“What if I told you I knew, deep down in a special part of myself, that I’m meant for you and you’re meant for me?” he asked, still facing away.
He was striking too close to home, to those romantic fantasies she’d once had of meeting the one and living happily ever after with a prince. And she’d been hurt too much before by believing them. He couldn’t expect her to do that now. Not yet.
“I’d say you were crazy,” she said. “And maybe just getting a bit caught up.”
He growled and strode toward the bed. His magnificent bare chest caught the lamplight as he lunged onto the bed and took her mouth in another fierce kiss. This one was claiming, harsh, a sign of ownership, and when he pulled back, she found herself once again unable to think rationally.
And that scared her.
“I’m not crazy,” he said. “I don’t just say this to women. I don’t use women who I know are looking for something long term. I knew when I looked at you, just by how Scott had hurt you, that you’re the type a man keeps forever. I’m looking for forever, Janna.”
She turned away on a sob. “I don’t know if I can believe in forever anymore,” she said. “And it’s just too good to be true. You don’t know how it felt. To move out here to the middle of nowhere, to the wilderness, because I thought I was going to be loved, protected. Instead, I wound up alone. Poor. Nowhere to go. Anything could have happened to me.”
“No,” he said. “You’re strong.”
“I didn’t feel strong,” she said. “I felt helpless. Angry. I never want to feel like that again.”
He pulled her into his lap on the bed and cradled her, pressing his lips to the top of her head in a gentle, soothing kiss. He seemed to understand now that what had hurt most wasn’t just the cheating; it was the abandonment. And it was feeling like she was the one to blame because she’d known it should be too good to be true yet still blindly believed in it.
“I never should have moved for him.”
“You did nothing wrong,” he said, his voice clearly trying to contain the anger he was feeling over the Scott situation. “You did what a good woman would have, and if he’d been a good man, it would have been fine. That was his job, to be a good man. A trustworthy man. He failed at that.” He held her tight. “I won’t, Janna. I promise.”
She leaned into him. She was tired of not being able to trust. Tired of planning to spend her life alone because she didn’t want to be hurt again. Tired of Scott showing up at the store as if he thought he could take control of her life again just by stalking her.
“I’ll protect you, Always,” Ryder said in a low, growly voice. “With all parts of me.”
She smiled and reached up to play with his hair. “All parts? Are there more than one?”
He smiled a half smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Maybe.”
“Keeping secrets, hm?”
“Not that I want to,” he said.
“Probably good, though,” she said, stroking a hand down the side of his face. “I’m only just now getting used to the idea of you wanting me. I’ll need some time to recover before you drop any other bombs on me.”
He seemed to wince at that but hid it quickly. What was that?
“What is it?” she asked.
He opened his mouth to tell her but then looked up at the window across from her and his eyes went wide with shock. “Shit.”
She flipped around, feeling a chill rush down her back as she turned to where he’d been looking. At the window, black eyes stared back at her. The bear from before. She screamed and pressed into Ryder as the bear reared up on its back legs and took a swipe at the window.
“Damn it,” Ryder said. “The worst possible time. I should have known.”
“Known what?” she asked, her heart trying to pound out of her chest as the window made a cracking noise and the bear reared back for another blow. It was monstrously huge, and she could feel how tense Ryder was behind her. Clearly, he was afraid of bears too. Who wasn’t?
The sound of shattering glass made her scream again. The bear reached its giant paw through the window, scraping in her direction. Then it pulled out with a howl of pain and reared back again.
She tried to grab Ryder’s arm, but before she could, he pulled out of her reach with a muttered apology. She looked into his eyes in disbelief as he left her alone on the bed. He gave her a look that said how sorry he was just as he reached the door. Then he ran through it, leaving her alone with the bear.
13
She didn’t have time to feel her heart crack in two because the black bear had shattered more of the window. He reached both paws in and she grabbed a sheet to cover her nakedness as she tried to think what to do. She had only seconds. One more swipe and he’d probably be in. Dammit. Her body was limp, dizzy from the pleasure overload, not ready to go into fight mode, but she tried to drag herself from the bed and tripped.