She nibbled on some cheese. "The guys are teasing me something awful."

"Why?"

"When I followed you yesterday, I left the note on the kitchen counter. You know, the note you wrote ..."

"Let me prove that I'm worthy of you?"

She nodded, her face growing warm. "Now every time they see me, they bow down and say, 'I'm not worthy'!"

Howard chuckled. "Sorry about that."

She ate another piece of cheese with a cracker and looked about. Three squirrels and a racc.o.o.n were watching. A deer was crossing the clearing, headed toward them. "Sheesh, it doesn't take them long to find me."

"Shoo!" Howard waved a hand at them and they scattered.

She huffed. "You don't have to frighten them."

His eyebrows lifted. "Spoken like a true guardian. A week ago, they were freaking you out, and now you're acting protective."

"They don't mean me any harm."

"You can't be sure. I don't think those feral pigs were impressed by your guardianship."

Frowning, she picked a few grapes off the stem. "What do you think? About me being a guardian and all."

"I ... found it hard to believe at first. My grandfather told me the story a million times when I was growing up, but I always considered it a fairy tale. But now ..." He sipped some more juice, deep in thought. "It makes sense. Werewolves and were-bears exist, so the guardians should exist, too. You made us who we are."

She swallowed hard. Was this why the berserkers killed their guardian? "Do you ... resent us?"

"For what?"

She winced. "My ancestor turned you into beasts. Doesn't that make you angry?"

"No. Elsa, I'm perfectly happy with who and what I am. I'm super strong, super fast, have superior senses, and I can live for about five hundred years."

Her mouth dropped open. "Are you kidding me?"

"No." He smirked. "How old do you think I am?"

She gasped. "You're hundreds of years old?"

"No! I'm thirty-eight." He dragged a hand through his thick brown hair. "Holy c.r.a.p. I thought I looked a lot younger."

"Oh. You do." She bit her lip to keep from laughing when he gave her a dubious look. "Sorry. When you said five hundred years, I thought ..."

"Never mind." He ripped open a foil package of chocolate and stuffed it into his mouth.

"You don't look a day over thirty."

He grunted. "My point is I don't resent being what I am. I like it. And all the were-bears I know like it, too. So you have nothing to fear from them. Or me."

"But we still believe that my grandmother was killed by a berserker. And her grandmother before her."

He grimaced. "I'm really sorry about that. But that happened in Sweden, right? Maybe the berserkers there are a bunch of miserable SOBs. I can tell you for a fact that the were-bears in Alaska are a jolly bunch. We would never harm a woman."

Could that be true? Could the berserkers who left Scandinavia be different? "How did your people end up in Alaska?"

Howard shrugged. "According to my grandfather, they left about a thousand years ago and migrated all the way across Russia."

"How did the line continue? Did they find female were-bears?"

"They didn't have to. The were-bear gene is always dominant, so they were free to marry whomever they pleased."

"And the children were always were-bears?"

Howard nodded. "According to my grandfather, the berserkers did find some were-bears in Alaska. Local shamans who could turn into Kodiak bears. Our line mixed with theirs, and that's why I'm a Kodiak bear."

"Oh." She considered this news. Howard's line of were-bears could be quite different from the berserkers who had remained in Scandinavia. Maybe the curse hadn't followed his people. "But your grandfather still believes you are cursed?"

Howard waved a dismissive hand. "It has no power unless you believe in it."

She nodded. That's what she'd always thought. But the curse had been much easier to dismiss before she'd learned that berserkers were real. "I'm still a bit worried-"

"I know you are. And I've been racking my brain to come up with ways to convince you that I can be trusted." He leaned toward her. "Look me up on the Internet. I used to play for the Chicago Bears."

She blinked. "Football?"

"Yes. I was a defensive-"

"The Chicago Bears Bears?" She gave him an incredulous look.

"Yes." His eyes twinkled with humor. "I realize the irony. Anyway, I was a defensive linebacker. I took hits for a living."

"You were a professional football player?"

"Yes. Huge, three-hundred-pound linemen tried to mow me down on a daily basis. Usually, I mowed them down, but believe me, they were trying to hurt me."

"You played professional football?"

His mouth curled into a half smile. "Is there a problem with that?"

"No." Gosh, no Gosh, no. She sat back, her cheeks growing warm.

"Well, as I was saying, I was paid to take abuse and annihilate the other team. I sacked a lot of quarterbacks. I realize that sounds ... aggressive, even violent."

She nodded, restraining an urge to fan herself. When had the afternoon gotten so hot?

"My point is, I was taking hard hits but hitting back even harder. You would think that would anger the beast inside me, right? But with all that violence, I never lost control. I never seriously injured anyone. Even the quarterbacks I sacked were able to jump up and keep on playing."

A vision of him sacking her flitted through her mind. Except when he tackled her, they would land in bed. Touchdown. Touchdown.

"If you don't believe me, you can look it up."

Huge, handsome Howard. He probably had women throwing themselves at him.

"Okay?" He gave her a questioning look.

She nodded.

"Then there's my second point. I work for MacKay Security and Investigations, and for the past few years, I've been a bodyguard for the Draganesti family. Currently, I'm stationed at the Dragon Nest Academy as head of security. They would never trust me to guard their children if I wasn't absolutely in control."

She sighed. He was making good points. And her resolve was slipping fast.

"I would be happy to give you a tour of the school and let you talk to other people. It might alleviate any concerns you have."

She sipped some more juice. "I'll think about it."

"Good." He heaved a sigh of relief. "I don't want to lose you, Elsa."

She didn't want to lose him, either. But wasn't it crazy to date a were-bear? A huge beast of a man? Her gaze drifted over his big, muscular body. Maybe not. She gulped down more juice.

"And then there's my third point." He picked up a chocolate square and ripped open the foil. "You can trust me because I genuinely care about you. I admire you, and I want you to be happy."

She swallowed hard. "I-I appreciate that." She finished her juice and set the gla.s.s down. Maybe she should leave before she lost all her resolve. Instead of rejecting Howard, she was tempted to throw herself at him.

"Here, try this." He broke the chocolate square in half, then held one piece up to her lips. "Open."

With her heart racing, she opened her mouth. Just a little, so she could feel his fingers against her lips.

He set the piece on her tongue. "Let it sit there and melt in your mouth." He placed the other piece in his mouth.

She watched his lips brush against his fingers, the same fingers that had been in her mouth. Her gaze lifted to his eyes. They were an intense blue, almost like the blue in burning flames.

"It shouldn't take long," he murmured. "Your mouth was hot."

She was hot all over but still shivered.

He leaned closer, watching her closely. "All melted and gooey?"

She nodded. Heat began to gather between her legs.

He held a huge red strawberry to her lips. "Open."

She did. He pushed the fruit in and she bit down. Juice dribbled down her chin. He caught it with his finger, then brought it to his mouth and licked it off.

She moaned. The strawberry mixed with the melted chocolate in her mouth. So good. And yet so bad. All she could think about was how much she wanted him.

"You like it?" He stuffed the rest of the strawberry into his mouth and chewed slowly, never taking his eyes off her.

Moisture pooled between her legs, and she pulled her knees up, squeezing her thighs together.

"I bet your mouth tastes sweet inside," he whispered.

"Yours, too." He was seducing her, and G.o.d help her, she loved it.

He crossed the blanket on all fours, like a beast, till he reached her feet. He grasped her ankles and tugged, straightening her legs. He knelt in front of her, his legs straddling hers. "Goldilocks."

Her heart pounded. "Beast."

"I'm going to kiss you."

She reached for him. "Yes."

Chapter Eighteen

Howard was tempted to drag Elsa deep into the woods and pounce on her, but he restrained himself. Even though this latest strategy was working well, she could still be easily frightened.

So he gently cradled her face and pressed his lips against hers. She wrapped her hands around his neck and leaned into him. An encouraging sign.

"Elsa," he breathed against her luscious mouth. He nibbled on her chocolate-flavored lips, then sucked the bottom one into his mouth.

She moaned, tightening her grip around his neck. Her mouth opened in invitation.

To h.e.l.l with being gentle. He grasped her head tighter and plundered her mouth. It was hot and sweet. His groin swelled, and he fought the urge to push her down and strip her naked.

He ravished her neck instead, nuzzling and nibbling, reveling in the moans and shivers he incited. She was so responsive, so delicious. Her scent drove him wild. Fresh as a dew-covered meadow at dawn, it was laced with the added scent of her arousal.

No doubt it would shock her that he could smell the moisture whenever it seeped from her core. It made him hard. It made him want to taste her and lick her till she screamed.

With a low growl, he returned to her mouth and gave her a ravishingly thorough kiss. Her body trembled, but she didn't retreat. His brave Elsa kissed him back and suckled on his invading tongue.

He cupped one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and squeezed. As she moaned, the nipple pebbled beneath his palm. He circled it with his thumb till it tightened into a bead. He pinched it lightly and groaned when he caught the scent of more moisture pooling between her legs.

Take her, the bear urged him. the bear urged him.

He broke the kiss and sat back, still straddling her legs. d.a.m.n, he wanted her, but he couldn't take her here, so close to the house.

Carry her to the stream and mate with her.