Free Gray Back Broken Bear (Gray Back Bears Book 4) by T. S. Joyce Page A

everything with Ana. It was as much of himself as he could show her. “Wait here.” He didn’t want her tripping over the workbench in the middle or any of his tools he might have left lying about. When he pulled the string to the single lightbulb that hung from the ceiling, it illuminated the entire shop. Easy to do since it wasn’t very big. He could’ve built it much bigger, but this was the size of the workshop Dad had used. In a shop just this size, Easton had learned to be a knife maker.
    He watched with a ready smile as her eyes drifted over the tools hung on the wall and the workbench with the trio of wooden handles held together with clamps, ready for staining. She looked at the bowl of discarded blades he kept telling himself he would salvage someday because steel like that deserved a home in a fine leather sheath. He would right his mistakes: bad cuts and notches, weak spots in the steel, and experimental decorative edges gone wrong.
    She padded over the sawdust floor and touched the finished hilt of a knife that was ready for a sheath. “Easton,” she whispered. “These are beautiful.”
    Sure, he knew they were fine knives, but hearing Ana compliment his work filled him with pride. Slowly, so he wouldn’t startle her, he squared up behind her and reached around her. Gently, he took the knife from her hands and set it on the table. Brushing his lips against her neck just to taste the skin there, he picked up the sharp awl he used for engraving.
    E + A , he carved neatly into the hilt. Girls liked things that matched, and now she would have one just like Willa, Gia, and Georgia. “This is yours. My first gift to you.” The first of many if he didn’t scare her away.
    Ana sniffled and leaned back against him. She nuzzled her cheek against his once. Affectionate little creature. She liked to do that. Soft skin against his raspy whiskers. He smiled and slid the knife into one of the sheaths that had been hanging up to dry. The snap of the button clasp was loud in the silence of his workshop, but now it was safe for her to handle with the razor-sharp blade tucked away.
    Ana turned in his arms, and her eyes swam with such adoration it nearly buckled his knees. No one had ever looked at him like this. Like he was everything.
    “I’m going to kiss you,” he warned.
    She slipped her arms around his neck and leaned up. “Good.”
    He tried to stay gentle, he really did, but when Ana bit his lip and gripped the back of his hair, he lost control over his animal fast. He lifted her onto the workbench and dug his fingers into her hips in desperation to keep himself in check. A growl rattled his throat as she nipped him again. “Careful, woman.”
    A whiff of fear, and then nothing but arousal again, and it was plain as day Ana was finding her bravery with him. He smiled against her lips and plunged his tongue into her mouth. He dragged her forward across the table until her legs wrapped around him and her sex pressed against his raging erection. With a soft moan, Ana rolled her hips against his, and he just about lost it. Heaving breath, he trailed kisses down her neck to try and steady himself. His eyes would scare her if she saw them right now, so when she tried to pull his gaze to hers, he closed his eyes and angled his face away from her.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked, hugging him tightly.
    “I want you,” he gritted out. Wanted to be buried inside of her, but she deserved better.
    “You can have me. I’ve waited so long for this.” She rested her palm on his cheek and pulled his gaze back to hers again. Honesty pooled in her deep blue eyes when she whispered, “I’m yours.”
    “Won’t risk putting a baby in you.”
    “You can’t. I’m on the pill.”
    Easton grazed her shoulder with his teeth, then kissed it gently. “I don’t know what that means.”
    “I’m on medicine that means you can’t get me pregnant.”
    Well shit, that was sorcery right there. “It’s too soon.”
    Ana