The Steel Bear: A BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Highland Brothers) by Meredith Clarke, Ally Summers Read Free Book Online

hurt.

9
    Crawford
    H e waited by the fireplace , creating a circle in front of the hearth. This was fucking insane. He had lost his damn mind. But suddenly things were coming into focus. Things he had never seen before. He kicked himself.
    Mila was beautiful. Her body was fucking amazing. She was smart. She could recognize design flaws like a seasoned expert. And she had been in love with him for a year.
    He picked up a log and tossed it on the low embers. The fire struggled to weave through the wood. He stoked it with the fire poker.
    He would just keep her here long enough to sort things out. He had to know if she really was the one. His bear was anxious to taste and feel her, but he knew things weren’t that simple. He wasn’t about to break a girl’s heart just to satisfy his bear’s primal needs.
    He kept a hiking pack in his closet. He jogged up the stairs. Mila’s door was closed.
    He pulled the backpack from the shelf. Before he left the room, he stopped in front of his dresser. There was the chance things could get heated quickly like they did last night. He tucked a row of condoms in the bag before heading downstairs to load up on water, power bars, and a few other cabin necessities.
    He heard soft footsteps on the staircase and looked up to see Mila fully dressed in the clothes he had given her.
    “Nice.” He laughed. They were loose and way too big for her, but she looked cute. Adorable.
    “Don’t make fun. I can’t hike in the heels.” She glared.
    “Come on. You’ll love it.” He led her through the garage, and into the backyard. They passed the garden and stepped on to the trail.
    He stopped after a few minutes to check on her. She was keeping up with his pace. “You doing ok?” he asked.
    “Of course.” She grinned. “This is nothing compared to my salsa class.”
    “Salsa class?” He held a branch to the side for her to walk past him.
    “Yes. Salsa. Thursday nights my friends and I go to salsa class where we learn dance steps, and then usually after class a whole group goes out dancing.”
    “Really? I didn’t know you danced. Sounds like fun.”
    “It is. And it’s an intense workout. But it’s fun. Energizing.”
    He smiled. He pictured her hips swaying to the beat of a salsa drum. Her body moving in rhythm as her bottom rocked to the music. Damn. He swallowed hard. It was the only thing he could think about. God, he needed to know how her body moved.
    They were still fifteen minutes from the cabin. Crawford paused by a tree and reached in his backpack for his water bottle. He had packed a second for Mila.
    “Water?” he offered.
    “Sure.” She accepted the stainless steel bottle and took a sip. A drop slid from her lips and rolled over her chin.
    Crawford reached forward, absorbing the droplet on his finger before it trickled along her throat.
    Mila’s eyes flashed to his. He could hear her pulse quicken. His bear was tuned in to her every movement.
    “We’re almost there.” He cleared his throat. He shoved his bottle in the pack. “It’s just a little farther this way.”
    They started on the trail again.
    “Have you ever tried salsa?” she asked.
    “No. I don’t have much time for anything other than work. We’ve taken on so many projects this year.”
    “You must do something outside of the office for fun. Do you have a way to de-stress?”
    He almost laughed. “Yeah. You could say I have my outlets.”
    He could see the rugged outline of the chimney peeking through the trees.
    “Oh wow,” Mila whispered.
    “We’re here.”
    “It looks like something in an old movie. It’s perfect. I can tell you designed it.”
    “You can?” He fished the key from his pocket and unlocked the door. It creaked open.
    “Of course I can.” She smiled, stepping past him.
    It was a simple cottage. He, Hudson, and Striker wanted a safe house on the property where they could keep an eye on things, be free to transform into their true forms, and escape from the rest of the