Heart Of The Bear (Appalachian Shifters #1) Read Online Free PDF

struggled, the more he seemed to enjoy it. I closed my eyes and prayed it would be over soon.
    I tried to mutter my protestations, but the sound was muffled by his mouth against mine. I was growing angry, and I was just about to bite his lip when I suddenly felt a whoosh of air and Rusty was gone.
    I opened my eyes just in time to see Caleb with his hand around Rusty’s throat. He’d pinned him against another tree and Rusty’s feet were dangling several inches off the ground.
    “What do you think you’re doing?” Caleb demanded.
    “Just being friendly,” Rusty croaked, his eyes bulging and his face turning purple.
    “Friendly would be bringing her a bouquet of wildflowers, or holding the door for her, not trying to suck her whole face down your esophagus!” Caleb shouted.
    “Sorry,” was all that Rusty could manage to grunt out as he struggled to keep his grip on consciousness.
    “If you ever touch her again… if you ever even come within a hundred yards of her again… I’ll kill you,” Caleb snarled. “You got that?”
    Rusty nodded weakly, and Caleb released him. Rusty slumped to the ground clutching his throat and wheezing as he tried to catch his breath.
    “Get out of here!” Caleb yelled, and Rusty sprang to his feet and disappeared. Caleb turned to me and asked, “Are you ok?”
    “I am now,” I answered.
    “Why did you let him put his arm around you?” Caleb demanded.
    “What?” I asked.
    “He had his arm around you the whole way down the path,” Caleb said. “And you let him!”
    “I… I didn’t want to be rude,” I explained.
    “I hardly think it would have been rude to simply tell him you didn’t want him to do that,” Caleb said.
    “I just… I thought…”
    “Don’t let it happen again,” Caleb said, and he turned to walk away.
    My blood began to boil, and I reached out and snatched his arm.
    “Wait just a minute!” I snapped as he turned to face me. “How the hell did you know he had his arm around me the whole way? Were you spying on me?”
    “I was watching over your safety,” Caleb said coolly. “And it’s a good thing I was, considering what just happened.”
    Caleb shrugged his arm away from me and turned to walk away.
    “And how dare you tell me to not let it happen again!” I called after him. “Who do you think you are?”
    He turned toward me with a look of pure vitriol on his face, and he approached me with such purpose that I almost felt frightened. I began to back away as he approached me further.
    “Don’t forget that I saved your life,” Caleb warned me. “Don’t forget that I’ve spent every waking moment for the last month watching over you. Don’t forget that I’ve poured every ounce of my blood, sweat and tears into caring for your every need all this time.”
    I bumped into the tree that Rusty had pinned me to and Caleb came to a stop just in front of me. He leaned in close… so close I could feel his warm breath against my face.
    “And don’t forget that I didn’t have to do any of this,” he snarled. “I could have just left you in that plane wreckage and you’d have bled to death in a few hours. That is, if a pack of coyotes didn’t find you first.”
    I shuddered, and then I jutted my chin out defiantly and said, “Oh? Then why didn’t you just leave me there?”
    “Maybe I should have,” he spat at me.
    His words stung me so deeply that I drew my hand back to slap him across the face. But as I brought my hand toward him, he caught my wrist and pulled it across my body, locking it in place as he pressed his body against me.
    I looked up into his eyes, and my heart beat erratically. I could feel it thumping all the way in my throat, and I swallowed several times in an attempt to clear my airway.
    “Never, ever try that again,” he warned me.
    “I wish you had left me to die!” I suddenly cried out as tears began to obstruct my view. “You should have left me!”
    In an instant, his lips closed over mine. I fought to