Page 67 of Bear Naked Truth
His gaze fell to Dorian’s bear eyes, and something ancient flickered in them…recognition, maybe.
“You would give yourself for her?”the spirit asked, tilting his head.
The bear didn’t answer. But Dorian did.
“Yes.”
Hollis looked at Autumn again. “Then speak it.”
Autumn reached forward, her hand brushing just over the inside edge of the chalk line, toward Dorian’s massive paw. She didn’t touch—but she wasclose.
“I love him,” she said. “I love him. And I’m not leaving. Not because I’m not afraid, but because I want this. I wanthim.And I’m not going to run from peace anymore.”
Hollis stilled.
The air held, thick and tense.
He stepped back and smiled. But it wasn’t peace.
Not entirely.
It was soft, yes. Sad. But there was something else underneath it. A curl at the edge of his mouth that didn't quite reach his hollowed eyes. Somethingoff.
Then he vanished. Just like that.
The circle pulsed bright, blinding white and then collapsed inward. The sigils dulled to soot. The candles flickered out in perfect unison.
The room breathed again. And for a moment, so did Dorian.
He staggered slightly as his bear form melted back into his body, breath ragged, shoulders sore, skin tingling with the remnants of something otherworldly. Autumn moved toward him immediately, her hands sliding up to cup his face.
She kissed him.
It wasn’t frantic. It was truth. Raw, unhidden.
Her lips pressed to his like she’d meant to do it for years, and now that she had, she never wanted to stop.
Her fingers curled in his hair. Her body, warm and trembling, leaned into his. He wrapped her up in his arms and pulled her closer, felt her pulse race beneath her skin.
She didn’t let go.
Not at first.
But behind her, in the darkest corner of the parlor—where the candlelight hadn’t touched—something shifted.
A shadow moved. A whisper coiled through the air, too low to be heard, but cold enough to raise the hair on Dorian’s arms again. And the moonstone around Autumn’s neck flickered.
Just once.
Faint.
Like breath on a mirror.
35
AUTUMN
The kiss lingered, warm and grounding, Dorian’s breath tangled with hers, his hands splayed against her back like he couldn’t bear to let go.
