Page 18 of More Than I Can Bear

I swallowed hard.

“No, it’s not.”

My breath was coming in noisy gulps and my heart was beating way too fast. This was like being given a free kick. You stood before the goalposts, the whole stadium’s eyes upon you. Half of them wanted you to make the goal and the other half prayed that you wouldn’t.

“When we were together, we…”

I wasn’t going to tell them all the nitty gritty details. I’d rather cut my left nut off than confess to what Freya and I had done in the bedroom.

“We…”

The sharks started to circle right then, women setting knitting and books and paperwork aside, peering at me over the tops of glasses. I’d faced footy tribunals less stressful than this.

“One thing led to another and I… I claimed her.”

“You did what?” Ingrid snapped.

“Adam!”

Mum’s face fell then, making me feel worse than I already did.

“Well, I assume that’s not what brought you here today?” Nanna said, rising up from her seat. “My boy…” For a minute I thought everything would be OK. She gave my arm a squeeze, just like she did every time I faced a disappointment, but the frown on her face didn’t fade. “There are very, very good reasons why we stress that a sleuth needs to get a woman’s consent to a mating bond first.”

“I know, I know.” My hands raked through my hair and I felt a sudden need to shave it bald, just to get it out of my face. “She needs to be given the opportunity to say no, otherwise it can bring heat on the whole community and her as well. I—”

“No, darling.” My nanna peered up into my eyes, willing me to understand. “Women all across the world are not given choices: around what roles they take on or how they look, what clothes they wear, and who they do and don’t have as sexual partners. Bear shifters are supposed to be better than human men. You make sure you have her enthusiastic consent before claiming her because it’s the right thing to do.”

And just like that, all the joy I’d felt at last night’s dream fled. I stood there, wavering on my feet as it hit me. Because what I’d done? It was a form of sexual assault.

Chapter10

River

“I need you to go up to the cafe today,” Kaine told me as we all sat down for smoko. He handed me a sheaf of papers. “I want you to feel out the cafe owner, see if she’s open to catering for our team while we work on this project.”

“Why don’t you talk to her?” I asked, pushing the papers back his way. That’s what Kaine did, he made the paperwork happen so we could do our jobs.

“I was in there this morning and…” Fuck, was Kaine smiling? It was a tiny little thing, but it was there. “I asked our mate out on a date and she said yes.”

“She did?” I blinked, trying to imagine how that conversation would’ve gone and failed. “Well, congrats.” I pressed the paperwork into his chest. “So you can handle—”

“I’m not going back in there again today,” he said in a definite tone, the one that made clear there would be no more arguments, no matter what you thought about the matter. “Going back would look weird and stalkery.” We were weird and stalkery, I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut. “Talk to the owner, set the deal up and then come back here.”

Which is how I’d come to be standing out the front of the cafe.

“You’re back!” Our mate seemed so bright and bouncy, so alive, that I felt like a fucking creeper as I just soaked her in. “What can I get you this time? Another chicken parmi?”

“Ah, no. Can I have a word with the boss?”

Shit, her face fell then, making me wonder what the fuck I’d done wrong. And then it occurred to me. “It’s nothing you’ve done. Kaine—”

“Kaine?” She said his name quietly, making my mouth move faster.

“He wants you to cater for the building site.”

There, it was out now. Hopefully that cleared up any misunderstandings.

“Me?”

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