Free The Write Bear (Highland Brothers 1) by Meredith Clarke, Ally Summers

to pretend. You didn’t have to use me like that.”
    He saw her eyes glisten with tears. Please don’t cry. He couldn’t see her like this.
    “I didn’t use you. I would never use you.” He looked around, helpless to stop her from leaving.
    “I know how this works. I may not have had a lot of boyfriends but I get it. We’re here alone. You needed a good fuck and then you woke up and realized who was in your bed.” The tears slid over her cheeks. “I should have gone the first time.”
    He shook his head. “No, don’t say that. Never say that.” He gripped her shoulders, bringing her against his chest, but she wiggled free.
    “Would you sit for a second?” He led her to the living room, planting her on the couch. “Let me explain. Please.”
    She sat on the edge of the sofa, not ready to stay for long.
    “I’ll start from the beginning. I’ll explain everything.”
    She crossed her arms, but at least she was listening. All he wanted to do was wrap her in his embrace and tell her that together they could face this. They could live with the bear, but Hudson wasn’t sure it was the truth.
    “I’m waiting,” she fumed.
    Hudson ran his hands against his face, as if he could draw strength from his chiseled jaw. He didn’t know where to start. How he was going to explain the shifter world she now existed in.

13

Riley
    R iley couldn’t believe it . She had shared everything with him. Given him every part of her body. Places no one had touched. Screamed his name. Obeyed his commands under the sheets. And what was more humiliating was that she had begged for it, pleaded for him to take her into oblivion like an animal. It felt good. It was satisfying and quenched something primal deep in her core. Staring at the man in front of her, she didn’t know whether to hate him for what he had done, or love him for opening her eyes to her sexual goddess.
    “Aren’t you going to say something? You’re supposed to be a master with words. Best-selling author and everything.” Her words were harsh, but she was done being his sexual toy. She wanted answers before she packed up for the final time.
    “I’m a bear.” He held his hand forward, quieting her protest. “A real, vicious, living, breathing, bear shifter. It’s who I really am, Riley.”
    She swallowed hard. He crouched to the floor and the flames cast a deep shadow over his back.
    “I was born a shifter. My brothers and I were born into this life. We didn’t ask for it, though they seem to handle it better than I do.” He paused. “This is a lot to take in. I know it is.”
    “Keep going,” she whispered. Her thoughts hadn’t landed on whether this was fact or fiction, she only knew she had to let him speak. Let the husky-laden words fill the room.
    “It’s why I’m here. It’s the reason I spend so much time in the cabin. I can be myself here. All of me. The bear and the writer.” His hand landed on her knee and she shuddered at the impact. “Don’t be scared of me, Riley. I won’t hurt you.”
    She heard a low rumble from his chest, and the hair along her forearms prickled. This might be for real. He might be an actual fucking bear.
    “I don’t know what to think right now.” She wanted to move his hand away, but she was nervous to touch him. Nervous her body would betray her.
    “I came up here to escape one of my bear responsibilities.”
    “And what was that?” She barely had any life in her voice. Her throat was clamped tightly together.
    His eyes locked onto her gaze, searing her with emotion. “To find my mate.”
    “Mate?”
    “Yes, you.” He rubbed the pad of his thumb against her bottom lip, and she felt an involuntary sigh escape from her mouth. “You’re my mate, Riley. Forever.”
    She shook free from the spell. From the heated connection stirring between them. “You keep saying mate, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “I think I can explain it.” He rose from the floor, taking a step from her.