Rancher Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Bear Haven Book 2) by Terry Bolryder

harder, do better.”
    “You can’t even kiss me,” she replied softly.
    He ruffled his hair with his hands, making it stand in all directions so he looked sort of like an angry leprechaun. His lips tightened. “I’ve kissed you. I have.”
    “Not like Jesse can. Not like I need to be kissed.”
    “Dammit,” he said. “You’re going to let hormones ruin a perfect bloodline? What are you going to tell our families? What are you going to do about forfeiting the contract?”
    “Well, if you aren’t… able to consummate the marriage… that could be grounds for dissolving the union,” she said.
    His eyes flashed, and she could tell he felt trapped. Maybe just as trapped as she did. She knew his family was harsh and cold, like hers. And rich, with high expectations. But maybe it was time both of them broke free.
    “What do I have to do for you to give up?” she asked, throwing up her hands. “There’s nothing between us, Seth. Nothing but friendship. And maybe even that has been destroyed with everything that has happened.”
    “You’re the one who had sex with a bear. I never did anything to ruin things,” Seth said.
    “Except never look at me like you were in love. Never send me roses just because. Never kiss me like you wanted to get me naked.”
    “I can do all of those things,” Seth said, turning around quickly and straddling her on the bed, pushing her back.
    She sighed and lay still as his lips fell over hers. Perhaps the only way to truly show him just how wrong this all felt was to call his bluff and let him go for it.
    His mouth swept over hers, and she felt his tongue try for entrance. She didn’t open, didn’t feel like it, and he growled in disapproval, licking her lips.
    But his hands on her shoulders were clammy, and she could sense he wasn’t into it, despite desperately trying to be.
    “Just stop it,” she said, pushing against his shoulders as he pulled back.
    “One more,” he said, putting up a finger. “Let me try one more, and if you don’t feel anything, I’ll agree with dissolving the contract and make sure my family doesn’t bother you.”
    “All right,” she said. That didn’t sound like too high of a price for being able to finally be free with Jesse.
    One more horrible kiss and then all the rest of the kisses for the rest of her life could be nothing but amazing.
    She yanked Seth down impatiently and kissed him hard. He recoiled, and she grinned because that proved her point better than she ever could. For once, with Seth, she was in control. For once, she knew better than he did.
    “Stop it!” he said, pushing away from her and wiping his mouth. “Stop it. Ugh, you’ve made your point.”
    “Not yet,” she said. She tried to pull him back, just so that he would pull away and she could make sure he knew for a good long while that he was the problem in this relationship. Not her. “Just one more.” She was about to put her lips on his, and then she heard a deep voice clear itself at the door.
    When had that opened?
    Glass shattered as a vase of roses fell to the floor. The next moment, Jesse disappeared from sight. The sound of his boots thundering down the hallway and the crushed roses on the ground were the only signs he’d been there.
    “Damn it,” she said to Seth, who was looking pathetic as he tried to wipe off his mouth from the kiss. “Why did you have to come here? Why did you have to suddenly start trying?” She put her hands in her hair. “At least we’re done now, right?”
    He nodded, wide-eyed.
    “You stay here. I have to go after him.”
    Seth just stared at her agape as she ran after her lover.
    How would she fix everything now?

Chapter 7
    J esse walked away as quickly as he could from the lodge. He felt like he could kill something right at this moment.
    When he’d gotten home to his cabin, seen the note on the counter, and gone running to find her, he’d never expected to discover her pulling Seth down to kiss her. Smiling against