Bear Treble (Highland Brothers 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

he was working through a song. He loved any instrument he could get his hands on. We would be the only people there—just listening to him play. Eventually he let me join him.” She could picture the three of them in the sanctuary with the dim lights surrounding them. “We’d take turns. My sister would sing and I would play. I think it was what got him through, you know?” She turned feeling the heat of Dylan’s eyes on her.
    “Music soothes broken souls, Layla.”
    “Can we play now? You can read my entire biography online.” She meant it as a joke, but realized maybe it didn’t sound that way.
    Sharing those memories were hard, even if everyone else knew. It felt different sitting on the porch telling Dylan about her grandfather. They had had a complicated relationship. He loved her like a father, but she knew it put a strain on him to raise two young girls. She was only sad he never lived long enough to see her success. She could have done so much to repay him.
    “Sure. Let’s play,” Dylan grumbled.
    She reached for the lyrics resting on his lap. As her fingers drifted over his thigh she heard a distinct rumble spring from his chest.
    Dylan immediately strummed a C chord, covering the sound with music. She stared at him, but his head was buried over the guitar and his fingers were working the strings.
    She cleared her throat, steadying her breathing. As soon as she heard the notes, she launched into the words that he sang last night. Words that had cut right through her. The melody was beautiful and haunting. She was lost in the arrangement as he continued to play. When the music stopped she opened her eyes, looking at him.
    His eyes were intoxicating. She knew it the first time she saw him, and she knew it now. They were dark and mysterious, like deep pools of coal.
    “What do you think?” She was afraid to ask him.
    He nodded, his jaw clenching with the motion. “I think you nailed it.”
    Her lips twitched into a smile. Somehow his compliment meant more than any one she’d ever heard. “Thanks. I think it’s the song.”
    “No. It’s you, Layla.”
    There was something happening between them. She could feel it, and she almost thought she could see it. The way the fall air whipped around them. The way the sun dappled at their feet. The way the music spoke to both of them. His lyrics drifted from her lips as if they were one person singing together.
    She shifted her knee so that it barely brushed against Dylan’s, bringing the guitar into her lap. Her fingers wrapped around the head. His eyes brimmed with the emotion from the song. She could feel it.
    Her eyes lifted to his.
    He craved her.

11

Dylan
    H e swallowed hard . The harder he tried to restrain his bear, the harder he fought back. After the melody flowed from her lips, all he could think about was making Layla his. He wanted her. He wanted to possess her the way she had taken possession of his song. The want was burning through his fingertips.
    His nostrils flared. “I need a break.” He dropped his guitar and walked around the side of the porch.
    This was exactly what his bear wanted. He wanted him to lose control—unleash the animal. The woods called to him. He could shift and run through the forest. Dylan scowled and picked up a log by the woodshed and grabbed an ax.
    He swung the blade over his head until it sliced through the log, splintering it in two. He picked up the fallen pieces and laid one on its end to split it again. The more logs he cut, the warmer his muscles became. He made a hefty stack next to the shed.
    “Just how long is your break going to take?” Layla walked up from the house.
    He looked down at the log and swung the ax preciously. “I don’t know.”
    She stopped a few feet from the stump. “Can I try?”
    He halted mid-swing. “You want to cut wood?”
    She moved closer, reaching for the ax. “It’s been awhile, but I used to split wood for my grandfather.”
    Dylan stepped back as she gripped the