Page 8 of Goldie's Grumpy Grizzly
Holy shit. Rae Golding, creator of all that madness, is in my house.
In my bed.
And she’s—
Mine, my bear growls. My mate.
I stand there like a fucking idiot, holding the half-eaten muffin out at her. “You’re Rae Golding?”
She draws a steadying breath. “Yep. That’s me!” The smile she aims at me looks fragile and fake. Too bright and too wobbly. I don’t like it one bit. I preferred the sexy, unperturbed blonde who was threatening to krav maga my ass a minute ago. “As you can imagine, I’ve got things to do, words to write, and food to eat. Assuming you haven’t stolen all my muffins.”
“I haven’t stolen shit. You hijacked my house. Used up all my porridge oats. I’d call this my fair share of breakfast. And considering you almost killed me the other night, I’d call this restitution.”
“I–what?” She blinks those forest green eyes at me. “How do you... are you…? Wait. Are you a bear shifter?”
Her face lights up and she springs up from under the covers, kicking off the blankets and swinging her long legs over the edge of my bed. Miles of olive skin disappear into hot pink silk, making my mouth water. When she stands, her cropped pajama top exposes the soft curve of her belly and hips, and my dick hardens instantly.
“I am.” I ignore how my body reacts when her gaze travels over me, head to toe. Her scent envelopes me as she walks around me in a small circle, inspecting me as if expecting to find my hump or furry ears poking out of my head. I slam my eyes shut and curl my hands into tight fists to keep from reaching for her.
“Wow, I wasn’t sure I’d actually get to meet someone with your gifts. This is incredible!”
My eyes narrow. People have come here before with fantasies and fetishes for magical folk. She didn’t seem the type, though. Everything about her screams genuine.
“Look, I’m really sorry about the other night. I’ve never been here before, and the roads were so dark and unfamiliar. You kind of appeared out of nowhere.”
“I appeared out of nowhere? I was standing right there. How could you miss me?”
“Well, it seemed like you appeared out of nowhere,” she amends. “Are you alright?”
Her fingers grasp my elbow and she lifts it, gaze traveling down my torso to my right hip, the one she crashed into, and that I’ve spent the last few days rehabilitating in the privacy of one of my dens in the enchanted wood. Her touch burns into me, a soft, soothing vibration that has my inner bear settling down with a contented hum.
Inches separate us, and her scent fills my nostrils. Swallowing hard, I dig my nails into my palm to keep from grabbing hold of her and hauling her soft body against me. When I open them again, she’s got her heart-shaped face turned up to mine and her eyes locked onto my mouth.
One kiss. One nibble. One taste.
Fuck no.
I snap my arm back, rubbing the spot she’d touched and glaring at her.
“I’m fine.”
She shakes her head as if to clear it, a shaky, breathy kind of laugh coming out of her. “I was really worried I’d seriously injured you there, but then the bear—well, you—popped up and ran off.”
“You were calling for a vet,” I grumble. “I don’t like vets.”
“Well, in my defense, you didn’t look like this when I saw you last or I would’ve asked for a doctor.” She pointedly checks me out, her cheeks going rosy as she takes in my size.
“Don’t like them either. You shouldn’t be here, Goldie.”
I back up to the doorway, trying to ignore the way my cock responds to the interest dancing in her eyes. My bear fights me, not wanting to leave.
She makes a tsking sound in the back of her throat. “That’s not what the front office told me. It must be fate.”
“Fate?”
Does she know? How can she know already? She’s only human, after all. Suspiciously, I cast my thoughts toward her. Rae?
My message doesn’t seem to faze her as she beams at me.
