Page 41 of Bear In A Bookstore
Desi didn’t know the whole of what she’d been through, but this small snippet was enough to enrage him. Baker had intended to use her past against her to manipulate her. Maybe he wasn’t going to physically hurt her, but that he’d resurrect whatever she’d been through for his own gain was sin enough. He fully trapped the man between his arms, one on either side of the man’s head.
“I smelled you at the bakery, and it makes sense now. The scent came from the uniform you wear here at the Stanley Hotel where you give ghost tours twice a week. I noticed it as soon as I walked into this building, and it took all of three seconds to ask someone about it.”
“I said that I’m sorry!”
“You’re a pathetic excuse for a shifter.”
Desi knew exactly what he’d do to this man if he had his way, but ultimately, this was Kora’s decision.
“Kora, would you like to file a police report on this piece of shit?”
Baker shook his head. “Please, I’ll lose my job—”
“No. Let him go.”
Desi consumed the man with his gaze, then backed up and snarled as Baker ducked beneath Desi’s arm and darted out the door.
Kora hugged herself hard. “I need some air.”
She beelined it back outside, bypassing people that tried to greet her. He followed her to the left side of the porch where she moved against the building as if trying to shrink herself. His anger cooled by increments, his mind racing with the shit Baker had pulled. But it was over now.
She was safe.
“Hey, Kora. Hey.”
He took her arms in his hands, but she brushed him off, looped her hands around her neck and pulled herself onto her tippytoes.
And kissed him.
Desi crushed Kora to him, lifting her off her feet as he cradled her body against his.
Her soft, hot mouth unleashed fierce desire, every inch of his body coming to life. She kissed him like she was starving, her hands running over his lower back, nails pressing into his flesh through his shirt.
“What are you doing to me?”
She whispered the words desperately against his mouth, then kissed him harder. Her fingers threaded into his hair, her hips pressed against his middle, and it took all his control not to race her off the porch and into his truck.
“Why is this happening?”
“Because,” he growled, “you’re meant to be mine. Don’t tell me you don’t feel it.”
“I keep having these dreams—these visions—about you. And now, now . . .”
Kora suddenly wiggled to get down. He released her, watching with interest as she unbuttoned his shirt, her fingers working like her life depended on it. She pulled the hem free from his pants. His cock jumped, and his bear came fully awake. They were standing on the porch of the Stanley Hotel with the entire community inside, but he wouldn’t stop her if she jumped him completely right here, right now.
“Turn around.”
She moved him with her hands and stood on her toes to reach the collar of his shirt and pulled it down.
“Kora, what are you doing?”
“Holy shit!” She stood back, her hands over her mouth. ”I do not understand.”
Flipping his shirt back on, Desi turned to face her. “What? What don’t you—”
“You have the mark on your shoulder! The mark. It’s right there.”
Absently, he reached over his left shoulder where a thick scar marred his skin. “It’s a scar.”
