Page 23 of Taken Home By the Grizzly

“As long as it takes. We shifters are all connected. We are brothers. This is just like looking after my brother’s kids.”

“What if this was their whole plan—to dump the kids on me and run?” I pass my hand across my forehead. I feel hot and overwhelmed. And stupid. “I was so dumb to accept this job?—”

“Hey!” Lock’s voice is louder than before. “Don’t ever say that about yourself, Zoe. You’re literally the smartest person I’ve ever met.”

He’s looking at me so seriously with those mesmerizing eyes of his, goose flesh breaks out on my arms.

“And—” He hesitates, as if he’s not sure whether to continue— “we shifters believe everything happens for a reason.”

I frown. “You’re saying I was supposed to get fired from my last job and find this one?”

His gaze darts from my eyes to my lips and back again, like he’s drinking me in. “Maybe.” His voice is a deep growl that goes all the way through me.

I realize how close we’re standing. My nostrils are full of the scent of his skin. It’s spicy, mysterious. Sexy as hell. Maybe I’m crazy, but the thought that he’s half-man, half-beast is turning me on like nothing else.

He lifts his hand and cups my jaw. Then slowly, deliberately, he runs his callused thumb across my lower lip. “I think you were supposed to come here and find me, little one.”

Oh, god.

I’m melting. My knees are weak, and I’m trembling all over. I stand motionless, completely in his power, while he dips his head and kisses me.

He slides his hands into my hair and holds me still while he possesses my mouth.

He kisses me hard, hungry, plunging his tongue in deep. All I can do is cling to him. My nipples harden with a shiver and heat flares in my core.

I need his hand there, between my thighs. I imagine him working those thick fingers inside me.

As if he read my mind, he slides his hand down and cups my pussy through my jeans. “So ripe, so ready for me,” he growls against my lips.

I go still. It sounds so wrong. But soright??

I can feel that I’m wet already… annnd… I’m grinding against his hand.

Crap. How embarrassing…

And now his hand is sliding down the front of my jeans.

I should stop him. The kids are only two rooms away.

His thick fingers slide past my waistband, and… I stifle a cry as he touches my bare pussy for the first time.

He lets off another one of those deep, growly purrs.

“Are you wet for me, little one?” he rasps.

“Yes—” my voice comes out as a gasp, because he’s sliding his finger up and down my slit, getting closer to my entrance with every stroke.

“Fucking beautiful,” he growls.

And he takes his hand away.

I bite back a sound of disappointment.

“I’ll put a word out among the shifters I know,” he says, still holding me close. “See if anyone’s missing some kids.”

“Thank you,” I manage to say.

As I step away from him, he drags me back into his arms and gives me one more fierce kiss. “Soon,” he growls. “Soon, I’ll make you mine.”

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