by T. S. Joyce
Phantoms swam in the blue of his eyes—worry for his people, the strain of impending battle, weariness from preparation. She had the power to make everything go away for a while. For both of them.
Slowly he stalked her, removing his shirt as he approached. Lithe muscle moved across his stomach and chest, and she inhaled deeply. He took the weapon from her hand and set it on the chair beside her with a clunk, then cleared the table with a swipe of his arm. The supplies she had used to clean her weapon clattered to the floor.
“No bed?” she asked, amused.
“You forgot your panties,” he observed huskily as he lifted her onto the mahogany dining table.
“You always rip them off,” she breathed as his lips found her neck.
His finger slid into her and she gasped.
“You don’t like the sound of the fabric ripping?” he murmured against her sensitive earlobe.
“Riker,” she whispered as he circled his finger inside of her.
“Answer me,” he demanded.
“Yes. I like the sound.”
Fingers fumbling, she pulled at the button of his jeans, desperate for his skin against hers. Her body was so sensitive, like all of her nerve endings were lit fuses, waiting for Riker to relieve the burn.
He didn’t even allow her to kick his jeans to the floor before he pulled her legs apart and thrust into her. He pressed against her, harder and harder, until she was engorged with him. Helplessly, she moaned as his lips pressed against hers, tongue driving into her mouth with the rhythm of his bucking hips. Release crashed through her and he slowed, stroking gently as the aftershocks pulsed around him.
“Hannah,” he whispered, easing back. His eyes looked so open, so vulnerable. She was the only one in the world who was privy to this side of him. He searched her face and swallowed hard, like the words he would speak tasted of poison. “I can’t lose you.”
You won’t. She wanted to reassure him with the words so badly, but what chance did she have in a war between bear shifters? She was human and weak. The oracle who had warned him that she would break him someday was going to be right. So many would lay in a field of blood after this battle, and she would be one of them.
Riker pulled her shirt over her head and leaned her back onto the table. The wood was cold where it met her skin, hard and unforgiving like Riker had been when she’d first met him. The table creaked under him as he placed himself between her legs.
“You don’t understand, Hannah. I can’t.”
Frowning, she asked, “What are you saying?”
“You can’t use the gun on the field. It’s against clan law. You won’t be fighting with the rest of us. I need you in the medical tent with Daria.”
Hannah couldn’t just stand around while her people were dying. She had faced Stone, the man she’d testified against, and all of the murderous hit men he sent after her. She had learned to fight—had become strong and hard. It had to be for something. If not for this war, then for what? “That’s asking too much. I can’t just stand in a tent, waiting to see the outcome. Waiting to see if you live. If Joanna, Anya, Brody, Chase…everyone I’ve grown to care about. To see if they’ll be brought to me in pieces while I just stood around and did nothing.”
Riker thrust into her again and she moaned deep in her throat. He wasn’t playing fair.
Sliding out slowly, he crashed into her again and pleasure built so deeply, her blood hummed.
“Promise me you’ll stay with Daria until the battle is done.”
Arching against him, the dining room light above them blurred as she met his agonizingly slow penetration. She was putty, numb and useless to coherent thought.
What was he asking again? Oh, yeah. For her to stay behind. No fucking way.
“Riker,” she said with a ready rejection.
“Oh, Hannah,” he breathed against her ear. His hips flexed and a soft groan left his sexy lips. Damn him, she was swirling off for outer space again.
He gripped her hair and his movements became jerkier. Arms flexed hard as stone, hips pumping slowly into her as another orgasm built to blinding.
Just as she was on the edge, ready to spill over the side of the cliff with him, he eased back and gripped her hair tighter. “Mate, promise me,” he demanded as quiet as a breath.
His eyes looked so raw, so full of emotion and right in this moment, she’d agree to anything in her power. He was scared of losing her. So scared, the fear had etched itself into the impossibly blue hues of his gaze.
A tear fled the outer corner of her eye and she offered the barest nod.
“Say it,” he said, pressing into her again.
“I promise.”
Squeezing his eyes closed, as if the relief were too much to share with her, his hips crashed against hers again and again until she clawed his back and came as he poured into her with warm, throbbing shots.
Holding him close as their pounding hearts mirrored each other, she stared at the kitchen ceiling. She would follow through with her promise, and it would mess with her plans.
Giving up wasn’t an option though. Not until the battle began.
If she could save Bear Valley from the bloody reach of the Long Claws, then promise or no, she was going to find a way.
REDEEM THE BEAR
Available now
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Brand New Bear Shifter Series
From T. S. Joyce
KDP All-Star Series - Hells Canyon Shifters
Call of the Bear (Book 1)
Fealty of the Bear (Book 2)
Avenge the Bear (Book 3)
Claim the Bear (Book 4)
Heart of the Bear – Coming January 2015
Brand New Wolf Shifter Series
Wolf Brides
Wolf Bride (Book 1)
Red Snow Bride (Book 2)
Dawson Bride (Book 3)
About the Author
T. S. Joyce
T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. Experienced at handling an alpha male of her own, she lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.
Bear Shifters? Check
Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check
Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it's gonna to be a wild ride.
For more information about T. S. Joyce and her work, visit her website here.
Contents
Other Books in this Series
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Other Books by T. S. Joyce
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Sneak Peek
Brand New Bear Shifter Series
Brand New Wolf Shifter Series
About the Author