Bear Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #2)(25)

The smell of fur brushed his oversensitive nose, and he inhaled deeply, jerking his attention to the woods where it came from. They were close now, in the thick of the brown bears. A couple of miles more, and they would be to the river.

An overwhelming need to protect Lena washed over him again. His instincts had kicked up the second he’d decided to have sex with her. He’d been mistaken that it took the act of sex to bind them because just the conscious decision to sleep with her made his bear draw up and snarl his possessiveness. Mine, mine, mine. The smell of grizzly fur grew more pungent on the wind. Unable to keep his distance any longer, Jenner pulled his horse around at a trot, circling back until he was next to Lena’s mount.

Her smile was bright and instant, settling his territorial bear with nothing more than a look. “Hey you.” She lifted the camera under her chin and clicked a picture.

Jenner narrowed his eyes, but she looked so damned happy as she laughed, he couldn’t bring himself to reprimand her this time. “I’m going to pull out my own camera and give you a taste of your own medicine if you aren’t careful.”

“You have a camera?”

“Lennard makes us all take one out in case we can get pictures for the website.” He opened the flap of one of his saddle bags and dug to the bottom, then pulled out a small, black digital camera. Jenner turned it on and clicked her picture, only Lena didn’t shy away from the camera like him. Instead, she posed all cute in the saddle and gave him one of those boner-inducing smiles she’d been gifting him all morning. And in that instant, he knew he wouldn’t be showing Lennard any of the pictures from this trip. He chuckled and leaned over his saddle, guiding his horse closer. Cupping her cheek, he kissed her, brushing his tongue against hers once before the gait of their horses became disjointed and pulled them away from each other.

Lena clicked another picture of him.

Out of curiosity, he asked, “Why do you do that?”

“I do it when I like the way your face looks. You are a quiet man, a reserved man, and you have this ability to hold your face frozen when you don’t want people seeing what you are thinking. But I can tell. It’s in your eyes. I like the way you look right after you kiss me.”

Dangerous, observant woman. Lena would guess what he was long before he was ready to tell her. The idea of her looking at him in disgust made his bear want to claw out of his skin, so Jenner cleared his throat and blinked hard to stifle the stabbing pain in his middle.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked, worry tainting her words.

“I’m fine. Listen, about the bears. We’re close to the river, which means we have to be wary out here. We won’t be talking as much, and no playing around until I have us somewhere safer to camp tonight, okay?”

Her pretty honey-brown eyes had gone round and serious, and for the first time since he’d met her, she gave off the faint smell of fear. “Okay.”

“Lena, I won’t let anything happen to you, do you hear me? There is no need to be scared. I’m here.” Always.

She nodded, pursing her lips, and he wanted to kiss them soft again. Wanted to make her feel safe again, but she should be nervous. She needed to keep her wits about her and be wary about their surroundings as much as he was.

“When we’re out there, the bears will likely be so engrossed with the salmon run, they won’t pester us, but some get curious. It depends on the cast of bears in this territory. If they get too close, you do exactly what I say.”

“Will you know some of the bears?”

He drew up straight in the saddle as if he’d been electrocuted. Had she already guessed what he was? “What?”

“Have you seen these bears before when you’ve been scouting?”

“Oh.” His shoulders relaxed, and he huffed a relieved breath. “Yeah, I’ll likely know most of them. But I’m serious, Lena. These aren’t like black bears. If I tell you to do something, it’s not up for discussion. You just do it, okay?”

“I will.” She swallowed audibly. “I trust you.”

Jenner had stared at her lips as she’d said those three words. I trust you. Her instincts really were broken then, but he couldn’t get himself to tell her how wrong she was to give her trust to an animal like him. Selfishly, he wanted to revel in this moment because it was the first time anyone in his life had said that to him.

“You want to take me in those woods and do dirty things to me, don’t you?” she asked, her soft brown eyes sparking with challenge.

“Woman, believe me when I say you don’t want me covering you right now. You’ll be sore from last night, and I won’t be easy today. Don’t tempt me, minx.” Jenner kicked his horse and pulled in front of Gunner again.

Oh, he wanted her bad. Couldn’t think about much else other than pinning her against a tree and claiming her completely. He wanted her from behind, a fresh bite mark from his teeth on her shoulder. If she knew about his dark needs, she wouldn’t be teasing him.

Right now, he needed to focus on something other than claiming her body, though, and that was keeping her safe. Lena had become precious to him. Last night he’d slept the entire night with her, even though he’d only meant to let her fall asleep next to him. That shit couldn’t happen again. She was clouding his judgement. He should’ve been out in the open, listening for danger all night, not letting the rain against the tent muddle his senses.