Bear Meets Girl by Catherine Vale Page B

thing I care
about is finding Raina.”
                He
searched her gaze for a very, very long time, and as she bore the scrutiny, she
began to wonder if he had actually had to barter his body in exchange for food
or shelter in his lifetime. How could someone as powerful as he be forced to
stoop to such levels?
                He
wasn’t always as you see him now, she reminded herself. Everyone starts
off alone or vulnerable in this world.
                “You’ve
never been given anything freely, have you?” she asked softly.
                He
finally looked away. “There’s no such thing as free in this world,” he said
gruffly. “Everyone wants something for something, and if they can get it,
something for nothing.”
                Taking
a gamble, she reached out and gently gripped his chin, turning his gaze to hers
again. “I won’t deny the truth to your words,” she told him, trying to focus on
his eyes rather than the sensation of his stubble prickling her fingertips.
“But that doesn’t mean I can’t offer you kindness, especially since you’re
helping me find Raina.”
                He
glared at her. “You don’t need to be kind to me for that. Raina’s father is
already paying me for the service.”
                She
glared at him. “Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I’m being kind to you because
I feel like it?”
                His
jaw clenched. “You’re just trying to get me to lower my guard,” he hissed. “I’m
over two-thousand years old, and no shifter or mage has ever given me a
kindness or a gift in my existence. I’m an abomination , do you
understand? You should know better!”
                Ripping
his jaw from her grasp, he brushed past her and stormed for the door, but she
grabbed him by the arm and hauled him around to face her again.
                “No,”
she growled right before she yanked him against her and crushed her lips against
his. “It’s they who should know better.”
               
    Chapter Five
                Cole
couldn’t breathe as Angela crushed her mouth to his. His entire body froze as
she overloaded his senses with her body – the sensation of her breasts
pressed against his chest, of her full lips moving against his mouth, of her
scent filling his nostrils and making his head swim, not just because she
smelled sweet, of oranges, but because he could also scent her desire, and the
pheromones, and the knowledge combined made his head spin.
                She
wanted him . There was a female shifter standing in a room with him, kissing
him , and she actually wanted him.
                Hesitantly,
he lifted a hand to touch her hair, then sank it deep into her locks when she
didn’t pull away. The tresses were silky smooth and seemed to draw him into
her, tangling up in his fingers as he held her close. His other arm wrapped
around her waist, drawing her into his body, and he nearly incinerated her
clothing as her belly pressed against his aching erection.
                Growling,
he backed her up until her ankles hit the beanbag chair and they went down
together, his knees driving into the lumpy cushion and nudging her thighs
apart. Instantly her legs hooked around his waist, clamping down.
                “Clothes,”
she panted, shoving his jacket down his shoulders. “Too many clothes.”
                Growling
in agreement, he shrugged off his jacket and allowed her to rip the shirt from
his body, exposing the scars on his chest. Rather than recoiling, as he
expected, she ran her tongue along the one that stretched from his shoulder to
the top of his rib cage, and he moaned as hot chills swept through him, making
him even harder.
                “You’re
gorgeous,” she purred, her hands trailing over the hard muscles of his chest an
abdomen. Goosebumps broke out over