Free Taken: Warriors of Hir, Book 2 by Willow Danes

“They warned me not to make a mating roar, that it would distress you. But when you looked at me, when your eyes finally met mine I did not think—I could not think. I very much wish I had restrained my instincts as it caused you to fear me. And in showing you I was strong enough, fast enough, to be a good protector and a good mate to you, I think I only frightened you further.”
    “Mating roar? That’s what that was? Something that was supposed to turn me on and make me want to mate with you?”
    He dropped his gaze. “Human males do not do that to attract a mate.”
    “Nope,” Hope agreed. “They sure don’t.”
    It had been one of the most terrifying experiences of her life but now, sitting with R’har at dinner and able to understand these growls of his, it really seemed kind of funny.
    Hope gave him a little smile. “Look, it’s all right. I understand a lot—jeez, a whole lot—more now. And I guess considering that I was almost dinner for a bunch of bears, it’s lucky you came along just then.”
    “You were in no danger, little one,” he rumbled. “I had been observing you for nearly nineteen hours by that time and was always close enough to keep you safe.”
    “Nineteen — ?” Hope stared. “But if that’s true it means you’d been watching me since . . . Hold on, I picked up the keys before eleven, got groceries in town and made it to the cabin—maybe noon or so? Holy cow, you were watching me the whole flipping time I was at the cabin?”
    “ Flipping time?”
    Hope waved her hand impatiently. “Just answer the question. Were you watching me the whole time?”
    “I had covered that area days before and found it deserted. I intended to cross that section to continue my hunt when I observed your land vehicle arrive at the shelter. When you exited the transport and I saw you”—his eyes were alight, his mouth curving a bit—“an elegant, fine-boned female, with hair like the fire of a thousand suns . . .”
    “Oh,” Hope breathed.
    His cheeks flushed and he ducked his head.
    The redness of his face and his sudden shyness were the absolute best compliments any man had ever given her, maybe could ever give her.
    “Nineteen hours . . .” She cleared her throat; it had rained all that evening and heavily enough that the ground had been soaked the next day. “You must have been pretty miserable that night.”
    “No,” he growled, sounding surprised. “I found the inside of your shelter quite comfortable. It is a shame it was too dangerous for us to remain there. It was a pleasant enough abode.”
    “The inside of my shelter?” she repeated, her voice rising toward the end there. “Wait, you mean you were inside the cabin?”
    “Of course.”
    “You were inside the cabin with me all night ?”
    “I was mindful at your bedside not to wake you.” He paused. “Have I said something to offend you?”
    “ Offend me? You broke into the cabin I was staying in and watched me sleep? No, R’har, ‘offended’ is definitely not the word I would go with here! Why the hell would you do that anyway?”
    “To safeguard you, little one.”
    The scalding words that were bubbling up, the swift sharp rebuke on the invasion of her privacy, about the utter wrongness of what he’d done, caught in her throat at the innocence in his gaze.
    His brow creased. “I think your eyes are going to water again.”
    “It’s just nobody’s ever—” She gave a short laugh at the tears blurring her vision. “Yeah, I guess so.”
    “You are sad?” He searched her face. “Are you in pain? Afraid?”
    She shook her head. “We humans tear up when something touches us. I guess you just . . . you got me with that one. You’re so different. The way you think, just everything.”
    “There are too many reasons why human eyes water,” R’har rumbled, his frown deepening. “How will I ever tell which it is?”
    “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “For humans it’s part instinct, part learned. I