Bear The Fire (Firebear Brides 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

avoiding me?” Kali asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she came to a stop in front of Rhodes.
    He was smoking a cigarette, sitting on the back of one of the trucks. It had been parked near the workshop, out of the immediate sight of the rest of the house. It had been nearly a day now that she’d been in Hamilton House, having a perfectly awkward time and getting to know the rest of the Hamilton clan.
    Ragnar and she went way back because of their shared… history due to Seattle, but the rest of them she’d never met. The Hamiltons had never been very close after they all split off to find their individual destinies, Kali knew, but seeing them all together brought a smile to her lips. There was something about the raucous, lively bunch of firebears and their mates that made Kali immediately feel at home.
    Rose was a sweetheart and Tiana and Abigail were both sassy and strong as hell, complementing their men beautifully. Kali kept catching herself feeling jealous at their happiness. Not in a malicious way, just with her eyes constantly searching around for a sign of Rhodes, and then immediately chiding herself for doing that.
    This is a favor for Ragnar. It’s just temporary. You’ll get a stupid piece of paper and you’ll be out of here in no time, she kept reminding herself.
    But she’d stopped believing that the moment she’d seen Rhodes, all brooding, brutal and vulnerable. Standing face to face with Rhodes, leaving sounded like the most ridiculous thing in the world. How could she have ever thought this would be easy ?
    “Do I look like I’m avoiding you?” he asked, quirking a brow and giving her that maddening bad boy smirk she loved and hated.
    “Give me that,” she snapped, plucking the cigarette from between his lips and taking a long drag from it.
    The smoke filled her lungs and then came out in one hurried breath. She had to bite down on the urge to cough. God, it was disgusting. No wonder she’d quit years ago. She took another drag before handing it back. Even touching the same cigarette as Rhodes sent an electric pulse through her and straight to her traitorous pussy.
    “I thought you quit,” he said with amusement in his eyes.
    “I thought you quit,” she countered.
    “Yeah, well, some things drive a man to acts of desperation,” he said mildly as she sat next to him on the tailgate.
    “Are we going to talk about it?” she asked after a long pause, the tension of being around him steadily warming her.
    “Do we have to?” Rhodes asked, sullenness replacing that lively charm.
    “I’m about to become your wife. I think we should.”
    “You’re not about to become anyone’s wife, least of all mine,” Rhodes huffed.
    Putting out his cigarette on the side of the truck, he made a move to get up and leave, but Kali instinctively grabbed his arm, pulling him back to face her.
    “Rhodes, stop it. I haven’t seen you since that night. Since… you know.” The words died on her lips.
    “Since I burned your ex-boyfriend alive and skipped town?” he asked brutally, a sharp coldness on his expression now.
    “Yeah,” she said, gulping. “Since you saved me from a deranged psychopath who was going to kill me. Since you took off before I could say anything about it. Since you left me alone.”
    His eyes softened, remorse flooding them, but he battled it out of himself. She wanted to smack him so bad, make him slow down and really talk to her for once. Rhodes ripped his arm out of her grasp and went to get up, but Kali was determined. This wasn’t going to go down like that.
    “Why did you go, Rhodes?”
    “What do you mean why ? I was a fucking murderer. I am a murderer. I had to get out, before anyone could connect the dots and take this back to me.” He was up, pacing a few feet from her, rigid, jagged motions making his body look like it was made up of pieces that didn’t really fit together.
    “You aren’t a murderer. You saved me from him. He would have come for me again,