Free Grayslake: More than Mated: Bear Up (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Mina Carter Page A

kettle coming to the boil each time. Except the last time, when Mrs. Watson…Elisa…had gotten a feed ready for the baby, Poppy. As she settled down to feed her, the baby held snugly and firmly in her arms, the door opened again.
    Kacie breathed a sigh of relief to see Dean waiting there. Excusing herself from the kitchen for a moment, she slid through the door into the corridor to join him.
    “Hey,” she said softly, studying his expression. He looked weary, like bone-deep tired, and worried. “How’s it going out there?”
    He didn’t answer straight away, moving them both closer to the wall as the sheriff’s men wheeled a gurney out of the front room, a zipped up black body bag strapped to it. Sadness welled deep in her chest. Angela had been so young. A student home for the holidays, Kacie remembered her being a vivacious girl with her whole life ahead of her.
    Dean sighed. “As well as can be expected.”
    Need tightened his features and he reached out to pull her into his arms. She didn’t argue. Simply stepped into his embrace and let him wrap her up. Nestled against his hard, strong body like this, she felt safe. Protected. Tears prickled in the backs of her eyes. It could so easily have been her in the body bag and she felt awful that she was glad it wasn’t. Not that Angela deserved to be, but if it had been, she’d never have found out that Dean felt the same way about her as she did about him. Had for years.
    Pulling back, he looked down into her face. He didn’t speak. Instead, he reached up and brushed his thumb over her lower lip. She murmured in pleasure as his lips covered hers. The kiss was soft and gentle, more about giving and receiving comfort than raw passion, but she didn’t care. She clung to him, eager for anything he had to give. For any touch he gifted her with.
    This, them, was the one thing she could hold onto in this whole situation that she actually understood. She’d always had a thing for him, as long back as she could remember. Had always felt they had some kind of connection, even if he didn’t seem to notice her.
    His response earlier and the way he held her now, as though she was precious and delicate…no way had he not noticed her. He had to have been ignoring her. That stung, more than she cared to admit, but she was quick to excuse his behavior in her mind. Perhaps there were rules about humans and bears.
    The thoughts were swept away, though, as the kiss deepened, and she was lost to sensual bliss. She’d been kissed before, but never like this. Never with the same intensity of passion Dean managed to pack into each and every little touch. As though he had to hold himself back whenever he was around her.
    It was exhilarating, addictive and kind of a little scary all at the same time. Especially now that she knew what lay hidden inside him. She caught her breath as he broke the kiss, a little sound of disappointment in the back of her throat.
    He leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes closed but his voice low and full of regret.
    “We can’t do this here.”
    “Why not?” she whispered back, smoothing her hands over his broad shoulders. She would never get tired of touching him. She just wanted to touch him with much less on, and preferably somewhere more private. “We’re only kissing. Not even making out properly.”
    He lifted his head, eyes dark with a heat that made her shiver. “Sweetheart, we won’t stay just kissing for long. I promise you.”
    “Oh… ohhh.”
    He smiled at her little gasp and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “We’ll pick this up later. I just came to tell you I have to go. We found a way to track the girls.”
    Relief flooded her. “Awesome. What are we waiting for?”
    Dean shook his head. “Not we. Me. You can’t come, sweetheart. It’s too dangerous.”
    “What the fuck? You’re kidding me?” She gave him a sharp look, hardly believing what she was hearing. “These assholes attacked Lilly, Kait and me in the alley,