BEAR

Natasha tastes just like I remember. I've been dying for a kiss since I left the mansion. I lift her up to sit on the kitchen island. I need her closer. She feels small and fragile. I need to protect her by wrapping my body around hers like armor.

My head's been on wrong since she came back. I keep seeing trouble everywhere and feel under attack. Natasha showing up with her entourage rubbed salt in the wound torn open by her leaving.

I don't know what I want from Natasha. Maybe forgiveness. Or devotion. No matter my reasoning, I keep poking at her and expecting her to figure it out for me.

Kissing her is easier. I can't imagine anyone more beautiful. The world becomes very simple when she's in my arms. I never wanted to let her go when our hookups ended.

I feel the same way now when she wiggles free of my grip and steals away her lips.

"What?" I grumble, thinking she's fucking with me.

Natasha gestures towards the kids, watching us from the floor where they still hope to draw the cats to them.

"They've never seen a man eat my face before," she says and I frown at her.

"What does that mean?"

"Did all the blood rush to your dick, making your brain useless?"

"Yes."

Natasha stares into my eyes until all my anger and worry seep out of me. When I only see her, I breathe easier.

"That person never kissed me like this. The kids don't know what we're doing. I'm worried they'll get scared."

I glance at the kids who stare at us. I guess it would seem like I was eating their mom's face.

"Do they know about the women who, um, crapped them out?" I ask, knowing as soon as the words leave my lips how Natasha will give me grief.

She rolls her eyes and smiles at the kids. "Are the cats still scared?"

The children blink a few times as if waking from a dream. They look at each other before focusing on the cats. I can't see what my boys are up to from this angle, but they must do a cute cat maneuver because the kids giggle.

"I want you," I tell Natasha.

"I know."

"Now say you want me."

"No."

"Why?"

"You've been rude. I'm withholding my affection until you show better manners."

"I'm not a project. You aren't here to fix me."

"You already know how to behave. You're choosing to act this way with me."

"You ran off and lived with that guy."

An irritated Natasha likely wants to jump off the island and create space between us. I keep my body pressed between her thighs, so she can't escape. My fingers brush across her throat and think of the sexy woman hiding underneath this buttoned-up, white shirt and dark blue jeans.

Fishing her phone from her purse, Natasha shows me a picture of the kids when they were little. They're in diapers and smiling without teeth. I don't know how old they were, but they're hamming it up for the photo.

"This is the picture I took when I first saw them in their crib. These gorgeous little Muppets were just sitting there waiting for someone to love them. Their father didn't care. Their mothers were gone. Their grandmother dumped them in the crib and left without waking anyone to watch them. I saw their smiles and lost a part of myself instantly. I wanted them to be mine."

This right here is why I want to marry Natasha.Sure, she's hotter than any woman I've ever seen. However, her big, kind heart is what makes her addictive.

When she focuses her affection on me, I feel loved in a way no one else can give me. She managed to make me feel that way during two hookups. I can't even imagine how good her affections would feel when she actually loved me and we knew each other down to our core.

"I never noticed you when I was growing up around the club," Natasha says, making me frown. "You were just another large, handsome biker, and I didn't need your trouble in my life."

"Thanks," I mutter.

The palm of Natasha's soft hand presses tenderly against my cheek. The glint in her eyes makes me wonder if she'll slap me. Instead, she cups my jaw.

"One night, I was with Siobhan and Hunter at your clubhouse. I got so startled when a fight broke out. People were throwing things. I hid under the table. I could hear fists colliding with faces and that crunching sound when bones break. I was terrified. I thought I might pass out from my heart racing so fast. I peeked out and saw you tearing these large men apart. You tossed them aside like ragdolls. When one of them lunged at you, your fist was like a wrecking ball. His face just crashed into itself from the impact. It was horrifying."

Natasha pauses to glance at the kids. When she looks back, her gaze is soft and needy.

"You were like a beast, grumbling about stupid people and saying you want to burn down the world. I'd never seen anyone so angry. When my father or brothers attack, they seem like robots fulfilling their programming. But you were like a wild animal."

Before I can defend myself, Natasha continues, "Then, you turned to Golden whose head was bleeding. Your rage shifted into concern. I'd seen you razzing him earlier in the night. Yet, right then, you were so protective of him, checking his wound and getting him ready to ride to the clinic."

Natasha exhales unsteadily. "That's the first time I really saw you. After that moment, I never wanted to look away."

Her words tear my heart out and shove it back in wrong. Because I know what she'll say next.

"Things are different now. We've both changed," Natasha explains, lowering her gaze as if submissive before inhaling sharply and forcing herself to look at me. "But if you marry me and do right by my babies, I will always be good to you, Bear. I know what kind of man you are, and I won't expect you to be anyone else."

No one will ever make me feel as weak as Natasha Kovak does. Not even Aunt Fred fills me with self-doubt and a gnawing need to please like this woman right here.

Fearing what I might say, I kiss her instead of speaking. A soft, pleading kiss for the woman who can destroy me. I'm not powerless here. I can fuck with her and the Kovak Syndicate. I could cause a lot of problems for a lot of people.

Yet, I feel weak now as I imagine a future where this woman loves me.