Read Online Doctor Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Bluff Book 2) by Harmony Raines - Free Book Online Page A

wasn’t careful. Yet his bear didn’t care. She was his, and he was never going to give her up. Especially not to a man who had hurt her so badly.
    Ben drove carefully back down the mountainside, trying to regain his composure. Furtive glances over to Beth told him she was OK, yet still not awake. Or was she pretending to sleep so that she didn’t have to face the monstrosity she thought he was?
    The doctor had never been insecure before. His good looks and personality had always ensured people liked and respected him. Could it be that the one person he needed to like him would shun him? And what if she talked to his patients and told them what he was? He would be ruined, Bear Bluff would be ruined, and their secret would be out.
    All these emotions passed through him: fear, rejection, and sadness. And then he stopped himself. They were meant to be together, the fates had decided. He had to believe she was his for a reason, in the same way that he was hers for a reason. When he looked at her and saw her beautiful, round face, he knew why she had come to him. All the hurt from this other doctor was his to heal. That is what he did, what he had done all of his life.
    It might take time, but he would heal her broken heart, and heal her fear of him. His patience and selflessness returned. As he got out of the car, he knew things would work out. They had to.
    Lifting her out of the car, he took her into his home, opening the front door and carrying her over the threshold. One day he would do this when they were married. And they would be married. He could never give up on that dream.
     

Chapter Sixteen – Beth
    “What happened?” she asked, seeing his concerned face watching over her.
    “You don’t remember?”
    She lay still for a moment, trying to conjure up the image that just danced out of reach. What had happened? “The bear.”
    He nodded, his frown deepening across his handsome face. “The bear.”
    “Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to react like that. It was just … well, a surprise.” She reached up and stroked his cheek, and he turned his face to look at her, his lips pressing against her hand, sending shivers down her spine.
    “That’s it? A surprise?”
    “What do you want me to say? A shock—overwhelming, unbelievable. There are no words to describe it.” She thought for a moment, going over the image of him changing before her eyes. “How?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. With all the medical knowledge in my head, I still don’t know how . It just is . I was born with the gift.”
    “There are more like you?”
    He nodded. “We don’t tell everyone. But you are my mate, Beth. I couldn’t have made love to you without you knowing. It wouldn’t be right. Now I’m afraid I’ve lost you.”
    She sat very still, examining her feelings. “No. I think it will take a long time for it to sink in. But … well, strange things happen.”
    “It’s why I can promise you that I will never leave you. There will never be anyone else for me.”
    “Because you are a bear?”
    “Because a part of this gift is that once we find our true mates, then we stay with them forever.” He lifted her hand and kissed it reverently. “And you are my true mate, Beth.”
    “That sounds almost as fanciful as you turning into a bear.”
    “It’s all true. I have waited a long time for you. And I will never betray you. You are the most important person in my life.”
    “So what happens now?” she asked.
    “One of two things? Or both, I hope.”
    “Go on.” She swallowed her desire; she sure hoped one of them was him making love to her right there and then.
    “I propose and then I claim you.”
    “Claim me?”
    “Yes. I want to come inside you, Beth. I want to feel you around me. You know what I mean.”
    “Yes,” she said, her voice hoarse.
    He leaned down and kissed her, his mouth firm on hers. Ben was showing her exactly who he was, the master of her body. And when his hands touched her breasts,