BOX SET: Shifter 4-Pack Vol 2 (Wolf Shifter, Dragon Shifter, Mafia, Billionaire, BBW, Alpha) (Werewolf Weredragon Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection) by Ayers Candace

Author:Ayers, Candace [Ayers, Candace]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-09-04T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Lilly dreamt of the bear.

She hadn’t before. But since James had made his appearance, there wasn’t a time she closed her eyes that the bear wasn’t foremost in her mind.

She relived their meeting over and over again. The way his eyes had glittered in the dark. The way his mouth had morphed into that smile.

And then, suddenly, it wouldn’t be the bear at all. It was Eli, that thick, dark beard he’d grown, the crisp down of his chest under her fingers, the same hungry smile.

Then she would wake, shaken, sticky with perspiration.

Eli was always nearby. Almost never asleep, but not far away. It would take her a moment to remember that it had just been a dream, that it wasn’t the bear in the room with her at all, but Eli.

Lilly’s face healed. The window was replaced. Before too long, that night was a distant experience. In the physical sense, at least.

But they hadn’t touched since. Or, they had, but not in that all-consuming way they had before. It was hard for that to not weigh heavily on Lilly.

It was like Eli was keeping her at an arm’s length.

And she didn’t need to ask why to know the answer.

In the beginning, she had thought he was just giving her the space she would need to heal and recover. She had even appreciated how he could be so considerate, thrilled she had found someone who would let her choose her own pace.

But then, the days went by and nothing had changed. He was ever solicitous, of course, but he averted his eyes. His touch was always purposeful, never lingering.

It was obvious that her history had disappointed him; that he no long wanted to enjoy her as he had now that he knew the truth about her.

When she was feeling her worst, she worried it went beyond that — that maybe she hadn’t done something right the one time they’d been together. What if he hadn’t enjoyed her as much as she had enjoyed him?

She tried to consider that the less likely of the options. Somehow, it was the more devastating of the two.

Still, even if it wasn’t as good as she’d thought it might get, it was so much better than it had been.

Lilly straightened her shoulders, and smoothed her skirts, seeing Eli from the edge of her vision appearing near the front of the property line, kicking up little puffs of dust as he went. She resolved that she would be grateful for what Eli had done for her and how her life had improved, and not mourn what she couldn’t have.

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