Page 49 of The Thief

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve done things—bad things.”

“You were a bodyguard, weren’t you? Of course you’ve done things. That was part of your job.”

“It’s not that.” His chest rose, then fell when he released a breath. “I have a reactive personality. It’s a defense mechanism that’s tied to my wolf. It helped me do my job, but outside of that, I’ve always stayed in control—until I met you.”

Butterflies tickled my stomach. “What do you mean?”

“When I’m around you, all I wanna do is beat the life out of anyone who disrespects you.” He laced his fingers over his chest. “I’ve never felt that way about anyone, and it scares the hell out of me. I can’t let my wolf come out when I’m angry.”

“Why not?”

Bear didn’t answer.

I snuggled against him, and warmth radiated off his body like the sun. How unusual to see a man who took pride in his appearance and yet was afraid of people’s opinions about it.

Bear lifted his left arm and wrapped it around me. That single gesture ensnared my heart, giving me permission to touch him back. When my fingers skimmed across his chest, exploring the terrain, his breath hitched.

I chuckled when a thought flitted in my mind.

Bear sighed and twisted away.

Horrified that he’d taken my chuckle the wrong way, I locked my arm around his chest, forbidding him from rolling over. “I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at us.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“A thief and a killer walk into a bar… It feels like the setup for a joke, but that’s us, working at the Rabbit Lounge.”

He gently stroked my arm. “This is nice.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve never laid next to a woman before. Not like this.”

“Don’t you like us?”

He buried a chuckle. “That ain’t it. The women I was with only wanted to get down to business and go. They had certain… expectations about the type of man I was supposed to be in bed. None of which involved lying in each other’s arms and talking.”

I drew an invisible circle on his furry pec with my finger. “No serious girlfriends?”

“They didn’t want a relationship, and neither did I,” he said, no remorse in his tone.

My fingers swirled up and down the flat plains of his abdomen. Among wolves, showing our belly was vulnerable and submissive. But with our human side, it was showing our heart and feelings.

“They didn’t know what they were missing,” I said, the words more for me than him.

Bear turned to look at me, and the warmth bouncing between us kicked up a notch. “I’m fallin’ for you, Mercy.”

I was falling for him too. Fast and hard. Though he’d caught my attention on day one, it had been a slow build to all these newfound feelings stirring inside me. Here I was, discovering terrible things about my past, and he was my rock. I never felt judged by him, and that meant everything. Especially since I was judging myself.

“Bear?”

“Yeah?” he replied, his voice deepening in timbre.

“I have another secret.” My heart thumped faster. “I can’t remember being with a man.”

His chin dipped. “You’re a virgin?”

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