Page 27 of Cross To Bear

“I’m the dish pig tonight?” he said with a frown.

“And then sit down on the couch with me and watch a movie, and I promise not to watch you take another bite.”

“That’s you compromising?” she asked, one eyebrow rising.

“That’s me making sure you take the time to relax and unwind after a shitty experience.”

Her jaw shifted as her eyes narrowed, and when her spine straightened, I was sure she was going to shoot me down, but she didn’t. Her hand was thrust out and offered to me.

“Deal.”

I grinned as my hand slid over hers, gripping it tightly for just a second, before I was forced to pull it away, then I was a man of my word and focussed on my own food until the meal was ended.

“So what do you want to watch?”

Maddie’s scent always got this slightly acidic edge to it when she was getting squirrelly, and as I breathed in now, I was catching that. Over a movie? I looked at the TV, then her, remote in hand.

“What do you want to watch?” I asked, flopping down onto her couch and then I sighed. “Damn, what the fuck is this couch made from?” I wriggled around, feeling like I was sinking into this soft cloud, the clink of the dishes in the sink as Bjorn washed them the only thing tethering me to reality.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” I felt the couch cushions shift, my eyes snapping open to find her sitting a little way down the couch from me and that wouldn’t fly. “I think it's the most expensive thing I own.”

“Money well spent,” I said, hooking an arm around her waist and tugging her closer.

Which was apparently a mistake.

She went stiff then, her scent souring, and I nodded slightly.

“Take a deep breath,” I instructed.

“What?”

“Take a deep breath and then let it out slowly.” She stared at me, a frown forming, then fading away as she did as she was told, and didn’t that give me fucking ideas? But it was the feel of her body moulding itself to mine that had my pulse slowing. “That’s it. Good girl.”

Pink stained her cheeks at that, making me think I’d overstepped, though as I breathed in deeply, I realised. It wasn’t discomfort that had her flushing, but something else. Maddie liked being told she was a good girl, which brought up a whole lot of possibilities.

“This doesn’t have to be a big thing.” I pitched my voice low and calming. “We’re just sitting on the couch. You’re going to put on a movie, any movie that you like. Actually, make it something that’s comforting, familiar. And as you do, you’re going to let go of every little bit of tension you’ve been carrying around today, before that even. Grab yourself one of those pretty throw blankets.”

“What?” she asked, but her hands picked up this soft grey fluffy thing and then pulled it onto her lap.

“They make you feel better, safer, right?”

“How the hell do you know that?” She went to pull away from me, but I held her fast. “Is this what being fated mates means?” Maddie peered into my eyes. “Can you read my freaking mind?”

That thought alarmed her and that was interesting.

“Why?” I asked. “Worried about what I might see?”

Chapter 17

Of course I was, because if Razor could see into my head, he’d see this.

His hotness was like a punch to the gut, those heavily lidded blue eyes that glittered with a dangerous light, those sharp cheekbones that looked like they’d been cut into his face with his namesake and then, to soften all of that, was a scruff of stubble and lips so full my fingers twitched to touch them and see if they were as soft as I thought they were.

But I was never going to be allowed to make this just a physical thing. If it was, maybe I’d have climbed into his lap, let him do all the things his eyes made clear he wanted to. Maybe those massive hands, with fine veins standing proud across the back, underlined and written over with Bjorn’s tattoo gun, would slide up underneath my PJ top and— You could almost hear a record scratch as I stopped that thought midstream.

Because that was never going to be possible.

I learned about bear shifters and fated mates the longer I’d hung around Jesse’s friends. The bond between them was ascribed almost mythical status, the goal of every bear shifter’s existence to find his mate and then spend his life spoiling her. It sounded like heaven beforehand, but now… I let out a sigh, my brows knitting for a second as his smile faded, still waiting for an answer.

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