Page 3 of Bearly in Love

three

BO

I couldn’t convince myself to close the window.

Madi would be back. There wasn’t another option. Most foxes would be fine in the snow, but she didn’t shift as much as most of them did. I’d only seen her shift twice when we were kids. I didn’t think she liked her animal form.

Some part of me wanted to go after her, though.

Probably the part that was still throbbing with the memory of watching that tight little ass flex as she tried to get the window open.

If she wasn’t back by the time it got dark, I’d track her down. She could move quickly, but she’d need to rest eventually. I’d find her when she did. If I had to, I’d follow at a distance.

But I was fairly confident she’d come back.

It was a long way to Yeti Canyon. And there were yetis there. There weren’t many of them, but they were assholes.

My jaw clenched as I remembered her stating, like it was a fact, that I’d never been attracted to her.

I had fought with my attraction to that woman my whole fucking life. Her scent lingered on my skin every time I left her house. Honey and chocolate—my only vices.

Even after five years away from her, I still woke up most nights with the taste of her so close to my tongue it was physically painful. I’d never had my mouth on her skin, but I dreamed about it over and over.

And over.

And over.

Nearly every night.

The woman’s existence was my own personal torture, even when we were apart.

I looked at the thin, soft fabric she’d left by the window for the dozenth time in the twenty minutes she’d been gone. I had to literally grab the edge of the countertop to force my body to remain in my chair.

I’d lost my fucking mind.

Not that I’d ever really found it. A twenty-year obsession with your brother’s little sister wasn’t exactly peak sanity.

I should’ve gotten help years ago. Hell, decades ago. The woman had been engaged as long as I knew her. Her fiancé was more than twice her age, and though that was normal in supernatural society, the situation still seemed fucked up to me.

Probably because I was obsessed with her. And because being two years older than her had always made me feel like a cradle robber for wanting her.

I had work to do, so I needed to get up and get to it.

But I was still pretty sure that if I did, I’d end up at the window.

Picking up her clothes.

So, I stayed in my chair.

Her food was still on the plate in front of me. I needed to put it in the microwave. She’d probably be back within an hour or two. I was a grizzly, and I still thought it was too cold out there.

The food likely wasn’t warm anymore…

But it could still benefit from being kept in the microwave, couldn’t it? The window was actively letting icy air in, after all. I hadn’t run the heater since the night before, so the temperature in the cabin had already dropped a lot.

I was making up excuses, and I knew it.

But the alternative was sitting in the same chair until Madi came back.

Maybe the excuses were a good thing.

I got up and took the plate to the microwave, opening it up and sticking the ceramic dish inside. When it was shut, I let out a rough breath and nodded.

Good.

That was good.

I could go to work now, and?—

My feet were already moving across the floor.

Her bra and shorts were in my hand a moment later.

Fuck it.

They were at my nose in a heartbeat, and a fierce groan rattled my chest as her smell filled my lungs.

Rich, sweet honey.

Dark, earthy chocolate.

I could’ve come in my pants like a fucking teenager at her scent alone.

I knew I needed to move the fabric away. To put it on the floor.

I just couldn’t.

I took in another deep drag, like the fucking addict I was.

Madi smelled like pure, undiluted pleasure.

If she smelled that good, I’d lose my mind at her taste.

My hands were already moving the fabric, parting it so I could get my tongue on the closest thing I had to her skin, when I heard the softest crunch of snow outside.

She was back.

I was so fucking twisted.

If the snow didn’t melt soon, I’d end up offering her literally anything for a taste.

Maybe I should.

Maybe if I did, I could get her out of my head. Out of my mind. Out of my system.

There wasn’t a chance in hell she could live up to the fantasies I’d had playing through my mind for the last decade.

I managed to shove the fabric in my pocket before she slipped in through the window, shaking snow from her red fur as she landed lightly on her paws.

I forced myself to walk to the bathroom, and grabbed a towel.

There wasn’t time to hide the evidence of my insanity. I just had to hope she didn’t notice her underwear in my pocket.

Back in front of the window, I tossed the towel to the floor and dried the melting snow with my feet. The water that had already been puddled there went with it.

She hadn’t noticed anything yet.

Maybe I?—

Her icy nose bumped my pocket, and when she looked up, her eyes were inquisitive.

My chest squeezed.

“I was going to wash them,” I lied.

I wasn’t going to wash them.

I was going to sleep with my nose buried in them like the fucking creep I was.

Her expression said she believed me as much as I did.

We both knew I was full of shit.

She slipped across the living room and into the bathroom. I saw the entirety of her smooth, sexy back and ass before she shut the door behind herself.

And locked it.

I bit back a curse.

Before I knew what I was doing, I had the fabric pressed to my nose again and was taking another hint of her scent.

I definitely needed therapy.

Then again, I hadn’t planned to find her car on fire in front of my house.

My beast had been mourning losing her for the last few days.

I’d assumed she would’ve already been forced to mate with her alpha, and had refused to let myself intervene.

Artie was convinced the arranged mate bond would be good for her.

What would I have even said if I tried to break up the wedding, anyway?

I didn’t have a family to offer.

Bear shifters didn’t stay with their mates after claiming them with a bite and knocking them up in the process. Supposedly, we couldn’t handle commitment. As soon as we had gotten what we wanted—sex—we got tired of it and left our own fucking children.

I wasn’t about to do that to a kid.

Especially not my kid.

Or Madi’s.

Some of the grizzlies in town were trying to be better, but there was no way to know how long that would last.

It made more sense for her to be with the alpha.

Or it would’ve.

But she was running away from him.

She’d probably run right into the arms of some yeti bastard in the Canyon.

My nostrils flared.

The beast within me roared.

How was I going to let her go?

I took another hit of her scent.

How was I even going to let her underwear go?

With one last deep inhale, I forced my legs to carry me into my bedroom.

I didn’t fucking know what I was going to do.