And my bear stood all the way on its hind legs inside of me.
Sweetiebird had checked 5'4", Black American, More to Caress, and Average Looks on her faceless Fetder profile.
Everything was true… except the Average Looks.
The most appealing woman I’d ever laid eyes on stood on the side of the elevator doors, waiting.
And she smelled like honey.
this summer
Bear hindsight being 22/20, I knew I was in trouble from the start. I only occasionally had meetings in Vancouver—usually on the way to or from Victoria.
But suddenly, I was jumping at any excuse to go to the city.
Want to meet with me about fracking? Something my people would never allow? Sure. I’ll tell youhell noin person.
Freshly graduated bear, hoping to pick my brain about a career in politics over coffee? Tell me when and where.
Need a last-minute keynote for your NDP fundraiser—even though I never take or raise campaign money? Of course. I just have a hard out at 9 p.m.
Sweetiebird didn’t want anything to do with my lifestyle.
But I’d take any excuse.Any excuseto see her.
We both called her my little s submissive. But I was her dog. Desperate to be near her in whatever capacity I could—even if we were doomed.
Until she asked me to do the one thing I couldn’t do: give her a baby and be okay with not being its father.
Contrary to my opponent’s claims, Ididtake Ayaska values seriously.
I found that out the hard way—when I had to leave her crying in a hotel room because what she wanted didn’t match what I could give. Because our values didn’t align.
The next seven months were an excruciating slog of work and regret.
So imagine my shock when I walked into my totem den and found my sweetiebird canoodling with one of my maul mates—the faint scent of cloves and cardamom still clinging to her soft, honey-brown skin.
“Okay, but what doesanyof that have to do with not having ever kissed her or even licked her sweet pussy?” Callum interrupted. He was crammed into the passenger seat of Twinkerbell, my brother’s tiny, lime-green Chevy Spark, which we’d borrowed to chase after our mate.
“Kissing is incredibly intimate,” I bit out. “I was already having a hard enough time not biting her. What do you think would’ve happened if I let myself kiss her?”
“We would’ve gotten our perfect maul mate sooner,” Callum muttered. “I can’t believe you kept her all to yourself for three years!”
“How many times do I have to tell you, I didn’t think she wanted this. She was enrolled in grad school in Vancouver. She had a life plan that didn’t involve moving to some middle-of-nowhere mountain town. And did you not hear the part where she putno additional partnersat the top of her hard limit list? With three nauseated face emojis!”
“And you put kissing onyours!” Callum shot back. “If the two of you were half as good at communicating as you thought you were, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You would’ve figured out that the moment she started wanting a baby was the perfect time to bring up letting us all fuck, bite, and forever her.”
He had a point.
I scrubbed a hand down my face. “I’ll fix this.”
“For fuck sure you better. Our maul depends on it.” Cal crossed his arms. “Because I’mTeam Honeybee.If she decidesyou’re a dealbreaker, we’ll divorce your ass and find another Ayaska to take your place.”
“There is no other Ayaska who’d take my place,” I growled.
“Fuck there isn’t,” he growled right back. “She smells like honey, looks like heaven, and doesn’t put up withanyone’sbullshit. Don’t act like we wouldn’t havetensof Ayaska guys lining up to maul her.”
“No,” I said. “I’m telling you—thereisno other. Because I’ll kill whoever you get to replace me before I let her go.”
