Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two) Read Online Free PDF Page B

shoulder.  Even through the shirt he wore, she could feel the heat of his skin.  Male bears’ body temperatures were very warm.  His head turned slowly, until his dark brown eyes held hers.
    “I think the reason that we’ve never mated before is because we’re part of a tri-mating.”  Before she could get over her surprise at his statement, he told her what Brio had shared about his mother and his thoughts on the reason she and Jericho hadn’t gotten together seriously in the past.
    Sitting back on her heels, she exhaled a slow breath.  “I don’t know what to say.”
    He shifted slightly, leaning on one hand.  Cupping her face with his large hand, he stroked his thumb over the curve of her upper lip.  “I don’t either.”
    “I want you to be mine,” she said, feeling tears sting her eyes.
    “I already am.”
    She closed the distance between them, pressing her lips against his.  She’d kissed him a hundred times before.  A thousand times.  He was her first kiss.  But this kiss was different.  Life had changed now.  They were on the run from his dad.  They had no place to call home.  Their future was up in the air, but at that moment, with his wild, sweet scent filling her nose and the heat of his skin warming her, she didn’t care.  Jericho was hers and she was his.  She didn’t know what to make of his suggestion that they belonged in a tri-mating, but all that mattered at this point in time was that they were together.
    Her tongue teased the seam of his mouth, and he groaned, pulling away from her mouth.  “You’re injured, love.  And we’re not sticking around too long.  I want to get back on the road.”  He kissed her once more and stood.  “Hungry?”
    Nodding, she watched as he stood and moved back into the main area of the camper.  She scooted to the edge of the bed and stood slowly, muffling a groan through clenched teeth as the tender skin on her shoulder and thigh stretched and burned.
    “Love?”
    “I’m okay.  I just have to use the bathroom.”
    “It’s the door on the right,” he said.
    She gripped the doorframe for support and gathered the sheet around herself better and then opened the door to the miniscule bathroom.  The shower was scarcely big enough for one person.  A tiny toilet and sink took up the rest of the room.  She closed the door and dropped the sheet, looking at herself in the mirror.  Her cheek was dark from where Detroit had hit her, and the inside of her mouth felt a little tender.  She did heal quickly thanks to her bear genes, for which she was thankful.  Peeling up the edge of the bandage on her thigh, she looked at the mark.  Two puncture wounds the size of thick needles were in the center of a wide circle of burned skin.  Her stomach rolled as she remembered the agonizing pain of the electricity moving through her.
    After pressing down the bandage, she splashed cold water on her face and tried to shove the images from her mind.  She didn’t know how long it would take to heal, and she didn’t know if she might wind up with scarring.  Bears who could shift were fortunate, because they could shift and heal most any wound.
    After using the toilet, she covered herself in the sheet again and walked out into the open area of the camper that doubled as a kitchen and living room.  Jericho was digging through a cardboard box.  He said, “There are clothes in the duffel bag.  I’m sorry I didn’t have time to get your things from your grandma’s house.  Brio is going to grab them when the coast is clear and hold them at his place.”
    “We could go to my apartment,” she offered, going to the duffel bag he gestured to that was on the couch.
    “It wouldn’t be hard for my dad to figure out where you live down there, so it’s not any safer than staying at your grandma’s.  When we get to your uncle’s, you can call and make arrangements for your utilities and things until we figure out the next step.”
    Everything was