by Elsa Jade
But he had his bear back, which meant he was no longer hers.
“You’re hurt,” he said. “I tasted blood.” Cupping his palms over her knuckles, he turned her hands up.
She stared down at the raw skin across the bases of her fingers and the webs of her thumbs. “Calluses didn’t save me.”
“Digging is a different kind of work.”
“That you won’t have to do anymore, now that you’ve redeemed your clan and you’re the bear king again.” She traced her fingers over the taut muscles of his forearms. “You’re hurt too.”
“That oak chewed me up when I dove after you.”
She cringed back into him. “I should’ve let you do it. You and your father had already pushed the trunk free.”
“Have you ever let anyone else help you?”
“Yea”—she started defensively before petering out—“ehh, no. I mean, usually I can do it all.”
His soft chuckle ruffled the shorter locks of hair drying in untidy curls around her face. “You can. But what if you didn’t have to, not by yourself? What if you let me. What if that was my new job.”
She twisted in his arms to look up at him. Every part of her exposed to the night was cold, but every part facing him was desert hot. His dark eyes—still shimmering with the golden highlights of his beast—stayed steady on her.
“The rex ursi can’t take a mate,” she reminded him.
His hold was gentle around her, but the muscle in his jaw flexed. “It already did.”
Did she still have creek water in her ears? “What? When?” She swallowed hard. “Who?”
Despite the gravity of his expression, his eyes glinted. “Mate. Blood. You.” He took her hand, matching her raw palms to the scrapes on his arm. “I didn’t bite you, exactly. But you called forth a springtime flood. Like the mating season. And I chose. You.”
Her pulse wavered. “Your bear…”
“It was never gone, was it? You reminded me of that, but I didn’t want to hear because…” He let out a breath. “Because I wanted you more.” He raised her hand to his bare chest, where the diablo rose had rested. “The challenge of leading the clan seemed like too much, so in my heart, I lost. I lost to my father, lost the bear. But really, I was me who was lost. Until I found you.”
“I wasn’t really that hard to find,” she said a little breathlessly. “I was just down in the spellatorium.”
He reached up to tuck a wayward lock behind her ear, then smiled when it would stay tucked. “Well, I had to dig a little ways. Somehow I knew you wouldn’t turn down the challenge of finding a lost king bear.” His voice lowered. “You’d never run from a fight.”
“Because I can’t?”
He rocked her. “Because you’re strong and sure and sexy.”
She frowned. “I don’t think that last one counts.”
“Trust me, it counts.” He pressed his lips to her temple. “As much as your courage, your brilliance, your charms. You made me believe I could change.”
“Into a bear.”
“And into a man who might win a witch.” He pulled back a little ways. “If she’ll have me.”
Her heartbeat raced faster than any wave. “I had you already, in the lake and in the cabin.” She glanced around them. “Are you saying you’ve reconsidered sexy times in the sand?”
“Well, I am already naked.”
“And I’m already wet.”
“Perfect,” he growled.
His mouth on hers was hot, wet, a kiss so deep she felt it in her soul, so sweet it took her breath away—elemental.
When he lifted his head, the golden glint in his eyes was brighter. The first light of day was paling the sky in the east. Though that wasn’t the only thing rising.
She squirmed on his lap. “We could be back at the cabin before the sun.”
He settled his hand on her hip. “Just one day?”
For all the great strength of the beast leashed in his touch, the caress was light as a butterfly’s wing. “More,” she whispered. “More than that.”
“All of them? Would all my days and nights be enough?”
She reached up to thread her fingers through his dark hair and pull him down for another kiss. “Barely.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elsa Jade, author of sexy shapeshifting romances, also writes paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance, and science fiction romance as Jessa Slade and sexy contemporary romance as Jenna Dales. In all her incarnations, she believes in the transformational power of love and is thrilled to share her stories with like-minded readers.
More from Elsa Jade
Mating Season: Wolves of Angels Rest
Hero
Joker
Rogue
Warrior
Lost Wolf
Ghost Wolf
Cry Wolf
Fighter
Wish Upon a Werewolf
Beast
Coyote’s Christmas Kiss
Shifters in Love: Fun & Flirty (in the world of Angels Rest)
Bear and Baby
Bachelor Bear
Barely Bear
Mating Fever: Masters of the Flame
Dragon Fever
Dragon Fate
Dragon Fall
Intergalactic Dating Agency: Big Sky Alien Mail Order Brides
Alpha Star
Red Shift
Dark Matter
After Burn
Freefall: Team Prism (The Great Space Race)
Intergalactic Dating Agency: Black Hole Brides
The Intergalactic Duke's Inconvenient Engagement
The Interstellar Rake's Irresistible Kiss
The Interdimensional Lord's Earthly Delight
More Science Fiction Romance from Jessa Slade
Queen of Starlight ~ FREE DOWNLOAD!
Prince of Passion
Assassin’s Hunger
ABOUT SHIFTERS IN LOVE: FUN & FLIRTY
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