Page 34 of Cross To Bear

“A bit more hands on than that,” he replied with a smirk before telling us exactly how it went.

“I’m done.”

I looked over to see Maddie sitting there, a scrunched up piece of paper in her hands; however, it was her expression that caught my attention. A little irritation, some discomfort, and a whole lotta sass. I smiled as I shook my head.

“No, you’re not.”

“What? I don’t normally eat breakfast, so don’t go expecting me to eat more muffins. I mean, it was lovely, so thank you—”

“Thank me by raising your skirt a little,” I growled.

And where the fuck had that come from? The bear was definitely part of it, because it was his voice speaking, not mine, but it was more than that. Razor and Bjorn had come back with ideas and rules of engagement and everything, and I… I’d been waiting my whole fucking life for this moment, so I was gonna shoot my shot.

“What?” She looked around then, taking in the other cars then me. “You don’t mean—”

“Just a little. You have real pretty knees, Maddie. Show me them.” I caught her eyes, just for a second, before focusing back on the road. “You said it was the best coffee you’ve ever tasted, so, show me your knees.”

Her little huff of frustration was like the sound of victory to me, because it wasn’t an outright no. I heard her shift in the seat and looked down in time to see her hike her skirt up just a little. I saw those knees, and I wasn’t lying, they were real pretty. Her skin looked soft, so fucking soft, and her knees were dimples in those plush thighs.

“Good girl, Maddie.”

Fuck, my cock had started to ache on the drive over here, but right now it lurched hard in my jeans. It wanted out, the baculum threatening to jerk forward prematurely, in its eagerness to get to her. I just pushed down on it with the palm of my hand, trying to get it to settle, something she caught with wide eyes.

No, make that fascinated ones.

“You make me so fucking hard,” I told her in a low rumble. “Every fucking time I see you, I’m sporting wood so hard I could hammer nails with it.” I wrapped my hand around as much of my length as I could and gave it a squeeze. “Make me harder, love. Raise that skirt a little higher.”

Her mouth fell open, a protest forming on her tongue, ready to be spoken, but something stopped her. She didn’t give a fuck about what was happening outside the car anymore, just caught up in this. Her, me, us and our responses to each other, something made clear by the thickening floral scent in the car.

“I’m not like the others.” I watched her hands go to the hem of her skirt. “They know what a woman wants, needs, but I don’t. I’ve never…”

A small crease formed between her eyebrows as she stared up at me.

“You’ve never been with anyone else?” she asked.

“There was no point.” I jerked my eyes away from her and back on the road. “I knew I had a fated mate out there and… I didn’t want other women to have been anywhere near anything that belonged only to her.” I swallowed hard, needing a drink of my own, though unable to bring myself to grab a bottle of water, because if I stopped, this would never come out. “I was only ever going to be hers, and so I made sure every other woman that hung around us at the bars knew that.”

“So you’ve been waiting for me?”

I was supposed to be reducing her burdens, not adding to it, but I could never resist a direct question from her. When she asked about how my day was going or what I was working on when she was still with Jesse, I always answered her.

“Waiting, wanting.” I snorted and shook my head. “Longing. Not that it matters—”

“Yes, it does.” Her hands were still gripping the hem of her skirt, though she wasn’t focused on that, just me. “You knew… The whole time…”

“I would’ve told you if I could’ve without hurting you.” I stared into her eyes, willing her to see the truth. “I would’ve made it clear if you weren’t… in love with Jesse. But by the time we met, you were head over heels, and I…”

I looked away because I couldn’t say any more, not when I was watching her expression change—because I felt like I knew what it would shift into.

Pity.

I couldn’t stand that, the thought of it having my fangs locking tight.

“I’d never do a thing to hurt you, Maddie. Not even that. I would never have done a fucking thing to get in the way of you and Jesse. Even though he was barely worthy of breathing the same air as you, let alone anything else. But what would I tell you to do?”

I flicked on the indicator, veering left abruptly and then parking by the side of the road, not able to split my focus when I said this.

“I’d make you put yourself first, look after yourself, let other people do all the shit stuff you shouldn’t be getting your hands dirty with. And most of all, I’d tell you to accept whatever help people were offering you, because while I know you’re sick of carrying everyone else’s burdens, the first step to putting them down is giving them to someone else.”

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