Boarlander Boss Bear (Boarlander Bears #1)(35)

Harrison gripped her waist and rocked his hips backward. When he pushed forward, his thick erection rested between her thighs. Good mate. With a sigh, she let go of everything and reached over her shoulder, gripped the back of his neck as he slid his shaft slowly into her.

He didn’t rush, didn’t lose control. Instead, he moved smoothly in and out, then in again with a graceful roll of his hips. His stomach flexed against her back with the pace he set. Sexy, powerful mate. His arms slid around her stomach, and she moaned. They fit together so well—perfectly. His hand brushed down her stomach and cupped her sex as she rolled her hips with the pace he set.

This right here could never be mistaken for f*cking. Harrison was making love to her. He was making up for what she’d heard in the woods. He was trying to fuse the break in her heart, and for that, she adored him even more.

But usually, he tempted himself with grazing his teeth against the oversensitive skin on her back, but tonight, all he did was lay a single, soft kiss right where he couldn’t claim her. No teeth, no teasing. It was a silent request that a kiss there be enough. That she be okay with being an outsider. A rogue, as Clinton had called it. That was what she had been, and that’s what she would always be.

Harrison’s grip tightened as he moved within her faster, and he rasped out her name. The pressure built slowly, and her body pulsed around his cock the instant he went ridged against her back and spilled the first shot of his warmth into her. His lips plucked at her neck as he bucked, emptying himself, and her aftershocks pounded on.

As he relaxed against her, she dragged his hand from her stomach to her lips and kissed his knuckles. Snuggling his palm against her cheek, she blinked a single tear from the corner of her eye. She would hold onto this moment forever. She would commit it to memory because it would have to be enough.

She was a lucky one. Some people never found this depth of emotion, and she’d held a worthy man’s heart in her hands for a blinding moment in time.

“I love you, Audrey,” Harrison murmured.

Her face crumpled in the dark, and she swallowed her heartbreak.

When she was able, she whispered, “I love you, too.”





Chapter Fifteen




An echoing bang sounded down the side of the trailer, and Harrison lurched up in bed. Completely disoriented, he frowned at the unfamiliar room, then down at Audrey, who lay undisturbed beside him.

“Five more minutes,” she murmured in a sleepy voice.

The gray morning light that filtered through the windows on either side of the headboard cast soft shadows against her cheeks. Her dark hair was fanned across the pillow, shining like silk, and her long lashes rested on her lightly freckled cheeks. She looked like an angel come to earth.

The banging sounded again, this time at the front door.

“Boss Bear, you in there?” Bash asked. “It’s time to get ready for work.”

Startled, Harrison jerked his gaze to the clock on the night stand. 6:00 am.

What the hell? He’d slept through the night.

Audrey stretched and let off an adorable sleep sound as she reached for him. Harrison ran his hand over his facial scruff and tried to wrap his head around what she’d done. He hadn’t slept through the night since he was a kid. It hadn’t been physically possible, but Audrey had done something unexpected to him. He’d always thought a mate would make him more restless at night with his heightened senses to protect her, but Audrey had done the opposite. She’d made him feel safe enough to sleep beside her. No middle-of-the-night patrols or moving around the trailer checking the locks on the doors. No getting up at every noise to make sure all was well in the trailer park.

Just…sleep.

The smile that stretched his face felt good.

“Boss Bear!”

“Yeah, all right,” Harrison muttered as he slipped out from under Audrey’s arm and padded to the front door. Bare-ass naked, he cracked the door open, squinting against the dawn light. “I’ll be right out.”

Bash looked troubled, though, and usually he was a morning person.

“What’s wrong?”

“Clinton knows you spent the night here.” Bash shifted his weight uncomfortably. “He’s challenged me for Second. The official kind of fight.”

“Shit. When?”

“Right now. He wants more say in what goes on. Boss, he’s gonna dig his heels in.”

“He already has. Go get ready. I’ll be right there.”

“Oh,” Bash murmured, turning at the porch stairs. “Boarlanders only. Clinton already told Kirk and Mason to stay inside until it’s done. We don’t need anyone else throwing in an extra challenge for rank.” He lifted his dark eyebrows and gave Harrison a significant look before he jogged down the stairs and back toward his trailer.

Great. Clinton could win this. Bash was a brawler, and when he and Clinton fought unofficially, they were neck and neck. But Clinton was working on desperation and had been feeding off anger this whole week. An unstable Clinton becoming Second right now could cripple the Boarlanders even more. Fuckety-f*cksticks.

When Harrison went back into Audrey’s bedroom, she smiled in her sleep but didn’t stir so, as quietly as he could, he dressed. The fight would be over in a matter of minutes, and from the sound of her deep breathing, she would sleep right through it, which was perfect. He didn’t want to hurt her worse with the explanation of why she couldn’t watch. She wasn’t a Boarlander, and if Clinton had his way, she never would be.