Page 74 of Grin and Bear It

“I told you—”

“No, really.” I stared him down. “If it was just about making sure I was fed, you could have had something Door Dash-ed over. What is this?”

He thought about it for a moment, nodding slowly before he replied. “I’m always going to want to be around you.”

“Like always. Always, always? So I’m a fucking psycho that likes tormenting small animals for fun, but shit, I’m your fated mate so—”

He snorted at that. “I’ve never known any bears’ mate to be anything like that and, I gotta say, animal cruelty is not gonna fly with me, but you already know that.” There was something completely implacable about Tyson, as if I could throw anything at him and he wouldn’t respond, which was both reassuring and also odd. “But you don’t hurt animals. You don’t hurt kids. You didn’t hurt Cole, which is a miracle, and you don’t even want to hurt me.”

He nodded at me then.

“That’s the problem, isn’t it? You’re getting your head around the fact that this is real, realer than anything you’ve ever had before and…” His hand took mine, but whether it was to comfort me or to stop me from bolting, I couldn’t tell “And I don’t think you know how to deal with that.”

Fuck…

“Now before I trigger you again, my mom always told me never to waste food. And you don’t want to waste this. And because we’re being honest, it’ll fill me with way too much satisfaction to see you eat something I made, feel good because of something I did, and then sleep well because I made sure you were fed.”

Right.

What could I say to that? Nothing, of course, which was why I put my spoon into the chilli and took a bite.

Chapter37

It wasn’t Tyson’s fault, but when my cleaning guilt was triggered, it was hard to stop. After we finished our food, I took the bowls into the kitchen, running the water to wash them and all the others that were piled up on the sink. And that’s when a pair of strong hands steered me out of the way.

“I can—” I started to say.

“I know you can.” He stepped in, plunging his hands into the water and scrubbing our bowls before reaching for some more. “You could also go lie down on the couch and relax while I get this done.”

“But—”

He flicked his hands free of the bubbles and then came over and turned me around, then smacked me on the arse as I was directed out of the kitchen.

“Ow!”

“No buts,” he said. “Go on, shoo.”

So that’show I came to be kicked out of my own kitchen. I hovered there for a moment, tempted to get stuck into the table, or finish my report comments or… I could lounge around on the couch and watch TV shows until my brain rotted. I sprawled out on the couch, flicking through shows, but unable to land on anything when Tyson sauntered over.

“Everything’s done.” I had a massive seven seater couch I’d picked up cheap because it was shop soiled, but he chose the place right next to me, lying down so that his shoulder was touching mine. I stiffened slightly, because apparently I could have multiple orgasms with one bear shifter and be turned on by another in the same day.

“Thanks.”

“So what’re we watching?”

He slung his arm around me then, tucking me into his body like I’d been made to fit there, and I forgot to breathe. He was massive, warm, all hard muscles and smelled so fucking good. I took an experimental sniff deeper, getting some combination of man, sandalwood and something slightly citrusy.

“Do I smell as good to you, as you do me?”

His voice was low and deep, vibrating all the way through me and when I looked up he was staring down at me, a small smile on his face.

“Ah yeah,” I said. “Great cologne— Whoa!”

I was picked up and then laid across his body, my head tucked into the crook of his neck where the scent was stronger, his hand smoothing down my back to keep me right where I was.

“OK…”

“Breathe me in,” he commanded. “I’m yours, so if you want to learn my scent, then take a big lungful.”

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