Can't Bear To Run (Kendal Creek Bears, #1) Read Free Page A

pain entirely, but enough that it wasn’t shooting through me. “You scared me, Raine. You made me worried that you were hurt.”
    There was no logic in the world that was going to stop him. Instead, I did what I always did when I made Dan angry. “I’m sorry, Daniel,” I said. “Please, please stop, I won’t do it again, I promise.”
    Dan grunted and then spun me around to face him. He had a terrible, grim look on his face. “I know you won’t,” he said. “We love each other. And people who love each other don’t want to make their spouses worry.”
    I nodded, tears running down my face that replaced the streams of karaoke sweat with a much more bitter taste. “Yeah,” I said. “I won’t, I promise. I just really wanted to see Karen and—”
    “Shut up,” he said, squeezing my shoulder. “We’re the only people we can count on. You know that. You know you can’t trust them. You can’t trust anyone but me.”
    “But why?” I demanded, wrenching my arm free from him. “Why can’t we go out with them? Why can’t we have fun with our friends?”
    His jet-black hair fell in a short cascade around his forehead, almost to his eyebrows. He was sweating too, but with the effort he used to restrain me. His face was flushed and he was breathing hard. “They aren’t your friends. They just want to take you away from me. You know that.”
    I shook my head, stepping back from him. “No I don’t. That’s what you say, but... wait, I thought you were angry that I went out because I could have gotten hurt.”
    “You betrayed me,” he said for the fourth time. “How can I trust someone who lies to me like that?”
    “Lie? When did I lie? She called me, then you called to say you were late. At what point did I lie to you?”
    He reached out a groping hand, trying to grab my arm, but I twisted away. I backed up again until I felt the soft pricks of wall texture scrape the bare skin at the top of my back. I couldn’t dodge anymore. The next time his hand shot out, he grabbed my wrist. “Come to bed,” he said. “I want to sleep and I need to know you’re there too.”
    “Can’t I get something to eat? Watch TV? Why do I have to—”
    He tightened his vice-like grip on my forearm. “You’re asking questions now ? After what you did?”
    I lowered my head, staring at the tips of his dirty boots. “You tracked mud in the house,” I said. “I spent two hours this morning cleaning the rug and you got it all dirty again.”
    Dan laughed bitterly. “You gonna have something better to do tomorrow?”
    I bit my lip.
    “Didn’t think so. But now that we understand each other, and you’re going to apologize for doing what you did, I’ll let you come to bed with me.”
    I did, because... well, what the hell else was I going to do? He had his hooks in deep. As he turned, I yanked my arm back away from him, but instead of grabbing the heavy, bronze lamp that I bought from an antique store three years before, and cracking his skull open, I just followed him.
    Limply, numbly, I followed him back to the room.
    “Go brush your teeth,” he said. “And then come to bed.”
    By the time I’d rinsed and spat about eight mouthfuls of toothpaste, I went back to the room and heard Dan snoring.
    Well , I thought. At least I escaped THAT .
    Sometimes the world goes right. Sometimes it goes all wrong, and sometimes... well, sometimes you just have to be thankful for whatever small blessings come your way.
    I lay awake that night, staring at the ceiling and crying. By the time morning came around, I’d made up my mind. I was getting out of this nightmare, and somehow, some way, I was going to find that guy that caught my imagination and never let go.
    I’m Raine Matthews, damn it , Raine Dodson is just a bad memory, I thought as he rolled out of bed and went to get dressed. No one’s ever going to push me around like that again .

-3-
Beared Up And Ready To Rumble
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    “I ’m done with