He was skilled as he ate me out, as he brought me to the brink of completion before edging away and starting the process all over again. I kept hold of his head, needing him to stay between my thighs, to feel the heat and warm wetness of his mouth on me.
I felt that climax start to rise once more, felt myself almost falling over the edge when he slowed his licking, his sucking.
“Oli, please,” I begged, whined.
“God, India, baby. I could be between your thighs for the rest of my life.” He licked up my slit. “You taste so sweet, so … mine.” He intensified, doubled his actions until I was grinding myself against this face, trying to find that release.
“Oli,” I moaned, so close to coming.
“Come on, baby. Let go for me.”
And as I came for Oli, as I leaned against this thick, old tree, my bear shifter between my thighs, holding me as he drew out my pleasure, I knew there was no other place in the world for me.
He’d always be here for me. He’d always hold me.
“Always,” he said as he gave my pussy one last lick before standing and pulling me close to his body. He just held me, whispered soft things in my ear, and made me feel whole.
Completely. Utterly. Whole.
* * *
Asher
I leaned against the banister and crossed my arms over my chest, watching as Oli and his mate disappeared into the forest. I grumbled to myself, and then heard Zakari, Maddix, and their mates laughing, which put me in a sour, jealous mood.
I was happy for my brothers, pleased they’d found their females. I’d long since come to the conclusion that I’d never find my other half.
As one of the older of the six of us, I figured I should have found my mate already. And seeing brother after brother find their happily ever after had hardened me, resolved me to focus on work and leave behind the hope that I’d ever be happy as well.
So, I worked my ass off doing home repairs, buying properties and flipping them. That was what I did, put my blood and sweat into creating perfection because I didn’t have that in my life.
And having my family was all well and good, but that didn’t make a shifter bear complete. Only my mate could do that.
I found myself even more pissy than before.
Cason and Damon stepped onto the deck, their presence drawing me out of my thoughts.
“We’re hitting up the bar,” Damon said gruffly. “All this mating is getting under our skin.”
Cason, the quietest one out of all of us, had a toothpick between his lips, his baseball cap pulled low, so it obstructed the view of his eyes.
“You up for going with us?” Case said in a low-pitched voice.
I looked back at the woods, continuing to hear Maddix and Zakari with their mates, and nodded.
“Yeah, I need to get the fuck out of here, too.”
Finding a mate was overrated ... at least that’s what I told myself because the very idea that I’d always have this little piece of myself missing was just too fucking painful to even think about.
Epilogue
India
Eighteen months later
I sat on the porch and closed my eyes, the sun peeking through the trees, a sliver of light washing over me. I found myself smiling, still not believing that I was here, living with Oli in his cabin, having left my life in California behind.
Over the last year and a half, a lot had changed. Not only was I still doing the mobile medic van, but I’d been able to get two more vans, one for Colorado, and the other for Seattle.