Page 17 of Saving Meri

Bear’s voice was low when he finally broke the silence. “What are you doing, little one?”

Her lips parted slightly, like she had no idea how to answer. She held herself, her fingers digging into her skin, breathing shallowly.

She was afraid. Not of him, but of herself.

Bear didn’t push. Didn’t make it harder than it already was. Instead, he flipped back the blanket on the empty side of the bed. Meri hesitated, but only for a second before she crawled in, keeping herself small, her body stiff with uncertainty.

Bear let her settle, let her find her space, before he reached out and pulled her against his chest. She went rigid at first, her breath catching, but he didn’t let go. Didn’t force. Didn’t demand. He just held.

Her pulse thrummed against his wrist where it rested lightly against her belly, her body slowly losing its fight as her muscles started to unlock. Bear pressed his lips against the top of herhead. A quiet reassurance, a promise without words—she was safe, and he wasn’t going anywhere.

Meri’s breath finally slowed, her body curling deeper into him, her fingers loosening their grip on her own skin. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Bear knew, and for now, that was enough.

Bear held Meri against his chest, feeling the slow, uneven rise and fall of her breathing as she settled into him. Her body was still stiff, but exhaustion was winning. He didn’t move, didn’t push, just kept his arm firm around her waist, letting her decide how much she could take.

She didn’t know how to ask for comfort, but she wanted it. That much was clear.

His fingers traced slow circles against her back, grounding her. This wasn’t a game, not some club scene where people freely submit and others purposefully take advantage. Meri was learning to trust someone again, to exist without the weight of what others had done to her pressing into her ribs like a steel cage.

She shifted slightly, barely a breath of movement, but it was enough to make his grip tighten, just to let her know she wasn’t going anywhere. Her breathing stuttered for a second, like she expected him to take something from her. He didn’t. He just held.

A few minutes passed, the silence between them stretching, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Bear knew what this was—her body and mind learning what safety felt like again. What it meant to be touched without expectation.

Her fingers curled into his t-shirt, just barely, like she was testing the feel. He didn’t move, didn’t react, just let her take what she needed in her own time.

“Good girl,” he murmured, his lips brushing against her hair, the words barely more than a rumble of approval.

She shivered slightly, but she didn’t pull away. Bear knew the significance of those two words to a woman like Meri, and their meaning before her abduction. It wasn’t patronizing, wasn’t about control. It was about acknowledgment, reassurance, acceptance.

She let out a slow breath, her body finally losing the last of its fight. Bear closed his eyes, keeping his grip firm but careful, listening to the sound of her breathing as it evened out. She was finally asleep.

He stayed awake, not because of her, but because he knew danger still threatened them.

DeLUCA

Across the city, in the darkened back room of a high-end club, a man leaned back in a leather chair, his fingers tapping against the polished wood of his desk. A laptop sat open in front of him, the screen casting a cold glow over the sharp angles of his face.

“You’re sure?” he asked, his voice low and clipped.

The man standing across from him swallowed hard. “Yes, sir. She’s with them. It was their team took her from the auction.”

The man in the chair let out a slow breath, but there was no sign of frustration. Only calculation.

“This complicates things,” he murmured, tilting his head as he studied the screen. Meri Vaughn had been a message, a weapon, a way to dig into the cracks of the people hunting them, and now she was something else entirely.

His fingers stilled against the desk. “She’s a valuable asset now,” he said, his voice calm. “We need her back.”

The man standing across from him shifted uncomfortably. “Bear Cole is watching her.”

The name didn’t bother him. “We’ve removed worse obstacles before,” he said, his gaze never leaving the screen. “Find them.”

He closed the laptop with a quiet snap and stood, buttoning his suit jacket with methodical precision. He normally bought and sold his merchandise—but Meri had been different. He’d been able to rent her out at a considerable profit while bedeviling Cerberus. He had lost nothing yet, and neither had his ultimate buyer.

5

BEAR

The man hung from the ceiling like a carcass in a butcher’s shop. The steel hook, secured with zip ties that cut deep into his flesh, wrenched his arms above his head. Blood dripped down his forearms, pooling at his elbows before falling in thick splatters onto the concrete floor. His feet barely touched the ground, forcing his body to sway with every ragged breath he took.

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