Lero popped up off the table as if he feared I might tie him down to it. Grabbing his oven mitts, patterned with little bears carrying pies and walking around on their hind legs, he grabbed a whole stuffed chicken from the oven. I was hungrier than I thought and barely waited for it to be skin temperature before I tore into it. Being outside of my body and the box took more energy than I wanted to admit. It was too bad I wasnt a psy-vampire. If I could feed on energy, perhaps, I could take Pami out while I was still inside the box.
I washed down the stuffed chicken with several bottle of water while Lero watched.
“Do I need to help you hunt?” I asked, remembering over and over I failed to ask how secure the food situation was in bear territory here.
“You don’t have to waste your energy,” Lero shook his head.
“That didn’t answer my question,” I said and turned to wash my face at the sink.
My fingers found my beard. I was nearly clean shaven the night I found Broug dead. My beard hadn’t grown in the whole time I was in the box until now. Was time moving for me againnow that my spirit could escape my dirt-bound prison? If it was, maybe I’d actually run out of air sooner than later.
“What holiday is it?” I asked, remembering snow and decorations everywhere on my zombie-like walk here the night before.
“Almost Yule. The parties and stuff will start soon. It’ll be hard to hide you. Well, hide that you’re here,” Lero said, his expression turning crestfallen. I didn’t like the idea of taking the foray into being an invisible party guest but I’d do whatever Lero needed me to – as long as I could manage to stick around anyway.
“After Yule we tell them. Some of them anyway. You pick who,” I said, hating how sour defeat tasted on my tongue. Would his simple ask for help bring war to the Fallen Star Elves? To these bears who seemingly defended their territory but never sought their own battles?
“Okay,” Lero nodded. “We’ll tell Mori.”
I would’ve chosen the older bear who fed me but Lero knew his family better than I did. With the half-eaten chicken carcass still in the pan on the counter I pulled him into my arms again. We kissed for a few short moments before Lero pulled me down the hall and into his bedroom. It was the first time I’d been in the room. It was tidy and smelled more like Lero and his sweet arousal than any other room in the house. It seemed my mate had found many ways to enjoy the single life. The scent of his past pleasures brought a growl from me as our lips crashed together again. I could’ve kissed him forever.
Lero fell onto his bed, taking me with him. The mattress trembled, but the frame held. Would it do so well if I were solid?I shook the thought from my head as my bear nuzzled against the inside of my ribs trying a more gentle approach to reach Lero’s bear.
I rolled us over so that Lero was on top of me and ran my hands up and down his back as his tongue twirled around mine. I caressed down his back to his ass and squeezed the round, fleshy globes. He ground forward, hard and slick, and I needed to touch more of him. As if he read my thoughts, Lero sat up and pulled his shirt off over his head. It was winter but his skin still looked sunkissed. He was broad shouldered and had muscles I could trace between like most bears. He had some winter pudge on his side, hips, and thighs but fuck, that was hot. Something to grab onto, something to caress or bite. My heart thudded against ribs that weren’t solid.
Lero grabbed one of my hands and ran it over his chest and stomach. When he let go of it, I moved back up to his nipples, hard and pink. He ground down against my throbbing cock as I played with one and then the other, enjoying the way his eyebrows knitted together when something felt good for him. I kept playing with them even as he leaned down to kiss me again. This time his warm, giving mouth didn’t stay on mine. He kissed down to my neck and bit me. With all his kissing and sucking, I was pretty sure, my soul would have a hickey when he was done with me. He kissed lower, trailing down my chest and stomach. His fingers ran through my chest hair. My astral form was always shirtless as if I couldn’t be bothered with materializing something else.
He moved to undo my fly and my pants disappeared. I blinked, surprised myself. Lero laughed and I pulled him back up for another long kiss because keeping my mouth off him was impossible. He kissed his way back down my torso, leavingbehind a scorching trail of desire. The phantom of his lips lingered even as he licked and kissed his way down to my dick. Lero pressed my thighs apart and settled on his stomach in between them. He grinned up at me like the cat who ate every canary to save them from going into the coal mine. He kissed up and down my shaft, smothering my cock in kisses and little licks, that made my fists close around the blankets. All the little sensations battled it out in my brain until they morphed together into a fluttering ecstasy of touch. Until Lero, I hadn’t been touched by another person in over two years. Two years locked in that coffin under the dirt. Two years of no company and not even a passing brush against another living being. Now his soft kisses were almost enough to undo me.
I ran my fingers through his thick, soft hair, and tried to focus on watching his mouth. I wanted to draw this moment out and not cum in two seconds like some inexperienced cub trying to be intimate for the first time. Still, his warm, giving mouth was bound to be my undoing. As soon as he braced on one elbow and took my shaft in one of his big, warm hands I nearly came apart at the seams. My breath came in heaves and hitches as his mouth slid down over me. It didn’t take much – it’d been too long. As soon as his tongue pressed flat against the head of my cock all bets were off. I came in warm, sticky streams. His eyes lit up with surprise and then delight and then he was gone. No wait! That was me. I was gone again. Gone into the abyss that was my body buried under the soil that rained down on me. Was cumming too much energy? Did the excitement of it all jerk me back into my body?
I curled my fingers into fists ready to punch the wood, but bloodying my knuckles wouldn’t free me and would consume more energy, making the stretch of time between now and when I saw Lero again even longer. I growled in frustration, wastingsome of that precious energy I tried to conserve. My bear headbutted my ribs but there wasn’t enough room for him to shift down here in my grave.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lero
Nightshade Bear Territory
I rolled onto my back, and a roar of frustration fled my mouth. I clamped my lips together and ground my teeth to keep the sound from stretching out. If I raised too much hell every bear in the territory would knock down my door to save me. There was nothing I could do about Vallis disappearing back into his body and that killed me a little more each time it happened. I stripped out of my pants and boxers, letting them fall where they may, and took a hold of my own dick. I wasn’t in the mood to dig around a drawer for my toy. My fist would have to do.
“The next time he comes here draw a spirit circle around him so he can’t escape!”my bear roared from his inner sanctum.
Frustration mingled with the salty taste of Vallis’s cum still on my tongue. If only my bear’s plan would work I’d be a happy bear right now. Part of me wondered if I could manage to get to him – wherever he was. Another part of me knew I’d be knocked out for days afterwards if I tried and there was zero guarantee that I’d even find him.
I did my best to focus on what just happened – the part before he disappeared at least. I breathed in remembering howhis mouth felt warm and cushy against mine. How his hands trailed all over my body, squeezing my ass and playing with my nipples. They were as hard as my dick – still. I stroked one in circles as I pumped my fist over my hard cock imagining that Vallis was between my legs, his tongue sliding down over my balls before going to the heart of what burnt hottest on me. His imaginary tongue lapped at the slickness pooling outside my hungry omegahole. He licked me over and over as my fist pumped in time with him and I didn’t let go of the fantasy as my balls drew up heavy and close to my body. I squeezed myself, wondering just how firm Vallis’s grip would be. The single thought along with the pressure brought me over the edge.
How was I still jacking off alone weeks after meeting my true-mate? Someone in the universe must really fucking hate me.
“Blame Sharon Claudis,”my bear sighed.“She fucks up everything.”
***
That was our lives leading up to Yule. Vallis would make it back in hours or a day and we’d try again. We never made it to actually romping. We never made it close to exchanging that claiming bite. Still, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. He’d show up and I’d feed him the food snatched away from the spirit offerings. I’d try astral projection – keeping it brief so I didn’t conk out and then the foreplay would begin. He’d disappear if he came or if I came. It was like edging was the only thing we were allowed to do without the universe snatching him away from me.
Between having a secret, frustrating matingmoon, I decorated for Yule and did my best to participate in my family’sget together. I always took Vallis with me if he was around. We had a few close calls and I was almost positive Mori spotted him once. Wess, Preston’s new mate, also muttered about me and my true-mate a lot. Once, Mori even caught us making out outside of Grandpa’s house at the tree trimming party. Well, he caught me making out with what must’ve looked like empty air to him. I had to tell him to mind his own business. It hurt his feelings but what else was I supposed to do?
That night back at the house I was desperate for more of him. All this making out and foreplay left me feeling like a kid barely old enough to get into Glitter Bomb again. I needed my mate. Needed him on me and inside me. I’d been so hard and slick that I’d gone through a whole twelve pack of pheromone blocker spray since meeting Vallis. Hiding this shit was driving me crazy. Still, it was almost Yule. Once the holiday came and went this would end for good. Still, while we were making out behind Grandpa’s house, I decided we had enough foreplay so that we could just skip it this time. We could just get down to business. I was already slick. So fucking slick that it was uncomfortable. The back of my neck and all my joints burnt hot as if another heat was trying to come on. If I asked for another fast-acting heat shot this soon somebody would catch onto the fact that something was up.
