Nailed (Black Mountain Bears Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

was crystal clear and deep, deep blue. The lake itself was a perfect reflection of the sky, but he could still see deep beneath the clear water. Fish darted around the clumps of rocks and vegetation far below.
    Beyond the vast expanse of the lake, the spectacular view greeted him of the mountain ranges that bordered the very edge of the Sanctuary. The boundaries of this place he called home represented the comfort of an embrace, but maybe he would ultimately have to let it go some day. Let himself be cold and alone again— really alone, now that he had no name, no clan. Autumn had tried to tell him that it wasn’t so bad out in the human world. She’d spent enough time out there to know.
    He just wasn’t sure if he could bear the thought of being out there with her, especially if she and her mates were breeding.
    Reaching between his thighs, he cupped himself. The thick heft of cock and balls felt no different than it had before.
    Before she took away your worth.
    Aidan grimaced at the thought and dropped his hand back to his side. The stripping of his fertility had been painless, except for the strange hollowness left behind. The child he and Autumn had lost lived like a tiny, unopened flower deep inside his heart. A bud that would never see the sunlight. He’d been beyond happy when he learned Autumn was pregnant. They’d both been so excited with the prospect of bringing that news back to the clan. Never once had it occurred to them that the lack of a mating bond would be bad, and that the power of the protective barrier around the Sanctuary would strip them of that hope.
    Yet it had, and his world had fallen apart that day, and the days afterward while he comforted Autumn through the miscarriage.
    “We can never speak of this,” she’d said once it was over. He remembered the solid set of her jaw and how much the pain in her eyes betrayed her loss in spite of the conviction in her tone. He agreed, and they’d returned to their clan together.
    Only a few days later, she was simply gone without a word. Gone to join her Windchaser fathers, who spent the majority of their time outside the Sanctuary.
    He shifted his hand to cup himself again, looking down at the thatch of dark gold curls that surrounded what used to be his greatest asset. Physically, he hadn’t changed. If he stroked himself just a little, he’d get hard. If he manhandled himself enough, he’d orgasm. Everything still worked . But that didn’t matter anymore. He had no more seeds to plant, even if he managed to find a female who would accept him, as broken as he was.
    Unable to contain his frustration, Aidan tilted his head back and roared at the sky, wishing that Gaia might hear him, hear his torment, and have mercy on him.
    With a throat raw from his outburst, he took a deep breath and dove, relishing the shocking cold of the water when it enveloped him. The dark silence encompassed him and he lingered underwater for as long as he could endure, comforted by the weightlessness and utter lack of sensory input other than his own heartbeat and the chill.
    When his lungs ached from lack of air, he forced himself to rise up. His head surged above the surface and he gulped in lungfuls of air. Somehow the sky looked even bluer above him than it had before, and the roar of the waterfall was even more rhythmic, its steady pounding mimicking the beat of his heart.
    Aidan’s gaze rose up the vast height of the white rush of water, amazed at its beauty. When his eyes came back down, a light glinted from somewhere behind the veil. He tilted his head and the glint flashed again. He swam closer, craning his head to see if the light came again. He found a spot, almost too close to the violent plunge of the water into the pool, where the light lingered as long as he tilted his head at the ideal angle. There was something behind the waterfall.
    Curious, he hopped out and explored the vegetated incline behind the ledge he’d dived in from. After a frustrated