Husband Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #1)(49)

Bowing back, she squeezed her eyes tightly closed as pain warred with pleasure. Warmth shot into her over and over until it became too much for her to hold and trickled down her inner thighs. With a snarl of her own, she pulled away from him and spun, then gripped the back of his hair. His eyes went from dazed to shocked the instant before she clamped her teeth against his chest as revenge for him marking her.

Except when she bit him, Ian didn’t seem angry as she’d been. Instead, he tossed his head back and gritted out her name, then slid into her from the front. Hand cupped against the back of her head, he pulled her closer and in a low, gravelly voice demanded, “Harder.”

And she did. So hard, she could taste blood. Something instinctual bloomed within her. Some impulse to claim her man that had long been buried. His shaft throbbed inside of her, but he was moving more slowly now, heaving breath as she pulled her teeth from him.

With a slow, savage smile, he pulled the back of her hair and angled her face up to his. There was red on his lips when he murmured, “Good mate, letting the world know who I belong to. I’ve wanted to put my mark over Cole’s since the first night I saw it.”

Elyse clenched her teeth at the memory of the awful night Cole had given it to her. He was drunk and had hurt her. “You can see it?”

Ian’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “Not anymore. You were never meant to be McCall’s claim, Elyse. You were meant to be mine.”





Chapter Seventeen


Ian poured the last pot of hot water into the tub near Elyse’s feet. The heat must have been too much because his mate scrunched up her knees and clasped them to her chest, avoiding the steaming front of the tub.

She hadn’t said much since their coupling in the barn. Instead, she’d drawn into herself and allowed him to pamper her in silence. He’d cleaned her gently with a cloth, then had given into his need to care for her by drawing her a bath.

Josiah’s admission about Miller earlier had Ian’s bear roaring for blood, but he couldn’t explain that to Elyse. Not now. He would tell her everything on Afognak when he showed her his burned den and explained all the secrets he’d been keeping from her, including the note he kept hidden in his things—the one Cole had asked him to deliver.

Ian needed to tread softly so he didn’t lose her.

“Did you not like it?” he asked low, kneeling down near the edge of the tub. “I won’t be that rough again. I’m sorry.”

Elyse rested her cheek against her knees and gave him a shy smile that buckled his insides. “Don’t make that promise, bear-man. I liked seeing the real you.”

“If I’m ever too rough—”

“You weren’t.” Her gold-green eyes were sincere in the flickering light of the candle he’d lit and placed on the sink.

With a relieved sigh, he ran a washcloth gently around the torn skin on her shoulder. She winced when he got too close, and he hated himself. Hated that he wasn’t human and better for her. She shouldn’t have to deal with an animal’s whims.

“Why didn’t you tell me you could see Cole’s bite mark?”

“I thought you hadn’t mentioned it because it hurt to think about. I hated it, though.” Ian shook his head to ward off the new wave of rage that threatened to take him. “Elyse, I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to hurt you. Not ever.”

As soft as a breath, she asked, “What does it mean?”

“My mark?”

She dipped her chin once.

“It’s a claiming mark. I never thought I would give a woman one, but then…”

“Then you met me?”

“Yeah. You’re important.”

She reached across the porcelain ledge and drew a wet finger gently over the half-healed bite mark she’d made on his chest.

Ian swallowed hard and closed his eyes against how good her touch felt on his skin. “Can I tell you something?”

“Tell me everything.”

“I was so f*cking proud when you bit me back.”

“You’re proud of me?” Why the hell did she sound so baffled by that? Could she not see she owned him, heart and soul?

“Elyse, whatever Cole made you feel about yourself, he was wrong. You are the strongest woman I’ve ever met. You’ve been dealt blow after blow, and still you are here, fighting and clawing to keep the life you love. You’re a badass.”

“A badass,” she repeated dreamily. “You know, I think I like that compliment even more than if you told me I’m beautiful.”

He smiled and ran his fingertip across her soft cheek. “You’re both.”

“I think I’ll grow to hate the snow,” she whispered.

The moisture that rimmed her eyes split him open and laid him bare. For the first time in his life, he hated the snow too. Snow meant change. It meant winter was on its way. The cold, white powder was Mother Nature’s reminder that they would be separated by sleep soon. “I wish I was different for you.”

A single tear slid from the corner of her eye and dropped into the bath water that rippled around her. Elyse slid her hand up the back of his and pressed his palm against her cheek. “I don’t. You’re perfect the way you are.”

Ian let off a shaky breath and leaned his chin on the tub just to be closer to her.