Free Dare to Bear (Book 1 Trail Guardians Series) by Christine Julian Page A

his level of skill, and it had nothing to do with wilderness survival.
    If he was trying to get under her skin, he’d succeeded. And she had no idea how to purge him from her system.
    Because right this second, her eager gaze drank in the sight of his back and arm muscles flexing as he flattened one hand on the rock wall and leaned over the pool, filling their canteens from the spring. He was big and sexy all over. No doubt in the place where it counted, too. But she would never find out, she told herself, because right that moment, she enjoyed his knee-weakening attentions, knowing their harmless flirtation would go no further.
    No loose ends, she reminded her sex-craving body. How sad, she considered, that Kyle hadn’t hadn’t gone down on her in almost a year, hadn’t slept with her the last six months of their relationship, and any display of affection had stopped three months ago. How had she not seen the signs?
    Why did she care anymore, anyway? She had a full day of hiking ahead, and she planned to accomplish the goal alongside Mason—without becoming distracted by him. She suspected that would be easier said than done.
    As they struck out on their second day together, she glanced upward. Pure blue sky played peek-a-boo between the leafy branches above and promised a beautiful day ahead. She’d take it, gladly. Her first two days on the trail had been filled with drizzling rain and mucky paths. So far, yesterday and today proved far more enjoyable. She also had Mason for company, which made the time pass quicker than being stuck in her head trying to bat away thoughts of Kyle and the unknown future ahead.
    Mason talked about his twin brother, Midas. And a second set of twin brothers, Garrett and Grayson. And a third set of twins, Stone and Shane.
    “How many twins are in your family?” she asked, amazed.
    He shrugged. “All of us have a twin.” A faint smile of amusement touched his lips. “You could say it runs in the family.”
    “Your poor mother gave birth to three sets of twins?” she exclaimed. “All boys? God, I feel for her.”
    “Hey, we weren’t that bad. Okay we were a handful,” he admitted. “Maybe more than a handful. And there were four.”
    She stepped over a mushroom covered log. “Four what?”
    “Sets of twins.” A shadow crossed his features. “But my baby brother Brock’s twin died very young. A girl, Beatrix. She would’ve been our only sister.”
    “Oh, that’s so sad.” She could tell by the angst in his tone it affected him to this day. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
    Mason nodded in acceptance of her heartfelt words. “In a way, we lost them both. Brock always seemed like something, someone, was missing from his life. I get it. There’s an amazing connection between twins. It’s hard to describe. Tough as he is to take sometimes, Midas is as much a part of me as my arms and legs. We can finish each other’s sentences, like we share the same brain. I have no idea what it would be like to have that level of connection with another soul only to lose it, knowing it can never be replaced.”
    “Did Brock recover as he grew up?”
    “I don’t think so.” Mason’s eyebrows lowered. “He’s always been a loner. Angry at the world. Going overseas in the military didn’t help. He mastered his Special Ops training, like we all knew he would, but whatever spark of humanity was in him when he left, it didn’t return when he did. It’s haunting to look into the eyes of a living ghost.”
    Sadness pierced her chest and a chill raced up her arms, almost as though she could feel exactly how Mason felt right now. As if she was as connected to him as his twin brother was. But that couldn’t be possible.
    As an only child who never knew her birth parents, she empathized with Brock’s loneliness and could understand Mason’s regret. That’s why she experienced this deep, startling connection to Mason, by proxy. Nothing more, she assured herself.
    They turned their