Bearing Up In Wolf Rock (A BBW Bear Shifter Romance) (Wolf Rock Shifters) by Carina Wilder

is thinking, by his body language, his face even. But not you. I have no idea what’s on your mind.”
    He turned to her then and for the first time that day, he smiled. Kyla would have described the look on his face as somewhat lascivious.
    “You really have no idea what’s on my mind ?”
    “Hmm. This second I might have an idea,” said Kyla as she tugged at the flannel of the shirt, trying to cover herself. Maddox’s eyes had begun to explore her again.
    “Well, some things are best kept secret,” he said. “You wouldn’t want to know half of what’s on my mind. Men are pigs at the best of times, but add another animal to the mix and, well…”
    “I don’t get that impression about you though, Maddox.” Kyla was sincere now. “You’re not a sleaze , even if you were just looking me up and down like I’m some pricey veal that you’re considering cooking up.”
    “Thanks. I think.”
    “You’re not. You could probably have fucked that girl in the bar. She was young and pretty , and a lot of men would have taken advantage of that. But you didn’t show any signs of wanting to go home with her. You also could have…”
    He cocked his head at her now, and she laughed. It reminded her a little of a dog her parents had owned when she was a child.
    “I could have…?”
    “You’re really going to make me say it, are you? You probably could have gotten into my pants if you’d wanted to. Not that I’m wearing any now.”
    “And yet I didn’t.”
    “No, you didn’t.”
    “There’s a lot on my mind, if it makes you feel any better—in case you’re thinking that the problem is that I don’t find you attractive.”
    “To be honest, I don’t know what to think.”
    Maddox went silent again for a moment.
    “I have issues…with people,” he said slowly. “A fear of them, even.”
    “Don’t take this the wrong way, but that sounds utterly bizarre, coming out of a man your size.”
    “Not a physical one. I know perfectly well that I could beat pretty well anyone in a fight, including your pack members.”
    “So what are you talking about then?”
    “Ever since I lost my sister I’ve been hesitant to get close to anyone, Kyla. So I just don’t. And that usually goes for sex as well as anything else that’s intimate. I don’t like loss. I learned that the hard way.”
    Kyla felt a deep sadness for the giant of a man who sat next to her. She wanted to put an arm around him and rest his head on her shoulder, to comfort him and tell him that he wouldn’t lose her, for whatever that was worth.
    “I understand, I think,” she said. “I’m often told that I’m confident, even though I’m shy to begin with. But the thing is, Maddox, I’m confident in myself. I’m not confident in other people. I don’t trust them.”
    He studied her again, looking for answers in her features.
    “Why not?”
    “I’m not sure. When I was a child, I didn’t really have much in the way of friends. I was one of those unfortunate kids who got picked on and teased. I found that the way to deal with it was to grow a thick skin and to come back at the others with bigger ammunition, so if someone threw an insult my way, I’d lob one back that was ten times as painful. I got respect that way, but not love.
    “Then I came into my wolf skin, learned to shift, however you want to put it. And I could escape from everyone. Eventually I had the pack, and they’re like built-in friends. I trust them with my life.”
    “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
    “But not with my heart.”
    Maddox looked straight ahead, his eyes narrowing in the dark cave.
    “I would tell you not to be like that, Kyla, and to open yourself up. But I’m damaged and it would be hypocritical of me. I’m the least open person in the world, and the least open to love. So all I can tell you is that I understand. It’s hard to offer yourself up to vulnerability. And here we are, so big and strong, and yet so fragile.”
    “Tell me about your