Bearllionaire(48)
What. The. Hell?
“I’m sorry, honey,” the bear said, mouth moving unnaturally.
That’s it. She was hallucinating. She scooted back another step, then looked over at Barry as he took advantage of the bear’s attention on her to run screaming from the scene.
Somehow, she didn’t think they’d have to worry about him anymore.
“Don’t be scared,” the bear said, coming closer. “It’s me.”
Her heart stammered wildly and she let out a little squeak as she scrambled back. Then the bear blurred in front of her face, as the other had done before Barry appeared, and she found herself looking at a pair of large, naked thighs.
Ryder sighed and dropped to crouch in front of her, eye to eye. “I’m sorry, honey. I tried to tell you.”
Her head went light. “Oh, so you’re the bear,” she said weakly, barely certain if the words were coming from her own mouth at this point.
He nodded.
“Ah,” she said faintly. “That makes sense.”
Then she fainted dead away.
16
When Janna woke up, she was back in her bedroom. It was bright outside, with shards of light penetrating the curtains drawn closed at her window. But it was dark in the room. The light was off, and a shadowy figure was sitting next to her bed on a chair brought up from kitchen.
The figure was tall, dark-haired, and familiar.
“Ryder?” she said, sitting up and rubbing her head. Her hair was frizzy and out of control, and she fumbled on her nightstand for a hair band and pulled it into a rough ponytail. Then she flicked the switch to turn on the lamp. “What are you doing here?” She sighed. “I had the weirdest dream.”
Then she noticed the scratches on his face, the dirt on his clothing.
Maybe it wasn’t a dream.
“I should have told you sooner,” he said quietly. “I’m usually a good strategist. Completely in control. Able to execute a plan just the way I want. But that all went out the window when it came to you.”
“Didn’t you think I’d want to know you were a bear before I started dating you?” she asked quietly. Then she shook her head. When was a good time to spring that on someone? “I mean, at least after we were intimate the first time, you could have mentioned it.”
“And you wouldn’t have run away screaming?” he asked quietly, his handsome face calm and resigned. “Don’t lie. You fainted when you saw me. But I couldn’t help it at that point. I had to shift or you would think another bear was threatening you.”
“So you were the grizzly bear outside the window?” she asked, putting a hand up to her lips. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Thank you for saving me.”
“Of course,” he said seriously.
She put her hands over her face. “What a mess.”
“It was bad luck, I admit.” He shrugged. “All I was thinking about was how to keep you safe. And now that you’ve seen my grizzly up close, you see why me shifting in that tiny room would have been a bad idea. My claws could have caught you.”
She nodded, trying to calm the part of her that kept screaming this shouldn’t be possible, that she must be dreaming. But she wasn’t. She had clearly just woken up. And Ryder Hart was really in front of her, flesh and blood, talking about being able to turn into a bear.
“Your brothers, are they like you?”
He nodded.
“Oh my gosh. The world’s hottest movie star is a freaking bear.”
“I wouldn’t call him the hottest,” Ryder said. “For now, he seems to be doing well with the romantic roles. But the world is fickle that way.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But that doesn’t change that he’s a bear. A freaking bear.”
His jaw twitched. “And what’s wrong with bears?” He took a deep breath and relaxed back on the chair, long legs stretched in front of him as he folded his arms. “Never mind. Honestly, if I was more used to shifting, I probably could have handled the situation better. In a way that made you feel safe but still kept you safe. But I’m a city bear. I panicked and I let my bear take over. And he just wanted to go out and beat off the bear that was threatening you. Bears fight for mates, you know.”
She nodded. Did she know that? How much did she really know about bears? How much did she think about them?
“So how often are you a bear?” she asked. “Like, do you have to live as one sometimes?”
He shrugged. “I would think not. I haven’t had a lot of bear time growing up in Silicon Valley. I remember shifting more when I was little. When Dad was around to take us out into the wilderness.”