Bear's Claim (Bear Heat Book 3) Read Free Page A

with love and understanding. She wasn't teasing him or
playing with him. She wanted him, accepted him, and cared for him.
She let him know exactly how she felt. She wasn't like all the other
women that Thor had been with. Aubrey didn't play games. She didn't
hide her feelings, her desire, her heart. She wanted him and she let
him know it.
    And she wanted him just for
him. Not for his wealth, his bad boy image, his bear. She wasn't a
shifter groupie or a gold-digger. She was just...his Aubrey.
    No. Not his.
    He couldn't do that to her.
    His bear was going mad,
clawing viciously at his skin, roaring to be let out. The beast
wanted to claim this female, take her and mark her as its mate.
    But Thor knew that he must
not give in to his animal.
    He would satisfy her, love
her, pleasure her out of her mind. But he would not claim and mark
her.
    This would be just sex.
There would be no mating.
    One night.
    One night with an angel.
    It was not enough, but it was
more than he deserved.

CHAPTER
FOUR

    Aubrey opened her eyes and
stared round her dark bedroom. She flung her arm out and it landed
on the cold, empty pillow beside her.
    She pulled the rumpled sheets
up to her chin and let out a long, slow sigh. She didn't have to
turn her head to know that she was alone in her bed.
    Thor was gone.
    Aubrey closed her eyes, and
images of their slick, entwined bodies played through her mind in
tantalizing detail. The soreness between her legs told her that she
had not dreamed it all up. It had happened. It was real.
    She traced her fingers over
the sheets, remembering Thor's scarred, muscular body sliding against
hers. He had filled her, pleasured her endlessly, and given her the
best sex of her life. Thor was a skilful and generous lover, and she
had screamed her pleasure multiple times into the night.
    Sated and exhausted, she had
finally fallen asleep curled up snugly beside his huge, powerful
body. She hadn't had such great sex in a long time. Heck, she
hadn't had sex in a long time, period.
    Aubrey wasn't exactly looking
for Mr. Right. She was happy that Cora had found her perfect mate in
Ethan Flint. Cora and Ethan was lucky to have found each other. But
Aubrey harbored no illusions about the fate of her own heart. So
far, she'd had absolutely no luck in love. She didn't think her luck
was about to change.
    It didn't bother her.
    Some people were lucky. Some
weren't.
    That was just the way things
were.
    So she wasn't going to kid
herself. Being unlucky in love didn't mean that she couldn't have
fun. No moping around for her. She would just go out and have a
good time. And a good lay.
    She was a grown woman. She
could go out and get her itch scratched sometimes by a real, live
male. Her vibrator kept her company most nights, but sometimes she
just wanted to hold a live, warm body in her arms and feel, well,
less alone in her bed.
    She wasn't looking for love.
She wasn't a sucker for pain.
    Love had a way of morphing
into heartbreak in her hands.
    So.
    She would just go out, live
life, have her fun, take her pleasure. Some nights, she got lucky
and the pleasure she got was way off the charts.
    Aubrey released another
quiet, shuddering sigh.
    So this was just one of those
nights. One of those lucky nights.
    And Thor had just been one of
those warm bodies that vanished when morning came around.
    Aubrey turned towards the
window and stared out at the pitch black sky. There wasn't even the
faintest light in the sky. Dawn was still hours away, yet Thor was
already gone from her bed. He had simply left without a sound,
without a kiss, probably without even a backward glance in the middle
of the night. Leaving her feeling oddly angry...and hurt.
    Aubrey scowled at the
ceiling.
    It was a one night stand.
Nothing more. So why did she want more? She should be glad and
relieved, shouldn't she?
    She had always hated the
awkward small talk in the morning. Sometimes she couldn't even
remember their names. The men would be equally awkward