Huh?
He seemed to sense my confusion because he tried again. “I didn’t understand what might be going on with us. There are some who believe only shifters can find true mates with other shifters.” He let out a slow breath before brushing his lips against my skin. “And I don’t think I was ready to find my mate at twenty, even if she’s as wonderful as you. That sounds insane.”
I relaxed a bit. I agreed with him, and I could see that. I could absolutely see that.
“And on top of all of that, it might be the woman my father wants to control, the last one of your kind alive, and he wants to breed. Like, are you fucking kidding me? Oh, and my best friend is completely head over heels with her. And she has two other men, a comitessa and bears are totally cool with sharing. Yeah, like never. It seemed… Not at all feasible, but absolutely that you were a telepath.”
Well shit. When he put it like that, I sort of felt like a bitch for blowing up at him. Then again, we should have had this discussion before it all blew up in my face. Maybe not as much of his fault as I had thought, but it really wasn’t mine either.
His large hand moving to cup my breasts snapped me out of my racing thoughts. Just because I didn’t disagree with how he saw things didn’t mean we were going to simply be okay and… Whatever we were again. Shit was complicated, and I didn’t want to be his mate either.
And that wasn’t a slight against Lucca. His father was insane, his family complicated, and a list of shit, including our ages.
So I elbowed him much harder this time, sliding out of his arms when he loosened his hold. Shocked rocked me when I spun away and saw he wasn’t backing down. He was completely turned on and had a wild look in his eyes that my body reacted to.
Fine, I liked it too. I couldn’t blame everything on my body, but it wasn’t helping.
He moved faster than I was ready for and pulled me against him, rubbing his hard-on against my stomach. I moved with him, smirking when he groaned and leaned down to kiss me.
And head butted him.
He growled and let me go, rubbing his now injured nose as he stared at me with promised retribution. He yanked off his shoes and socks before coming for me again. We’d sparred many times in class, but he’d gotten better over the summer, faster.
But so had I, so we were surprising each other. He didn’t think I’d be ready to block his grabs for me, and I couldn’t get over how he wasn’t holding back, stronger than I’d thought. And I didn’t think that was new for only over the summer. Shit, that was hot.
He caught me again and I tripped him, smirking when he went down. He didn’t try to take me with him, but I heard ripping and then felt a cooler air against my ass. I glanced down and saw he had my shorts in both hands.
In tatters.
I checked just to be sure and then narrowed my eyes at him. “Seriously? You ripped my shorts off me?”
“Totally worth the bruise I’ll have on my ass,” he chuckled, licking his lips as he stared at my now exposed body. “Shit, you really are perfect, kitten.”
“You’re a pervert,” I growled as he rolled to his feet. “This isn’t porn sparring. Why are you pushing and being so aggressive with me instead of normal Lucca? Just because we might be mates doesn’t mean that—”
“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed, his voice firm and hard to say that wasn’t open for debate. He waited until I nodded, sliding his arms around me so his hands rested on my ass. “Put up a barrier or someone’s going to get a show if they walk in here.”
I immediately did, shocked I hadn’t already thought of that.
He tried to kiss me, chuckling when I ducked him. “This is foreplay for a bear, kitten. In the wild, they wrestle and spar, the female making the male prove over and over again that he’s strong enough to give her what he needs. He proves he’s worthy of her before she submits to his loving. So you’re just fucking pushing my buttons and making me harder for you, like always.”
“That wasn’t what I meant to do,” I muttered, wondering why it was always Lucca I was teasing.
“I know, but I still fucking love it,” he growled, trying to kiss me again. “And I’m not a normal, aggressive Alpha bear. I grew up seeing how big of assholes they always are, and I couldn’t stand that. My bear hates it too, and we’re pretty chill.”
“So why are you acting like this with me?”
“Because animals are all about being fair, and you weren’t being fair to us,” he answered as his lips worked along my neck. “You wouldn’t let me explain. You were punishing me without listening to me.” He kissed my cheek when I went to argue. “I know it was because of your trauma and how you were hurting, but it made my bear and I aggressive. You might be ours, and you were shutting us down.
“You were running from us and not for fun. That’s—it pulls at every aggressive instinct to not only protect you, but claim you, so you know where you belong. Asking not to push or needing time? Sure, we’re chill enough to handle that, and you
