Bear Fire: Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BBW) (Pine Ridge BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance Series Book 4) by Belinda Meyers Read Free Book Online Page B

tattoo. For some
reason, she felt very close to Matt all of a sudden. The feeling overcame her
so completely and so shockingly that she felt tears well up behind her eyes.
    “What is it?” he said, sounding
alarmed.
    “N-nothing.” She kissed him again
and nestled against his chest. “Just hold me.”
    He wrapped his arm tighter about
her.
    Clomp,
clomp.
    Jackie stiffened. A golem was
approaching.

 
 
    Chapter 6

 
 
    Matt’s ears pricked as the sounds drew closer, and he held
Jackie tight against him. Could he bring his bear over if he had to? He wasn’t
sure. It had had some time to recover, but that first golem had savaged it badly,
and it needed to heal on that other plane or whatever it was. Matt could feel
it inside him, still sore and wounded. But angry and protective, too. The
Division had pissed him off with its lies, but it had also taught him how to
fight as a bear, and he knew he could kick some serious ass if he had to.
    Clomp,
clomp.
    The heavy footsteps drew closer,
coming abreast the suite of rooms Matt and Jackie occupied, and for a moment he
thought the creature was going to enter again and do another sweep. If so, he prayed
Jackie would be able to cloak them again, because he didn’t think his bear was
ready.
    After a brief pause, though, the
golem continued on, and the sounds slowly diminished, then faded altogether.
Matt let out a sigh of relief. He turned to see Jackie appraising him intently.
    “What?” he said, and forced a
chuckle.
    “Nothing,” she said, but he knew it was something. Was maybe a lot of something.
    Her dark eyes were serious, but
warm. Staring into them, his bear gave that low, mournful sound again, and he
felt something in his heart swell and flutter inside him. He blinked, feeling a
wave of dizziness come over him, then pass. Could
it be? he wondered. Could it really
be … her?
    He didn’t sleep with girls he just
met very often. In fact, he hadn’t for a long time, not since he’d first come
back from the Navy, all raw and broken from his experiences overseas. He’d
drowned out his grief and pain with willing flesh, but eventually that had
passed. He’d found a new place, a new life with a crew of shifters who were all
good men and who took him in like family. Just like Paul had been. Like
brothers. But something had been missing in his life, he knew that now.
    Something huge.
    Feeling something lurch in his
chest, he glanced away from Jackie and blinked his eyes. My mate , he thought wonderingly. Can it be that I’ve found her at last? Frowning, he realized that
he couldn’t know, not for sure, not until he knew who she was. She had secrets
she’d been keeping from him. If he was going to allow his heart open to her fully,
he had to know what they were.
    But was she willing to share them?
    Swallowing, he said, “And … what
about you? You know all about me, but I don’t know anything about you. Except
that you’re a thief and a magic-user. And that you’re willing to die for whatever
you stole from Walsh.”
    He turned to her again to see her looking away now. Her fingers traced
an absent-minded circle around his left nipple, and she pressed her head
against his chest as if seeking protection. From what? The truth?
    He stroked her jaw with a finger,
then tilted her chin up so that her eyes had no choice but to look into his.
    “Tell me,” he said, but he made his
words soft. “I need to know if …”
    She waited, but when he didn’t
finish she said, “If what?”
    If
you’re really going to be my mate . Instead of saying something like that,
which would probably scare any reasonable girl off, he said, “I just need to
know. And … I want to. I want to know you better, Jackie. What we just did, it
…”
    “Yeah?”
    “It’s not what I usually do. I mean
… with you it feels different.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well … bigger.”
    Her eyes widened, and a serious
look came over her, even more serious than before, but somehow that