Page 61 of Bear

I lower my voice and step toward her. “Is that what you want? To end up collateral damage? To be brutalized, fucked until you’re bleeding from every goddamn orifice you have, and then have your pretty throat slit? For what? So you can pretend you can hold your own?”

“I can hold my own, and I ain’t afraid to sleep alone, Tennessee.”

“I don’t doubt it. Hell, you’re the fucking strongest woman I ever met—stubborn like a goddamn mule too. Thank fuck your cunt is pretty, because otherwise I’m not sure you’d be worth all the fucking drama.”

“You’re an asshole!”

“I’m an asshole who’s trying to save your life,” I say through clenched teeth.

“I’m not wearing your goddamn patch.”

“Bitch, something tells me that the fact you keep bringing it up means you’re hard up for that shit.”

“Oh, yeah,” she says sarcastically. “I just love being claimed by a man publicly. What’s next? Beat me over the head with your club and drag me off to your cave? No, thanks.”

“It ain’t even like that.”

“Then what’s it like?”

“A ‘property of’ patch means no one’s fucking with you.” I scrub my hand over my beard, frustrated with this whole fuckin’ conversation. “It’s like a wedding ring in MC culture.”

Her mouth opens in a little “oh” and she glances at her feet. “I ... didn’t—”

“Know? Yeah, well, maybe if you weren’t so quick to jump to conclusions this whole conversation never needed to happen.”

Her throat bobs as she swallows, and fresh tears spill from her lashes. She wipes them away with the heel of her palm. The silence seems to stretch on between us.

“Hi, I’m Jupiter Jones.” She extends her hand for me to shake. “Stubborn bitch prone to jumping to conclusions, and also, kind of a dumbass.”

I take her hand and pull her into me. “You forgot feisty, rage-aholic feminist.”

She smiles and squeezes her eyes tightly closed, scrunching up her cute little nose, and goddamn it if my heart didn’t just skip a fuckin’ beat. “Why the hell are you still here, Tennessee?”

“Because I happen to love stubborn, rage-aholic feminists. I’m pretty partial to dumbasses, too, especially when they look like this.” I slide my hand down to pinch her ass.

“Then you’re in luck.” She stands on her tiptoes and wraps her arms around my neck. “Because you got me whether you want to or not.”

“I kind of figured that out already, but thanks for the clarification. Now get that sweet ass in your bedroom. You still have to pack, and I wanna fuck that pussy. I want my cum dripping down your thighs when we walk into that clubhouse so everyone knows exactly who you belong to.”

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