Free Heart of the Bear (Hells Canyon Shifters Book 5) by T. S. Joyce Page B

you want someday.” His voice hitched. “I saw you in there, holding that baby. Looking at him.” He swallowed hard. “I wish…shit.”
    “You wish what?”
    “I wish I’d met you sooner.”
    Confused, she shook her head and touched the gold-red scruff that adorned his jawline. “What would that have changed?”
    She could almost see him close off. His eyes dimmed, and he looked away. “I want to tell you everything.” His voice sounded raw and gravelly, and when he brought his eyes back to hers, they were lined with silver. “You’ll have to be patient with me.”
    “Okay,” she said. “I can wait.”
    “Will you stay here with me? Will you try?”
    “Stay as your girlfriend?” she asked, baffled with how serious this question seemed. Staying here for a few days more was one thing. Jesse sounded like he was asking for something more.
    “No, Rae. I want you to jump with me.” He lifted her bandaged arm to his lips and kissed it lightly. “I want you as my mate.”
    Mate. The rightness of the word settled into her chest, easing something tight there. Was that was this was? “That sounds big.”
    “It is.”
    “If I stay, you promise not to run anymore? You’ll stay and work through whatever comes our way?”
    “I promise.”
    “I don’t want to just play house, Jesse. I already care so deeply for you, and you have the ability to hurt me now, too. The way you treated me last night hurt worse than anything I can remember. Me staying is a big move for both of us.”
    “I know it is, but I’m already yours. My bear is already yours. Tell me I won’t be alone with this.” He lifted her hair and cupped the back of her neck. “Jump, Rae.”
    Her heart was drumming with what it would mean to be Jesse’s mate. He was powerful and important to his clan, but that wasn’t what had her heart reaching for him. More important than all of that, he was a good man—a caring one who’d been tender with her. One who’d protected her at cost to his physical comfort. “I’ll think about it,” she murmured, a smile stretching the corners of her mouth.
    His ruddy eyebrows shot up, and he tilted his chin to his chest, like he couldn’t believe what she’d just said. “Really? That’s not a no . You thinking about it feels like a win right now.”
    She giggled and burrowed against his chest. How did he do that? Make her feel breathless like this? How could a man so consuming look at her like he’d won the lottery?
    He brushed the neck of her shirt to the side, then caressed the length of her neck. A shiver trembled up her spine and landed in her shoulders. She closed her eyes at his touch. “I thought you were going to throw me away,” she whispered.
    “Never. I’m sorry you felt like that. It was my fault for handling this badly. You’re worth the risk, Rae.”
    She searched his eyes, but all they held was honesty. He meant every word he was saying, and she fell for him a little harder. Leaning forward, she kissed him softly, then pulled away, suddenly feeling shy.
    A small smile crooked his lips, and he brushed her hair away from her shoulder. His fingers trailed down her ribcage, and when his palms landed on top of her legs, still straddled over his lap, he squeezed her thighs. His strong hands conjured a tingling sensation between her legs, and instinctively, she rocked forward against his hips.
    With a soft growl, he kissed her. Time didn’t matter here in Jesse’s truck. On and on he touched her, nuzzling her and grazing his teeth against her lips. He adored her body, kissing, cupping, caressing, stroking. The hem of her shirt lifted as he brushed her skin. Angling his head, he brushed his tongue against hers and she was lost. She was in it now. This wasn’t just some fling like she’d tried to convince herself. She was falling in love with him. It had been instant, as if she was falling from the stars, and the journey down left her breathless. But she was helpless to stop her feelings now.