Boarlander Bash Bear 2(28)

“Never. You’re mine to protect. I’ll always keep you safe, no matter what.”

And she believed him. Bash was optimistic, fun-loving, and open, but he was also as tall as a redwood and built like a Mack truck. If he thought his bear was beastly, then he was, simple as that. Bash didn’t sugarcoat things. He just said it like it was and moved on.

What would she do if anyone tried to hurt Bash? Red-hot boiling anger flooded her veins at the thought. He was good, kind, and wouldn’t hurt anyone unprovoked. That stupid article she’d edited for Bartleby flashed across her mind, and she got even angrier. Bartleby didn’t know anything, and he was definitely going to be pissed when he saw what she’d done to his article. She was probably going to get fired as an editor, but suddenly, she didn’t care so much about that. Spending time with Bash had shaped her dream job into something new. She didn’t want to edit anti-shifter articles anymore. She wanted to write for the newspaper and show Saratoga the other side to shifters that Bartleby had failed to see.

The thought of submitting articles of her own had been on her mind for a while now, but this right here was the exact moment she decided to go to battle for the shifters of Damon’s mountains. It was the moment she decided to protect Bash the only way she knew how—by publically opposing the anti-shifter murmurings that had sprouted up in Saratoga when humans had learned that dragon shifters existed.

Hugging Bash’s arm and resting her cheek against him, she promised, “I’ll keep you safe, too.”





Chapter Ten




Gooseflesh rippled across Emerson’s arms as she stepped through the front door of 1010. Maybe it was just because Bash had been so adamant about there being magic here. The old singlewide looked clean, from the sagging white ceiling to the white walls to the dark, cheap laminate wood floors. It was swept and smelled of kitchen cleaner. The furniture was sparse but went well. There was a green couch to match a green loveseat. A tiny eat-in area with a dark table and two chairs sat adjacent to the white cabinet kitchen with faux wood countertops. So what if there were stains on the ceiling where leaks had been patched, and the floors were a little rotted and squishy as she made her way through the kitchen to the bedroom? This place was downright homey.

“I can ask Willa to paint a picture of us,” Bash said. “She’s real good. Audrey had her picture with Harrison hung right there.” He pointed to the long wall on the back of the trailer. “That way it’ll break up all that white paint. Or I can ask Riley to make you something to hang on a nail there. She and those Ashe Crew girls are real creative. Shabby chic stuff, or so they call it. The ladies at the flea market go mad for it.” Bash shrugged and dropped his gaze. “Or something.”

“I like that you went to so much effort to make this place good for me.”

“Well, someday I want you to stay. Here. With me. I know you have your own place in Saratoga, and your work is there, too, but I like the idea of getting to sleep next to you, wake up with you, and kiss your forehead before I go to work in the mornings.”

He’d painted such a beautiful picture that she hugged his waist as a thank you. Every man she’d ever met had been aloof and had kept her at arm’s length, but Bash had no qualms with saying exactly how he felt.

“Knock, knock.” A brunette with glossed lips, a high ponytail, and dancing brown eyes came in the front door. She clasped her hands in front of her pink T-shirt that read Moosey’s Bait and Barbecue, and then rushed forward and held out her hand for a shake. “I’m Audrey, proud mate to Harrison Lang, Second in the Boarlanders, tiger shifter, and I’m really, really glad you’re here.”

Emerson grinned and shook her hand. “I’m Emerson Elliot. Uuuh, human, really glad to be here and…” She looked shyly at Bash and shrugged her shoulders as she murmured, “Proud mate to Sebastian Kane.”

“Oh my stars, are you serious?” Audrey’s voice had pitched to a decibel that was just under a dog whistle and Bash covered his ears. “Bash!” She shook his shoulders. “You picked!”

Bash chuckled and pulled both Emerson and Audrey in for a bear hug. “I picked a while ago, but I had to wait for her to catch up.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Audrey said, going soft beside Emerson. “Bash, we have to be careful. She just had her procedure today.”

Oh yeah. Bash was throwing her a Happy Baby Making Day party, and he wasn’t a subtle man, so probably all the Boarlanders knew about her doctor appointment this morning. Heat flashed up her neck and into her cheeks.