RANCHER BEAR’S BABY(91)

“No cheating or lying. No bossing me around. No pushing me around. I want the freedom to go and see my best friend, whenever I want. Essentially, I want to be free. But, I want you.”

She stopped and laughed. “Man, this is going to be awkward if you don’t want me, too. I guess I should’ve led with that question.”

I closed the gap between us and held her face in my hands pressing my lips against hers, letting her know how much I still wanted her. Her body fell against mine and I lost any sliver of chance I had at ever being okay without her.

“Whatever you want.”

She ran her hands through my longer hair and then across my full beard. “This has to go. It’s tickling me.”

I shrugged. “Fine. What else?”

She brushed her shaking fingers over my eyebrow. “No more fighting. Your poor face.”

“Done.”

“I missed you. It’s crazy. I don’t know you, but I missed you. Even right now, I don’t feel like you’re close enough.”

I caught the backs of her legs in my hands and lifted her into my arms. Her legs locked around my waist and I let my eyes drift closed at the sensation. “I missed you. More than I could ever explain.”

“Can you deal with my list?”

“Bunny, I can agree to anything as long as it includes you being here with me.”

She kissed me again. “I rented a house. I want to get to know you first, before we live under the same roof.”

“Fine.” I tasted the skin at her throat and grinned as she writhed in my arms. I had no real intentions of letting her out of my bed for a couple of weeks, so we could sort out the details then. “It was hell without you.”

She pulled her nails across my back and moaned. “Eventually, we have to do more than this. We have to talk.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Later, though.”

I grinned. “Definitely later.”





CHAPTER 15: Bunny




The world was back on its axis. All of the anxiety I’d felt over the past six months had faded the second I saw John. A new tension had formed south of my stomach in its place. I’d made the right decision. I knew it as much as I knew the sky was blue. I belonged next to him.

John carried me into the house and up the stairs, to his bedroom. With ease, he lowered me onto the bed and then stepped back. His bruises were quickly fading, leaving perfect, tan skin behind. His hair was longer and messily brushed back from his face, and his beard had grown fuller. I liked the way it made him look, even if it tickled my face.

“What are you thinking about?”

I looked up at his golden eyes and smiled. “I don’t hate the beard.”

He laughed while pulling his shirt over his head. “I like your hair like that.”

I shook off the blanket that’d been around my shoulders. “Mandy told me you’re James Smith. I’m sorry I threw your own books at you that first day.”

He undid his belt buckle. “I probably deserved it. I wasn’t quite myself. See, I’d just met my mate and slept with her within ten minutes of finding her hiding in my closet. It was a busy day.”

I sat up and leaned forward on the bed so I could grab the front of his pants and pull him closer to me. “She sounds easy.”

“Ha! No, she is not easy. She is anything but easy!” He leaned over me and grabbed the bottom of my dress before easily pulling it off. When he saw that I wasn’t wearing anything under the dress, he groaned. “Not easy at all. But worth it.”

I ran my hand down his length, through his jeans. “Well you’re pretty hard yourself. We should do something about that.”

“We’d better not. I’d like to last longer than last time.”

I unzipped his pants and pushed them down enough to get him out. “Apparently, we have a while. Being mates and all. I’m told that’s forever.”

He twitched as I held his erection in my hands and stroked. “Damn, Bunny. Say that word again.”

“Which one?” I flicked my tongue over the head of his dick and looked up at him. “Forever?”

John opened his mouth to talk, but I opened my mouth and took as much of him as I could in. I moved my tongue along the underside of his shaft and curled my lips over my teeth as I bobbed my head. He growled and buried his fingers in my hair.

Just when I was finding a good rhythm that had his grip tightening in my hair, he moved away from me. “On your back,” he growled.

I moved to the middle of the bed and pressed my thighs together as John undressed. Seeing him naked turned me on more than anything else ever had. My mate was sexier than should’ve been allowed. His body made me stupid.