Free Bear the Heat (Fire Bears Book 3) by T. S. Joyce Page A

loved seeing him like this because he was allowing her to see him hurt.
    “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
    “I fucking deserved it.” His voice came out hoarse, tugging at her heart. With a sigh, he admitted, “I don’t know what to do.”
    “About me?”
    “About anything. That was my dad’s truck. The only thing I have left of him. He died and left us reeling, but when he was here, me and him fixed that stupid thing up together. I should be broken up about it, but all I can think about, over and over, was the fear in your eyes right before we were hit.”
    “You’re scared to get attached to me because it would hurt to lose me.”
    Boone cast her an angry glance over his shoulder, but his irritation wasn’t with her. She could tell. It was with himself.
    “You don’t want to like me.”
    “It’s not that I don’t want to, Cora. It feels so fucking good to be around you. It’s that I’m scared of what will happen. Two tours and a dangerous job, and I’ve never been afraid. Not like this.”
    “Cody was right, though. Pushing me away isn’t going to fix any of this. It’ll only hurt me.”
    “You don’t even know me. You don’t know the man I am or the shit I’ve been through.” His voice dipped low. “The shit I’ve done .”
    “Then explain it all to me.”
    “So you can run? So you can look scared and see me like everyone else—a monster?” He was shaking now, the acrid scent of his anger and fear filling the room until it was hard to breathe.
    She fought her instinct to give him space and kicked off her heels, then settled them neatly against the wall. With a deep, steadying breath, she stepped around the bed and straddled his lap. Heart in her throat, she slid her arms out of the sleeves of his oversize jacket, then wrapped it around them like a blanket. Resting her cheek carefully against his taut chest, she whispered, “Boone Leland Keller, I’m not going anywhere. Pushing me away won’t work.”
    His whole body trembled under her as he slid his hands under the jacket and around her waist. Dragging her closer, he searched her eyes, as if questioning whether she knew what she was doing.
    “I’m scared, too,” she murmured, cupping his cheeks. “It’s okay. Tonight was terrifying and eye-opening, but we’re okay. Now, let me see.”
    A muscle twitched under his eye, and she thought he would deny her. Instead, he eased back just far enough to pull Dade’s sweater over his head.
    She gasped as she saw the smooth skin over his ribcage, all red and blue, bruised badly from the indentation between his six pack to his side. “Boone,” she whispered, running her finger softly around the outside of the dark coloring.
    “This proves that dick was IESA. This is a move Krueger taught all his recruits. I should’ve protected that side better, but I was fighting distracted. I kept wanting to draw him closer to you, just so I could make sure there wasn’t a second agent waiting in the wings.”
    Cora shrugged out of his jacket and set it on the bare mattress next to him. His perfect little nipples drew up in the cold vent air, and she smiled as she leaned down and pulled one into her mouth.
    “Damn, woman,” he groaned, rocking his hips against her.
    The little black dress she was wearing had slipped up her thighs when she’d straddled him, and now her panties and his jeans were the only barrier between them.
    Boone leaned back on his locked arms and stretched back, giving her more room to work as she moved to his other nipple and drew it into her mouth. Tiny sucks followed by a nibble, and he rolled against her again.
    Drawing up suddenly, he captured her lips with his and drove his tongue into her mouth. A helpless sound wrenched from her chest as she rocked against him.
    Angling his head, he deepened the kiss and cupped her sex with his hand. She should’ve been embarrassed by how wet her panties already were, but she couldn’t conjure enough energy for shame. She’d