Page 72 of Regally Binding

Chapter Thirty-Three

A bump outside Liss’s room woke her several hours later.

It was a little past two a.m. Bear had left three hours earlier, and after tidying herself up, she’d drifted off to sleep. The after-glow lasted long enough to quash any regrets her sexual exploration might have brought, but now the anxiety was tightly winding around her belly and ripping it in two.

She didn’t want to consider that she was a meaningless conquest Bear would forget by sunrise, but how would he be after this? Liss covered her face with the pillow and screamed into it. Isla would chalk up the experience to a fun night and not let it stop her from doing whatever else she wanted. But Liss couldn’t. Liss screamed again. At a tap on her bedroom door, she returned the pillow underneath her head and readjusted the bedding.

“Come in,” she whispered in a sleepy voice.

Light filled the edge of the doorway, revealing Bear still in his grey joggers and T-shirt. His stance was casual, yet fluttering butterflies replaced the pins that tried to stab her belly. His T-shirt strained against his tattooed biceps, and his muscley forearms had her aching for a repeat performance.

“You awake?” he asked so softly that her heart swelled in her chest.

She couldn’t get the feels. But the belly butterflies were out of control.

“Yeah.”

“Can I come in? I wanted to check you were okay after…”

“Sure.”

Bear stood awkwardly by the side of the bed. He pulled on his neck. Liss winced at her need to ensure he was okay. “You can sit on the bed with me.” He looked cautiously at the bed, as if it might become a gun-slinging enemy, before perching on the edge. “Is Strike still here?”

His head bobbed. “I mean, no. He left half an hour ago. I’ve finished a perimeter check. I was heading to bed when I heard you.” He refused to meet her eyes.

“I must have been making noises in my sleep again.” He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. Bear tapped his forearms before resuming his stare of every part of the room but where she lay. “Are you cold? Because there’s room under the duvet for you.” It sounded like a desperate chat-up line.

“I don’t get cold. Ma jokes that my blood is always boiling, but I’ll join you under the duvet. I feel a bit weird sitting on the edge like you’re sick and I’m your nurse.”

As his body touched hers, goose pimples danced across her skin. Damn feels.

“Cuddle?” he asked. His eye twitched in the light still coming from the door.

“Sure,” she replied as some tension slipped out of the room. She snuggled against Bear’s chest, their legs tangling as he held her close. He radiated a warmth that made her want to hum in satisfaction. “Does Strike know?”

“He probably suspects, but I didn’t tell him. I wanted to check that you’re okay.”

“You already said that.”

He cleared his throat. “I don’t normally fuck and run unless we’ve agreed that’s the plan. I would have cuddled, especially as this was a thing for you.” Just her? It was a weird way to describe it, but she let him talk. “You were amazing, by the way. I don’t say that because you need to hear it. The guys from your past were dicks.”

She held her breath at his mixture of cursing, caring, and vulnerability. This side of Bear was unnerving, and yet she wanted more. Undeniably, he made her come as no one had before. It was one hell of a fuck. But he intrigued her too. It was a dangerous combination.

“I guess.”

He pulled her a little higher to look at her. “Seriously, Liss. They must have been the biggest wankers.”

She swallowed loudly before stuttering, “Maybe I didn’t want to fuck them like I wanted to fuck you. Maybe the heat wasn’t there.”

His mouth scrunched to the side as he studied her. “I get that. When someone really does it for you, it’s amazing. Nothing compares to that.”

She nodded before stroking one of his tattooed biceps. “Do I get to find out about your tattoos?” she said, changing the subject. She didn’t want to discuss if she was catching feelings for him, and that was exactly where this conversation would go.

Liss slunk a little down the bed and cuddled back up to him. It was weird to feel so changed by what they’d done and yet be this close to someone who didn’t. Bear stroked her hair, causing nips of electricity to travel through her scalp. Even his soft side was addictive. Maybe he’d changed a little. “You know how I told you the other day that I was trouble as a teenager and used to get in loads of fights?”

“Yes.” Liss stilled as he continued to hold her close. Her breath synchronised with the movements of his chest, and she relaxed into him. “Did you get hurt?”

“Yeah, too much. I got known for being reckless, and my friends, who were all older, encouraged me to start street fighting for money. I was desperate to fight the biggest guy. I wish I could explain why I was like that. Maybe it was the arguments at home and being unable to meet my parent’sexpectations. I was the stupid son of academics who made me feel like I wasn’t enough. I never achieved at school because it didn’t make sense to me. The worse I did, the more their affection and attention seemed to wane. I couldn’t impress them no matter what. But the bad crowd thought I was awesome. So I went to them. I felt like I fit in, kind of. But then it all went wrong.”

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