Alpha Rancher Bear: BWWM Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Bears of Pinerock County Book 3) (6 page)

It was a perfect view for an alpha, she thought. From up here, Alec could survey his domain; he could keep an eye on all the animals and people under his care.

She was aware of Alec's presence behind her even before his big, warm arms closed around her. Like she could feel him wherever he was. He nuzzled against her neck, and she smiled.

"It's cold in here," Alec murmured. "We should probably put some clothes on."

"Or you could show me the bed. You're supposed to be giving me a tour, after all."

He smiled again—she was coming to love that smile—and kissed the side of her jaw. "Well, if you want to see the bed, it's right over here."

The bed was neatly fixed, of course, just as she'd expect from any room with Alec doing the housekeeping. Alec pulled back the handmade quilts heaping on top of the bed, and Charmian crawled into it. "Brrr," she complained. "Cold sheets."

"They'll warm up quickly enough."

Alec pulled the covers up over them. Charmian started to spoon up against him, then rolled onto her side so she could see his face. He kissed her lips lightly, but seemed distracted.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Just that it feels so strange ... I guess I'm taking a day off, aren't I?" The corner of his mouth quirked in one of those little not-smiles. "Or part of a day, at least. I never do that. Lying in bed, leaving the chores undone and the ranch account books half-finished ... it's a strange feeling."

"Workaholic," she murmured, brushing his nose with her fingertip. "But I know what you mean. I hardly ever take days off, either. I don't even remember the last time I had a vacation. Seems like every time I try to plan one, someone goes into labor."

"Guess I should probably enjoy the time off while I can get it. Calving season is starting soon, and then the whole ranch will be hopping 24-7."

"Mmmm." Charmian snuggled up against him. Nagging doubts tried to nibble on her again, but she pushed them away. "Then maybe we should both enjoy our little vacation while we can get it."

Alec began slowly petting her short hair, running his fingers through the squiggly strands. She closed her eyes.

***

The crunch of tires awakened her.

Charmian sat up. She heard the slam of a distant car door, and voices.

She felt suddenly, intensely self-conscious. It seemed hideously unprofessional to be caught in bed with a man she hardly knew.

Still, for a moment she was arrested by the sight of Alec asleep. He was sleeping very deeply, with one arm flung out and his lips parted. Seeing him so relaxed and unselfconscious made something in her go soft.

And then she firmly hardened her heart. This had been very fun, but she couldn't go having wild sex with ranchers in the middle of the day. What would her clients think? She had her business to think of, and work to do.

She slithered out of bed, her toes curling on contact with the cold floorboards, and began to dress quietly. Outside she heard laughter and cheerful voices chattering back and forth, male and female.

What is Saffron going to think if she finds me up here? Unprofessional, all the way around.

"Where are you going?" Alec's sleepy voice asked.

Charmian jumped and pulled her sweater down over her head, then turned towards the bed. She'd been hoping to leave before he woke up. She could've left a note ...

"It'll be dark soon," she half-lied. It wasn't a complete untruth; already dusk was gathering outside the window. "I don't want to try to drive your road in the dark."

The almost-lie worked too well. Alec sat up with an alarmed expression. "You're right. It's not safe. I'll drive you home."

Oh no. Her head was already mixed up enough. The last thing she needed was Alec at her home, in her house. Would he stay the night? She was caught up in a terrible mix of fear and longing at the idea. "No thanks, I'll be fine. There's still some light out there. I'll drive carefully."

Alec had already swung his legs out of bed and was reaching for his jeans. "Not safe. I'll do it. I can have Cody bring your car down, so we can caravan it. Or, no—I could drive you down in your car, then Cody or Axl can pick me up tomorrow—"

"Alec!" Charmian said, and he looked up from fastening his jeans, startled by the sharp note in her voice. "You heard me say no, right? I'm more than capable of driving myself home."

"It's not that I think you aren't capable. It's that I want to make sure you're safe."

"And I appreciate that, I do, but I'll be careful and go slow. It's been a really nice afternoon,  I had a great time, but there's no need for you to see me home."

Alec stood up, still bare-chested. The jeans were slung low over the points of his hips. So distracting, damn. She had to wrench her gaze upward when he spoke. "You don't know how dangerous that road can be."

"Believe it or not, I've been driving plenty of dangerous roads through plenty of winters."

"That may be, but you weren't—"

"I wasn't what?"

"Under my protection," he rumbled, crossing his arms.

Damn, but she wished that didn't make her so weak in the knees. Unfortunately it was exactly what she didn't want. "Just because we slept together doesn't mean you have to wrap me in padding. What are you going to do, drive me to every single out-of-town appointment from here on out?"

"If that's what it takes to keep you safe."

"Seriously?" She almost laughed, except now she was getting angry. "I have a job to do, Alec! And so do you. I don't need a protector."

Alec stepped forward, all up in her personal space. She could smell sex on him, and the scent of her own perfume, along with his own powerful maleness. It was impossibly hot. "That's exactly what I am now," he said seriously.

"How so? We slept together once! And the sex was great, I loved it, but that doesn't give you any claim on me."

"Yes it does." He sounded perfectly serious. "That's exactly what it does. My bear has chosen you, Charmian. That means you're mine, and my bear needs to protect you."

She had to force herself to take a step backward, out of the gravitational pull of his sex appeal, before it muddled her head completely. "That's great. Your bear can protect me tomorrow. Tonight, I need to drive myself home and get to work on all the paperwork that I didn't get done while we were playing hooky today."

"It's not something I can turn on and off."

"Okay, so what, then? You're going to follow me around all the time just in case there's something I need protecting from?"

Alec looked a little startled, and then scowled. "I don't know exactly how it works. This is all new to me, too. All I know is that I'm not letting you walk out of that door into danger without me."

"I'm not walking into danger! I'm driving home!"

"That road is dangerous!" His voice was raised now.

"I drove up it by myself! I can drive down it by myself!"

Alec's eyes glinted. "You're not leaving without me. End of story."

She couldn't believe he was making that big a deal out of something so trivial. "Oh yes I am. You're going to have to physically stop me."

With that, she marched toward the door.

"Okay," Alec said. He stepped in her way.

She went around him and started to open the door.

He picked up her up.

"Alec!" she shrieked. She hit him in the shoulder. It was like striking a brick wall. "This isn't funny, it's just infuriating! Put me
down
!"

"You're my mate," he rumbled. "And I'm going to keep you safe."

"I didn't agree to any such thing!" She tried kicking him. That didn't do anything, either. "Alec, you're not helping me if you protect me from things I don't need protecting from, you're being a controlling, selfish
ass
!"

He set her on her feet. She had a moment's relief that he'd finally seen the light, until she saw how cool and stony his face had become. "You're acting like there's a choice," he said.

"A choice about what?"

"About being my mate. You accepted my bear—"

"No, we had awesome sex, and now," she snapped, "I am leaving."

She marched down the stairs. Alec followed her. He looked thunderous.

"And now you're running away?"

"No, I'm going home!
Alone
!"

"My bear—"

"Alec!" she yelled. "Shut up about your bear! I didn't realize having sex with you
one time
meant I was signing some kind of contract that means I can never go anywhere without you ever again. Your bear is just going to have to deal with me getting into dangerous situations without him sometimes! And this isn't even actually
that
dangerous."

She started putting on her coat.

Alec punched the wall with one big fist. His eyes gleamed. "I can't turn it on and off. You get all of me or none of me. If this is how you want it, then don't bother coming back."

"Oh my God, this is the most ridiculous conversation ever," she snapped. "If you don't want me back, that's fine! I don't think I want to come back anyway!"

"Your choice, then," he growled.

"Oh gosh,
now
I get a choice! How magnanimous of you!" She stamped into her boots.

She was mad enough to spit nails, but she happened to look back as she opened the door. Alec was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He no longer looked angry. His shoulders were hunched, and he looked like the most miserable person she'd ever seen.

As soon as he noticed her looking, though, he straightened his shoulders and set his face in lines of stone. And wasn't that just Alec all over, she thought furiously as she slammed the door behind her. Perish the thought anyone should see him acting
human
or having
emotions
or—

She almost ran into someone on the porch.

"Whoa!" he said in a laughing voice, catching her by the shoulders. He was as tall as Alec, but rangier, with sun-streaked light brown hair falling to his shoulders, brushing the collar of his jacket. The resemblance to Remy in his face was very strong. Alec had mentioned that Remy's brother Cody lived in the main house with him. This must be him.

"Please get out of my way," she said with tense politeness.

He stepped aside, but kept a hand on her shoulder. "I can see you've been talking to Alec," he said, smiling. "You have the look. The 'I am about to die of frustration' look."

Some of her anger dissolved, and she had to stifle a laugh. "I guess it's not just me, then."

"No, trust me, my cousin is the most infuriating person alive." He held out a hand. "Cody Hayes."

She shook it. "Charmian Russell. I'm Saffron's midwife. I came up to do a home visit, but she wasn't here."

"Yeah, we all went into town for the day. All except Alec." He pointed across the yard, where a truck was parked in front of the smaller house. Lamplight gleamed in the windows. "Axl and Tara are back, but Saffron and Remy decided to spend the night in town. Treat themselves to a motel room, enjoy not being in that little trailer for a change. They won't be back 'til morning."

"Oh no, what a shame," she said, with an inward sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted right now was to stay on the Circle B any longer than she had to. "I mean, good for them, of course. My fault for coming up without calling ahead."

"Driving home tonight?" Cody asked as she began to brush the snow off her car.

"Planning on it."

"The road can be tricky in the dark."

"I'll be fine," she said, a little more snappily than she intended. Great, another guy who didn't think women could drive in the snow. Did Saffron and Tara have to put up with this too? Although ... come to think of it, Remy usually drove Saffron to her appointments. And Saffron didn't seem like someone who scared easily.

Maybe she shouldn't be quite so cavalier about it.

"Just be careful," Cody said. "Especially on that first big turn, coming down. Take it slow. You might want to chain up; it was pretty slippery when we drove in."

"That might not be a bad idea," she admitted.

She hauled the tire chains out of the Jeep. Cody came down the steps and helped her lay them out. She drove the Jeep onto the chains and he secured the front ones while she got the back tires.

"Thank you," she said, standing up and dusting the snow off her gloves.
See, Alec? I
can
accept help, and I can even be polite about it!

"No worries," Cody said, and winked at her. "I don't think Alec would ever forgive any of us if something happened to you on the way home."

Charmian frowned at him. "Excuse me? What makes you think Alec and I—er, what makes you think Alec would care?"

Cody gave her a smile with a trace of apology in it. "You smell like sex and Alec. I know you didn't come up just to see Saffron."