Her Holiday Bear (A BBW Paranormal Christmas Romance) Read Online Free Page A

another layer, as if someone had been this close to her and not so long ago. The other scent he did not recognized, but he knew it was the scent of a bear shifter. “Who helped you with the tree, Ally?”
    “What?” She glanced at him, startled by his words.
    “Who was he, Ally?” Breathing through the hot, possessive feeling, Jagger stared at her, waiting for an answer. She pushed her hair behind her ears and he wanted to nibble on the enchanting shells.
    “Who was what?”
    “The man. The male that helped you with this tree, the male that rubbed against you.”
    She stalled. “You can tell someone helped me?”
    “Yes. Now, who was he?” His ability to sense the other male appeared to have struck her dumb. Or maybe it was his over-the-top show of possessiveness after six months of tiptoeing around their obvious attraction to each other. He, and his bear, had thought they had plenty of time, plenty of time to claim their curvy mate. Smelling another man’s scent on her, however faint, shot that theory to hell and back. The volcanic rush of jealousy that coursed through him when he’d realized another shifter had been sniffing around his mate had him ready to turn bear and challenge the male.
    Mine.
    His bear cuffed as Jagger accepted the fact that fate had finally caught up with him. And given him this beautiful, intelligent woman all his own.
    “The man works for Henry.”
    Jagger looked around. He didn’t sense any other bear shifter. Henry and a couple of young wolves on the far side of the lot looking at a tree were the only ones around.
    “I’d never seen him before,” Ally admitted.
    “A stranger.” It was a statement, not a question. Jagger knew everyone in town and the surrounding area. Or had. Bears didn’t do the whole pack thing, but they were usually respectful of other bears, acknowledging the other animal’s territory. To have a bear, especially an unmated male, come into his territory without an introduction was almost the same as issuing a challenge. A challenge Jagger would be more than happy to accept. He’d have to have a talk with Marcus for allowing the bear into town without giving him a heads up. Jagger considered the town of Riverton his. His to protect.
    Just as Ally was his to protect. Today she had on tight fitting jeans and a colorful Christmas sweater beneath her coat. It revealed the V of pale skin at her neck and the abundant swell of her cleavage. Had the other male gazed at her like this? In a nervous gesture no doubt caused by his unrelenting stare, she pulled the hem of her sweater down over her hips. Her wide, healthy hips. He shoved his hands in his pockets, struck once again by the unbidden, now not-so-unwelcomed need to touch. Twin arrows of heat shot through him from his chest to his groin. Jagger set his jaw and ignored the sensation. This was not the time nor the place.
    Ally had a tiny, concerned crease between her brows that he wanted to erase with the pad of his thumb. He wanted to touch her there, then trace the full red surface of her lips, his forefinger painting the deep dip in her upper lip. The pulse in her throat caught his attention. That sweet spot where her neck joined her body. Where a bear marks his mate.
    Her scent changed as he continued to stare at her. The sweet innocence faded as another familiar scent permeated the air. Now she smelled sweet and spicy. She looked up at him through the shadow of her long lashes.
    “He was very helpful.”
    She didn’t seem to realize she was playing with fire. He felt his bear stretch inside him, yanking at the chains he’d put around the disgruntled animal.
    “Why do you care if another man was near me?” She looked at Jagger and licked her bottom lip again. Maybe she did want to get burned.
    The thought of her with another man made him snarl with primitive male possessiveness. His hand clamped down on her upper arm. He needed to taste her. Now. Assessing his surroundings, he headed for the back of the