Page 18 of Bear

“Couch,” I replied. “Maisie is in the bedroom. We’ll wake her up.”

Now that Bear’s hands were on my body, there was no chance I would be able to stay quiet.

Carrying me to the couch, Bear eased me back against the cushions, his lips sealed to my neck. His calloused knuckles grazed the delicate skin of my inner thighs and I sucked in a breath of surprise and pleasure at the sensation. I shifted my legs open a little wider, granting Bear access.

Pulling my panties aside, he sank two fingers inside me easily until he was knuckle-deep.

“Oh my God,” I sighed, melting into the couch.

Bear coaxed and twisted and curled his fingers until I was wet enough that he could add a third finger with an obscene, slick sound.

I tugged his shirt from his belt, finally getting my chance to sneak my hands up his chest. Coarse hair met my fingertips, along with ridges of muscle, and then I stuttered over the puckered skin of a scar. Followed by another. And another.

“Bear?”

He stopped. The sweet ache in my lower belly protested and when Bear withdrew his fingers, I nearly cried at the emptiness he left behind. His hand remained at my waist, anchoring me.

I shifted until I was partially sitting up. Bear didn’t protest, didn’t make any move to stop me as I pulled his shirt off. With one sweeping glance, I found a dozen scars, some of them small, others nearly six inches long.

“What happened?” I cataloged every scar with a gentle touch.

Bear covered my hands with his.

“When Carlos and Pedro came along, I needed to make ends meet somehow.”

“By doingwhat?” I asked in disbelief.

“Street fighting. I knew it was illegal but the money was good.” Bear’s voice went even quieter. “I’d dropped out of school. I didn’t have any family to lean on and I didn’t join the Alpha Riders until I was nearly twenty-five. It was my only choice.”

A pang shot through my heart on Bear’s behalf. I knew what it was like to feel desperation choking you.

“And what about now?” I asked.

“I fight for my club. I fight for my brothers. But I’m not on the streets anymore. I swear.”

I cupped Bear’s face in my hands. He released a low, shuddering breath and closed his eyes, sinking into my touch.

“That’s all I am, Shelby,” he said. “A big brute who can throw his weight around and scare people.”

“You don’t scare me,” I whispered.

Bear opened his eyes and met mine. I brushed a kiss to his forehead, his gaze locked on me the whole time. Slowly, I felt him relax, draping his body over mine. The hard length of his cock, still trapped in his jeans, dug into my thigh.

“I can think of something else you would be good at,” I said, rolling my hips beneath him.

Bear breathed a soft laugh. He hooked his thick fingers into my white cotton panties and stripped them off.

“It’s been a while,” he said. “So you might want to rein in those expectations, Mama.”

God, I loved it when he called me that. Especially with that grittiness in his voice and the slight rasp that made it sound so decadent and sexy, compared to the exhausted and stressed woman I’d been for the past few months.

“How long?” I asked.

Bear spread my thighs wider, the roughness of his palms sending white-hot sparks across my skin.

“Fourteen years, give or take.”

I raised my eyebrows.

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