Free The Winter Bear's Bride (Dubious Book 2) by Mina Carter

could just go back to war and decimate the clans. All she’d done was piss him off and ensure herself a life of misery as wife to a man who hated her. She closed her eyes for a moment as her throat grew thick and tight. No change there then. She’d just swapped her father for a man just as bad.
    He paused in front of a door, and she opened her eyes as he shouldered his way through it, the heavy wood no match for his strength. Candles lit the large chamber, and she got a fleeting glimpse of tapestries on the walls and a fireplace to the right before her attention was caught by the bed opposite. A huge four poster loaded with soft-looking furs, it was big enough for at least four warriors. Images of him in there, naked, with a throng of women around him assaulted her, and she shut her eyes tightly, trying to dispel the image. The rumors said he debauched women, taking two or three at a time. A lover and a fighter with a dangerous temper.
    He set her on her feet, stripping his shirt off as he strode across the room. The leather hit a chair in the darkness, and he turned, hands already on his belt.
    “Undress and get on the bed.” His soft words weren’t a suggestion, they were an order. His dark eyes glittered in the firelight, one side of his face shadowed. Even halfway across the room he seemed huge, and her nerve almost failed her.
    “Please, my lord.” She took a step forward, hand outstretched. “Let me apologize. I don’t want to start our married life like this.”
    He unbuckled his belt, sliding the leather from the loops on his pants with a sensuous whisper. The words dried up in her throat as he coiled it in his hands. Would he beat her? She couldn’t help her half step backward before she stopped herself. Lifted her chin.
    “If you need to…” Her voice failed her for a moment as her gaze flickered from his face to the belt in his hand.
    “If I need to what?” he growled, then followed her gaze with his. The bark of laughter made her jump. “If I need to beat you? Oh, no, my lady, I have something far different in mind.”
    He threw the belt on the chair behind him to join his shirt and started to unbutton his pants. “If you’re not naked on that bed by the time I’m done, I’ll rip that gown from you. Go.”

Chapter Seven
    Oh God, he wouldn’t? Stunned into silence, she watched him unbutton one, then another of the buttons before she realized she was just standing there in the middle of the floor, watching him. Watching the play of the firelight over his golden skin, the red flecks it uncovered in his dark-as-midnight hair.
    Then he flicked the last of the buttons free and moved toward her. Spurred into action, she squeaked and started for the bed. Nerveless fingers fought with the fasteners at her bodice to no avail. She couldn’t make her hands work and within seconds she felt the heat of his body against her back and froze.
    Hard hands on her upper arms spun her around and she found herself crushed against his chest as he glared down at her, eyes blazing.
    “Out of time, my lady,” he taunted, then crushed her lips beneath his.
    She tried to hold out, honestly she did. Standing impassively, she told herself that he could have her body, but that would be all. He’d never have a hold on her heart or her soul. Her body would heal from whatever damage he inflicted, eventually, but her heart—her soul—if she let him in, he would destroy her.
    His lips worked hers, over and back. The slick heat of his tongue brushed against hers, reminding her of their previous kisses, what it felt like to be held in his strong embrace and the pleasure his touch could bring. She felt herself weakening. He was her husband; in the eyes of their world, she belonged to him. Heat filled her veins. He could do what he liked with her, to her…and she’d let him.
    As though sensing her weakness, he pressed his advantage, hauling her up against his hard-muscled body. His lips broke from hers to whisper against