Bear My Heart: A Small Town Paranormal Romance (12 page)

Pushing the plates aside,
Troy bent Olga over the dining table and spread her legs.

He gripped her hips and let
out a low, warning growl.

Olga turned her head to the
side and looked straight into his eyes. She saw his beast staring
back at her and she wasn't afraid. Her eyes mirrored his powerful
want and hunger.

She wanted this. She wanted
him.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR

Olga panted, wanting to feel
Troy deep inside her. She whimpered when he grabbed her hips and
pulled her toward him.

Gasping, she gripped the edge
of the table as he entered her from behind. She loved how big and
hard he was. She loved how he stretched her walls and filled her so
completely.

Olga let out a keening cry
when he began to fuck her hard. Troy slammed his cock into her again
and again, hitting all her aching, sensitive spots. She clenched
around him and started to come.

“Olga...” Troy
snarled as he felt her channel rippling and tightening around him.
He continued thrusting into her but with slower, gentler strokes. He
rode out her orgasm and bent down to kiss down her spine.

She turned around to kiss him
deeply on the mouth. He was still buried inside her, and Olga moaned
when he cupped her heavy breasts and thumbed her nipples.

Troy began to move again.
His strokes were long and slow, and he made love to her tenderly.
His large hands caressed every inch of her body, setting all her
nerves alight.

Olga closed her eyes,
surrendering herself to the intense, escalating pleasure that was
overwhelming her senses. Being with Troy felt so good, so perfect
and so right. They were connected, physically, emotionally,
eternally.

Olga cried out as Troy
brought her to the brink of another orgasm. She started to shudder
in ecstasy as Troy pounded into her.

Troy pushed her hair off her
shoulder and leaned forward. His eyes were fully feral and glowing
with a deadly, predatory light. He loomed over her, broad, virile
and powerful.

He bared his teeth and
grabbed her tightly. Olga screamed when she felt his teeth sink into
the base of her neck. He continued pistoning in and out of her body,
and she was swept up in a violent wave of pain and pleasure.

With another cry, she
shattered completely. Troy roared his release as her pussy squeezed
and milked him relentlessly. He closed his eyes and kept moving
inside her even after he was spent.

When he opened his eyes
again, she saw that the glow had faded from them. His blue eyes were
full of love and tenderness as he gazed at her.

“I love you,” he
said hoarsely.

He kissed away the tears at
the corner of her eyes. “Did I hurt you?” he asked in a
pained whisper.

“No. You didn't hurt
me. And I know you will never hurt me.”

He hugged her fiercely. “You
never have to be alone ever again, Olga. You have me. You have us.”

“I don't want anyone to
get hurt because of me,” she whispered. “You don't
know...what he's capable of, Troy.”

“I'm a predator, Olga.
A hunter. I don't think he can touch me.”

She shook her head. “He's
human. But I think you know that humans are the most vicious
killers. Animals kill out of necessity. Humans kill because they
can.”

“We'll get him this
time.”

“I'm worried...”

He shushed her. “Don't
worry. You were alone before, so it was easy for him to terrorize
you. But now he's the one who is alone. We are together, and we
will be all right.”

CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE

“I'm going to drop you
off at the library,” Troy said. “I don't want you alone
at home while I'm at work.”

Olga nodded. She didn't want
to be all alone the whole day in Troy's house either. At least in
the library, there would be people around her and it'd be quiet
enough so hopefully she could take her mind off her troubles long
enough to get some work done.

Olga grabbed her laptop bag
and headed out the door with Troy. She looked around the peaceful
neighborhood and wondered if the Artist was watching her now.

So what if he was?

This was her life, and she
wouldn't be running away this time.

If he wanted her, he would
have to come out into the open and get her.

Olga got into the passenger
seat of the truck as Troy loaded his toolbox and some cans of paint
into the back.

When Troy drove towards the
library, Olga turned to him and said, “Please don't tell
Megan.”

“Why?”

“I just think it's
safer for her. You are a big, strong bear so you can take care of
yourself.” She punched his muscular arm. “I don't doubt
that Megan is strong too. But—I don't want Megan and her boys
in his crosshairs.”

Troy frowned and exhaled
roughly. Finally he nodded.

Once Troy pulled up in front
of the library, he began to unbuckle his seat belt but Olga stopped
him. “I can walk into the library by myself.”

“But...”

“You can watch me until
I'm safely inside before driving away.”

She leaned in and kissed him
before he could say more. “Bye. See you this afternoon.”

“Be careful, Olga. I
want you to call me right away if...”

“Yes, sir!” She
gave him a smart salute and hopped out of the truck.

At the library entrance, she
turned and waved to him. Then she slipped into the cool, quiet
interior of the library.

Megan wasn't on duty this
morning. Another librarian was at the counter and she looked up and
smiled brightly at Olga. “Morning, Dot!”

“Morning, Helen,”
Olga greeted her, wincing a little. She hadn't told anyone except
Troy her real name. To everyone else, she was still Dot.

Sighing, she placed her bag
and laptop on her usual table at the back of the library. Then she
hunkered down and concentrated on her writing.

Her life wasn't going to
grind to a stop because of him. The Artist was obsessed with her.
But she wasn't going to return the favor. She wouldn't spare him a
second thought.

After a while, she found her
rhythm and her story began to take shape. Working steadily and
efficiently, she actually lost track of the time. By the time she
looked up, she saw that the library had become quite crowded. The
children had been dismissed from school and she heard the librarians
telling the schoolkids not to run or talk too loudly in the library.

“Dot! Dot!”

She turned around and saw Leo
and Logan running excitedly towards her. Megan was behind them,
carrying their schoolbags.

“Mom picked us up from
school and told us we could spend the afternoon in the library
today,” Logan said, clambering into the chair beside her.

Leo tried to push his brother
out of the chair. “I want to sit beside Dot!”

“I was here first!”
Logan argued.

Megan came up and pulled the
twins apart. “Dot's working. You boys go read quietly in the
children's section.”

The twins sighed. “Okay,
Mom.”

After chatting with Olga for
a few minutes, Megan went off to look for the twins and Olga got
right back to work.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX

Olga closed her laptop and
slid it into the bag. She was pretty pleased with her progress
today. She had finished a story and started on another one.

Megan came up to her and
tapped her on the shoulder. “Why don't you and Troy come over
for dinner today?” Megan said, beaming.

“I don't...” Olga
began.

“You'll be doing me a
favor. You can help the boys with their homework while I prepare
dinner. Leo and Logan have been asking and asking when you can come
over for dinner and play 'Snakes and Ladders' with them again.”

Olga gulped and Megan flashed
a thumbs-up. “I'll go collect Leo and Logan,” Megan said
cheerfully and scuttled away. “Meet you at the entrance in
five minutes!”

Olga got up and shook her
head. She'd wait for Megan at the entrance and decline her
invitation politely but firmly.

She was walking briskly and
digging into her bag for her phone when Logan barreled right into
her. “Dot!” Logan panted, waving something in his hand.

“Hey, Logan, you okay?
I think your mom's looking for you. Where's your brother?” she
said, holding the boy's arm gently to steady him.

Logan shrugged. “I
don't know. Leo said he had to go to the bathroom. But he's been
gone a long time.” Logan held up a small sealed envelope.
“Someone told me to give this to you.”

Frowning, Dot took the
envelope and opened it. She pulled out a piece of paper and froze.

The envelope fluttered to the
floor as she pressed her hand to her mouth to stopper her scream.

“Logan,” she
whispered. “W-who gave this to you?”

“A man.”

Olga jerked her head up and
scanned the crowded library, the blood draining from her face.

All she saw were school kids,
their parents, a bunch of elderly ladies sitting round a table and a
couple of harried librarians.

“Where is he?”
she hissed.

“Huh?” Logan was
peering at her curiously.

“The man.” Olga
grabbed Logan's shoulder. “The man who gave this to you.
Where is he now?”

“I don't know.”
The boy looked a little frightened. “He just pointed you out
to me and told me to hand the envelope to you.”

“Did he say anything
else?”

Logan canted his head.
“Yeah. He asked me if I knew your name. I told him it was
Dot. And he laughed.”

Olga stared around wildly,
trying to see where the Artist was. He was here, in plain sight.
But she had never seen his face. He could be anyone.

“I'm going to look for
Leo,” Logan said, scampering away. “He's going to be in
so much trouble. Mom told us to stay in the children's section.”

Olga turned and scanned all
the faces in the library, her fists clenched painfully at her sides.

Where are you? Who are
you?
She wanted to scream.

Her chest constricted, making
it almost impossible to breathe. She had to get out of here. She
needed air.

Gasping for breath, she
stumbled blindly out of the library.

She stood blinking for a few
seconds in the afternoon sun, taking rapid, shallow breaths.

A hand closed around her arm.

“Hello, Daniella.”

She recognized the voice of
the Artist at once.

Olga jerked round to see a
well-dressed man with pale blond hair standing beside her. The man
removed his shades and Olga gasped.

“But...you...you're in
jail!”

CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN

“Stay where you are,
Megan. I'm on my way.” Troy threw his hammer into his toolbox
and turned to Brandon. “I'm sorry but...”

Brandon dumped the wooden
plank on the floor and dusted his large hands. “I'm going with
you. I'll just go in and tell Mr Wilkins that we can't finish
putting up his shelves today.”

Troy nodded. He knew Brandon
had heard his conversation with Megan. Megan was screaming so loudly
he'd had to hold his phone away from his ear. No doubt Brandon had
heard Megan's every word.

Megan had been screaming into
the phone. “I've searched everywhere! I can't find Leo!
Logan said Leo went to the bathroom. I went in there, and...I saw—I
saw some drops of blood on the bathroom floor! It's Leo's! I know
it is! I don't know where...” The rest of Megan's words were
drowned by her hysterical sobs.

Brandon disappeared into the
house and Troy began to pack up quickly. In less than a minute, he
heard Mr Wilkins's walking stick tap-tapping towards him.

“There's a family
emergency, I understand,” Mr Wilkins said. “Go. Don't
worry about the mess. You boys can come back and finish up the job
any time.”

“Thank you, Mr
Wilkins,” Troy said.

“Go.” The old
man waved his walking stick and shooed them off.

Troy jumped into his truck
and sped off. Brandon tailgated him in his old sturdy SUV. The SUV
had belonged to Brandon's dad, and Brandon was determined to keep the
vehicle forever.

They skidded to a stop in
front of the library and scrambled out of their vehicles. They would
probably get a ticket each for illegal parking but they didn't care.

Brandon was through the door
first. The guy loved the twins like they were his own nephews. He
spoiled those rascals rotten.

Megan was on the phone behind
the counter, speaking rapidly and rather incoherently. Two
librarians and a few parents were standing with her.