Page 8 of Bearly Breathing

Ugly clothes or not, she had the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. They were the color of a September sky. Clear and bright, they were easily the bluest eyes he’d ever witnessed. Utterly breathtaking.

His stomach tightened as he inhaled her scent. Tupelo honey with the faintest hints of English lavender. He imagined she’d taste just as sweet on his tongue. Grrr.

He felt his Bear’s possessive growl tremble through his body. His fingertips ached, and his gums itched, his Bear desperate to make an appearance. Uh oh.

He should get as far away from her as possible. The thought was met with more rumblings from his Bear. He wanted her now in his den where he could stake his claim.

We must leave her for now, he told his inner beast. She is a normal and doesn’t know of our kind, best not frighten her, his attempt to soothe the Bear was met with anger and impatience. Finally, he dominated the Bear with a single growled thought. Back off.

His self-preservation instincts were nothing compared to his Black Bear’s drive for him to find his mate. Fucking terrible clothes or not, this woman is mine. MINE.

Still, he knew better than to frighten her.Marcus exhaled, but couldn’t stem the slow growl that crept up from his throat. Her eyes jumped back to his and he covered up the noise with a cough. She frowned.

Time’s up, Romeo. I need to get out of here. He should really move, but his legs refused to work.

The urge to gather her up in his arms and sniff her from head to toe was damn near overwhelming. He unconsciously stepped closer to the woman. His Bear rumbled with happiness at her nearness.

“Can I help you?” his mate asked. He felt his cheeks heat and realized he’d been caught ogling her. He grew even redder as she regarded impatiently.

“I said, can I help you? Mister?” Her voice was husky and rich, music to his ears, but it was her wide eyes that held him hypnotized.

“Mr. Devlin, your key!” his attention was brought back to Mr. Gordon who was waving his card key in the air. What the fuck am I doing?

“Sorry, excuse me,” he murmured and quickly turned away from her.

No way. We’re not doing this here! He fought the Bear for dominance and won. Though his chest was heaving with the effort.

He turned to Mr. Gordon and gathered his key, nodding at her on his way to the elevator. This time he managed to avoid eye contact.

His Bear snarled and growled at him, but he refused to listen. He was here for two things, work first, then relaxation. Not to find his fucking mate in some normal. She was a badly dressed tourist on vacation for shit’s sake!

Too late, fucker. She is the one. Normal or not.

His Bear seemed to smirk at him. Hints of her honey sweet scent filtered through the cooling system of the hotel and Marcus groaned. He was so fucked.

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