BearTrapped by Jaide Fox Read Free Book Online

and met her eyes without compunction . “You’re in heat, ” he said.
    The hot flash returned full force. Kimber felt the blush creep up her chest and cheeks in spite of the cool wind tugging at her face and hair. “I am not. How would you know? You’re a be ar shifter! ” Her attempts at pretending aloofness had failed. “I can’t be in heat because of a bear.”
    Braeden grunted , clearly amused if the crinkles at the corners of his eyes were any indication . “ I’m half man too, just as you’re half woman. Men know these things. You’re still in heat—bear or not. ”
    “Why didn’t I go into heat at the festival then, surrounded by my own kind?”
    He shrugged. “That I couldn’t tell you.”
    She threw her hands up. She had a good mind to stomp back into the cave. She was a glutton for punishment, however. “I know my woman’s brain is small and meager compared to yours,” she said sarcastically. “ I’ve seen nineteen cycles , approaching twenty . Perhaps you could explain how you know what my body is doing when I do not.”
    “ Practically an old maid, ” he said, hitching on e cheek upward in as smarmy a look as she’d ever seen.
    Kimber wanted to slap him. She could see now why he was unmated despite his attractiveness. Her mouth dropped open on a gasp . The wind howled as if equally outraged. She grabbed the edges of her scarlet cloak at the outburst of air. “And you, old man?”
    Braeden straightened and stretched from propping on the handle. He had some gall looking indecently brawny and burly. Taking a break had allowed his body to cool and his nipples had turned into tiny pebbles that looked at her and asked her to bite them . She would have been amused if she hadn’t been so insulted. She would also have enjoyed a more thorough exploration of the differences between a man and a woman, but now she wanted to claw his hairy, well- developed abs open until he begged for mercy . And how could he remain shirtless in this kind of weather? Everything about him was beginning to grind on her nerves.
    “Twenty six cycles this spring , young’n . You might be grown, but if you knew any better, you wouldn’t be rubbing on me in the morning and tempting fate . Hell, you wouldn’t have come up with this plan to muddy the waters. We had a good deal, a clean one without complications. This is why I like my cave to myself. Bringing your lessons in won’t do either one of us any good—not when you’re clearly on the verge of mating heat. I’m planning on doing what my father done in this situation with my mother.” He strode up the cleared path as she followed him huddled in her cloak as if it were a cocoon.
    “And what’s that?” she asked, not bothering to hide her annoyance.
    Braeden set the shovel near the cave’s entrance , stabbing it into the frozen ground without difficulty . “I’m leaving. I told you. I’ll be gone all day and won’t be back until night. Keep the fire stoked. If you get bored and want to be useful, get some more wood up here from the pile . If not, there may be enough to last. I’ve got some ground oats if you get hungry and you can melt snow , otherwise, you can wait until I return tonight to eat. I ’ll try to be back by dark —once you’ve had time to cool down and come back to your senses .”
    “My senses are just fine. What about our lessons? Is that all?”
    “Yep. You don’t like it, you could always go back to your people, take your chances on finding another man to take care of you. You’re pretty enough you should do fine, though I pity any man dealing with your temper.”
    “You’ve barely scratched the surface o f my temper,” she snarled, following him back into the cave.
    He had the gall to laugh again . “ That, I figu red .”
    Braeden snatched a rough woven cotton shirt out of his bag and pulled it over his head before swirling h is cloak of black woolskin around his shoulders . The fluffy tendrils blew around his face as he