His cock pulsed inside me. His heart pounded against mine. Sweat slicked our bodies, and our ragged breaths lifted around the ruined bed.
Slowly, our hearts slowed. After a moment, he eased back, and he hooked a finger under my chin as he searched my face.
“You okay?”
“Yes,” I said, my voice raspy from screaming. “More than okay.”
A soft smile curved his lips. Still buried inside me, he brushed my tangled hair from my face. Sunlight puddled aroundthe bed, yellow rays making the thick scars on his chest stand out against the darker skin around them.
I traced one before looking up at him. “How did you get these?”
A grave but steady look filled his eyes. “My predecessor didn’t believe in democracy.”
I paused with my fingertip on one of the scars. “The alpha you removed from power?”
Beck nodded. “Rex kidnapped Skyler and held her prisoner. He would have forced her to mate with him even though she was more compatible with Everett.” Beck’s chest lifted as he drew an even breath. “He would have done worse. I couldn’t let him stay in power.”
So Beck had killed him. But Rex hadn’t gone down without a fight. It was barbaric. In the human world, it was criminal.
But Bear Cove wasn’t the human world. The men Beck called “brothers” shifted into bears. Animals with animal drives and instincts.
Rex had ruled as a dictator, hurting the people he was supposed to protect. So Beck had removed him from power. He’d eliminated a predator.
I leaned down and kissed the scar I’d traced. “Thank you for telling me.”
His breath caught. “Charlotte?—”
“You did what you had to do.”
He stroked a thumb over my cheekbone. “I didn’t like it.”
I ran my fingertips through his beard. “That’s what makes you a good man.”
My man, a little voice whispered in my head.
Beck slid his hand into my hair, his big palm cradling the back of my head. Then he kissed me, the slow thrust of his tongue somehow more intimate than the passion we’d just shared.
When he finally pulled away, we were both breathing heavily. He eased backward, settling us against the pillows. His heart beat steadily under my cheek, and his arms were strong and solid around me.
Could I really give up everything to be with him? I’d have to cut ties with Dr. Henry and Colorado. Possibly, I could apply to another PhD program in Alaska, but there were no guarantees I’d be accepted—or if those programs had the funding or space. And I was already so close to finishing…
Making the switch wasn’t impossible, but it was far from easy. And, of course, being with Beck meant living in Bear Cove, which didn’t even have a coffee shop.
There was also the question of my research. I’d uploaded my data to the university’s server. Dr. Henry had my reports. What would he say if I refused to explain them?
Beck rested his chin on the top of my head, and his breathing turned slow and steady. Sleep tugged at me, my body warm and sated. I didn’t have to decide anything right now.
But as I closed my eyes, something told me I already had.
Chapter
Fourteen
BECK
Over the next three days, I gave Charlotte space. My bear urged me to make her mine once and for all. The human half of my brain counseled patience.
So I leashed my beast and let her explore my home. She spent hours in Everett’s lab, listening intently as he explained his experiments. She filled pages of a field journal with observations even though she knew she could never publish them.
