Bearlebrity: (BWWM) Paranormal BBW Bear Shifter Romance Standalone by Terry Bolryder Page A

Beneath that sassy, passionate exterior was a wounded heart that was slow to trust. Maybe he was the wrong man to trust.
    But maybe…
    “But I do,” he said. “I do only think of being with you. It’s never happened to me before.”
    She took a deep breath and let it out, staring up at him. “I understand. It is what it is.”
    “And what is it?” he asked, feeling taken aback. Feeling taken off guard by this curvaceous, amazing woman.
    “A fling,” she said, shrugging her beautiful shoulders. She burrowed under the covers. “Let’s not make it more than it is, Riley. Like you said, you aren’t cut out for that. And I’m not a woman who sits there wishing for something that isn’t happening.”
    He frowned. For some reason, he didn’t like how low her expectations were of him, after what they’d just done.
    And she could really be that okay with it? Like, okay Riley, I’m fine if I lose you forever.
    Hmph.
    Yeah, right.
    “We should get to bed anyway,” she said, yawning. He had a feeling she was feigning more tiredness than she felt just to get away from the conversation. But he didn’t know what else to say. They were at an impasse. She was right: as much as he wanted to possess her, a fling was really what this was.
    Then why didn’t it feel like a fling deep inside of him?
    “Okay,” he said, getting under the covers. It felt a little odd going to sleep like this. Knowing both of them were physically satisfied, but both a little emotionally off guard.
    But there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t offer commitment like she deserved, and he didn’t know if she’d want it or believe him if he did. So he just lay there.
    “There’s a tourist bus coming into town tomorrow. We’ll need all of our rest to deal with it.”
    “Right,” he said. “Wait, a bus?”
    “Yup, lots of people.”
    He gritted his teeth. “Lots of guys?”
    She laughed. “Maybe. Lots of girls, too.”
    That rankled. It didn’t sit well at all with him. He wanted to say something, anything, that would let her know how he felt about the other men. He wanted to mate-claim her right there and make sure she was his and no other males could even look at her.
    Dammit!
    “Riley,” she said, “you’re free to flirt too.”
    He gritted his teeth some more. “What if I don’t want to?”
    She sighed. “Don’t be difficult. I’m enjoying this.”
    He fidgeted with the covers, twisting the sheets in his hands. “Well, I’m not.”
    She sat up and gave him a glare. “What do you mean?”
    He sat up with a loud sigh. “I don’t like this open relationship. I don’t get why you need it that way.”
    She tucked her hair behind her ear, frustrated. “Well, I just do. Look, I’m being a lot cooler about this than a lot of other women would be. I’m willing to have fun, to just live in the moment with you, and all I ask is that you not get controlling on me. Is that too much to ask? I don’t know. But it’s my life and my rules. Take it or leave it.”
    “So I’m supposed to make love to you at night, hold you in my arms and have the best sex of my life, and accept that you could just walk into another man’s arms the next day?” he asked, feeling a dark sensation of grief roll through him. For the first time, he was feeling just how angry he was at what happened to him as a kid. What made him feel like relationships weren’t possible? Like he didn’t deserve love.
    The thought of another man’s hands on Leslie made him want to deserve love. Made him want to throw his guilt and his duty out the window and take her for his own.
    Mate , his bear whispered. Riley wanted to ignore him, but the bear’s presence was threaded through him, present in each bone.
    “Yes, yes, you are supposed to,” Leslie said. “That’s what happens when you’re not in a relationship. And we’re not.”
    “We’re living together,” he said.
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, maybe we shouldn’t be,” he said bitterly, regretting the