Read Doctor Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Bluff Book 2) for Free Online Page A

in the Bear Bluff Hospital came up, and when I came for the interview, I found that the mountain air made me feel … I don’t know. Alive. Does that sound strange?” Damn, now they would think she was a raving lunatic.
    “No, not at all,” they all chorused.
    “In fact I can’t think of a better place to settle down and get married.” Eirik grunted as Drew elbowed him again, only harder this time. “What?”
    “It’s time for us to go. Ben wants to get Beth home. And we need to go home and see how our parents are getting on. My dad said they were expecting quite a gathering. We might have to break up the party.”
    Beth frowned, confused about Eirik’s and Drew’s parents; it sounded as if they lived together. She decided to ask Ben about it later, if she remembered. Right now, she wanted to leave. She was feeling tired, but she still wanted to explain everything to Ben despite there being no need.
    “Shall we go?” he asked.
    “Yes. Bye, Drew, bye, Eirik.”
    “Bye,” they chorused. Ben kissed Drew on the cheek—this time Beth tried to stop herself being jealous—and then he shook hands with Eirik and patted him on the shoulder.
    “I’ll see you tomorrow, Eirik. Bye, Drew.”
    Then they were out on the street, the cool night air sobering her up incredibly quickly. All her senses seemed to have switched themselves on and tuned into Ben. She could smell his cologne, her eyes couldn’t help glancing at him, her fingers itched to touch him, and if she wasn’t mistaken, her ears could hear the beat of his heart. Or perhaps it was her heart she could hear thumping wildly.
    And when he linked his arm through hers, smiling at her with his wonderfully sensuous mouth, she longed to taste his lips.
     

Chapter Nine – Ben
    He tried to keep his body relaxed and not betray how hard it was to stop himself pinning her against the wall and claim her right here, right now. His cock was straining to be released from his pants, his bear straining at the corners of his mind. For a man so good at keeping his emotions under control, this was the hardest thing he had ever done. Each step was torture, because he knew he couldn’t sleep with her tonight; that would betray his earlier words. This meant that when they reached her home, he would have to say good night and leave her alone.
    “How long have you lived in Bear Creek?” she asked.
    The first question he would have to evade. To say hundreds of years would make her think he was a lunatic who should be struck off as a doctor. So he replied, “All of my life.”
    “And you have no intention of ever leaving?”
    “No. I love my job, and all of the residents here. There is no other place I would like to be.”
    “I can see that. I like it here. Each day I feel more settled.”
    “I’m so happy to hear that, Beth. Was it hard to move away from where you lived before?”
    He hoped he was being tactful enough, he didn’t directly ask why she had moved here. Instead, he wanted to push her in the direction where she might decide to share her past with him. He needed to know if what Daphne thought was true. Did Beth come here to escape a broken heart? If so, he might have to take things very slowly with her. Just because he could feel the pull of the mating bond did not mean that she could.
    She hesitated; he held his breath, the need to know everything about her becoming an obsession. Who had hurt her? Or did she break it off? Was she still in love with another man?
    “I was dating a doctor. I thought we were serious. But I was mistaken; when we talked about settling down and getting married, he did not intend to ever do that. Whereas I thought we were going to be engaged. I had told a few close colleagues at work that he had hinted at buying me a ring, which he had,” she insisted, and he could tell it was important that he believed her.
    “And he dumped you?”
    “Worse. A new receptionist started work in the Heart Department. He was a specialist there. And