Bear Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #2)(17)

“I thought you said he was your husband.”

“Isn’t that the way love should be, though? Friends first? We lived next door to each other growing up. Walked to school together, did our homework together. He used to sneak into my house and sleep in my bed when his parents argued. Even when he got popular in high school, he never made me feel like I wasn’t his world, you know? And it was never love, nothing like that. We were just…best friends. But when we were seniors in high school, he had this bruise on his leg that wouldn’t heal. He went to the doctor and was diagnosed with leukemia. I went to every appointment, nearly flunked out and only graduated because some of my teachers had pity on me. I spent every day with him. Cut class when he wasn’t strong enough to go to school anymore. And one day, when we were lying on his bed, he asked me to marry him. He was his parents’ only son, and his mom had been crying over never watching him get married, so he asked me, and I said yes.” Lena’s bottom lip trembled too hard to go on, and a warm tear slid down her cheek. She swallowed, over and over, trying to regain her composure. “We were married three months before he passed. He was so sick...” She wiped the moisture from her cheek. “He wasn’t up for consummating the marriage.”

“Jesus,” Jenner murmured as he draped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her tight against his side. “I’m so sorry.” His hand cradled her cheek, so she pressed her palm against his knuckles to keep his touch there because she needed this. He hadn’t told anyone about the woman who had broken his heart, and she understood that because Lena had never talked to anyone about Adam either. It had been too painful to relive.

“I didn’t mean to be a twenty-six-year-old virgin, Jenner. God, I hate the way you looked at me when you found out. I just wasn’t ready to be intimate with a man for a long time after Adam because it felt like a betrayal to his memory. And when I was finally ready, I was full-on running—travelling constantly and never staying in one place long enough to meet a nice guy I trusted enough to sleep with.”

“And you trust me? Woman, I almost f*cked you doggy style in the woods, directly following our first kiss. I’m not trustworthy with shit like this. I’m too rough, and I lose my mind—”

“And I understood that going into it, you ridiculous man. I wasn’t looking for candles, fireworks, and opera music. Maybe I did at one time, but the longer I go without it happening, the more intimidated I feel. No, I didn’t want a rough f*cking from behind for my first time,” she said through a thick laugh. “But somewhere in the middle would’ve been nice.” Lena wiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hand and said, “And furthermore, I’m scandalous.”

Jenner chuckled deep in his throat. “Oh, yeah?”

“I own a sex book with pictures, have let two boys finger me, and I watched a porn once. I’m practically a professional sexer without, you know, actually doing the deed.”

Jenner was laughing now, head thrown back, bright white smile easy as the sound of his amusement ricocheted through the quiet woods.

“You’re laughing, but it’s true.”

Jenner stood, then offered his hand to help her up. “I’m sure you will rock a man’s world when the time comes.”

Lena allowed him to pull her up, and she dusted the seat of her pants, smiling sadly. “That man isn’t going to be you, is it?”

Jenner licked his lips, the smile fading from his face, and shook his head. “I’m not the right fit for you.”

“Oh.” She dropped her gaze to his boots so she wouldn’t be tempted to stare at his eight pack abs as heat flushed her cheeks.

“Hey,” he murmured, lifting her chin until she met his gaze. “It has nothing to do with whether I’m attracted to you or not. I’m just not gentle enough, you understand?”

“Of course.” But she didn’t. As he walked back toward the horses, pulling his shirt on as he went, she was more confused by him than ever. She’d practically offered herself on a silver platter, and he wasn’t interested in even trying to be gentle with her?

Dalton had been right. Jenner wasn’t the right man to give her heart.

Too bad she hadn’t listened.





Chapter Six


Dammit, that had been close. Too close. Jenner slung his leg over his horse’s saddle and scrubbed his hand over his face to try and clear the visions that were running a loop across his mind. Her lips parted for him. The feel of her perfect, soft tit in his palm. His hand between her legs. So wet for him. The small, needy gasps she gave him every time he touched her skin. And the look of heart-stomping disappointment on her face when he’d scrambled away from her. Blame it on her dropping the V-bomb all he wanted to, but it was bullshit. That entire sexy encounter had been his fault. He’d kissed her angry, unable to help himself, gotten turned on as f*ck when she’d slapped him, and then he’d taken everything way too far, way too fast.

He couldn’t even look at Lena as she hoisted herself into the saddle. She smelled so good right now, like pheromones and sex, and it was all for him.

Six hours. He’d made it six hours before going after her. It wasn’t because he’d been in a dry spell with women either. Lena called to his bear in ways that were terrifying. He was the one in control. Out of his brothers, Tobias and Ian, he had been the one with the most restraint, and now look at him. Around Lena, he always felt on the verge of a Change, and for no damned reason other than he was trying to deny his feelings for her. His inner bear didn’t like that. Mine. The word brushed his mind every half an hour, at least. He wanted her so bad it was hard to look away from her, but just as hard to see her hurting because of him. Trapped. A couple of days, and she’d trapped him as surely as Brea had.