BEARing it All (Wylde Brothers 3)

Kenzie didn’t even know if she could boil water.

“Come on, Bambi.”

He gave her a wink, and she sighed in exasperation. For some reason, he had decided to call her that today out of the blue. It was such a juvenile name, but there was also a little part of her that got all girly and giddy over the fact that she knew he called her that as an endearment.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his body. She still tensed at contact, but with Bram, it wasn’t because of uncertainty of what he would do to her, but her own desire slamming right into the center of her body.

He'd been touching her little by little ever since they left his cabin. It seemed he had to always have his hands on her, and every time he touched her, or leaned in and his warm, sweet breath teased the side of her throat when he whispered something into her ear, Kenzie felt herself draw even closer to him.

Finding a mate was on a whole other level from anything else. There was no logic when two mates found each other. Even thinking about her parents after so many painful years still brought a smile to her face. They had always been kissing or whispering things to each other. And their love for one another was as real as Bram standing right in front of her.

Bram tightened his hold on her, and the hairs on the back of Kenzie’s neck stood up. Looking over her shoulder, she scanned the street. People walked up and down the sidewalks, talking with one another and looking pleasantly oblivious that a monster most likely was still visiting their sweet little town. She had been so very hesitant to leave the cabin, knowing Rook and the cougars would still be hiding out.

She hoped they were holed up and licking their wounds, just waiting to leave until they were healed, and not staying hidden until they could come after her. She also wouldn’t put it past them to go to extremes in their tactics to get information from others on her whereabouts. Not like anyone would know much anyway. She was nobody with a life a deranged madman created.

“Kenzie, you okay?”

She pulled her attention away from the busy street, not seeing anything that would have put her on alert, and looked back at Bram. He was now looking over her head and their surroundings, and she felt his animal come forward. It was a heady feeling that washed through her and had the essence of her feminine side rising up. The scent of his wilderness was like a blast to her face, and if he hadn’t been holding onto her, she would have stumbled back from the intensity of it.

“I’m good.” She was paranoid, but rightly so. He scanned the area once more, and when it was clear he was satisfied with his findings, he visibly relaxed and looked down at her.

“I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” He said it with so much conviction she had no doubt in him. “You feel me, Kenzie? You’re safe with me, and if I have to prove that to you for the rest of my fucking life, then so be it.” His blue eyes held hers. “If someone wants you, they will have to come through me to fucking get you, and that won’t happen. Yeah?”

A raw, untamed look was on his face, and she nodded. She may trust his bear to protect her deer, but that didn’t change the fact that just yesterday she was trapped in Rook’s deadly embrace.

They resumed walking along the cobblestone sidewalk, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, mindful of her nearly healed wounds. The town of Sweet Water was exactly what someone would expect to see in a movie where everyone waved as she passed their little shops.

“You hungry?”

Kenzie stopped and looked up at Bram. He looked down at her with a confused expression.

“What?”

All it took was him asking those simple words for her to be at ease once more.

What is it about him that makes me feel… free?

“We ate like a pound of food an hour ago.” For a full minute, he didn’t say anything. It was almost like he didn’t understand what she was saying.

“Yeah?” He said the word slowly, like he was really trying to grasp what she meant. Kenzie started laughing, and he gave her a lopsided grin. “I’m hungry again.” He let go of her hand and patted his stomach, and she laughed again.

“You’re a machine.”

The amusement left his face, and Kenzie held her breath as he leaned in slowly.

“You have no idea, but you will, very, very soon.” He dipped his gaze to her lips, and she watched as his breathing changed from steady to rapid. The haze of desire washed through her, and Kenzie’s body acted on its own, having her lean forward. At that moment, she wasn’t standing in the middle of the sidewalk surrounded by passersby. It was only her and Bram, her mate, the only male who she felt safe with.