So Much To Bear (A Werebear Erotic Romance) Read Free Page A

sure if it
was more due to her dislike of Liam or the chill in the air; while
they had been walking steadily, she’d been warm enough—she had even
broken a sweat climbing over some fallen trees—but now that she was
mostly still, the cold of the night seemed to creep through the
weave of her clothing, slipping underneath the thick jacket she
wore to test the few patches of skin she had exposed.
     
    “You could come over here and we could
cuddle—that would keep us warm while we wait,” Liam suggested,
another leering smile curving his lips. “I know I’d heat right up
with you in my arms.” Jennifer scowled.
     
    “I wouldn’t cuddle with you if it was
20 degrees colder,” she said brusquely. Liam snorted.
     
    “Come on, Jen. You know you’ll give in
eventually.” Jennifer turned on her toes when she heard Liam stand
up.
     
    “I don’t know what you’re talking
about,” Jennifer said, stepping back slightly as Liam started to
move towards her. “I’ve never been even a little bit interested in
you.” Liam laughed, the haughty sound echoing off of the nearby
trees.
     
    “Don’t lie to yourself. You’re totally
into me. I’m hot, I’m wealthy, I’ve got political power—you’d be an
idiot not to be into me.” Jennifer sidestepped as Liam moved
closer. She didn’t know why she felt afraid of him; she had never
been afraid of Liam, never truly afraid of him, the entire time she
had known him. But something in his determined expression gave her
a sense of alarm she couldn’t deny. She didn’t think she would have
to run away—and even if she did run, she’d quickly get lost in the
depths of the woods with no torch to see by. As she looked around,
her gaze scanning the line of trees around them, she thought she
saw a pair of shimmering golden eyes in the dark; but they were
gone so quickly Jennifer was sure she must have imagined
them.
     
    “Liam, you aren’t even remotely my
type,” Jennifer said, shaking her head. “If you really wanted to
attract me, you’d stop being such an asshole and pretend like you
actually give a damn about other people.” Liam’s eyes widened and
then narrowed into a scowl.
     
    “What’s wrong with you?” Liam’s voice
dropped to a near-hiss, his face starting to redden with his
frustration. “Are you frigid or just an idiot?” Jennifer shook her
head.
     
    “Neither. I’m just not into jerks who
think they’re entitled to me.” Liam let out a growl and lunged
towards her; Jennifer dodged his first movement, slipping away from
his grabbing hands and dancing on the balls of her feet to the edge
of the clearing. She thought she was more than amply prepared to
deal with someone like Liam; he wasn’t that much taller than her,
and while he worked out, Jennifer had taken a full self-defense
course as one of her electives in college. It had seemed only
reasonable at the time, since as an anthropologist, she planned to
travel to areas where she couldn’t entirely depend on the police to
protect her.
     
    Liam was quicker than she bargained
for, however, and as she moved to evade him once more, he grabbed
her wrists. He was so occupied in trying to pull her to him that he
didn’t see it—but Jennifer caught sight of a tall, shadowed man
coming up from behind him. The man’s hands fell onto Liam’s
shoulders and pulled him back savagely, wrenching him sideways and
backwards so quickly that Jennifer’s hands fell free of his grasp.
The shadowy figure threw Liam to the ground with a dull roar, and
Jennifer heard the thud of contact, the whoop of surprise that left
Liam’s lips as some of the air left his lungs involuntarily in the
impact.
     
    “Robert?” Jennifer called out
hopefully; it had to be him—maybe they weren’t as deep in the woods
as they thought, and Alex had taken Lucy home while Robert doubled
back.
     
    “Come on, Robert, I wasn’t going to
hurt her…” Liam started. But the figure moved into the light of the
torch and they