Read Online Bear The Burn (Firebear Brides 1) by Anya Nowlan - Free Book Online
Authors: Anya Nowlan
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, Romance, Contemporary, Paranormal, Adult, supernatural, firefighter, Erotic, Interracial, Brothers, Bachelor, BBW, Shifter, Dallas, sassy, werebear, Violence, bakery, Mate, Protection, Idaho, Burglars, Forever Love, Single Woman, Mail-Order Bride, Firebear Brides, One Year, Scheming Relatives, Spirited, Wildfires, Shifter Grove, Family Homestead, Uncle's Will
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because of me. They’re the only family they have left and I don’t even know if I want this! I was only going to be here for a little while, Tiana desperately thought to herself.
Deep down inside, she knew she was lying to herself now. She wanted nothing more than to stay with Royce. If they’d gone through with the marriage, she was sure she would have never raised a finger to annul it. Even if things went south, she already had legitimate feelings for the man and it certainly would not have been a sham of a wedding anymore. A bit rushed, maybe, but if she’d learned anything about life then it was that overthinking what felt right was never the correct thing to do.
Which made her escape into the night all the more ironic.
Gritting her teeth and blinking through the tears, she hit the gas and drove on faster. The road seemed to glow red in the distance and through her tears, that didn’t strike her as odd. It was only when she was a good distance away from the house that she noticed the warning light on the dashboard.
“Shit,” Tiana groaned, just in time for the truck to stutter and cough and run out of gas at the worst possible time.
She was stuck between Hamilton House and Shifter Grove, equal distance from both places. Pulling to the side of the road, Tiana laid her hands flat on the steering wheel and rested her forehead against it as well. A quick flurry of sobs wracked her body. Guilt, anger at herself, and a feeling of stupid helplessness took over. She only allowed it to rule over her for a minute, but when she looked up after wiping her tears, her eyes went wide as saucers.
Instead of the dry, seemingly always dusty road she was used to traveling on their trips to town, she was staring down a wicked inferno of fire now, cracking and roaring as it gathered around her.
“What the...” Tiana gasped, grabbing her purse and digging around it for her phone.
She found the cell, but not surprisingly, there was no damn reception. Groaning, she tossed it down and looked around, glancing out each of the windows and twisting to look behind her as well. The flames absolutely surrounded her, spreading so fast that she couldn’t keep track. The dry, tortured forest floor was going up quickly and wherever the tongues of flame reached, they won new ground.
Pressing out of the truck, she swung her legs out but gasped as the intense heat hit her in the face like a mallet. She pulled the door closed again right away and huddled down inside, cursing to herself. The sound of the flames was deafening. Crawling over the seats, she tried the other door and found that the blaze was just as intense on that side, the fire coming up quickly along the dry bank leading up to the narrow road. She was completely stuck.
Terror rose in her, making her shake with cold and goose bumps break out over her skin, despite the car heating up quickly.
I never even got to say goodbye, she thought, bile rising up from her stomach.
CHAPTER NINE
Royce
“Tiana!” he roared, running after the car until there was no point to it anymore.
He raised his hands, waving frantically, screaming for her to stop.
“For fuck’s sake,” he hissed, turning around on the balls of his feet and storming back inside the house for his keys.
He yelled for Redmond, but there was no answer. Frantic thoughts ran through his mind, but the most pressing of them was his intense need to get to Tiana as soon as possible. There was something pressing on the back of his neck, making him worry. Something bad was going to happen, he could feel it, and it wasn’t just the adrenaline talking.
His Chevy took off like a bullet, bounding down the road and leaving a thick plume of smoke behind it. His jaw was set rigid and his lips were pressed into a thin line, hands so tight around the steering wheel that he could have torn it off the truck if he’d wished. The veins on his arms popped up, muscles flexing even though there wasn’t an obvious, immediate
Deep down inside, she knew she was lying to herself now. She wanted nothing more than to stay with Royce. If they’d gone through with the marriage, she was sure she would have never raised a finger to annul it. Even if things went south, she already had legitimate feelings for the man and it certainly would not have been a sham of a wedding anymore. A bit rushed, maybe, but if she’d learned anything about life then it was that overthinking what felt right was never the correct thing to do.
Which made her escape into the night all the more ironic.
Gritting her teeth and blinking through the tears, she hit the gas and drove on faster. The road seemed to glow red in the distance and through her tears, that didn’t strike her as odd. It was only when she was a good distance away from the house that she noticed the warning light on the dashboard.
“Shit,” Tiana groaned, just in time for the truck to stutter and cough and run out of gas at the worst possible time.
She was stuck between Hamilton House and Shifter Grove, equal distance from both places. Pulling to the side of the road, Tiana laid her hands flat on the steering wheel and rested her forehead against it as well. A quick flurry of sobs wracked her body. Guilt, anger at herself, and a feeling of stupid helplessness took over. She only allowed it to rule over her for a minute, but when she looked up after wiping her tears, her eyes went wide as saucers.
Instead of the dry, seemingly always dusty road she was used to traveling on their trips to town, she was staring down a wicked inferno of fire now, cracking and roaring as it gathered around her.
“What the...” Tiana gasped, grabbing her purse and digging around it for her phone.
She found the cell, but not surprisingly, there was no damn reception. Groaning, she tossed it down and looked around, glancing out each of the windows and twisting to look behind her as well. The flames absolutely surrounded her, spreading so fast that she couldn’t keep track. The dry, tortured forest floor was going up quickly and wherever the tongues of flame reached, they won new ground.
Pressing out of the truck, she swung her legs out but gasped as the intense heat hit her in the face like a mallet. She pulled the door closed again right away and huddled down inside, cursing to herself. The sound of the flames was deafening. Crawling over the seats, she tried the other door and found that the blaze was just as intense on that side, the fire coming up quickly along the dry bank leading up to the narrow road. She was completely stuck.
Terror rose in her, making her shake with cold and goose bumps break out over her skin, despite the car heating up quickly.
I never even got to say goodbye, she thought, bile rising up from her stomach.
CHAPTER NINE
Royce
“Tiana!” he roared, running after the car until there was no point to it anymore.
He raised his hands, waving frantically, screaming for her to stop.
“For fuck’s sake,” he hissed, turning around on the balls of his feet and storming back inside the house for his keys.
He yelled for Redmond, but there was no answer. Frantic thoughts ran through his mind, but the most pressing of them was his intense need to get to Tiana as soon as possible. There was something pressing on the back of his neck, making him worry. Something bad was going to happen, he could feel it, and it wasn’t just the adrenaline talking.
His Chevy took off like a bullet, bounding down the road and leaving a thick plume of smoke behind it. His jaw was set rigid and his lips were pressed into a thin line, hands so tight around the steering wheel that he could have torn it off the truck if he’d wished. The veins on his arms popped up, muscles flexing even though there wasn’t an obvious, immediate
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