Billionaire Bear’s Human Mate by Alicia Banks
Chapter 20
Shane
Shane was surprised that it was the first question that she asked. He had just given her some pretty juicy information and she was far more concerned about him. That made Shane feel like telling her was in fact the right idea. He had been questioning if it was or not.
“It was lonely.”
“Was?”
“Yeah, before I met you it was far lonelier. I don't feel the same anymore. I definitely don't feel lonely.”
“Because of me?” Shane could see Vivica swallow hard and look away. It was too much he was heaping on her and he kept telling himself to calm down. That’s all he had to do was calm down. Why did that seem so impossible?
“I get it, trust me. I can't even imagine what's going through your head then or even now. It must be a lot in there.”
Vivica said it was and she kind of chuckled a little bit. “Well, what you just did was very different than what you did the other night when we...”
Vivica still couldn’t even talk about it. Shane hated that she was still so weird about it. Shane badly, desperately, needed her to get through it and just say it, when they had sex! When he took her virginity. When everything changed for him.
“So, have you forgiven me?”
“What is there to forgive you for?”
“For what I am, for not telling you.”
Vivica shrugged. “How could you have told me? It's not like you could have just said that you are a shifter. I'm sure that there aren't a lot of people that know that about you. You have to keep it a secret I would imagine. You wouldn’t want a bunch of humans knowing that you guys exist.”
“Why are you being so understanding about it? I thought that you were going to freak out.”
“I guess I already have, and I got it out of my system. I still have a lot of questions, some more sensical than others, but as long as you promise to answer them truthfully, I don't think it has to be a big deal.”
“And what about the fact that I have no family?”
Vivica shrugged. “You know that I don't have any family either.”
“Well, I have some. I actually have a father that is staying with me right now.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, it is a long story, and you should know that he is a shifter too.”
“So, it carries down through the children?”
Shane agreed and Vivica looked like she was thinking about something hard. He wondered where her mind was going, but he was honestly afraid to ask. There was a part of him that was afraid that she was going to put two and two together about what they had done and what was going to happen next. And what they were about to do.
“Right now, Vivica, do you really want to talk, or do you want to do something else?” Shane really wanted her to say something else.
She scoffed and clicked her tongue. “After everything that just happened between us, what I’ve learned, you really think that I am just going to jump right back into bed with you?”
He agreed and really hoped that he was right about it. Vivica looked unsure, then she looked like she was ready for something more as well.
“Will you do that again?”
Shane grinned and asked her if she wanted him to. Her face got white, and then red when she realized that he was just joking.
“No, I don’t want you to do that again, not in the middle like that.”
Shane agreed, though he couldn’t promise anything. His bear did seem to have a mind of its own.
***
“I want you to meet my father, Vivica, but I feel like I should warn you about him first.”
Shane was feeling his stomach knot up because he was worried about how it was all going to go down with the two of them. He didn’t know how Vivica would react but was far more worried about what his father would say and do.
Vivica was human and he was definitely going to notice. It would be duly noted right off the bat and if his father didn’t think she was worth anything, he wouldn’t care if he hurt her feelings or not. He would just say whatever came to his mind and that’s what worried Shane the most. His father’s mouth was always running, and it had gotten them in trouble more than once. He didn’t want his father’s loose lips to cause more chaos, Shane just didn’t think he could honestly deal with it.
“What are you going to warn me about him?”
“Well, he is a lot different than me.”
“It will be fine, Shane. You were pretty rough around the edges when we first started.”
“True, but that didn’t last very long. You softened me up.”
“Shall I do the same for your dad?”
Shane immediately told her no, and she giggled like it was a joke, but Shane wasn’t joking.
“No, you’re mine, Vivica. I thought I made that clear. Only mine.”