Read Online Bear To The Bone (Bear Claw Security 1) by Terry Bolryder - Free Book Online Page A

flowers. He’d missed this so much. His finger reached up and stroked her hair, pulling it behind her ear.
    “Stop that,” she said. “I can’t think. Aren’t we supposed to be talking? Because you’re awfully silent.”
    “I don’t know,” he said. “I kind of feel like I’m talking to you just like this.” His hands wrapped around her waist. “It’s nice and warm here. I don’t want to leave.”
    She snorted. “You never did. I never wanted you to either. We were so weird, you know. So naive.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe how many years I spent thinking of you.”
    “Who else would you be thinking of?” he asked possessively.
    “No one,” she said. “That’s just the thing. No one else has even entered my mind. No one else could ever live up to you.”
    “Good,” he said, leaning back against the wall again, relaxed now that he knew for sure there was no one else in the picture. “I’m sorry I made you wait so long. I was trying to be good enough to deserve you.”
    “Love isn’t like that,” she said, arching her head back to look at him. “You can’t deserve it. It has to be freely given or it doesn’t mean anything.”
    “Right,” he said, resting his head on hers playfully. He couldn’t look in her eyes right now or he’d crack. Tell her everything. Beg her to run away with him and just let himself drop what he was doing with the Aces.
    But what he was doing was important, not just for her, but for the whole town. For the kids at Willow’s. He couldn’t just give up because it was difficult and complicated.
    Besides, she’d never leave the kids or Willow alone to save herself. It was something he loved about her, how much she watched out for those in trouble, who had less than her.
    He had been one of them.
    So he had to stay focused, no matter how tantalizing her beautiful blue eyes were. No matter how much he loved the feel of her soft, curvy body and just wanted to hold it forever and tell her all his secrets.
    He was still a warrior, just for a little longer. But soon, he could just be a bear and love his mate, forever.
    That thought was so good it sent his heart racing. She seemed to notice, because she looked up at him, amused. “Your heart is pounding,” she said, grinning slightly. “You still like me, then?”
    “Like you?” he growled. “Carrie, that doesn’t even come close to how I feel. It’s always only been you for me. You know that.”
    She put her hands over his on her waist. “It was hard to remember as the years went by. You say you never felt good enough for me, but I never felt good enough for you either. I was just this average, chubby girl, and you were this shiny, handsome boy that everyone noticed.”
    “So you’re shallow. Is that what you’re saying?” He teased. “Newsflash, Carrie. You’re so much better than me. Look at you even now, fighting off the Aces so you can keep a bar you use to support kids in foster care. It doesn’t get much more angelic.”
    “I’m not angelic,” she said. “I guess you could say it was selfish, because I’m just trying to help people like me.”
    “I see.”
    “Or,” she said, stroking her finger along the top of his hand in a way that gave him chills. “You could say every lost little kid made me think of a boy I once knew. Someone who was lost and hurting. And while I waited for him to come home, I wanted to take care of the others, as if it could fill the void he left behind.”
    “No need anymore,” he said. “I’m here to fill all your voids.” He realized how it sounded the moment he said it, and a grin spread over his face.
    She went quiet, and when he looked down at her face, he saw her cheeks reddening.
    “Carrie Miller, are you blushing?” He teased. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
    “You’re the one talking about filling my voids,” she muttered, trying to scoot away from him, embarrassed.
    But he simply laughed and hugged her close. She might have by far