Bear.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Thia
MY HEART LEAPT and sank all at the same time.
My focus wasn’t on Bear’s nostrils as they flared out with his ragged breaths as if he were about to breathe fire. Or his knuckles which were white with tension, or his teeth which were bared like a wolf’s. It wasn’t even on the frightened deputy on the other end of his anger and his gun.
It was on the freckles that lined the tanned skin below his beautiful eyes. It was on the way his chest rose and fell, reminding me that not only was he was alive and breathing, but he was right in front of me.
He was free.
And he was fucking pissed.
Fully expect me to break his fucking wrists or end his fucking life. Bear had said to me the last time our paths had crossed with Buck.
Shit.
Buck’s life was on the line. Bear could put a bullet in his chest or head at any second, but instead of fearing for my old friend’s life, I couldn’t help but admire the straining muscles of Bear’s biceps, and again my attentions were on the way his chest rose and fell as he breathed through his anger. Maybe it was fucked up of me, maybe it was just because I hadn’t seen or spoken to him in over six months, but Bear being angry to the point of wanting to kill for me made my heart flutter and the place between my legs throb. And when a memory flashed though my mind of the last time we’d been alone together. Naked. I had to bite my bottom lip to keep myself from writhing on the seat.
My Bear.
My entire body recognized him, and from what I was feeling I knew it had missed him as much as the rest of me had.
Bear squatted down, looking at Buck with pure hatred in his eyes. “I told you not to lay hands on my fucking girl again or I’d end you,” Bear seethed, fire dancing in his eyes. He cocked his gun and aimed it straight at Buck’s chest who was visibly trembling, his mouth wide open, scrambling backwards in the dirt road. A wet spot formed on the front of his pants.
“I’m the la-la-law,” Buck stammered, reaching for his gun. Bear stood up, lifted his foot, and stomped his boot over Bucky’s holster.
“I’m not,” Bear countered. If I didn’t do something, I knew Bear would be seconds away from making good on his threat.
I slid out of the cruiser. “I came here for his help,” I said.
“Looked like you were doing a real good job of convincing him to give it to you,” Bear spat. “That dress for him too?”
“What?” I asked, the reunion I’d envisioned for us looking nothing like what was unfolding.
“Get in the fucking truck,” Bear snapped, jerking his chin to King’s truck which was parked right behind the cruiser.
“No,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “And you know what? I don’t have to defend myself to you or anyone else. I didn’t do anything wrong. Only guilty people need to defend themselves, and I wasn’t guilty of anything but trying to help you.”
I stomped over and shooed away Bear’s boot, which he reluctantly removed from Buck’s holster with a deep growl. I unsnapped the gun and handed it up to Bear. I held out my hand to help Buck up, but he waved me away.
“I can’t believe I was actually going to help you,” Buck muttered, standing up and brushing the dirt from his pants and palms.
Bear took a half step forward, making Buck jump back. “The only thing you shouldn’t be able to believe right now is that you’re still fucking breathing. I’m having a pretty hard time with that one myself. So GO before I change my fucking mind,” Bear said, his jaw clenching and unclenching. The chords in his neck straining as he tried to maintain control.
Buck shuffled to the cruiser but I wasn’t done yet. “If the condition of you helping me was what you just tried to pull then you weren’t going to ever help me,” I pointed out, needing him to know that what he wanted wasn’t ever going to happen between us.
“Get the fuck out of here, now!” Bear shouted. A warning I knew he wouldn’t be repeating again. He pointed with the barrel of his gun to the cruiser.
Bucky wasted no time jumping in and turning the key. “You’re going to regret all of this, Thia,” Buck said, his voice shaky. “Maybe not now. But someday, when you realize he can’t give you the kind of life you really want. A normal life. You’ll regret it then.” He put the car in gear. “And I won’t be here when it all blows up in your face.”
I looked back at Bear, and even though his eyes screamed rage and murder and every other frightening emotion a person could possibly possess, I saw something else. Something more. Something that told me what Buck was saying was complete and utter bullshit.
Because where Buck probably saw a criminal with anger issues and violent tendencies.
I saw a fierce loyalty.
I saw love.
“I think there’s something you aren’t really understanding about all this,” I said to Buck, leaning in through the window of the cruiser. I could feel Bear’s disapproval at my back.
“And what would that be?” Buck asked, his attitude firmly back in place now that he was safely behind the metal of the car door. But he couldn’t fool me. I could still smell the urine on the front of his pants.
“I needed help just now, someone to protect me, from you of all people, and he was here,” I said, waving back to Bear who stood like an angry stone statue. “Where were you when I needed help, Buck? Not today, but when the grove and my family were failing apart and I needed a friend more than anything? Where were you when I needed you?” I looked back at Bear. “Because I know where he will be when I need him, which is a lot more than I can say for you.” I pushed off the car and took a step back.
Buck opened his mouth but there was nothing he could say that I wanted to hear. “Bye Bucky,” I said, effectively cutting him off.
“I almost forgot,” Bear said, stepping in front of me. He reached into the cab of the cruiser, grabbed Buck’s wrist off the steering wheel and pulled his arm out the window. In a quick flash of movement, Bear dropped his elbow down onto the center of Buck’s forearm. CRACK. A scream tore from Buck’s throat, his arm dangling at an unnatural angle.
His broken arm remained hanging out the window as he drove off. His screams echoed over the small buildings as he raced away, fishtailing across the dirt and disappearing in a cloud of dust.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, turning around to meet Bear’s glare. And his sweaty chest. And his eyes that although were dark and angry, seemed as if they could see right through me.
Suddenly I became very conscious of what I was wearing, pulling down on the short hem of my dress as if Bear were staring at me naked.
“I told you I’d either break his wrist or end his life if he laid his fucking hands on you. I was being…nice. Now why don’t you tell me why I get out of jail and go to see my girl, only to find that instead of waiting for me like she was told, I find her in a cop car with the fucking law’s motherfucking tongue down her fucking throat?” It started out as an angry question and ended as an angry roar. I swallowed hard. Bear took a step forward.
I was scared.
I was turned on.
I was pissed the fuck off.
I fought against the need to throw myself in his arms.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Thia
MY HEART LEAPT and sank all at the same time.
My focus wasn’t on Bear’s nostrils as they flared out with his ragged breaths as if he were about to breathe fire. Or his knuckles which were white with tension, or his teeth which were bared like a wolf’s. It wasn’t even on the frightened deputy on the other end of his anger and his gun.
It was on the freckles that lined the tanned skin below his beautiful eyes. It was on the way his chest rose and fell, reminding me that not only was he was alive and breathing, but he was right in front of me.
He was free.
And he was fucking pissed.
Fully expect me to break his fucking wrists or end his fucking life. Bear had said to me the last time our paths had crossed with Buck.
Shit.
Buck’s life was on the line. Bear could put a bullet in his chest or head at any second, but instead of fearing for my old friend’s life, I couldn’t help but admire the straining muscles of Bear’s biceps, and again my attentions were on the way his chest rose and fell as he breathed through his anger. Maybe it was fucked up of me, maybe it was just because I hadn’t seen or spoken to him in over six months, but Bear being angry to the point of wanting to kill for me made my heart flutter and the place between my legs throb. And when a memory flashed though my mind of the last time we’d been alone together. Naked. I had to bite my bottom lip to keep myself from writhing on the seat.
My Bear.
My entire body recognized him, and from what I was feeling I knew it had missed him as much as the rest of me had.
Bear squatted down, looking at Buck with pure hatred in his eyes. “I told you not to lay hands on my fucking girl again or I’d end you,” Bear seethed, fire dancing in his eyes. He cocked his gun and aimed it straight at Buck’s chest who was visibly trembling, his mouth wide open, scrambling backwards in the dirt road. A wet spot formed on the front of his pants.
“I’m the la-la-law,” Buck stammered, reaching for his gun. Bear stood up, lifted his foot, and stomped his boot over Bucky’s holster.
“I’m not,” Bear countered. If I didn’t do something, I knew Bear would be seconds away from making good on his threat.
I slid out of the cruiser. “I came here for his help,” I said.
“Looked like you were doing a real good job of convincing him to give it to you,” Bear spat. “That dress for him too?”
“What?” I asked, the reunion I’d envisioned for us looking nothing like what was unfolding.
“Get in the fucking truck,” Bear snapped, jerking his chin to King’s truck which was parked right behind the cruiser.
“No,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “And you know what? I don’t have to defend myself to you or anyone else. I didn’t do anything wrong. Only guilty people need to defend themselves, and I wasn’t guilty of anything but trying to help you.”
I stomped over and shooed away Bear’s boot, which he reluctantly removed from Buck’s holster with a deep growl. I unsnapped the gun and handed it up to Bear. I held out my hand to help Buck up, but he waved me away.
“I can’t believe I was actually going to help you,” Buck muttered, standing up and brushing the dirt from his pants and palms.
Bear took a half step forward, making Buck jump back. “The only thing you shouldn’t be able to believe right now is that you’re still fucking breathing. I’m having a pretty hard time with that one myself. So GO before I change my fucking mind,” Bear said, his jaw clenching and unclenching. The chords in his neck straining as he tried to maintain control.
Buck shuffled to the cruiser but I wasn’t done yet. “If the condition of you helping me was what you just tried to pull then you weren’t going to ever help me,” I pointed out, needing him to know that what he wanted wasn’t ever going to happen between us.
“Get the fuck out of here, now!” Bear shouted. A warning I knew he wouldn’t be repeating again. He pointed with the barrel of his gun to the cruiser.
Bucky wasted no time jumping in and turning the key. “You’re going to regret all of this, Thia,” Buck said, his voice shaky. “Maybe not now. But someday, when you realize he can’t give you the kind of life you really want. A normal life. You’ll regret it then.” He put the car in gear. “And I won’t be here when it all blows up in your face.”
I looked back at Bear, and even though his eyes screamed rage and murder and every other frightening emotion a person could possibly possess, I saw something else. Something more. Something that told me what Buck was saying was complete and utter bullshit.
Because where Buck probably saw a criminal with anger issues and violent tendencies.
I saw a fierce loyalty.
I saw love.
“I think there’s something you aren’t really understanding about all this,” I said to Buck, leaning in through the window of the cruiser. I could feel Bear’s disapproval at my back.
“And what would that be?” Buck asked, his attitude firmly back in place now that he was safely behind the metal of the car door. But he couldn’t fool me. I could still smell the urine on the front of his pants.
“I needed help just now, someone to protect me, from you of all people, and he was here,” I said, waving back to Bear who stood like an angry stone statue. “Where were you when I needed help, Buck? Not today, but when the grove and my family were failing apart and I needed a friend more than anything? Where were you when I needed you?” I looked back at Bear. “Because I know where he will be when I need him, which is a lot more than I can say for you.” I pushed off the car and took a step back.
Buck opened his mouth but there was nothing he could say that I wanted to hear. “Bye Bucky,” I said, effectively cutting him off.
“I almost forgot,” Bear said, stepping in front of me. He reached into the cab of the cruiser, grabbed Buck’s wrist off the steering wheel and pulled his arm out the window. In a quick flash of movement, Bear dropped his elbow down onto the center of Buck’s forearm. CRACK. A scream tore from Buck’s throat, his arm dangling at an unnatural angle.
His broken arm remained hanging out the window as he drove off. His screams echoed over the small buildings as he raced away, fishtailing across the dirt and disappearing in a cloud of dust.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, turning around to meet Bear’s glare. And his sweaty chest. And his eyes that although were dark and angry, seemed as if they could see right through me.
Suddenly I became very conscious of what I was wearing, pulling down on the short hem of my dress as if Bear were staring at me naked.
“I told you I’d either break his wrist or end his life if he laid his fucking hands on you. I was being…nice. Now why don’t you tell me why I get out of jail and go to see my girl, only to find that instead of waiting for me like she was told, I find her in a cop car with the fucking law’s motherfucking tongue down her fucking throat?” It started out as an angry question and ended as an angry roar. I swallowed hard. Bear took a step forward.
I was scared.
I was turned on.
I was pissed the fuck off.
I fought against the need to throw myself in his arms.
