Page 19 of His Protective Bear

Simon waggled his brows, “I said what I said.”

I didn’t have time to reply because Hunter walked in. I wasn’t even looking toward the door, but I knew he was there.

I looked up and saw him standing by the door in dark jeans and another henley, this one black. There was something so stoic and sure about him. I wasn’t sure if that was even the right description, but yeah.

I lifted my hand and waved at him, then felt a little silly, but then he waved back and mouthed, “Hey,” and my belly fluttered, and my heart definitely did this weird jumpy thing.

He pointed to the corner where he usually sat, but I shook my head. Then turned quickly to my cousin, “I’m leaving. I’ll just go get my stuff.”

Papa appeared. “Here it is.” In his hand were my coat and messenger bag.

“Thanks, Papa,” I said, but I couldn’t help blushing. “You sure you don’t need me? I checked. I don’t want to—”

“Don’t think about it one more second. We’ve got things covered here. Go,” Papa gently shoved me towards the exit from behind the counter.

When I walked up to Hunter, he smiled. His whole face lit up, and my belly did that flippy thing again. “Hi, ready?” he asked.

He lifted his hand like he wanted to hold mine, then dropped it. “Sorry,” he said, flushing.

But before he could slip his hand into his pocket, I pushed mine into it.

My eyes went down to our joined hands. When it felt like he wasn’t holding on, I went to take my hand out of his, but he tightened it around mine.

I looked up at him, but he already had his eyes on me, grinning.

“Can we please get going,” I said, trying to ignore the blush that was staining my cheeks.

“Of course.” Hunter took my bag from me like I couldn’t carry it myself and led me to his truck. He helped me in and shut the door after making sure I was safely buckled in. I didn’t take my eyes off him as he walked around the front. The man was truly gorgeous. Tall and built. When he got in the truck, I may have drooled a little as his jeans pulled against his muscular thighs.

Before he even started the truck, Hunter asked, “You okay?”

I nodded, “Yeah.” I really was. “Yeah, I am.” I thought I would be anxious being in the car with him about to go somewhere, but I actually wasn’t.

“Good,” Hunter replied, and it was relief I heard in his voice.

The drive home was the same as the last week together. We chatted about everything and nothing. He listened when I talked about my day and didn’t make me feel like it didn’t matter compared to his.

By the time we got to my house, I had realized I wasn’t ready for him to go. When he was pulling up to stop at the front of the house, I directed him to my favorite spot on our property instead.

When we reached the clearing beyond the trees that overlooked the river, Hunter pulled his truck up to the rocks and asked me to stay in the truck until he could get the door. My alpha was chivalrous like that.

When he opened the door, he extended his hand for mine. I looked up at him with a soft smile and placed my hand in his.

“So tell me about this place,” Hunter coaxed. “It's beautiful, sure, but why is it your favorite?”

When we reached the edge, we leaned against the large rocks that protruded from the ground. The wind had picked up a bit, causing a shiver to sweep through my body. Hunter stood and pulled me away from reclining against the rock, then moved behind me. He pulled my back to his chest and wrapped his arms around me, cocooning me against his body. I could feel his firm muscles and the erection growing between us. My heart sped up, and the intense feelings of desire ran through me as I looked over the landscape pondering his question. Hunter leaned his head forward and placed it on my shoulder, bringing us cheek to cheek, beard to beard.

“Thank you. This is my favorite place to come when it feels like everything is closing in on me. It’s where I go when I need some space to think about my life.” I shrugged, “And the beauty of this place gives the hesitant romantic hope that I’ll find someone to love me one day, even though I’m broken.”

Hunter tightened his hold on me and whispered, “You are not broken, Sage.” His voice was firm. Then he placed a kiss on the side of my neck, before carrying on. “I’ve been yours since high school when you never knew it. I’ve waited years for you to finally be mine, and I won’t stop trying to prove it to you until you can trust what I’m saying is true. The Gods knew that you were the perfect partner for me. Our story may take on a different twist, but think about how much our kids will love the stories of us.”

His words attached themselves to my heart, and somewhere deep down, I knew he was telling me the truth. This man was mine.

I immediately turned in his arms and set my hands on his face, rubbing my thumb across his bottom lip. When I looked into his eyes, I could see everything I needed to know.

When my erection rubbed against his equally hard shaft, I lost all semblance of control. I pressed my parted lips to his, and my world shifted into balance. Hunter tightened his hold on me and crushed me to his chest. Our tongues danced around one another, and the taste of him made fireworks explode behind my eyes. The moment was so intense and powerful that I would have sworn this was the God's way to let me know Hunter really was my mate. My alpha. My future.

When breathing became a necessity, Hunter pulled back and placed both of his large hands on my face to focus my gaze on him.

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