Page 153 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

He growled against her shoulder. She had entirely too much clothing on. After making quick work of her jacket, he slipped his hands under the hem of her sweater. As he caressed her waist, shetrembled.

The soft press of her breasts against his chest wasn’t enough—he needed more. He glanced at her face only to find desire written all over it. That was all the encouragement he needed to lift her sweater over her head. As the clothing raked across the steamed-up window, it left a trail. He knew he shouldn’t be undressing her like this, but he couldn’t deny his bear anylonger.

The Cowbear’s ChristmasBride

Paranormal ChristmasRomance

Copyright© 2015 LivBrywood

All rightsreserved

No partof this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in areview.

This book isa work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirelycoincidental.

Chapter1

Carol pulledthe lapels of her red trench coat up as she ducked into Central Park. Normally she didn’t venture into the park at night, but she hadn’t been able to hail a cab. Snow crunched beneath her boots as she hurried along the path. Last week, a woman had been attacked while running around the lake. Her attacker stillroamedfree.

Darkness closed in on her as she passed one glowing street lamp. The next pool of light lay ten yards ahead, just far enough away to send a shiver of unease up her spine. As she approached the light, a man stepped out from behind a cluster ofbushes.

Shefroze.

He stopped and glanced her way. As fear pushed adrenaline into her limbs, her heart hammered out a thundering beat. Blood rushed through her ears to drown out the ambient noise of the city. She tensed, ready to bolt back toward thestreet.

When the man finally turned and walked away, she sagged with relief. She waited until he’d disappeared around a bend in the sidewalk, then turned and retraced her steps back to a fork in the road. The alternate route wouldn’t be as short, but it might besafer.

As she jogged down the path, she swore she’d never be caught in the park again after sunset. At this point, she couldn’t do much to change the situation. She was too far in to justifygoingback.

After rounding several bends, she spotted a road through a tangle of trees. If she ran up the snow-drenched embankment, she’d make it out faster. As she studied the angle of ascent, freezing December air bit at her skin. She wanted to get home and curl up in her warm bed as soon as possible, so she decided to goforit.

Her gaze fixated on the glowing taillights of cars driving past the small opening. A breath whooshed from her body as she scrambled up the slope. She was almostthere.

Just steps from freedom, a hand flew out of the darkness to grabherarm.

The man yanked her back against his hard body and snarled, “Give me your purse and I’ll letyougo.”

“O...okay.”

She knew better than to argue. If that was all he wanted, she could live with having to call the credit card companies to cancel all of hercards.

As she handed him the purse, she kept her eyes on the ground. She’d read somewhere that if you didn’t confront the mugger, he’d be more likely to take the moneyandrun.

When he didn’t leave, she looked up. An unmistakable leer shimmered in his black eyes. She backed upastep.

“Where you going, baby?” heasked.

“You have mypurse.”

“Maybe I want more than yourpurse.”

Her throat closed as he took a step toward her. She’d never been such in a dangerous situation before and had no idea what to do. A clawing sensation came from deep within her chest. Shit. Was she going to have another asthma attackrightnow?

“You shouldn’t be alone in the park after dark. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?” he asked with asmirk.

She backed up another step. A strange tingling sensation burned along the tips of her fingers. She held up her arms and stared as hair sprouted and grew to cover her skin. Thick pads developed as her hands grew to anenormoussize.

A searing pain ripped down her spine. When she screamed, a roar filled the air. She jumped back. Had she made that sound? What the hell was happeningtoher?