To Bite A Bear by Amber Kell Page B

had said before that
    Harris zen-like peace soothed Rohan deep inside.
    Apparently, the closer the proximity, the better the
    calming took.
    Ignoring everyone else, Harris scooted closer to
    offer his presence if not his clumsy words of
    sympathy. He’d always been more of a person of
    action, not verbal expression.
    Rohan had taken his vampires’ deaths hard
    since he hadn’t been able to prevent the poisoning.
    Sorcerers and vampires were mortal enemies, but
    from what Harris had heard, they’d been in a
    semi-truce for years. Until sorcerers had poisoned
    the humans the vampires used for food, they had
    no idea the sorcerers were going to attack.
    Rohan didn’t speak, but he slid a hand down
    from Harris’ shoulder as he stepped away and
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    To Bite a Bear

    tangled their fingers together instead. “Thanks for
    being here,” he murmured in Harris’ ear, a soft,
    intimate sound. His breath brushed across the soft
    hairs of Harris’ ear lobe. Harris fought back both a
    shiver and the urge to turn his head for a kiss.
    Before Harris could give in to any of his urges
    and after a quick squeeze of Harris’ fingers, Rohan
    released him and stepped away. Harris
    immediately missed the vampire’s presence. His
    inner animal yearned for contact with Rohan as if
    Harris couldn’t be complete without being close.
    “You’re welcome. I’d do a lot more for you…”
    Harris confessed. He turned bright red. When
    would he learn not to say everything in his head?
    With his friends, his tendency to blurt things out
    was mildly embarrassing. With Rohan, it reached
    a more humiliating level. He might as well strip
    naked and throw himself at Rohan’s feet.
    Rohan turned to give Harris his full attention.
    He cupped Harris’ cheek with one elegant hand.
    “I’d love to hear about what you might be willing
    to do. Later,” Rohan said.
    Rubbing his cheek against the vampire leader’s
    palm, Harris lost track of his thoughts. There was
    little he wasn’t willing to do to have Rohan touch
    Harris as if he cared. His inner beast fought to
    come out and play.
    “Easy, beloved,” Rohan said. “Keep the calm I
    love so much.”
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    Amber Kell

    Love?
    Harris wondered how Rohan could toss such
    words around. Beloved. Love. Did the vampire
    not understand the power of words? That a foolish
    bear’s heart might patter a bit faster when
    presented with even casually tossed affection.
    Harris took long, slow breaths to pull his bear
    back under his control. Years of meditation had
    kept Harris mellow in the face of true
    emergencies. Aden had sent him to a monk years
    before to gain the skills needed to find his inner
    calm and keep his bear subdued unless needed.
    Unfortunately, whenever Rohan touched someone
    else, Harris had to wrestle back his inner beast. No
    one should touch Rohan or speak to him
    unnecessarily or look in his direction. Yeah, maybe I
    do have a bit of an obsession going.
    He worried over his reaction to Rohan. When
    shifters became possessive, it usually meant they’d
    found their mate. Harris didn’t know if he was
    ready for that level of commitment. He liked
    Rohan, but vampires were different than shifters.
    Really different.
    “Come on, let’s get you to bed. You’ve had a
    long day. This is the part of the ceremony where
    people go to mourn alone,” Rohan said. He took
    Harris’ arm and led him back into the house, then
    up the stairs.
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    To Bite a Bear

    Harris dug in his heels at the top. What is going
    on?
    “Did I move in here?” Harris asked, confused.
    He’d come to support Rohan during the funeral,
    but he’d had every intention of returning home
    afterward. He had already spent his day sketching
    out his concept on the wall by the foyer. Harris
    didn’t need to live there.
    “I like you close by,” Rohan said, his words
    final, as if he’d closed the subject. Nothing showed
    on the vampire’s face. No teasing smile. No
    forbidding scowl. He acted as if Harris was the
    one