Page 112 of Choose the Bears

“Man, this smells amazing,” Kyle said, pulling one bowl towards him as he sat down, well clear of the books thankfully.

We’d come full circle, eating my grandmother’s stew again as the three of them laboured to make my life better, about to play a silly kids’ game, but when I stared into Asher’s eyes, I saw something there now that wasn’t present before. A sureness, a confidence in me, in us and that made me wonder what exactly he’d dare us to do.

Chapter 58

Lucas

I had been taking notes since the moment we met Imogen, trying to work out what made her tick. Books and art, that’s what I got loud and clear, though what the hell she had stashed in that box she’d hidden away when we moved her in plagued me. Maybe there was something else in there, something else she needed, and I wanted to be the one to provide it.

Because doing so filled me with this warm feeling that filtered all the way through my body, better even than a spoonful of her stew.

Maybe because that wide-eyed look of wonder was just as delicious. My mate looked like a kid in a candy shop, and I wanted to find a way to make every day like that. An art studio, fully stocked, next door? The possibility of studying art or even writing at university? Whatever she wanted, that’s what I needed to provide, but right now I tried to just enjoy this.

“The stew’s amazing, Imogen,” I said, even though I wanted to say so much more.

She flushed, her cheeks going even pinker.

“If I’d known about this I would’ve made something fancier.”

“You don’t need to do that,” I replied. “All we need is you…” My throat felt like it was going to close up, because while I’d heard tales of bear shifters finding their mates, they omitted this.

At some point you had to put your whole self out there, vulnerable and aching, and hope your mate still chose you. That’s what these books contained–I knew because I’d gone far beyond her list of damaged books.

Finding rare books was my jam, and I’d emailed every contact, every rare bookshop I could to find each one of her wish list, but as I trawled through the listings, I found more. More books with similar themes, with strong reviews, that other readers with similar interests to my mate had bought, so I’d purchased them as well. That meant each box contained her past–books that were well loved–but…

It also contained a future.

Of discovering new books, new authors, and new characters to fall in love with, and this time I’d be right there with her as it happened.

I wanted to start pulling books out, showing them to her like a kid proud of their finger painting or something, but before I could, Kyle set his bowl back on the tray with a clunk.

“So, truth or dare you said?” He grinned at Asher. “I’ll go first.”

“Of course you would volunteer.” Asher rolled his eyes. “OK, truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

That smug smile, the way he looked Imogen over with complete certainty, I wish I had that kind of confidence. She wiggled a little where she sat before putting her bowl aside, but in the end, she wasn’t the one to assign a dare.

“Read a sex scene from one of Imogen’s books.” Asher’s dry tone had me snorting and Kyle’s jaw muscle flexing. Nothing hadhim running for the door like reading. “Imogen?” Asher nodded to the boxes. “You can assign the reading material.”

“Somehow, I’m part of Kyle’s dare?” she muttered, but she went to the boxes anyway, running her fingers along the spines and that’s when she looked up.

Her eyes met mine, widening when she realised exactly what I’d bought her, but she pulled one book out with a shirtless man and a bear on the cover. A quick flick through the pages told me this was a favourite. She opened it on a specific chapter and then tapped the page.

“Bastian…” Kyle cleared his throat and then glanced around the room, actually looking uncomfortable for once. “Bastian pulled Joanna closer, his mouth finding her neck as he tugged her hard against him. His rock hard member throbbed at the scent of her, the feel of her, as she…” He glanced up at Asher. “Exactly how much am I reading?”

“How about when they seal the deal?” Asher drawled.

“Right. So, as she moved against him. The heat of her sought his, her hips moving instinctively, setting a rhythm that had them both groaning…’

As fun as it was listening to Kyle fumble his way through this, I couldn’t focus on the words, not when Imogen was in the room. Instead, I watched her grin, laugh, and then blush just a little, her hand rubbing against the carpet as he continued. It was her scent that undid me.

The sweetest honey when she first walked in, with just an acidic edge of surprise, that quickly softened as she saw everything we’d done so far and what we intended to do before we were finished. What I intended for us to do to complete this job.

That selfish thought took my breath away, unwanted and unneeded. I’d brought Kyle in on the idea from the start because that’s what you did as a sleuth: worked together as a team toplease our mate. But I wasn’t doing that right now. I was just watching him make her laugh and sigh with a book I’d hand selected. I wanted to be the one to read it to her, I realised. Away from everyone else, I wanted her tucked up against me, hopefully naked and happy, I wanted to choose whichever book she preferred, and I’d read it until she was done listening and needed to choreograph her own sex scenes. But right as frustration rode me, Kyle finally came to an end, performing a little seated bow before tossing the book back into the box.

“OK, that was amazing.” Imogen tried for sarcasm but just ended up sounding all breathy. “If you’d read me a book like that…” He got a hot, secret little look before she forged on. “Well, things would’ve progressed so much faster.”

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