Page 27 of Stolen Mate

Females have little to no say in their lives. If I had a better idea of where I would go or how I would provide for myself and my baby, I might have tried to take Henry’s little girl, Annie, with me. Such a sweet, vivacious thing. I fear if she cannot break free, her spirit may be crushed.

God, my back hurts. I worry about what will happen after this baby is born. How will I care for us both? I can’t work anywhere I might be found. The baby’s sire—I refuse to call him by name or call him my baby’s father—will be looking for us. I won’t go back. I won’t let them condemn me or my child to that life.

I won’t.

She wasn’t out but for just a few moments as Derek was carrying her back into the cabin. “I’m awake. Sorry about that,” she said, feeling as if she ought to tell him to put her down, but she didn’t want to.

Like most girls who were tall and curvy, Tess had spent a lot of her life wishing that someday some gorgeous hunk might come along and sweep her off her feet. She was finding she rather liked it. And there wasn’t even a hint that she might be too heavy for him, which made sense when you considered he was a bear-shifter. She said that again in her own mind: bear-shifter.

Instead of setting her down or tucking her back into bed, he sat down—naked as the day he was born—in the comfy leather wingback by the fire. He settled her in his lap, which might have been nicer if he hadn’t been naked, and she’d had on more than just one of his old sweaters. It was another tall and curvy girl fantasy to have a boyfriend who was so much taller and bigger than you who didn’t mind you wearing his clothes and whose sweaters, shirts, et cetera were all big enough so as to make you feel petite.

Tess might have chalked up his consideration to chivalry. There was an air of the noble warrior about Derek. But she knew there was more involved than that. The large, hard cock that throbbed against her backside let her know the man was most definitely interested in her—and not just as someone he was compelled to look after. That was part of Derek’s appeal. He was a protector. As nice as it was that he could cook, and he could, she thought he was much better suited to being in law enforcement than he was to being a chef.

Or maybe not. She giggled softly—something she didn’t do very often.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. None of this—any of it—is your fault. Understand?”

She smiled and kissed his cheek, pulling back when he growled.

He tightened his arms around her. “Don’t, Tess. I wasn’t growling at you.”

“We’re the only ones here.”

“Not really. We both have inner bears who also have wants and needs. Yours may be nice and polite, but right now mine is raging at me to be turned loose to call to yours and run through the fields, to bring you back here, take you to his bed, and claim you.”

“I don’t know if that’s the worst idea you’ve ever had.”

Derek shook his head. “It is. You just found out that bear-shifters are real, and that you are one. That’s kind of a lot to process. The last thing you need to do is have some horny polar bear trying to get you into his bed so he can make wild, passionate love to you until you’re too sore and tired to ever want to leave it.”

He was so serious. “Do you want me to get up out of your lap?”

“No. Do you want to?”

Tess burrowed into him. “Not particularly. I like sitting in your lap, being close to you.”

He relaxed his body, but kept his arms tight around her, holding her as if he never wanted to let go. “What made you giggle?”

She had to stop and think for a moment. Coherent thinking was difficult at the moment. Like Derek’s bear, hers wanted out and to do the same things as his. And the woman wanted to be ravaged in the way he described. No soft, sweet and romantic lovemaking, but something wild and fierce. But he was probably right. This was probably not the time for her to throw herself into a passionate affair with a man she barely knew, and yet even as she thought it, she knew that wasn’t true.

“I was just thinking about you as a chef. Not that I don’t think you could rock any career you wanted, but you seem so much more suited to being a cop than a cook. Then I had a vision of you in your chef’s white, directing the kitchen staff, and I could hear a narrator saying, ‘Chef by day, superhero by night—the white bear seeks out those who are in need of justice.’”

Derek chuckled. “You see me as a superhero?”

“Most definitely. All those rippling muscles and well, not to put it too finely, you’re kind of hung. That’s not true,” she said, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, “you’re really hung.”

He groaned as his cock throbbed harder beneath her. “Could we not talk about my cock?”

“Why are there guys outside? Are they always there?”

“No. Zak sent them. Here’s the thing, Tess, our father—Zak’s, Annie’s, and mine—is an old school bastard. To his way of thinking, you were sired by one of his people and then stolen from him. She-bears are a commodity to him, and he’s going to want you back. We’re not going to let them have you. I want to take you to Zak’s compound. You’ll be safer there. I also wasn’t sure about how my trying to tell you about who you are was going to go, so I wanted to keep you here. And maybe I just wanted you all to myself for a few more hours.”

Derek shifted in the chair, probably trying to get more comfortable, but all he managed to do was get his cock pressed more closely to her. He continued. “Zak wanted us safe, so he sent a few of his warriors. If—and that’s a big if—Henry gets wind of you being here and decides to get stupid, both Zak and I wanted to be sure we could protect you. This way you and I can get some sleep, and tomorrow we’ll head to Zak’s.”

“I don’t want to be any trouble. Maybe I shouldn’t have come. Maybe you should just take me to the airport.”

“It won’t help. Once Henry knows you exist, he’ll be after you. We won’t let him have you. Bear fights are violent and are best done out of the sight of prying non-shifter eyes.”

“But I don’t want to bring trouble to your brother and his people.”

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