Page 82 of Cowboy Bear's Hope

“You mean it?” I rasped, barely able to get the words out. “You’re not leaving me?”

Her face softened, and she inched closer, her light brown eyes shimmering with something I hadn’t dared to hope for.

“Leaving you?” she said, her voice tinged with disbelief. “Are you crazy? I love you.”

Those three words.

I love you.

They tore through me, shattering every wall I’d built, breaking down every fear I’d clung to.

That was all it took.

The leash broke.

The tight, desperate hold I’d kept on myself snapped, and in an instant, I closed the distance between us.

My hands were on her, cradling her face, pulling her closer like I could somehow make her a permanent part of me.

Fuck, but I needed to do that.

“Too many clothes,” I growled, tearing at her scrubs.

“Yes. Off,” she whimpered, tugging on my shirt.

My lips crashed into hers, fierce and unrelenting, every ounce of love, relief, and need pouring into the kiss.

She was mine.

And she wasn’t leaving.

A low growl rumbled in my chest, my Bear echoing the raw, primal joy coursing through me.

Her hands slid up my arms, clutching at me as though she needed this just as much as I did.

I pulled back for a breath, my forehead resting against hers.

“You don’t know how scared I was,” I murmured, my voice shaking.

“I know,” she whispered, her fingers tracing the curve of my jaw. “But you don’t have to be scared anymore. I’m here, Dante. Me and Rosie are here and we aren’t going anywhere.”

I kissed her again, softer this time, savoring the feel of her lips against mine. Because she was my everything.

And now, I knew she always would be.

Chapter Twenty-Five-Avery

Experience didn’t make someone a good lover.

That was something I hadn’t realized until I met Dante.

When I was younger and wild, I thought I needed to be with an experienced man to show me how to make love.

But all Nicky Crowden had to offer me was a rather awkward and short experience. We’d actually only had sex twice, and neither time had been anything to talk about. And that was something I’d only ever done in the safety of Girl Club.

Dante was right, I wouldn’t want to talk about women from his past either, sex or not.

I’d been confused, and maybe a little upset, about his keeping things from me where Rosie was concerned. But now that we talked, I understood a little better.

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