Page 87 of Regally Binding

He looked pointedly at the front of them. “The sweet spot at the front of your joggers is a dead giveaway,” he replied with a strained chuckle. He raked his eyes over her body again before limping out of the room.

Chapter Forty

The gentle wind lifted the strands of her hair that had already fallen like ribbons from her ponytail.

Sun flushed her skin with heat, warming her as she tipped from side to side to stretch her back. Most of her stretches were in the house, away from prying stares, but as she breathed in the scent of spring flowers, she closed her eyes and pushed her hands high. The taste of freedom was more than she had hoped for. Green fields surrounded the long private road that led to the remote house owned by Strike’s parents.

“Come on, Slowcoach,” Bear shouted as he led Liss down the driveway onto a bridlepath.

Birds flew high above the trees. They appeared carefree and Liss longed for the same from her future. She breathed the fir-filled air. Bear was right. She needed this. She only ran a few times a month when her shifts and energy allowed. Because she couldn’t afford a gym membership, she ran outdoors in the concrete jungle with diesel fumes.

She overtook Bear, slapping him on the arse. His response was a gruff swear word. Liss waved at the sheep as she sped past them. The breeze continued to tousle her hair.

Bear shouted directions as they jogged further into the countryside. The ground was unsteady, and a couple of times, he grabbed her hips to stop her falling. Little did he know how much that turned her on. Thoughts about never seeing him again competed with fears of the future and questions about the King.

“Left,” he shouted, directing her into a forest. Liss usually ran wearing headphones, often obliterating her thoughts for thirty minutes. With her tiny legs competing against his long ones, their noisy steps were out of time.

“Stop,” he shouted as she reached a smaller path.

Liss froze. “What’s wrong?” Her words were barely audible between her pants. Hair strands stuck to the sweat covering her skin.

Birds crowed, and leaves rustled in the trees. “You’re thinking too hard.”

Liss leant against a tree as she attempted to fill her lungs. She sensed his eyes on her chest as she panted.

“I’m terrified I’ll fall and snap an ankle.” But at least it would mean she’d be in his arms again. Maybe he’d carry her to her bed to release even more endorphins. Flashbacks from their morning left her aching.

“I wouldn’t let that happen to you.” Leaves crunched as he stepped closer. “You’re a good runner.”

“This helped, although nothing stops the overthinking.” Although now that he was in front of her, she knew what might temporarily stop her overthinking. In his grey joggers and T-shirt that gripped his muscles, Bear was sex in sportswear. But this was about running, not her need to have him.

“Then I guess we’d better keep going. I don’t want you to get cramps.” His eyes dropped to her calves as she flexed them. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and he shifted himself in his joggers. She wanted to feel his dick again.

“You don’t want to help me work out a cramp?” She positioned her foot on a low horizontal branch and stretched. Sweat dripped down her chest, and he licked his lips.

“You’re a tease,” he said, his voice gruff. He tracked Liss’s movements.

“Am I distracting you, Bear?” Heat crept between her thighs due to his primal stare. His eyes were dark enough to lose herself in and never return. “Have you ever done it in a forest?”

“Yes.”

“I haven’t.” Liss stood and pressed Bear against a tree. He went willingly. Branches cracked beneath his large feet. Liss stepped on a handily placed stump, allowing her to be on his level. She bit her lip as she stared into his eyes. “But there’s a first for everything.”

“What sort of bodyguard would I be to have sex in the open where anything could happen?” he rasped.

“A horny one?”

The arousal coursing through her from when he came inside her that morning wanted release. The kiss and palming of his dick was only the beginning.

“Liss,” he warned.

“Chambers,” she replied, remembering his surname from the boxing trophy in the house.

He swallowed hard. “No one in my life knows that name except Strike’s family. It sounds fucking glorious on your lips. Say it again,” he demanded.

“Chambers,” she replied, drawing out the name.

His lips hit hers hard and fast, and he gripped Liss’s hips tightly. Their tongues tangled, and he pulled her against him. The frenetic thoughts that had dogged her all day slipped away as she immersed herself in Bear. He slid his hands underneath her joggers and knickers and squeezed her bum. His hands were big enough to hold all of her. Bear trailed kisses down her neck. His lips were hot on her skin, and she moaned and whimpered his surname, writhing against him the entire time.

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