Bear-ever Yours (5 page)

“Damn,” he said. “You’re beautiful when I touch you. Well, you’re beautiful all the time, but I particularly like the way you glow when you—”

She blushed and cut him off with a glare and then strode off to the bedroom. Her heart was still pounding wildly, the excitement of the sex receding so that she was left with both a satisfied feeling of pleasure and a wanting for something even more intense.

She sat on the bed and waited for him and looked out the open window at the private beach. This world was a world away from hers.

Her phone beeped faintly.

Now that she’d promised never to leave him, there was only one thing left to do. But she knew he’d take her to see her family. Help her figure out the legality of moving here. And she couldn’t say she would miss her job, now that she wouldn’t have to see Ignus anymore.

Yes, just one thing left to do. Call her boss and tell him she wasn’t coming back. She’d found her mate and she’d stay here and keep getting to know him. And she couldn’t do that with the constant beeping and the fear and interruptions.

Besides, she had no reason to be afraid of him. He was just her boss. He’d have to accept her resignation and leave her alone. There was no way he could leave the company and come here, right?

She picked up the phone and scrolled through the messages. Sky was humming in the bathroom as he changed, and she grinned.

She used to be Leah, stressed office manager with no real future. Now she was going to be wife to a scuba instructor in the Caymans. It was crazy to anyone who wasn’t a bear shifter. She picked up the phone and dialed.

“Ignus?” she said when he picked up. He started ranting but she ignored him and talked over her. She needed to get this done before she lost her nerve, before Sky came out and heard everything and tried to intervene. She needed to do this on her own. “Ignus, listen to me. I quit.”

A rant of swearing launched at her, but she looked over at Sky’s happy face and just focused on that as she closed the phone, silenced it, and threw it aside.

Take that, Ignus.

S
ky felt
his heart thud in his chest as he watched his mate set the phone down. Just a few more hours, and then he’d make her his completely.

And then they had the rest of their lives to get to know each other. Their bears were already acquainted, already knew they were a perfect pairing, and their humans would just have to catch up.

“Who was that?” he asked. “Did you just quit your job?”

She nodded, but when she looked back at him, he was stunned to see tears glistening at the corners of her eyes. He wrapped his robe tighter around himself and wiped her tears away with both thumbs.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay now. Don’t worry.”

“I don’t know why I feel so relieved, but so worried at the same time.”

He sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him, motioning for her to join him. “Maybe you should tell me about it.”

She nodded. “I started working young. I felt guilty, you know, for everything my adopted parents had done for me. I worked all through college, and when I graduated, Ignus found me.”

“What do you mean, found you?”

She swiped at her eyes and took a deep breath, finally composed. “I mean, one of those things where you go to all the booths for different companies. He got me to come work for him. It was fine at first.”

“But then?”

“But then, as the years went by, he demanded more and more. And as I’d invested more time there, I didn’t want to be fired. And then, of course, he threatened not to give me a good recommendation if I left, which was so unfair.”

“What was it about the job that you hated?”

She shrugged. “I liked my coworkers. I liked learning things. I liked managing the office, after I got promoted last year. But I didn’t like that it came with him texting, calling and emailing constantly. Like at hours that weren’t appropriate for work stuff.”

He nodded, putting an arm around her and holding her close. Something was really off about the whole situation, but he couldn’t put a finger on what. She was a vibrant, vivacious woman who loved to try new things. She loved her family and friends, and was loyal to those around her and quick to love new people.

There was only one thing in the world that stressed her, and it was this job for some reason. “I still am not sure I get it. I mean, I know he threatened not to give you a referral, but did he really have that much power over you?”

She nodded. “I don’t know why. I just sort of felt afraid to say no to him.”

He hugged her tight. “Well, you said no to him today. And if he doesn’t listen, I’ll sort him out.”

She hugged him back. “Back there, in the shower, you made me promise not to leave you. What was that about?”

He snorted. “You don’t need to know.”

“I do,” she said. “You made me talk about my weakness, it’s only fair.”

He shrugged. “I guess I worry that when I find a mate, she’ll leave me like my mom left my dad. I don’t want a mating that just produces children. I want a life together. I guess deep down I worry that a female will take what she needs from me and go. That I don’t have enough to make her stay.”

She looked up at him with soulful brown eyes and he felt that she could see straight into his soul. “I’m sorry. No woman in her right mind would leave you, so I really don’t know what is up with your mom. But I’d never leave you for sure.”

He blinked. His heart seemed to be beating even more rapidly. The more he was coming to care for this woman, the more the thought of her leaving scared him.

He’d never grown to care for another female again, so he really hadn’t had to face his fear of abandonment. Now that he did, a part of him just felt like it was pulling back, and he didn’t know why.

“So, did you always want to be a scuba diver?” she asked, moving back against the headboard and pulling him to join her.

An afternoon wind started up and made the curtains flap. “Should I shut that?” he asked.

“No, it feels good. Nice and cooling after you heated me up,” she said, grinning and holding onto him.

He smiled. It felt good to have her on him. Felt good to touch her body. From the minute he’d looked into her perfect, heart-shaped face, and those deep, wonderful eyes, he’d known she’d be his.

Her hair always fell into the most perfect, wild little curls, and he couldn’t resist pulling one straight and wrapping it lightly around his finger.

“Hey, stop that,” she said playfully. She rolled over to rest on his chest. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Sorry, I was caught up in how beautiful you are,” he said, running a hand lightly over her back. A part of him felt like if he just never stopped touching her, she’d never leave.

A knock sounded on the door and she lifted her head, curls bouncing slightly. “Who could that be?”

He grinned. “Room service. I ordered it before I came up and joined you, remember?”

“How did you know we’d be done?”

“I figured they could wait if we weren’t. But I knew we weren’t going all the way. I’ve always had a certain way I wanted it to happen. Call me a romantic, but there’s just a way I’ve always pictured it, if I did find a mate. Even though it wasn’t a huge priority before.” He moved off the bed to get the door, and when she was under the covers and out of view, he opened it and took the tray from the person delivering it. He tipped and then shut the door behind him, wheeling the tray inside.

“Wow,” she said. “Did you order enough?”

“I hope so,” he said. “I wouldn’t want my princess to go hungry.”

She put a hand over her stomach and made a face he found adorable. “I don’t think I’ve gone hungry since I’ve been here,” she said.

“Good,” he said, feeling his grin spread even wider over his face. “I got you a little of everything. I didn’t know what you felt like.”

“Great,” she said. “Oh, by the way, you were going to tell me what else you were, other than a scuba diver. You know, since you said I didn’t need to work if I didn’t want to.”

“Oh that,” he said, setting a napkin on her lap and pulling the lid off the top dish. “Yeah, I’m also an inventor. I came up with a new take on a rebreathing apparatus and licensed it. It’s been lucrative. So yes, mate, you can sit at home all day if you want to.”

She wrinkled her nose as he served her a full plate. “I don’t want to. I like working.”

“Well, you could teach scuba with me? Of course, it’ll require a lot of diving with me first.” He winked at her and she blushed.

“I can do that,” she said. “Considering how much I didn’t think I liked water, I really loved scuba.”

He nodded. “That’s common. It’s all about motivation. I mean, we had to teach you basic strokes and treading water, but floating isn’t that essential. It’s like, once you have stuff to see and do, and air to breathe under water, you’re more willing to try it. It’s much more rewarding than say, swimming.”

She nodded. “Especially with a teacher like you.”

His chest grew warm at the compliment and he dug into his meal to distract himself. “Anyway, you asked how I got into scuba. When we moved here, there was this cool old dive master who used to run the shop. Before I did, you know? And he kind of took me under his wing. I’m the youngest of my brothers, and I’m sure I just seemed kind of lost. Dad was busy running the place, and my older brother, Scott, was always following him around to learn the ropes.”

“He’s the one with the short hair, right?”

“He’s the businessman,” he replied.

She snorted. “That’s going to be an odd match,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

“No, what?”

“Just that he’s paired off with Mara this week, and she’s one of those ethereal artist types.”

He raised an eyebrow and poked at his food. “That’’ll be interesting. Maybe she’ll be able to ruffle his feathers.”

“And you have another brother, right?”

“Ah yes, Sebastien. Yeah, he got taken under the wing of the cruise captain. You may have seen the ship when it came in earlier this week.”

“Yes, my friend Kim went out on it. She’s a handful.”

He laughed. “Really? I’d love to see that then.” He stirred the rice pilaf on his plate as she happily tucked into the fish and steak he’d served her.

“You okay?” she asked.

He looked out toward the window, where the wind was picking up and clouds were looming overhead. It looked like an evening storm would roll in. “Unfortunately, I don’t know if we’re going to be able to keep our earlier plans,” he said. “Looks like it’s going to rain.”

“Sex in the rain could be hot,” she said, obviously looking like she wanted to perk up his mood.

“Yeah,” he said, uncertainly. “I’m not sure about that.”

“What do you mean?”

He took a bite of his steak. “I’m not a fan of rainy days. I prefer sunlight.”

“I guess I could have guessed that about you. But are you really going to be able to put off our mating?”

He picked up her fork and fed her a piece of her steak, savoring her expression of pleasure as she took it from him. “I can barely wait, but I want it to be perfect for you. It can’t be, if I have to wipe raindrops out of your eyes.”

“We could at least go for a walk in the rain? I think nothing could be more romantic than a stroll along a Caribbean beach with the rain coming down on us.”

“You want to be cold?” he asked, holding out her fork for another taste.

“That’s not cold,” she said. “That’s refreshing. You want cold, you should try winter in New York.”

He shivered. “No thank you.”

“You’re a polar bear!” she teased.

He stuck his tongue out at her. “Who was raised in the Caymans. Geez, woman. Give me a break.”

“Only if you’ll walk in the rain with me.” She pursed her lips and chewed her steak and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to negotiate with her, so even though the protective side of him who didn’t want his mate to get wet and catch cold didn’t like the idea, he agreed.

“Fine, but only because we can’t keep our original plans. I’m glad I have you for another week after tomorrow though,” he said. “We can even take a mini honeymoon if you want.”

She stood and he cleared the plates into a pile and set the tray outside the door for pickup. “Um, wouldn’t we have to be married first?”

“Not in our world. Once we mate, we’ll essentially be married.”

“Oh,” she said. “Right. It’s all so new to me.”

“I know,” he said. “But you can trust me. I won’t lead you astray.”

“Good thing too,” she said. “I’d be in trouble if you did.”

They walked together out to the deck, and he listened to the muffled plops of raindrops on sand. The damp feel of the sand between his toes as they stepped out onto the beach unnerved him. He much preferred sunny days.

But his mate’s face was rapturous as she turned up her face to catch raindrops on her cheeks, lips and eyelashes. And he wanted to lick them all off. But he found himself caught by her beauty, and by the sheer luck of her being his, and him being instinctive enough to know from the moment he found her.

And her being willing to trust him enough to follow him into this new world. The alpha in him liked that.

He took her hand and they walked along the sand. She was quiet, pensive, stopping here and there to look out at the ocean, which was grayer, storm-tossed. The sand got cooler under their feet, and the sun was getting lower in the sky.

He shuddered, thinking of what would happen if she hadn’t agreed to be his mate. She would have left after two weeks, thinking it all a fling. He’d had no choice but to tell her things she may not have been ready to hear. How would he have known his mate wouldn’t have known she was a bear.

But fate worked in mysterious ways. And as he held her hand and looked out at the stormy ocean and the beautiful sunset in the distance, and felt cool rain over his shoulders, he thought maybe stormy days weren’t so bad.

If she was around.

And it’d be fun to have a dive partner, if she did end up wanting to go into business with him. If not, he was sure Gus would have work for her at the shop or hotel with administrative work.

But he’d seen her sheer glee on her first dive, and had known right then that she could love diving as much as he did.

And the human in him had fallen in love with her right there. They walked a little further and she told him about her adoptive parents, who still lived in New York. He guessed he’d have to visit them soon, but it’d be hard to explain their whirlwind romance now that he knew they weren’t shifters.

If they were shifters, they would have explained it to her. Not left her ignorant and unsure of who she was.

But he liked that there was so much to her beyond the shifting. She was a fully formed woman. Had gone to college, and worked her way up in her office. Had a full life, and now could have more with him.

They were nearly back to the hotel suite when he heard a distant ringing. He felt her visibly tense, just from the feel of her hand against his.

“You don’t have to answer that anymore.”

“I know,” she said. “I don’t want to even look at it. But it could be my mom.”

“Let me pick it up and look at it then.”

“Okay,” she said, biting a nail as she let him walk ahead of her into the suite.

He frowned at her nervousness. He just wanted this to be over once and for all, and their new life together to start. He picked up the phone and looked at the name.

“It’s someone named Ignus.”

He could tell from her face that that was the wrong name.