Read Online Cindy Spencer Pape - [Guardian Investigations 01] by Heart of the Bear (html) - Free Book Online Page A

muscles. “And does your brother have one of
these, too? And your cousins?” Time to find out if the were-bear thing was
hereditary.
    “Not exactly. They’re all shifters, but I’m
the only bear in my generation. We’re not like the Carters, where it’s in the
DNA. Ours is magic-based, and it’s different for each of us.”
    “I see.” I didn’t, not really. I washed his
legs and paid special attention to his balls and cock, nipping his ass just for
fun. He hardened into my hand, and I couldn’t resist stroking up and down his
steely length.
    “My family is Welsh, though in the last few
generations there’s been a little bit of everything else mixed in. English,
German, even a bit of Lakota. But the Welsh blood is still dominant. Somewhere
back in the Middle Ages, an ancestor befriended some of the Fae, and the family
became guardians of the local faery mound.”
    I stopped playing with his penis and stood,
my arms around his waist and my cheek resting against his back. “Go on.”
    “Since you’re part Navajo, you should be
familiar with the concept of spirit guardians and totem animals. The idea isn’t
unique to
North America
. In my family, each of
us is born with a spirit animal. An identifying mark shows up when we’re born. Once
we hit puberty, we gain the ability to transform into that animal. My middle
name is Arthur, by the way, which means bear.”
    “Okay.” It did all make some sort of sense.
And if this relationship did go anywhere—I could live with it. “I guess that
explains why the company is called Guardian.”
    “Uh-huh.” The tension in his shoulders
lightened visibly, and he turned to face me. His dark brown eyes gazed down
into mine in a way that was almost—hopeful. “I’ve never been involved with a
woman who knew what I was before. It’s a very liberating feeling, not to have
to keep secrets.”
    I nodded and grimaced. “Yeah, been there,
done that. Being a cop with a knack for psychometry has been no picnic—even
before the incident at Christmas time. Do you know how often I had to invent
anonymous tips? And it’s been no fun in the romance department either. Telling
a guy that I could touch his clothes and tell if he’d been cheating—that was
just impossible.”
    He chuckled warmly. “I’ll bet. I’ll make a
note of that.”
    My breath hitched. Did he mean it? Was he
offering me a chance to see where we could go with this? I stared up into his
face, trying to read his thoughts. My extra senses were giving me zip—all I felt
from his skin was the strong current of sexual attraction that overwhelmed everything
else.
    His brows knit together, and he touched my
cheek with his thumb, brushing away a trickle of water. By common consent, he turned
off the faucet, and I reached for a towel. We each dried off, and Evan sat on
the toilet lid watching while I dried my hair. We both brushed our teeth side
by side like an old married couple, then moved hand-in-hand to the bedroom.
    The bed was still rumpled from the night
before, and I smiled, remembering the warmth of waking up with Evan. He sat
down on the edge of the bed and drew me down into his arms. I sat facing him,
my thighs straddling his. I leaned back just far enough to see his face in the
golden glow of the bedside lamp.
    “So, have you made your decision yet?” he
asked, stroking a strand of my hair. “Are you going back to the police?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t know of any other
way to make my living.”
    “You have another choice.”
    Hope filled my chest. His arms felt so warm
and right wrapped around me. I rested my hands on his shoulders and met his
gaze. “What’s that?”
    “You could move to
San Francisco
. Work for a private firm that
will never doubt the validity of your gifts.”
    I gasped then stopped breathing entirely as
I stared into his eyes. On a professional level, it was everything I’d ever
wanted. Working with him today and being able to use my gifts freely had been
fantastic. “You’re offering me a job with Guardian?”
    His dark gaze