Series: Lee Savino
Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
She orgasms against my mouth, as if she was just waiting for my tongue to bring her to the finish line a second time.
I use the washcloth to clean her up, and kiss the apex of her slit, sliding my tongue in the cleft one more time.
She shivers and convulses again with another aftershock.
“You’re a bear,” she croons softly when I lift my head. She reaches for me, pulling my head up to her face for another kiss. “And what’s going on with your hair? Does being a bear make it grow super fast?”
“Oh.” I run my hand through my hair and find I have Fabio-length locks. “Maybe my bear thinks if I look like a Viking, I can claim you.”
Paloma’s laugh is warm and husky. She kisses me. “I have a million questions.”
“Yeah?” I settle beside her, tugging her to face me, so I can tuck her in close.
“Uh huh.” She scrapes her fingernails lightly through the hair on my chest. “How often do you turn into a bear? Is it a full moon thing? Or an anger thing?”
I shake my head. “Not a full moon thing. Yes, anger.” My hand finds her ass and squeezes. “And lust. But only with you.”
She looks up at me from under her lashes. “No one else?”
“Never. My bear never wanted anyone else.”
I watch the pulse at her throat quicken. She doesn’t seem afraid–that’s a relief.
“And to answer your question–almost never. My bear isn’t safe.”
“What do you mean?”
I shake my head. “I can’t let him out because…he rampages. I can’t control him when he’s out. It’s not normal–the rest of my brothers have control. It’s…there’s something wrong with me.”
Paloma seems to chew on that. My psychic knowing tells me it’s not true. Darius may not trust his bear, but the energy doesn’t read that there’s anything wrong with him. I let it go for the moment.
“Was the bear outside this window earlier Teddy?”
“No, that was Everest. Another brother. You met him on the rugby field.”
“Right the ‘pet’.” She makes little quotation marks in the air with her fingers. “So, all your brothers are bears?”
“Yes.”
“Is your mother a bear?”
“Winnie? Yes. She’s…in hibernation.”
“Really?” Paloma sits up in bed.
“Yeah.”
“Do you hibernate?”
“No. It’s not really… normal. I mean, it’s not abnormal, either. But we don’t know why she’s been asleep for years.”
“Years? Is it like a coma? Is she on life-support? How does she stay alive?”
“Nah, she just nonstop sleeps. Occasionally she gets up, bathes, eats a little and then goes back to sleep.”
Paloma reaches for my hand and covers it. “I’m sorry. That must be hard for all of you.“
“Yeah.”
“What’s the deal with Teddy? Seems like you guys don’t get along. What’s that about?”
“He’s just pissed off that I moved to New York to live amongst humans.”
Paloma waits for more, forcing me to examine my words. “That’s not really true,” I admit. “He’s pissed off because I wanted to develop part of Bad Bear Mountain in order to save it from other developers.”
Paloma‘s eyes round. “Oh. I guess any development would be upsetting if you were a bear.”
I slump under her assessment. “Yeah. I just thought if I could control the way it happened, at least we’d be able to salvage our side of the mountain.”
“So what happened?”
“Teddy met Lana, his mate, when she was out here hiking, and her stepbrother tried to murder her. He rescued her. And then she rescued him right back. Turns out she’s a billionaire. She’s a clothing designer. She owns a plus-sized athleisure wear company.”
“GoddessWear?”
“Yes, that’s the one. So she saved the mountain from all development.” There’s a bitter taste of failure in that story for me, despite it all working out. I hate that I’m the bad guy when all I tried to do was make things right for our mom. For my family.
As if Paloma reads my mind, she squeezes my hand again. “You were trying to help, and they still blamed you. That must hurt.”
I nod. Fuck. “Yeah. This…thanks. I’ve never talked about my family with anyone. It’s a…uh, vulnerable place, to be honest.”
Paloma’s gaze is warm and open. There’s a river of understanding flowing from her to me, despite the guilt and darkness I’ve felt over it all. “Hey, you know I come from the most fucked-up ‘family’ of all time.” She makes finger quotes again when she says the word family. “I can tell you guys love each other. At least you aren’t poisoning each other or locking people in towers.”
I draw her face against my chest and kiss the top of her head.
“They think I’m greedy. And it’s true–I went to New York to figure out how to get rich. My goal was always to save the mountain. But it took a lot longer than the younger me expected.”
“But you did it. I heard Thom mention you had the fastest-growing hedge fund last year. He seemed proud, like he somehow had something to do with your success.”