Woodcutter Werebear (Saw Bears Book 2) Read Free Page B

automatic lock for good measure. And when she looked up, the back of a giant beast rose above the window line.
    “Son of a biscuit,” she murmured in awe as she took in the full, furred, fanged expanse of Kellen Cade Brown.
    He was a bear. And not one of those plump, tame ones she had seen bumbling around in a circus once. He was one ton of toned, muscled, ferocious, scar-faced, pitch-black, snarling grizzly.
    As he stood on his hind legs and shook his enormous block head, she gasped at his full height. He had to be twelve feet tall. Her heart pounded, threatening to eject from her chest cavity, and a scream lodged in her throat, making it impossible to breathe.
    He could rip through this truck like it was a can of tuna if he wanted to.
    He lowered himself to all fours, never taking his eyes from hers, and slowly, his animal retracted until he was human and utterly naked on his knees by the truck. So, bear shifters could go back and forth between their animal and human sides almost immediately. She couldn’t do that. She had to stay an animal for half an hour, at least.
    His clothes lay in tatters on the ground around him. She searched frantically in the back seat for an extra set, but all she found was a folded pair of jeans on the floorboard. They smelled clean but had dark stains and tattered holes in the knees. Work pants.
    She slipped from the truck when Kellen pumped his hands as if they ached. He stared down at his sharp nails, which were still retracting.
    “Are you okay?” she asked, dropping to her knees in front of him. She held the jeans clutched to her chest.
    “Hurts,” was all he said in a hoarse voice.
    Looking around to make sure no one was barreling down the road to see this, she slid her hand across Kellen’s back. His muscles were tensed, but as she massaged the knots, he relaxed little by little.
    “You’re a bear shifter,” she said low. Tracing faint, curved scars across his back, she said, “You fight grizzlies. No wonder you don’t fear my people.”
    Kellen huffed a laugh, then leaned back on his heels, apparently unconcerned with his lack of clothing.
    His eyes were brown again, the same color as his hair, which was short on the sides and longer on top. Tousled in that sexy I-just-got-out-of-bed-and-don’t-care look. It was the first time she’d really taken time to study him. She’d been working so hard to hide her face and those damned telling bruises, proof of her weakness, that she hadn’t really seen him. Smile lines bracketed full lips with a scar on one side, and his eyebrows were dark and animated. His neck was thick with muscle that led to perfectly defined pecs and tiny pert nipples that had drawn up against the stiff breeze. Bulging muscles flexed across his stomach with each ragged breath he drew. His shoulders were broad and defined, and his chest rippled as he dragged a hand through his chestnut colored hair, as if his scalp still tingled from the Change. Strips of muscle hooked over his hip bones and delved toward his thick, long, half-mast erection. Embarrassed at staring, she jerked her gaze from between his thighs and looked at his face again.
    His eyes dropped to her outstretched hand, and she gasped and yanked it back. When had she started reaching out for him?
    The corners of his eyes tightened as he dragged his gaze back to hers. “I don’t mind if you look at me, Skyler.”
    She shouldn’t. She was promised to Roger, but crouching here, in the middle of nowhere, it was so tempting to do something she wanted to do instead of something she was told to do.
    With her gaze, she traced his ribs, pressing against his skin with every breath. His strong arms and his long, lean legs folded under him. With a steadying breath, she allowed herself to look at his thick, hard erection standing rigid between his thighs. She released her breath slowly, then handed him his jeans.
    “Thank you,” she said, shrugging off the embarrassment that blanketed her.
    Kellen didn’t