Sam Bites Back 🌶️🌶️🌶️

HELEN

“I know a way we can be together... forever.”

His hot breath caressed my ear, heightening my senses even further.

“Anything. I’ll do anything!”

Our bodies were entwined, and there was no air left between us.

I could feel him inside me.

Filling me completely.

“I want you,” I gasped. “I don’t care about anything else.”

His hands cupped my breasts. His tongue was warm and firm against my neck.

“You have to tell me you want this.”

Sam held my face in his hands and looked into my eyes.

“Use your words. Tell me you want this.”

His expression was serious, almost stern. But I could see in his eyes how much he wanted me. How much he wanted to be with me. ~Me!~

“Yes! I want this,” I panted.

Sam pulled out and flipped me over onto all fours. My knees dug into the dirt beneath us.

He was in complete control now, and he pushed my head down so my ass was high in the air.

As his tongue slathered around my folds, I clutched at the soil. Blades of grass tore from the earth in my grip.

As he pried my legs further apart, it felt as if he was going to devour me.

I ~wanted~ him to devour me.

“Sam…” I could barely talk, my breaths were short and my heart was pounding. “I want it, Sam. Give it to me.”

I looked back and saw him grinning.

“You taste ready,” he said.

Gently, he moved my head lower until it was resting on my hands.

“You need to relax,” he said, before plunging his cock back inside me.

I moaned as the pain mixed with pleasure and I felt complete again.

“I’m going to mark you,” he said. “I’m going to mark you as mine.”

“Yes!” I groaned. “Take me.”

As his body slammed into mine, I felt his hand move up the curve of my spine. Brushing away the hair from my neck, he wrapped one hand around my throat and bent down over me.

Again his breath was hot against my skin. My body was vibrating, begging for him to fill me with his load.

I heard him growl with pleasure as he continued to pound me.

I looked back and saw his eyes. They were black.

His animal nature was taking over.

I cried out in ecstasy, not caring if anyone heard or saw.

I felt his speed increase and knew he was close.

I was too.

As we reached our peak in unison, I felt his teeth against my neck.

I screamed as he bit down, and my orgasm exploded.

The searing heat of his bite and the wave of my climax mixed in my body, creating an experience I’d never thought possible.

My legs shook as I slumped forward, then Sam wrapped his muscular arm beneath me and pulled me back toward him.

Cradling my face, Sam kissed me, and together we lay down against the earth.

***

The afternoon sun was warm against my still-naked body.

Sam was lying next to me with his arm around my shoulders. His eyes were closed, but there was a contented grin on his face.

I had no idea how long we’d been lying there, resting after our exertions. My head was light and my limbs were heavy. I felt like I’d just run a marathon.

But thinking back, I couldn’t help but smile too.

Gently I ran my fingers along the mark on my neck. The mark Sam had given me.

The bite was deeper than I’d originally thought, but it wasn’t painful. In fact, it had already begun to heal.

~Am I healing so fast because of the shifter blood?~

“Penny for them?”

I rolled onto my side to find Sam looking at me.

There was a sense of pride in his expression, and a cheeky grin playing on his lips.

“I guess... I didn’t realize it would be so deep.”

Sam’s grin faded and a look of concern darkened his face.

“The mark is supposed to be deep. It’s a big deal around here.”

“People will be able to see it,” I said, rubbing my neck.

Sam sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

“Maybe you don’t understand.”

I sat up too. Sam reached out to take my hand.

“The mark is considered sacred by the people of Bear Creek. What we just did was more than sex. We ~mated~.”

Sam’s eyes found the ground.

“Giving you that mark means a lot to me. It will mean a lot to my tribe.”

“Mated?” I asked.

“I’ve given you my mark. It’s a sign of commitment.”

His eyes rose to meet mine. I could tell he was serious.

I knew that we’d shared something special. I’d felt it when he’d bitten me.

But I was heading back to school.

And there were so many reasons why us being together didn’t make sense.

I sighed.

“So it’s a bit like getting a tattoo of your name?”

Maybe I was pretending to be a bit dense. Or maybe I wasn’t fully sure I was ready to be mated.

“Yeah, something like that.”

Sam huffed a little and began to stand. He reached out to help me up.

“Come on, we should get you home.”

***

“Make sure to text me when you get back to your dorm,” Mom said, giving me a warm look of parental concern.

We were all standing in the gravel driveway, my bag packed and loaded into Sam’s Jeep.

I looked at the mark on my mother’s neck.

When Sam and I had arrived back at the cabin after our picnic by the lake, the sun was beginning to set.

Jack and Mom had been in the living room waiting for us, and I’d begun to feel nervous.

~What are they going to say?~

Just a day earlier our parents had warned us about seeing each other. That it would be too complicated. That it shouldn’t happen.

They’d already had to deal with the surprise of catching their respective children in bed together.

We were marched into their living room. I had a burning scar on my neck from where Sam had marked me.

I still wasn’t sure if Mom would be able to accept that Sam and I had real feelings for each other.

I didn’t know if she could see past her and Jack’s relationship and accept ours.

It wouldn’t have mattered since I was heading back to college anyway, but now there was the mark. They’d noticed it as soon as we walked in.

Jack shot Sam an aggravated look.

Mom gasped in the funny little way she did when she dropped a glass or stubbed her toe.

“I told you this would be unwise, son,” Jack said.

Mom didn’t say anything. She just walked over to me, brushed a strand of hair from my face, and then hugged me tightly.

Standing in the driveway, I couldn’t help but take another look at her scar.

Soon mine would heal over too.

Jack was standing with his arm around my mom. They looked happy.

I kissed my mother goodbye and gave Jack an awkward hug.

We jumped into Sam’s car and were on the road.

We didn’t talk much on the way back. Sam let me put Ed Sheeran on, and I drifted off to sleep. The day’s exertions had wiped me out.

Before I knew it, we were back at school.

A little groggy from my nap, I turned to find Sam staring straight ahead.

This was going to be goodbye for now.

Immediately I felt tears welling in my eyes.

“I wish I could have stayed longer,” I said quietly.

“Dad’s right. It’s for the best.” Sam’s voice was steady and unemotional.

Anyone else would have found him cold, but I knew he was only suppressing how he truly felt. I was too.

This was harder than I’d thought it would be.

The tears began to trickle down my cheeks. I turned away from Sam so that he couldn’t see.

With a finger, he lifted my chin and smiled at me.

I still couldn’t deal with his smoldering eyes, his perfect jaw and amazing lips.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said. “I’ll come back…for a visit.”

Swiftly, I hugged him and he kissed me.

~Is this our last kiss?~ I thought.

If I lingered any longer I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave. I jumped out of the car and started off toward the dorms, not turning back as his car pulled away.

***

My room felt dark and gray when I got back.

Emma wasn’t home, so I began unpacking my things and pulled out my sketchbook. Sitting down on the bed, I opened it to my drawing of Sam.

Fully shifted, he always managed to take my breath away.

I flicked on the lamp, illuminating my easel, and set the sketch on my desk.

Starting a new painting was always tricky for me. A blank canvas always seemed so intimidating; I never knew which brushstroke to make first.

But for some reason, before I knew it, I’d filled my palette with a range of colors and begun to paint.

It didn’t take long for the shape of a bear—of Sam—to appear on the canvas. Suddenly, there he was, looking back at me with his dark eyes, the patch of chestnut fur on his nose.

I paused for a minute to take in the progress I’d made in a matter of minutes.

~Huh, maybe I’m underestimating Bear Creek.~

~Maybe I’m less of a city girl than I think.~

My buzzing phone interrupted my thoughts.

Emma

Hey bitch!

Emma

You back???

Emma

🌲🌲🌲💀🌲🌲

Helen

Yeah!

Helen

In our dorm

Emma

I’m at Rickie’s

Emma

Come have a drink!!!

Emma

🍹🍹🍹

Helen

mmmmmmm…

Helen

Not sure…

Emma

Guuuuuuurl, come on.

Emma

you need to retox after all that country air!

***

I really wanted to keep working on the painting instead of going to some student bar.

But after saying goodbye to Sam, I didn’t feel like being alone.

Catching up with Emma would be great too. Even though there was a lot I wasn’t sure I was ready to tell her.

I quickly changed into a cute crop top and tight blue jeans. Stopping to take a look in the mirror, I almost gasped at the sight on my neck.

Amazingly, the mark had already healed over. But even in the dull lamplight, the bite stood out.

A gnarly, pink crescent shape. Like an angry croissant.

I knew it would attract questions, and, after the shit I’d seen go down in the bear pit, there was no way I was about to risk the safety of Sam or the other bears from the Creek.

I wrapped a faux-cashmere scarf around my neck and looked back in the mirror.

It was a little too warm out to pass it off casually, but I didn’t have any other options.

~Maybe I can pass it off as a fashion statement?~

I would just have to hope for a cashmiracle.

Music blared as I made my way through the bar.

Indie rock posters and Kubrick film prints covered the walls. The place was crammed with college kids, knocking over beer bottles and laughing at bad jokes.

I was beginning to think going there was a mistake when I spotted Emma.

We locked eyes before she squealed in excitement and came running over.

“Hey girl! How was your second trip out to the woods?”

“Alright.” I rolled my eyes. She smirked.

“Seems like you’re starting to like it out there. Next thing you’ll tell me you’ve been seduced by a Scout leader!”

She was joking, but I couldn’t help smiling a little.

“Oh my God, I was joking!”

I’d never been any good at keeping secrets, especially from Emma. I’d managed to hide the truth from her before, but things had gotten more serious.

“You have to tell me all about it!”

“There’s nothing to tell,” I tried to sound convincing and failed.

“You can’t lie to me; something happened out there... and what’s with this lame scarf?”

Sometimes I wished Emma and I weren’t quite as close as we actually were. Because before I had a chance to do anything, she was yanking the scarf off my neck.

“It looks like you’re trying to hide a hickey…”

Emma’s words trailed off, and I snatched back the accessory.

~Shit!~

Emma’s mouth was agape.

And she was staring at my neck.

“What the fuck is that?!”