Her Bear Protector (BBW Shifter Romance) Read Online Free Page B

serious or not. He stared straight ahead, but his mouth twitched with a smile.
                I laughed. "Okay, it's a deal. But I hope your hand-to-paw combat skills are up to par, because if you don't survive, then I won't survive, and there won't be anyone to paint the scene of your heroics."
                Aaron glanced at me, his eyes twinkling. "If I can't best any bears we come across with my bare hands, I'll try karate. Although I did forget my nun-chucks at home today. I'll write myself a note next time: Aaron, if even the slightest possibility of hiking with beautiful girl exists today, do pack nun-chucks. Do not forget ."
                I laughed, my stomach doing somersaults because of what he's said about "hiking with beautiful girl." I wondered if he really thought that about me.
                We bantered our way down the trail, joking and laughing, for a long while, but I slowed to a stop when we approached the spot where I'd been cornered by the Taggert brothers the day before.
                "Sorry...this part of the trail. Just...yesterday. Bad memories." I took a deep breath. "I'm just gonna grit my teeth and go through it, though. Because this trail that runs in a loop around my cabin will be the one I'll probably hike on most often while I'm here, and I can't avoid this spot forever."
                Aaron nodded. "True. But gritting your teeth through it doesn't sound very fun. Especially not when we could go through it in a fun way, and make this part of the trail into a happy place."
                "What do you mean?"
                He turned, presenting me with his broad back. "Hop on. I'll give you a lift."
                "But -- but you've seen I'm not small, right?"
                I knew I was carrying at least an extra forty or fifty pounds on my frame above what was considered an average weight for my height.
                "I could carry three of you. Now, hop on, before I decide to make you carry me ."
                Giggling, I jumped onto his back, wrapping my arms around his strong shoulders, my weight not even making him stagger or sway in the least.
                "Now, hold on tight, Kyla. Because on the off-chance that we encounter any bears, I'm going to have to run, and I can't promise that I won't make any wild leaps over ravines if need be. You'll want to have good, firm grip."
                I giggled again, and Aaron began walking with long, powerful strides.
                "Tighter, now. A pack of bears could leap out at us at any second."
                Laughing, I did wrap my arms around his shoulders tighter, pressing my cheek against his muscled back. Inhaling his scent, something woodsy and clean, I knew I was falling for him already. Hard.
                We joked and laughed our way down the next stretch of the trail, and it did become a happy place. Aaron finally set me down at the end of it, not because he was tired from carrying me, but only because my arms were getting kind of sore from holding on.
                Later on during the hike, our conversation turned more serious. He asked me about my family, and I told him what had happened to my parents. He said he was so sorry, and the sincerity in his eyes told me that he really meant it. I asked him about his own family, and he said that he had six brothers and three sisters-in-law living alongside him in their family's cabin settlement.
                "And do your parents live nearby?"
                He shook his head. "No, our parents have been gone for a long, long time."
                We continued talking, some of it serious, some of it not, and by the time we'd nearly completed the loop back to my cabin, I felt as if I'd known Aaron for years. He asked if I had a boyfriend back in Detroit, and I shrugged, trying to keep a straight