Fated To Her Bear Read Online Free PDF Page B

noise made her start. The barn door opened and a man, Ryan, stood in the doorway. She had been found. There was no way to run past him, not without knocking him over. And she didn’t want to hurt him. All she could do was stand her ground and see if she could make a getaway when he moved away from the door.
    Ryan stretched out his hand; he started to walk towards her, crooning as he had earlier when he had tried to comfort Sapphire.
    “Shh, girl, easy, Ciara, I won’t hurt you.” He came closer, his eyes looking away from her face so as not to spook her.
    All she could think was that there was no escape; he knew it was her, he knew what she was. The simplest thing would be to change back into her human form and talk to him. But she didn’t always do simple, and her horse wanted to feel the touch of his hand on her hide. Wanted him to stroke her soft horsehair and run his hand along her flank.
    With an outstretched hand, he was nearly alongside her. If she wanted to, she could barge him out of the way and be out of the barn before he knew what hit him. Her horse planted four hooves firmly on the ground. That was not going to happen.
    Ciara smelled his hand, blowing air over it to caress his palm. She saw him shiver, and saw something else flicker across his eyes. Whatever animal he was, it was fighting for release. But Ryan kept firm control of it.
    The first touch of his hand made her shudder, her skin moving under his fingertips. He ran them firmly over her shoulder, and along her back. “My, aren’t you a beauty,” he said, in that same sing-song reassuring voice. “I have never seen anything quite so majestical.”
    She could listen to him all day, and then she realised that was what he was doing, persuading her to stay. What would he do next, stick a saddle on her and attempt to ride her? The human Ciara snapped back into control and, in an instant, had transformed.
    “Good evening, Ciara,” he said, smiling at her.
    “I think it’s probably good morning , to be precise.”
    “You might be right. And so I have to ask you, what you are doing here in my barn at this time in the morning?”
    “I came to see Sapphire.”
    “And?”
    “I wanted to find out what was wrong with her. The bloodwork told me nothing. And you were so concerned, I wanted to check she was OK.”
    “You can talk to other horses?” he asked.
    “Yes, sort of. It’s all body language. I’m not telepathic or anything.”
    “What a pity.” His eyes flashed in the dark and there was that animal again, lurking just under the surface. She longed to touch him, to make him bring his own beast out of hiding, but he scared her. This man was not a horse; he was a predator, through and through. And oh, how she wanted him to devour her.
    “I should be going,” she said, feeling hot, so very hot for him.
    He moved to stand in front of her, blocking her way. “You came all of this way to see Sapphire. Over the mountain.” He leaned forward and sniffed the air around her, sending thrills though her body. “I can smell the earth and trees on you.”
    “I thought it was the safest way.”
    “You could have just knocked on my door; I would have been very welcoming.”
    “It was late.”
    “For you, it’s never too late.” He breathed in her scent again and there was a slight groan under his breath. She wondered how much self-control he was using not to take her in his arms and make love to her right now.
    “I’ll call you in the morning, we’ll talk then.” She made to walk past him, but he didn’t move. This was the thing she had feared. That he would trap her here, and make her do his bidding. The predator and his prey. She had been stupid to come tonight, she knew that now.
    And then he moved, standing to the side to allow her to pass. She took a step forward, and he whispered, “Don’t go, Ciara. Stay. One night. Just one night in my bed and then if you want to leave, I won’t stop you.”
    “I can’t.”
    “Why? Do I scare