Gray Back Broken Bear (Gray Back Bears Book 4) by T. S. Joyce Page B

she’d treasured for all these years. She wasn’t dumb, or blind. Easton struggled a great deal with his animal side thanks to what he’d endured in this place. But he was still trying, and that spoke volumes about the caliber of man he was.
    Easton strode off with powerful steps, his razor sharp claws digging into the earth as he moved away from her. And as he reached the first line of trees, he looked back over his shoulder and waited.
    Aviana smiled and Changed into her raven. She beat her wings against the air until she reached the muscular hump between his shoulder blades. Gripping his silver fur in her small talons, she held on as he took off in the direction of the trailer park.
    And though years stood between the last time they’d traveled together like this and now, she was filled with that same stomach-fluttering bond she’d built with Easton. She felt the same elation she had when she’d touched his fur for the first time as a raven when they were children. Their history together stretched on and on. No matter what lay ahead of them with Creed, she would be there with Easton, standing beside him, fighting for their second chance.
    Because from this day on, she was never going to fly away from her Easton again.

Chapter Thirteen
     
    Easton brushed his fingertip down each vertebra in her back, almost as if he were counting them. He’d filled up the tub with steaming water as soon as they got back, but the chills wouldn’t leave her body. Aviana drew her knees tighter to her chest and rested her cheek on one so she could see him better.
    Easton’s bright green eyes followed his finger as he started at the top of her spine and started again. He was leaning on the tub, chin resting on his arm, and an absent smile on his lips.
    She was marrow-deep exhausted, but Easton had made her a bowl of stew, lit candles in the bathroom, and now seemed content to forgo sleep just to stare at her skin. She understood. Aviana had been drinking him in since she’d first seen him again, too.
    “What are you thinking about?” she whispered in a soft voice, afraid to disturb the moment.
    “Do you remember when the rabbits got to my vegetable garden?”
    She answered his smile with one of her own. God, she loved his dimples. They were even more special since he only seemed to flash them for her. “You were eleven.”
    Easton sat up and pushed her gently backward until her hair was immersed in the water, then he lifted her out and poured a dollop of shampoo in his palm. As he worked her hair into a lather, he said, “I wanted to snare all the rabbits and put them into a stew with my vegetables.”
    “But all you caught was a cold from obsessively checking the snares in the middle of the night.”
    “And you brought me an earring.”
    Aviana giggled and leaned her head back on his hand in the water, then allowed him to pour a plastic cup over her hair to rinse out the suds. “Not all of my gifts had to mean something, you know.”
    “But you couldn’t bring me cold medicine?”
    She giggled harder as she sat up.
    “For fuck’s sake, a single pain killer would’ve done wonders for the headache that came along with it. But no. You gave me a shiny earring.”
    “I like shiny things. That is a high compliment that I can part with them for you. I found it on a hiking trail. For some reason I can’t think of now, I thought you would like it. And besides, you’re a bear shifter. I thought you weren’t supposed to get sick.”
    “And I haven’t since. Damn rabbits cursed me.”
    She blinked slowly as he traced her backbone again. “Was it awful after I left?”
    “Crow, crow, why are you still cold?” he asked in that deep timbre she was still getting used to.
    “I’ll get stronger. You didn’t answer my question.”
    With a sigh, Easton pulled his shirt over his head. His abs rippled with the movement. After tossing it into the pile with her discarded clothes, he shucked his jeans, too. Slowly, he slid into the