Bear the Burn (Fire Bears Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

hell was probably starting to freeze over. “Damn, okay. Sorry, that just shocked me to my feet. You and Ma?”
    Bruiser chuckled and said, “Yeah, my mate won’t let me hold grudges on family. She’s been good for my relationships.”
    Dade smiled, feeling better as his bear settled. “Dang, man, that’s great. You don’t even know how happy that makes me. We felt broken when you weren’t talking to us. It just felt like something was missing, you know?”
    “I know,” he said quietly. “For me, too.”
    “Okay, I have a question about women.”
    “Women or a woman?”
    “Maybe one woman. You know me, know how I operate. No commitment and all that.”
    “Mm-hmm.”
    Dade inhaled deeply and switched the phone to his other ear. “Look, I met this girl today when I took the station dog to the vet, and now she’s filling my head, making me feel out of control. I hate it.”
    “But you don’t hate her.”
    “She’s soft, Bruiser. I mean, submissive, easily wounded. She’s like a damned hummingbird.” Beautiful with her soft auburn locks and wide, gray eyes. Fragile. Too delicate for a man like him to protect.
    Bruiser chuckled into the speaker. “Did your bear perk up around her?”
    “My bear and my dick. Which doesn’t make a lick of sense because she was crying the whole time I was with her. What kind of man gets a boner around a sobbing woman?”
    “She pulled at your heartstrings?”
    “Every damned one of them. I can’t stop thinking about her. How do I turn this off?”
    “You don’t, brother. You dig your heels in and get ready. Your bear just chose his mate. Good luck trying to forget her.”
    Dade’s mouth dropped open, and he clacked his mouth closed again. “That’s it? I’ve chosen and I’m done for?”
    “Not done for, Dade. You’re lucky. If your bear chose her, then she’s a good match for you.”
    “Yeah, well the timing couldn’t be worse. Shayna’s after me, tailing me, and I can’t have Quinn in her sites. And the bigger problem is that Cody is about to take us public. I can’t drag her through that. She wouldn’t survive it.”
    “Maybe she’s stronger than you think,” Bruiser said in a soft, thoughtful tone. “You chose her for a reason.”
    “I thought you didn’t believe in fate.”
    “Yeah, then I married my mate sight unseen, and she’s it for me. She came into my life at just the right moment to set everything right again. Trust your animal. Trust your instincts.”
    “I’ll hurt her.”
    “Maybe. Maybe not.”
    Dade shook his head in denial. He’d planned on going his whole life just as he had been. Fucking occasionally to settle his animal, then going about his business. He liked things the way they were. His personal life was simple and easy. He didn’t have to worry about anyone besides himself and his crew. Cody had become scared when his mate Rory brought their young son to him, begging help with his little out-of-control bear. That had to be why Cody was making a desperate decision now. Pairing up with a mate changed things, made men softer, weaker. He didn’t want that. He’d spent a lifetime erecting walls of stone and mortar around his heart out of necessity. He wasn’t going to live forever, or even much longer in trigger-happy IESA’s crosshairs, and now his bear had latched onto a helpless human.
    “You know, you were supposed to be the level-headed one,” Dade muttered.
    “I am. You just don’t like hearing what I have to say. But hey, have fun trying to stay away from your mate.” His voice was practically singing.
    Dade leaned his head back on the chair. “This sucks. Does it get better with time?”
    “If you’re talking about thinking about her constantly, it gets worse over time.”
    “But not if I don’t talk to her again. My bear will eventually give up on her.”
    A beat of silence. “You can try, man. I know the timing doesn’t feel right, but there is a reason she came into your life right now.”
    Dade