time he just watched me, as if waiting for me to speak them, as if he knew what I wanted to say. I took a deep breath in, taking his very essence into my lungs, into my body, and letting it become imprinted, ingrained in every single inch of me.
As I stared into his dark eyes, knowing how this would end, knowing our fates were intertwined, that we were now forever a part of each other, I knew what I wanted to do. I knew who I wanted.
“I want you, Damon. I need you now.”
Chapter Seven
Damon
And here we were, in my cabin, the lights low, a fire started. When she told me she wanted me, there had been no stopping my actions. When she told me she needed me now, I had her in my arms in seconds flat. I had her in my cabin before either of us could even think this through.
But there was nothing to think about. We were meant to be together. We were supposed to be together always.
I pulled Rue close to me, standing in my living room, the fire crackling beside us, the scent of her desire filling my head and making me feel drunk.
She was sweet and so fucking soft against me. And when Rue touched my arm, curled her nails into my flesh, my cock jerked like it had a mind of its own. And I guess it did. I was a fucking virgin, never having even gotten off, because all I wanted was my mate.
The first time I came would be when I was buried inside of Rue’s tight pussy.
I wanted her, wanted to have her in my bed and claim her. I wanted my mark on her, my young growing inside her. I growled low, wanting her to admit she was mine.
No one will ever have you but me, Rue. No one.
The tether of control in me broke, and I grabbed the back of her head at the same time I slammed my mouth down on hers and stroked her tongue with mine. She gasped against my mouth, and I swallowed it whole, taking it into me. I started walking us backward, the primal side of me rising up and screaming out to take her, my bear demanding to take this further.