Table of Contents
Copyright
Foreword
Chapter One – Madison
Chapter Two – Rob
Chapter Three – Madison
Chapter Four – Rob
Chapter Five – Madison
Chapter Six – Rob
Chapter Seven – Madison
Chapter Eight – Rob
Chapter Nine – Madison
Chapter Ten – Rob
Chapter Eleven – Madison
Chapter Twelve – Rob
Chapter Thirteen – Madison
Chapter Fourteen – Rob
Chapter Fifteen – Madison
Chapter Sixteen – Rob
Chapter Seventeen – Madison
Chapter Eighteen – Rob
Chapter Nineteen – Madison
Chapter Twenty – Rob
Chapter Twenty-One – Madison
Chapter Twenty-Two – Rob
Chapter Twenty-Three – Madison
Chapter Twenty-Four – Rob
Epilogue
Also By Harmony Raines
Get In Touch
Savior Bear
Bear Creek Protectors
Book Five
***
All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.
This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.
© 2019 Harmony Raines
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Savior Bear
Bear Creek Protectors
Book Five
Plus size model, Madison, is comfortable in her own skin. She’s worked hard to create a life she loves. But when bodyguard, Rob, is hired to protect her comfortable is the last word she’d use to describe the way he makes her feel.
Their attraction is instant. And mutual.
But love at first sight? Madison has never experienced love at all. Not true, deep love. With a mother who thought more of her career than raising her daughter, Madison is unwilling to throw caution, or her heart, to the wind.
However, Rob is no ordinary man. He hides an extraordinary secret. One that might just convince Madison his feelings are true and the bond between them is unbreakable.
Rob’s life is in turmoil. His sister’s mate is missing, presumed dead, and she is heartbroken. Rob would do anything to take away her pain and make it right for her and her two young children.
When Rob is given the task of protecting Madison and realizes she is his mate, he quickly understands just how strong the bond between a shifter and his mate truly is. And how unbearable life would be if he lost her. When secrets are revealed, it seems fate might have thrown Rob and Madison together for reasons of its own.
With the help of his mate, can Rob be a Savior Bear?
Chapter One – Madison
Pride thrilled through Madison as she ran her hands down the pretty check-patterned summer dress. Perfectly styled, it showed off her waist while emphasizing her voluptuous figure. This is for women everywhere who don’t fit into normal.
“Turn to the right, Madison, please.” Maurice was the best in the business. An award-winning photographer who could afford to be picky with his clients. Luckily, fame and fortune hadn’t gone to his head. “You are perfect, Madison. Never let anyone tell you differently.”
“Easy for you to say,” Madison replied as she shook her luxurious, thick black hair off her shoulders and pouted for the camera, before throwing her head back and smiling as if she were having the time of her life. Which she was, because life was good. Great even. She had the career of her dreams.
“You are fabulous.” Maurice looked up from behind the camera and tilted his head to one side. “Trolls?”
“Always trolls.” Madison relaxed for a moment, rolling her shoulders as she tried to ease the tension building along her spine.
“Don’t let them get to you,” Maurice sauntered across the studio to the small set which had been made to look like a Mediterranean beach. With expert hands he rearranged her hair, while a makeup artist appeared from nowhere and dabbed powder on her shiny face. The heat from the studio lights was like standing in the mid-day sun on a hot summer’s day. “You are perfect.” Maurice locked eyes with her. “There is so much life and soul in your smile it breaks my heart.”
She raised an eyebrow. Was he flirting with her? “Am I supposed to say thank you?”
“Yes,” Maurice teased as he studied her critically. “I like getting my heart broken by a beautiful woman.”
“I thought you preferred beautiful men,” Madison teased in return. She’d built up a rapport with Maurice and their energy sparked, even if they both knew it would never go further than teasing. Perhaps that was why they had such a good relationship. It was safe.
“There is only room in my heart and my life for my beautiful Perez,” Maurice purred, his face alight with love at the thought of his Persian cat. Maurice was not an extravagant man, despite the persona he portrayed to the paparazzi, but his one single extravagance was Perez, who he loved and pampered as if the white, long-haired cat was his only child. “The rest is what the media wants it to be.”
“Now you do sound like a man who has had his heart broken.” Madison waited patiently while Maurice changed the camera lens. Maurice intrigued her, along with the rest of the world. He was an enigma, not by design, but in his very nature.
“My advice to you, my precious Madison, is that if you are ever lucky enough to find true love, you grab hold of it and not let go.” Maurice came closer, his voice low, the tone raw. “And I do believe a kind spirit such as you will find true love. Or it will find you.”
“Thank you, Maurice.” Madison swallowed down the lump in her throat as tears pricked her eyes. “I hope you can find love, too. It’s never too late, no matter what you might think.”
“I think that I am ready to finish this photo shoot.” He cracked a smile and winked, back to his usual flamboyant self.
Madison stared into the camera and put her hand behind her head, oozing sex appeal as she modeled the summer dress. As a plus-size model, she got to wear the most amazing clothes from designers who truly understood how to flatter a fuller figure. Madison was blessed to be the face of a new clothing line, Just for me, from a leading fashion house, Holly and Jones, who were plowing money for development and advertising into their new brand.
So when Maurice asked her to strike a pose, she did her best to capture the look he wanted, knowing that so much rested on her shoulders. The brand was all about owning your image, and not being afraid to be you. An individual.
An hour later, the shoot was wrapped up and Madison headed out of the door into the bright spring sunshine. Not that she had time to enjoy it today. Her life was hectic since she’d been signed at Holly and Jones. And it would soon get more hectic once her face was plastered on billboards and on the sides of buses. Nervous excitement trickled down her spine.
Hailing a cab, she got in. “Hello, Canberra Street please, the offices of Holly and Jones. Do you know it?”
“Sure do.” The cab driver pulled out onto the street and crawled through the traffic. “Busy roads today. It’s
going to be a slow ride.”
Madison looked at her watch. “I have plenty of time. Thanks.”
She took her phone out of her purse and swiped the screen, time to catch up on social media. It was all part of the job, although she’d picked up an army of trolls since she’d signed for Holly and Jones. They usually hit Twitter with fat-shaming tweets, but Madison had supporters who had her back. She’d been amazed at how many women were excited for the new line in flattering clothes for the fuller figure.
Flicking through her newsfeed on Facebook, she answered a couple of comments and then shoved her phone back in her purse. There was a dull thud just behind her left eye, which threatened to become a full-blown headache if she didn’t relax for five minutes. Closing her eyes, she listened to the sound of the engine. It lulled her, and she blocked out her thoughts and fears and just focused on the steady throb of the cab. There was nothing she could do, they were stuck in traffic, and so she’d learned to use these small amounts of downtime to clear her head of the stresses and strains of her life.
A small smile crossed her lips. First world problems. Being stressed by online trolls was nothing compared to what other people were going through. If they were real trolls, she might have a problem, but their only weapons were words, and words could only hurt her if she let them.
Boy, it had taken Madison a long, long time to come to that conclusion and not let the words of others hurt her. But right now, she was in a good place, all her dreams were coming true.
Except one. She’d kind of like a boyfriend, a man to share her life with. Not that she needed a man. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t like to share her life, her experiences, both good and bad, with someone. Someone special she could grow old with and have babies with. In a couple of years. She wasn’t about to rush into marriage and kids. She didn’t want to end up like her parents.
Madison rubbed her temples. She was being unfair. Her parents must have loved each other once. However, Madison hadn’t witnessed that love between two people, either emotionally or physically. Instead, she’d spent her childhood watching two people slowly begin to hate each other as they stayed together for the sake of her mom’s career.
The only thing they had shown Madison was that relationships could endure, even if it wasn’t for the right reasons. Relationships didn’t need to be based on hot, fiery love.
Oh, but she wanted hot and fiery. She wanted to feel the touch of her man and burn with desire for him. Only for him.
“Holly and Jones.” The cab driver turned around and tapped the glass partition. Her eyes flew open and her cheeks flushed pink as she swept her hot, fiery thoughts away.
“Thanks.” Madison was alert in an instant. She paid the fare and got out of the cab, shouldering her purse before crossing the street. A quick look at her watch told her she was running a couple of minutes late, but her bosses would forgive her since the city traffic was notoriously bad at this time of day.
“Hi, do you have any spare change?” A man stepped out in front of her as she reached the sidewalk, his hand outstretched.
“Oh. Yes. Give me a second.” She looked longingly at the door leading into the offices but reached inside her purse for the loose coins that always seemed to end up in the bottom of her purse. “There you go.” She held up a few coins triumphantly.
And looked into the face of a man who was not homeless or destitute. But he was somehow familiar.
“Shall we take this around the corner?” he asked as he grabbed hold of her outstretched hand and twisted it cruelly. Pain shot up her arm and she bit down on her lip to stop herself from screaming. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
“What do you want?” Madison asked, although she really didn’t want to know. When someone threatens you hard, it is never good.
Never good at all.
“I want you to walk with me around the corner. There we’ll calmly get into the black van. Do as I say and no one gets hurt.” She looked into the face of her would-be kidnapper, trying to memorize his features, but the hoodie he wore was pulled down over his face, casting his features in shadow. All she saw were white, full lips and a weak chin. Clothes. Remember his clothes. The hoodie was blue, with oil stains down the front. His jeans were worn, but not tattered. And the smell…she inhaled deeply.
Cologne. Not cheap, but not expensive. This guy was a Mr. Ordinary trying to make himself Mr. Extraordinary. And yet there was still the sense that they’d met before.
“And when you say no one will get hurt, does that include me?” She tilted her head to one side, getting a look at him from a different angle.
He smiled. His teeth were even and white like he brushed them twice a day. “As long as your parents do as we ask.”
“We?” she looked over his shoulder. “So you have an accomplice?”
“Don’t get smart with me.” His smile faded, his expression turning ugly, his voice rough.
“I’m not being smart. I’m just gathering information so that I can tell the police what you look like and how many of you there are.” She hitched her bag on her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed. “So I’d guess it’s you and a getaway driver. Maybe a girlfriend.”
His features darkened. “You’ve just signed your death warrant.”
“Then there’s no point in me coming with you without a fight, is there?” She smiled brightly.
“Go around the corner and get in the van,” he ground out harshly.
“Or what? You’ll kill me?” She shrugged. “I suppose it would save us all some time and trouble.” She tapped her well-manicured nail to her lips. “But you definitely won’t get the ransom, will you?”
“Do as I say.” He jabbed his hand in his hoodie pocket, his lips contorted in rage. “Or I’ll shoot.”
“Amateur.” She took a chance on the gun being a hoax because if he had a gun, he’d have used that as a way to control her right away. Yanking the arm he held toward her, she knocked him off balance, brought her knee up into his groin and ran past him as he collapsed on the ground.
Reaching out, she pushed the solid wooden door open and stepped inside the building. Sanctuary. Inside she was shaking like a leaf in the autumn breeze as she carefully closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Her stomach lurched and she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth as she tried to keep calm. She couldn’t release the scream building inside her.
“Miss Singer?” Bertram, the security guard, crossed the foyer toward her. “Is everything okay?”
Madison raised her head and looked Bertram straight in the eye. She wanted to lie, to tell him everything was just fine. Because to tell him the truth would mean the end of the life she’d carved out for herself. To tell him the truth would mean her heavy-handed mom would send a bushel of bodyguards her way.
But she couldn’t lie. Lying would put other people in danger and she couldn’t live with that.
“Hey, Bertram. Could you call the police, please?” She placed her hand on the arm of the man who towered over her. A suit could not disguise the hardened physique hidden under the well-cut fabric.
“The police.” His face was instantly serious as his hand went to his cell phone, which he carried in his pocket. “What do you want me to tell them?”
“That someone tried to kidnap me.” She slid down the door and bumped onto the floor. “I need to call my mother.”
Chapter Two – Rob
“A model. Sure, I can take the job.” Rob flipped a pancake while resting the phone on his shoulder. He was getting good at doing stuff one-handed, or one-legged. In fact, he’d found using various parts of his anatomy for unusual stuff helped when you were caring for two young children. Until a couple of weeks ago he’d never had cause to turn the light switch off with his forehead, or the faucet off with his chin.
“Are you sure Ray can manage?” Guy asked with concern.
“Yes. She’s feeling stronger. She’ll cope.” Rob flipped the pancakes onto the plate and placed the plate o
n the table. “How long will I be gone?”
He’d been taking short-terms jobs so that he wasn’t away for too long. But sooner or later he had to let go and allow Ray to pick up the pieces of her life without her brother watching over her. He closed his eyes, suddenly unsure if Ray was ready.
“I don’t know,” Guy replied. “It’s an attempted kidnapping. Madison Singer. Someone tried to grab her off the street at gunpoint. The police aren’t having much luck finding the culprit. Her mother is insisting she has round-the-clock protection until they do.”
“Overprotective parents?” Rob shook his head and smiled sardonically. “I suppose I’m being an overprotective brother.”
“With good reason. We all know what Ray’s been through.”
“That’s just it, Guy...we don’t. You and I don’t even know what it’s like to have a mate, let alone lose one.” He ground his back teeth together at the injustice of it all.
“No, you’re right, and I understand if you don’t want to take the job.” Guy had been great during the last few weeks when Rob had attempted to pick up the pieces and put his sister back together again. His boss had been nothing but patient and understanding since his sister’s mate had likely been blown up by an IED while on his last tour before quitting the Army to help raise his kids.
“No, I do. It might do us both good to have a little space.” He turned around and looked at his two nephews who were eating pancakes and talking about some show they watched on TV. They were good kids; they didn’t deserve to lose their father in such a tragic way.
“Okay, I’ll send the details through. And tell Ray if she needs anything while you are gone to give me a call.” Guy paused. “Any trouble with the case and I’ll replace you. But from what I gather, the man who tried to kidnap Madison Singer was...and I quote, an amateur.”
“And I quote?” Rob asked.
“That’s what Madison called the guy. To his face.” Guy’s voice held a moderate degree of respect.
Savior Bear (Bear Creek Protectors Book 5) Page 1
