Mate Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #3)(13)

Tobias turned her slowly and dragged the washcloth over the length of her collar bone, his face carefully blank.

“I did things to survive,” she whispered.

Tobias’s shoulders lifted with a long inhalation, then he sighed. “I suppose you would’ve had to. There’s nothing wrong with being a survivor, Vera.”

“The girly stuff is a good escape. It makes me feel like before.”

“You mean before you had to become a rugged mountain woman?”

She huffed a laugh and nodded, happy that he wasn’t giving her grief for her admissions.

“You want to go to dinner with me?”

“Are you asking me on a date, McBeefcake?

“Maybe. We can go anywhere you choose.”

“Which, in this tiny town, is the taco place or the hamburger diner.”

He nodded and grinned. “Exactly.”

“Can we do both? Oh, and find somewhere that serves pie. And ice cream. And you aren’t allowed to make fun of how many french fries I eat. And maybe we can get one of those giant pickles from the gas station? And nachos. Do you think the diner serves pizza, too?”

Tobias gave a sexy, deep laugh that stretched his mouth into the biggest grin she’d seen on him. Stunning. “I guess you were deprived on Perl.”

“If I never have to eat another muskrat, it’ll be too soon.”

Tobias shocked her when he pulled her against him. They were such a contrast. Her soft to his steel. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him and muttered, “You’re stabbing me with your boner.”

“Lady, you smell like pheromones, and you look sexy as hell. I like my mark on you, my bear approves of whatever animal you’re hiding. The boner is here to stay. Might as well stop pointing it out.”

“You want to pollinate me,” she teased, snuggling her cheek against his chest.

“You fancy me a bee and yourself a flower, but flowers are delicate and their petals are frail. You’re no flower, Vera. You’re a thistle instead.”

Vera opened her eyes and frowned at the white shower curtain. “What do you mean?”

Rubbing his chin over the top of her hair, he murmured, “Beautiful but dangerous.”

Huh. Tobias might not know a lot about woman, but he sure knew enough about her. One day with the man, and he’d gifted her with the most meaningful compliment anyone had ever given her. He’d rewarded her for holding the serious conversation instead of skittering away from it.

And suddenly, Tobias felt like the dangerous one because, slowly but surely, her heart was tethering itself to him.

Tobias Silver wasn’t just some mate for hire anymore.

Now, he had the power to hurt her.





Chapter Five


“I can’t believe how much you can eat,” Vera joked.

Tobias’s lips turned up in an answering smile as he pulled a pillow from the bed and dropped it onto the pallet he’d made on the floor.

She was snuggled in the bed with the low noise of the television in the background. She’d been itching to watch TV, but when she was around Tobias, he somehow commanded all her attention. “Are you nesting?” she asked, more curious than ever about the nature of bear shifters.

“No, I’m just making a place to sleep.”

“So you don’t normally prefer to sleep on the floor?”

“Nope.”

“I get cold easily, and you have the air conditioner set at arctic temperatures.”

Tobias sighed, hands on his hips. “Say what you want. I’m shit at hints.”

“If you insist on it being thirty-two degrees in here, the least you can do is give me your body heat. Sleep beside me, McBeefcake.”

“That’s a bad idea.”

“It’s definitely not.”

“Vera, you just came off the island, and our situation is really unusual. I don’t want to rush a physical relationship with you.”

She scrunched up her nose. “I’m in heat.”

“I can tell.”

“I have needs.”

“You’ve been rubbing yourself on me like a needy cat all night.”

“Me-ow.”

“Vera.” He narrowed his eyes and gave her a hard look.

She pouted. “Fine, I won’t seduce you. But I’m serious about not being able to sleep when it’s this cold. I need you.”

Tobias’s pupils contracted to pinpoints, and he froze.

“Sorry. I don’t know why I said that last part.” It was true, but she hadn’t meant to admit it out loud. Not yet. Backpedaling from the uncomfortable mistake, she rushed out, “It’s just that we had such a good dinner, and we talked about your family and what hibernation is like for you, and I felt all close. Too close, I get that. It just feels like I’ve known you for a long time and—”

“That’s the bite talking.”

“What?”

“You haven’t been a shifter for long. What, three years? A claiming mark makes things foggy. Confusing. You’re feeling a bond based on instinct, Vera. Our animals have chosen each other, but we need to give our human sides time to catch up, okay?”

Vera pulled the comforter up higher under her chin and nodded. “Okay.”