Bucky wasted no time jumping in and turning the key. “You’re going to regret all of this, Thia,” Buck said, his voice shaky. “Maybe not now. But someday, when you realize he can’t give you the kind of life you really want. A normal life. You’ll regret it then.” He put the car in gear. “And I won’t be here when it all blows up in your face.”

I looked back at Bear, and even though his eyes screamed rage and murder and every other frightening emotion a person could possibly possess, I saw something else. Something more. Something that told me what Buck was saying was complete and utter bullshit.

Because where Buck probably saw a criminal with anger issues and violent tendencies.

I saw a fierce loyalty.

I saw love.

“I think there’s something you aren’t really understanding about all this,” I said to Buck, leaning in through the window of the cruiser. I could feel Bear’s disapproval at my back.

“And what would that be?” Buck asked, his attitude firmly back in place now that he was safely behind the metal of the car door. But he couldn’t fool me. I could still smell the urine on the front of his pants.

“I needed help just now, someone to protect me, from you of all people, and he was here,” I said, waving back to Bear who stood like an angry stone statue. “Where were you when I needed help, Buck? Not today, but when the grove and my family were failing apart and I needed a friend more than anything? Where were you when I needed you?” I looked back at Bear. “Because I know where he will be when I need him, which is a lot more than I can say for you.” I pushed off the car and took a step back.

Buck opened his mouth but there was nothing he could say that I wanted to hear. “Bye Bucky,” I said, effectively cutting him off.

“I almost forgot,” Bear said, stepping in front of me. He reached into the cab of the cruiser, grabbed Buck’s wrist off the steering wheel and pulled his arm out the window. In a quick flash of movement, Bear dropped his elbow down onto the center of Buck’s forearm. CRACK. A scream tore from Buck’s throat, his arm dangling at an unnatural angle.

His broken arm remained hanging out the window as he drove off. His screams echoed over the small buildings as he raced away, fishtailing across the dirt and disappearing in a cloud of dust.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, turning around to meet Bear’s glare. And his sweaty chest. And his eyes that although were dark and angry, seemed as if they could see right through me.

Suddenly I became very conscious of what I was wearing, pulling down on the short hem of my dress as if Bear were staring at me naked.

“I told you I’d either break his wrist or end his life if he laid his fucking hands on you. I was being…nice. Now why don’t you tell me why I get out of jail and go to see my girl, only to find that instead of waiting for me like she was told, I find her in a cop car with the fucking law’s motherfucking tongue down her fucking throat?” It started out as an angry question and ended as an angry roar. I swallowed hard. Bear took a step forward.

I was scared.

I was turned on.

I was pissed the fuck off.

I fought against the need to throw myself in his arms.

“You should have done what you were fucking told. I’m going to snap that little girl’s neck who should have been fucking watching you,” Bear seethed, running a hand through his hair.

“I’m not a fucking lap dog,” I snapped. “And Rage is… sleeping.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.

“Rage doesn’t sleep,” he argued.

I folded my hands behind my back and rocked on my feet. “She does after a cocktail of Dr. Pepper & Ambien.”

“You drugged her?” Bear asked with disbelief.

“A little?” I admitted, although it came out as a question. “Why the fuck do you care? You’ve been out of jail for two weeks while I’ve been sitting there waiting and worrying like some love-struck idiot. There are a lot of things you can do to me, Bear, but I won’t have you make a fucking idiot out of me. I won’t.” As strong as I was trying to be, my voice cracked.

“I’ll deal with you when we get back to the house,” Bear snapped, his words loaded with so many different meanings I trembled with both fear and anticipation.

“You’re going to deal with me?” I asked. “How are you going to deal with me?” My attitude and confidence faded with each word until the last was merely a whisper.

“Yes, DEAL with you,” Bear warned, suddenly pausing to take in my appearance. Slowly, from top to bottom, like he’d only just realized I was standing there. His eyelids hung heavy over his sapphire blues as they licked over my body, drinking me in like he was thirsty.

No, not thirsty.

Hungry.

When he licked his lips I could have sworn he was about to eat me alive. I tingled all over. The awareness of him in such close proximity after so long washed over me. Angry or not, my body didn’t care. I didn’t care. I wanted to reach out and touch his face, reassure him that he had no reason to be angry, but part of me liked that I could draw that kind of reaction from him. He came alive when he was pissed, and something inside me loved that he became this primal possessive beast out to remind me who it was I belonged to.

Bear clenched his jaw and the muscles in his neck tensed and strained. He looked as if he were ready to either kill or fuck. All I knew was that, one way or another, I was about to be devoured.

I pressed my thighs together, trying to manage the pulsing between my legs, but the contact only ignited it further. Bear chuckled and glanced down to where my ankles were crossed. He closed the gap between us in two short strides, taking me off guard. I stumbled backward, tripping over a lose rock in the road. He reached out and roughly grabbed my arm before I could fall, pulling me flush into his hard chest. His warm skin radiated through my thin dress. I bit my lip, suppressing a moan. My legs grew weaker and weaker as he lowered his head, inching closer and closer, until I was sure his lips were going to meet mine, when without warning he released my arm and spun away. “Get in the fucking truck, Ti,” he called back to me.

I stood there, unable to move, and trying to catch my breath while he headed over to King’s truck like that moment never passed between us. When he noticed I wasn’t behind him, he growled and stalked back over to me. He grabbed me by the waist, his fingers digging into my skin. He lifted me up, my short dress bunching up over my butt cheeks and slung me over his shoulder like I was a rolled up rug.