Free Dawson Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire 5) by T. S. Joyce Page B

whatever laws he and his people abided by? Would he leave and never come back? Miller, Miller, Miller. That man had been crazy and would’ve killed her if he knew she knew. Would Dalton react the same? No. She had to believe he wouldn’t. Had to believe her heart wouldn’t fail her twice. Slowly, she turned around and peeled her thin, red, cotton night gown over her head. She wore panties but no bra so her shameful scar would be visible.
    Shaking, she covered her breasts to feel less vulnerable, even though he couldn’t see them with her back to him.
    She didn’t hear him approach, but she knew he was there, standing just behind her. A soft touch traced the shameful bite mark in the middle of her back.
    “Who besides Miller has seen this?” he gritted out.
    “Just you.”
    “Did you ask for it?”
    She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Couldn’t release a single word because admitting this would expose her feelings of helplessness.
    Dalton turned her slowly, then hooked a finger under her chin and forced her gaze to his. “Did you?”
    “No,” she choked out. “I thought…”
    “Say it.”
    She closed her eyes, because the fury in his face was terrifying.
    “I thought I would turn into one of you. For months, I lived in fear that he would come back and hurt me again. That he would come back and kill me. That I would turn out to be just like him.”
    “Open your eyes.” When she did, he said, “That’s not how it works.”
    “Well, Miller didn’t exactly explain anything. The sex was consensual, but the bite was not. He left afterward, laughing. He said I was stuck with him now, and I would make a pretty little breeder.”
    “That’s not how this works either,” he ground out.
    “He disappeared. Or…died. And I didn’t Turn. I figured I was safe when nothing happened.”
    “Who have you told?”
    “Only you.”
    Dalton’s eyes were so light, a blazing gold now. “Just so you know how I am, so you know what I’m capable of, if Miller was alive, I would avenge you. I would kill him, and then I’d leave his body for the ravens to pick clean. I wouldn’t have any regrets taking his life. If that scares you, tell me to leave.”
    “You do scare me.”
    Dalton took a step back, acceptance slashing through his inhuman eyes.
    “But not because of what you are. I’m scared because I don’t want you to hurt me.”
    “I won’t.”
    “You will if you run. If you leave. If you realized I’m not enough, like everyone else does.”
    “You aren’t scared of the animal?” he asked.
    “Should I be?”
    Dalton shook his head slowly back and forth. “He’s yours.”
    “Are you mine?” she whispered.
    Chest heaving, Dalton dipped his chin once.
    Relief was a tidal wave washing through her. Closing her eyes, she sighed at how amazing it felt to be wanted. “Good.”
    When she opened her eyes again, Dalton was pacing beside the couch, wild eyes on her.
    “Come here,” she murmured.
    He was to her in three long strides. His hands gripped her waist as his lips crashed onto hers, urgent and possessive. She opened for him because she understood. She’d felt this way when he’d mentioned Shelby, and she’d just shown him the mark on her back. She didn’t know what the bite meant, not yet, but it was big. It angered Dalton.
    His tongue pressed into her mouth in smooth strokes as he ran his fingertips up her ribcage and cupped her breast. With a moan, she arched against him. Dalton eased back just far enough to work his sweater over his head, then pressed against her, skin to skin. He was so impossibly warm, felt so incredibly right touching her. Breasts aching for him, she gripped his hair and eased him downward. His lips were perfect, sucking, biting down her neck as he ran his hands down the sides of her arms, drawing gooseflesh where he connected with her. She gasped as his mouth clamped onto one of her sensitive nipples, drawn up tight in arousal. His tongue laved over and over until her