Page 31 of Bear In A Boutique
“Estes Park is in your blood. It’s your home.”
That’s exactly what Fox would say and why he hadn’t told him yet. He didn’t want a guilt trip. “I don’t want it to be. I think. The only way I’ll know is to leave and see how it goes.”
“Why don’t you want it to be?”
He gestured to the fire. “Your marshmallows are burnt.”
She inspected the charred balls and put them back in the flames. “Not yet, they’re not.”
He grimaced. “You’re going to eat those?”
“Stop diverting. Something must have happened to turn you off from staying here.”
Ah, his daddy issues. Ryker wasn’t sure how to explain it to her or if he even wanted to. Thinking for a second and coming up with nothing, he just went with it.
“I have a lot of bad memories that were easier to deal with when I didn’t have the choice to stay or go. Once I finished fireschool, I realized nothing was stopping me from leaving. I finally had the choice.”
Pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders, she took another drink and set the bottle down. “Bad memories of your dad?”
Who the hell told her about that? Right. Lulu.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you that.”
Before he could reassure her, she pulled the stick from the fire and grinned excitedly. Two chunks of coal hung off the stick. “These are perfect!”
She’d certainly redirected their conversation in the most disgusting way possible. “You’re not serious.”
“Oh, yes I am.” She blew on the cremated marshmallows. “Want to try one?”
“Hell no.”
“You might like it.”
“I absolutely won’t.”
“Fine. More for me.”
Feeling like he was watching a horror scene he couldn’t look away from, Ryker cringed as she picked the blackened treats off the stick and bit into them. Remarkably, the hollowed insides still had a bit of gooey marshmallow. A satisfied sound came from her throat as she slowly licked her fingers. One by one, her lips wrapped around each fingertip and sucked the stickiness off with her eyes closed. Heat flushed the surface of his skin. He should look away, but he couldn’t. The way she enjoyed her treat was so pure, so innocent.
So fucking hot.
She needs more. Our mate is hungry. Get up. More, more, more.
The words whispered demandingly in his head and the overwhelming urge to blacken the entire bag of marshmallows made him jump to his feet. Grabbing the stick from Olive,he stuffed the bag of marshmallows between his elbow and his body and put them on the stick until he couldn’t fit anymore. Thrusting the stick into the flames, he winced at the overwhelming need to hold her on his lap and make her eat.
Oliveneededto eat. Digging a hand in his hair, he tried to pull himself out of this nonsense, but it was an instinct rooted in a place he couldn’t touch. And now it was all he could think about.
Olive watched him with curious amusement. “Changed your mind about a burned marshmallow, huh?
The hell he did. The only thing he wanted was the look of bliss and satisfaction on her face while he fed her sticky sweetness, her lips wrapped around his fingers while she licked it off. He pulled the marshmallows out. They were barely lightly browned, but it didn’t matter. She needed them,now. Without waiting for them to cool, he slid them into the palm of his hand and lowered to one knee beside her.
She leaned away in surprise as he came at her with a marshmallow, clearly not understanding what was happening. Neither did he and he hoped like hell that she didn’t ask because there was no way to explain this sudden madness.
“Ryker, what are you doing?”
He pressed the marshmallow to her lips. “Open your mouth.”
Hesitating, she complied slowly, and he popped the treat inside her mouth. Not waiting for her to chew, he pushed another between her lips and reached for a third. She grabbed his wrist and turned her head away.
