Bear Exposure (Highland Brothers 3) by Meredith Clarke, Ally Summers Page B

found you.” He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, but the look in her eyes told him to stay back.
    “I have to get out of here.” Her eyes flashed to the front door.
    “No. Don’t do that. You don’t have a car, remember?”
    “I’ll hitchhike. I’ll backpack through the woods. I don’t care. I’m not staying here with you.”
    She climbed the stairs.
    Striker hadn’t planned on his mate freaking out. He thought she’d be excited they were bonded for life.
    He walked into the guestroom where her suitcases were. “I’m not going to hurt you, Pres. I would never hurt you.”
    He sat on the bed and watched her throw clothes on top of the bag.
    “You’re a bear. A bear.” She zipped up the side. “I can’t handle that.”
    He reached for her wrist, realizing too late it wasn’t a good idea. “You can’t go.”
    Her head whipped around. “Why not? Are you going to lock me up like the wolves did? Am I your prisoner?”
    He dropped her wrist. The pain sank into his chest. “No. I’d never do that.”
    “Oh, God. Am I a bear?”
    “No, no, no.” His hands flew to his forehead.
    “Good. I don’t want to be anything but human.”
    “And I don’t want you to be anything but human either. You’re perfect the way you are, Pres.”
    She groaned and wheeled her suitcases out of the room.
    He didn’t know what to do. How to draw her back to him. How to stop her. How to convince her there was no other life, but the one they had sealed the other night. They were bonded. He had claimed her. She just didn’t know it. He had fucked up the whole thing.
    He chased her down the stairs. “Wait.”
    She turned. “What is it?”
    “Tell me the reason you are so scared.”
    “You can’t be serious. I’m not like you. I’m not used to shifters and magic and whatever crazy ritual shit you live with.”
    “But what if you did? What if I explained all of it? What if I told you everything? What if I answered all your questions? Proved to you that you don’t have to be scared of me?” He paused. “Would you stay?”
    She looked at him. He could tell she was considering it.
    “You have one hour.” She held up a finger. “But after that, you are using your fancy Highland connections and getting me out of here. I’ll take a helicopter or limo. Something fast.”
    He grinned. “Ok. That sounds fair.” He took the suitcases from her and placed them by the stairs.
    “You can leave them by the door,” she stated.
    “After one hour with me, you’re going to want me take them back upstairs.”

21

Presley
    S he swallowed hard . She had just agreed to stay one more hour with a bear. She was out of her damn mind. But every step she took toward the front step made her feel like she was moving in the wrong direction. There was an instinct pulling her toward him, bear knowledge or not.
    She put her hands on her hips. “Should I start a timer?”
    Striker took her by the hand and led her to the fireplace. She felt the heat on her skin where he touched her. She tried to ignore it.
    He pointed to the mantle. “This is my family.” He moved the picture frames around. “My brother, Hudson. My brother, Crawford. Our mom.”
    He handed her a picture of them in front of a Christmas tree. It must have been fifteen feet tall.
    “See? Normal, family holidays right here at Highland House.”
    “They’re bears too? All of them?” She placed the frame where it had been.
    “Yes. All of us.” He looked at her. “I’m sharing the family secret with you because I trust you. I know you’ll protect it. Just like I’m going to protect you.”
    She felt the tenseness in her shoulders start to melt. Damn it. In the first thirty seconds he had already broken down one layer of resistance.
    He led down the hall past the wine cellar entrance. He explained all the pictures to her. “This one was when Crawford caught his first fish. And this was when Hudson lost his first tooth. You know, totally normal things kids