Devoted to the Bear Read Online Free Page A

what we were because boyfriend didn’t sound serious enough and mate isn’t exactly universally accepted as a relationship status.”
    His fingers clutched tighter to the box on his lip, as if he were forcing himself into stillness.
    “No kissing in my cab,” the driver said, pointing a finger into the air.
    Hannah dashed her tears away with the back of her hand. “We aren’t kissing.”
    “Not yet, but I can see the look in your man’s face and none of that wil l occur in this car, am I clear?”
    “I won’t touch her,” Riker said blandly.
    “Of course he won’t. He’s my bodyguard.” She flung the last word into the universe like a curse.
    “Don’t,” Riker warned.
    “Why are you with me?”
    His neck hit the head rest and he shook his head. “Jesus.”
    “You’ve known me less than a month and I’m like a venus fly trap, except I don’t catch flies. I catch death. Marian, Jimmy, Jeremy,” she said, ticking names off her fingers.
    Riker grabbed her hands so fast she gasped. “I said don’t .”
    “No kissing,” the cabby sang.
    Panic laced her veins and she rambled on, spewing her worst fears. “If you’d just chosen Merit, you would be with your people. You wouldn’t have had to do what you did for me last night. Your people would still be alive, Riker. Say it. Merit was the better choice.”
    “Hannah, you’re scared and you aren’t thinking straight right now.”
    “Say it!” she shrieked.
    “Merit was the safer choice, Hannah. Not the better choice. You’re it for me.” He yanked her closer. “Dammit, can’t you see you’re it for me? Don’t bring her up again.”
    “I have to.” Her voice had dipped to a ragged whisper.
    “Why?”
    “Because it’s not the summer solstice yet and you still have time to bail. You should remember your options.”
    The muscle under his left eye twitched and he gritted his teeth. Inches separated them and the stormy color in his eyes said he wasn’t backing down. “No, this isn’t about my options. This is about you panicking and trying to push me away. You aren’t protecting me by doing this.” He gripped her hair and pulled her to him until the warmth of his mouth brushed her lips. “Won’t work, so cut it out.”
    “No kissing.” The driver’s angry eyes flashed in the rearview mirror and Riker released her.
    It wasn’t a test. He’d do best to remember he still had options if he didn’ t want to tether himself to her. But if it were a test, he would’ve passed with flying colors and fireworks in the background.
    “What do we do now?” she asked, sniffling.
    “We go back home.”
    “You mean we run. ” The word tasted bitter against her tongue.
    “It’s not running, Hannah. I can’t go up against every dirty cop in the NYPD and the further away you are from the city, the better a chance we have at him giving up on you. If he comes for you, we’ll cross that bridge then. As it stands, I’m not waiting around for Murphy to find you.” Relaxing into the seat, he muttered, “You’re too close to Stone’s grasp and it makes me want to kill things.”
    He looked pissed but he linked his fingers with hers before he turned his attention to the passing city outside the window. And that one small gesture soothed her like a security blanket. It was terribly difficult to feel unsafe under the immediate protection of Benson Riker.
    ****
    That asshole , Murphy. Hannah had been safe and now she was at risk again and Riker wanted to rip the man’s head from his shoulders. How did a cop sink low enough to work for a criminal like Stone? From prison? Riker wanted to spit.
    His senses were on alert. She didn’t smell like sunshine and fruit shampoo and the special tang that clung to her skin and marked her as Hannah right now. She smelled like roiling fear.
    He wanted to fuck her until she couldn’t think about anything but release and his seed spilling down the insides of her legs. He wanted her crying out his name in passion,