Free Hunt (The Grizzly Brothers Chronicles Book 1) by Alyssa Rose Ivy Page B

pretty enough, and she had a bust most women would envy. Including me.
    “You.” His eyes locked on mine with an intensity that shook me.
    “I’m done eating.” I set my napkin on the table.
    “I don’t blame you. I’m sorry you heard that.”
    “I’ve heard worse.”
    “You shouldn’t have.” His eyes darkened.
    “How do you know?” I leaned forward. “How do you know I don’t promise the same things?”
    He shifted in his seat. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t have lost your appetite when she came over. Unless you lost it for another reason?” He raised an eyebrow.
    “No. no other reason.”
    “Exactly.”
    We fell into an uncomfortable silence as we waited for the bill.
    When the waitress set it down, we both reached for it.
    “I’ve got this.” Ian pulled it away before I could.
    “Let’s split it.”
    “Not a chance. I’m treating you.”
    “That’s not fair. I can pay my half.”
    “This isn’t about what you can or cannot do. It’s about what we’re doing.”
    I groaned. “You are very pushy.”
    “So are you. I’m paying for it.” He signaled the waitress and handed over a credit card with the bill.
    I let it go in order to avoid making a scene and getting more attention, but I’d find an ATM and pay him back eventually.

14

Ian
    I should have gone home . I should have dropped Mara off and headed home to deal with the Jonovan mess, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t let Mara out of my sight. The more time I spent with her, the more I craved her. It went beyond any of my expectations. The pull was intense, and it felt like there was an electricity in the air pulling me toward her. I longed to touch her and taste her. To explore each and every inch of her body, as well as to learn everything about her. I wanted to know what she liked, and what she didn’t. I needed to know how to drive her wild, and how to make her feel safe.
    Sitting beside her in my truck was harder now. She was so close yet so far away, because I’d promised our evening would be sex free. And that meant I needed to keep my hands to myself. That didn’t mean I couldn’t put us in a situation where she might want to put her hands on me.
    “Thanks for dinner.” She broke the silence that filled the cab of my truck. It wasn’t an awkward silence exactly, but it had gone on for far too long.
    “You’re welcome.” I turned and drove out of town in the opposite direction of Mrs. Peterson’s.
    “You’re going the wrong way.” She pointed out the windshield. “I think.”
    I laughed. “I am going the right way.”
    “The right way to where?” she asked warily.
    “The right way to our next stop.” I kept my eyes on the road. I didn’t want to give the surprise away.
    “Will this one involve people staring?”
    “Nope. It’s only us.”
    “I don’t think we have to take it that far.” She frowned.
    “It’s going to be fun.” I put my arm behind her. She stiffened slightly before relaxing back against my arm. She was going to have to get used to my touch on a lot more than her shoulders.
    “Sleep is fun too.”
    “Yes, but since you are not inviting me to sleep with you this evening, we’ll have to do this instead.” Even saying the words brought my thoughts back where they couldn’t be.
    “I meant actually sl—”
    “And I knew that. Wait, unless you were inviting me to do another kind of sleeping with you?” I winked. “Then we can do that instead.”
    “Not a chance.” She paused. “For any kind of sleeping together.”
    “What, you worried I’ll bite you in your sleep?” There was more truth to that statement than she knew.
    “Biting wasn’t the first worry I had.”
    “Was your worry about me, or you?”
    “Both of us.” She looked out the window.
    “You’re a hard girl to read.”
    “No I’m not.”
    “Sure you are.”
    “How so?” She turned back to look at me.
    “You want me, yet you’re fighting it.”
    She sighed. “I don’t want you, but believe what