Page 35 of Mated to the Mountain Bear

That’s a yes.

“Ben, you’re a genius.” I grab his upper arms without thinking and pull him into a hug. “A real hot bath? Oh, my God.”

The muscles tensing under my fingers register before my brain catches up. Solid, built from actual work, and most certainly not earned strutting around a gym. My hands seem tiny against his arms, and when I give his biceps a squeeze, they’re rock solid.

“Woah.” I never thought I was into muscles, but apparently, I’m into these.

His pupils dilate, and his jaw clenches. The air between us crackles with the same electricity I felt last night, alone in his bed.

“Zara?” Ben’s voice is so deep, so gravelly, it travels straight to my core, and my stomach’s doing somersaults again.

“Sorry,” I whisper, but my fingers curl slightly again before letting go, unable to resist one last feel. “I got excited. About the water.”

Not about the water, although that’s a welcome development.

Ben dips his head to look me straight in the eye. “Stop apologising.” His voice is pure sin now, husky and low and far too close to my ear for me to keep my thoughts straight.

“Sor... okay.”

A heartbeat passes, then two. His eyes drop to my mouth, and I wonder if he’s thinking the same thing as me. What it would be like to kiss. But I get my answer when he steps back abruptly, gathering tools with quick, almost angry movements.

“Give it half an hour to heat. Should be enough for a full bath.”

He’s gone before I can thank him properly. I stand in the hallway, fingers still tingling, wondering what just happened.

And why the thought of splashing around naked in his tub feels like another line I shouldn’t cross but desperately want to.

12

ZARA

“Oh my god, the water’s actually hot. And the tub is huge.”

The old tub is big and so deliciously deep. I sink into the hot water, finally able to wash my dull, lank hair properly.

I let out a long, contented sigh that probably carries through the thin walls, but I don’t care. That’s far from the most embarrassing thing I’ve done in the last two days.

Ben must already think I’m a weirdo. I’m sure he’s wondering when Beau is going to come and collect the far too touchy-feely, and highly inappropriate woman who’s taken over his house.

“This is heaven,” I say to myself, sliding lower in the bubbles, my voice echoing slightly in the bathroom.

The water softly splashes and laps at the side as I move, lying back even further to dunk my head and luxuriate in the glorious heat.

“Leaving some clothes outside for you,” Ben calls out with a gentle knock on the door. It feels strangely intimate, him just a thin piece of wood away, talking to me while I sit in his bath.

“Thank you, Ben,” I whisper, smiling to myself at the thoughtful gesture. Another to add to the list of considerate, kind things he’s done for me since I landed on his doorstep despite him not wanting me here at all.

I melt, letting my muscles go floppy, and allow some of the fear from the last few weeks to melt away. I’m relaxed and safe, even if I’m making a complete tit of myself at every opportunity. The hot water is heaven against my skin. As I sink deeper, all the way up to my chin, I let out a groan of pure ecstasy as the heat seeps into muscles I didn’t even realise were tense.

A dark bruise covers my hip, stark evidence of how I ended up here, and that the break-in really happened. My feet are still scraped but healing fast, and no longer sore to walk on. And right now, in this moment, I feel safe.

Because of him. Tall, dark, grumpy Ben Lennox. With abs to die for and a way of glaring at me that turns me into a rambling idiot.

Good. This is... so… good. I moan loudly, swishing my hands back and forth across the water, pausing when I hear a noise from outside the door.

“Ben? Is that you?”

A faint shadow moves as he steps back. His voice is rough when he clears his throat and speaks. “Let me know if you need anything else.”