Bear Naked (15 page)

We ignored him and climbed into my car. The two elders stared at us as we backed out of the driveway and pulled onto one of the side roads that would lead to the highway…and eventually out of the Ozark Mountains.

Leif was watching me as I drove. His hand went to my thigh, a caress of support. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Actually, I am.” My father would be upset right now, but eventually he’d calm down enough to talk. And there were phones for those sorts of things. I felt free, and light…and happy. “It’s a long drive to Texas, though.”

“I’m glad I’ve got good company,” Leif told me.

I grinned, and headed down the road. “So what did your father say to you when he hugged you?”

“He said for me to get settled, and then to let him know where we were at, and he would join us. He’s tired of the games, too.”

I laughed out of pure joy.

When we pulled into the parking lot at Midnight Liaisons, it was pitch black outside. The strip mall storefront was lit up, and I knew they were open late hours. They had to be, considering some of the clients were nocturnal.

“What is this place?” Leif asked with a yawn.

“Dating agency,” I told him.

His eyebrows wrinkled as he considered this. “So why are we here?”

“Because I think they have Ramsey’s address.” I leaned over and gave him a long, lingering kiss. “Wait for me here?”

“I’d wait for you forever. You know that, right?”

God, that man. I was totally going to eat him up when we stopped for the evening. I gave him another fierce kiss before climbing out of the car. We could always get a hotel for the night. I wanted nothing more than to claw Leif’s clothing off and throw him down on the nearest bed…but we were so close to our destination that it seemed silly to stop now.

I entered the small dating agency office and sniffed the air. Smelled like humans. For a moment, I wasn’t sure I was in the right place.

“Hi there,” said a peppy blonde, standing up behind a nearby desk covered in pink supplies. “I’m Ryder. Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for the shifter dating agency,” I said bluntly. “This the right place?” She smelled human, but the moon logo on the back wall was throwing me off.

“That’s us,” she said cheerily. “You need me to help you find the right man - or woman - of your dreams?”

“Actually, I need the address of Ramsey Bjorn.”

Her cheery look faded just a touch. “I can’t really give out information on our clients. I—“

“I’m Nikolina Aasen,” I said to her. “His betrothed. I’ve come down from the bear clans to get him.”

It was pleasant to see her eyes bug out, just a little. She blinked at me for a moment, then typed something into the computer.

“Aasen has two A’s,” I said helpfully.

She looked over at me, and I watched her type again, noticing she hammered down on the ‘A’ key twice. She was searching my name. A moment later, she peered at her screen, then at me.

“Oh shit.” She looked terrified.

“So can I have his address? I’d like to say hello to an old friend.” I didn’t bother to tell her that I had a mate. She was human, so she couldn’t see the mate mark on my neck, and it’d be easier to get information out of her if she thought I still had a connection with the other were-bear.

Ryder hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a bright pink post-it. She scribbled something on it with a glittery pen, then ripped the post-it off and held it out to me. “You totally did not get this information from me.”

I smiled at her. “Thank you.”

“And if you’re murdered by a tiny little she-wolf, just keep my name out of it.” Ryder gave me a pained smile.

I laughed. I was six foot tall and could shift into bear form. I could handle a werewolf. “I haven’t been here.”

“Exactly.”

It was almost another hour before we pulled onto a gravel road out in the middle of the country. In the distance, a large Victorian loomed, every light on in the house despite the late hour.

“Something tells me that we’re expected,” Leif mused.

“I’m guessing the little human made a phone call after I left,” I told him. “She looked like she was a bit freaked out.”

“Then we’ll go to the door together.”

That sounded fine to me. We got out of the car and I inhaled the crisp night air. Texas smelled different than Arkansas. Less lush, but more grassy. It was a smell I could get used to. Leif’s scent wafted toward me, and my hand slid into his. He was my favorite scent, I decided. I moved closer to him and we approached the house together.

It was a cute house, in a sprawling, antique-ish sort of way, though I caught the faint scent of new lumber and fresh paint….and the smell of were-bear and wolf, all over the grounds. I wrinkled my nose at the doggy scent. Bears smelled so much cleaner, at least to my nose.

Before we could take one step onto the porch, the front door opened. A man stepped out.

Ramsey didn’t look like I’d remembered. Whereas Leif was all lean, corded muscle from the harsh island living and probably days of missing meals, Ramsey was like a chunk of concrete. He was thick and broad. His hair was long and brushed his collar, and three days growth of blond beard shadowed his hard face. He was also frowning quite fiercely at the sight of me.

“Hi, Ramsey,” I began.

A small, pink-haired female lunged out the door, and I barely caught a glimpse of flailing arms and legs as she tried to bodily launch herself at me, only to be snagged by Ramsey, mid-air. “Let me at her,” the little she-wolf snarled. “She can’t have you! I’ll claw her eyes out! I—“

“Sara,” Ramsey said in a low, gruff voice that brought back painful teenage memories. Memories of parents shoving us together and forcing us to talk to each other, since we were betrothed. Wow. I hadn’t realized how uncomfortable I’d been all those times until I heard Ramsey’s voice.

My hand tightened on Leif’s and I was suddenly glad things had turned out the way they had. To think I’d once been sad that Ramsey had left me a spinster and we’d never marry. Now I was glad that things happened the way they did.

I’d simply been waiting for Leif all my life.

“She’s not taking me from you,” Ramsey said to the small female squirming in his arms. His voice was patient and even loving. It was kind of cute.

So was the fact that Leif had stepped in front of me the moment she’d lunged forward. He was so sweet.

“I just want to talk with Ramsey,” I said, linking an arm around Leif’s waist and pulling my body against his back in a possessive movement. “My mate and I have been exiled from the bear clan and we wanted to talk to another were-bear that’s left them behind.”

The woman — Sara — stopped squirming in Ramsey’s arms. “Did she just say ‘mate?’” she whispered.

Ramsey grunted in something that sounded like agreement.

“Oh.” She patted his side. “Put me down, Huggy Bear. I’m good now.”

He did, and I watched as the woman - goodness, she was a tiny thing - straightened her clothing and smoothed her short, wild pink hair. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that said GAMER GIRLS DO IT WITH JOYSTICKS and when she looked at me, she studied me with that same wary look.

I pushed one of my thick blonde braids aside and revealed my neck and the mate mark there.

Immediately, a smile blossomed on Sara’s face. She gestured for us to approach. “Well, don’t just stand there. Come on in!”

Ramsey snorted, though his hand went to his mate’s neck and he pulled her against him and gave the top of her head a kiss.

My fingers tightened on Leif’s hand, but we went into the house.

The interior had an interesting shabby chic to it. There were shelves of gaming books and code books, and what looked like an entire shelf of various computer games. A big TV hung on a back wall, and the entertainment center below it was crammed with gaming consoles. There were ratty, comfy couches scattered in the living room, and at the far end, I could see what looked like a study that was set up with two big computers side by side.

Someone here was clearly into computers. Ramsey? That didn’t seem like the man I remembered, but maybe he’d changed in the years that he’d been gone.

“Nice place,” I said politely.

“My Huggy Bear made it for me,” Sara said in a cheery voice. As she passed by Ramsey, she grabbed his ass and squeezed. “Made a den for his mate. Isn’t that sweet?” When Ramsey sat down on one end of the couch, she immediately crawled into his lap.

Possessive little thing. I bit back my laugh. I did
not
want Ramsey. Not when I had Leif. “Very sweet.”

Leif sat down on one of the couches opposite Sara and Ramsey, and tugged on my hand so I’d sit down next to him. I didn’t need coaching - every moment I could spend with Leif was a wonderful one, and I was all for it.

“So what brings you two here and so late at night?”

“We just left the clan and didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Leif said. “My mate wanted to come and see Ramsey.”

“Oh?” Sara tried to keep her tone light, but I could hear the concern in it.

“Yes,” I said, and was unable to resist needling her. “I thought I’d come and talk with him about his apology.”

Immediately, Ramsey’s arm snaked around Sara’s waist, holding her down.

Leif squeezed my hand. “That was naughty of you,” he murmured.

“Apology?” Ramsey asked. Not a man of many words, that Ramsey. So he hadn’t changed that much since when I’d known him before.

“Yeah. For years I dreamed of making Ramsey apologize for leaving me a spinster. I resented him for a really, really long time. A long, long time,” I said, smiling. “But then I found Leif, and I realized that Ramsey’s leaving was the best thing that could have happened to me.” I looked over at Leif’s blue eyes and beamed, my heart full of love. “And so I wanted to come and tell him that. That I was okay.”

“I’m glad,” Ramsey said in a gruff voice.

Sara stiffened in his arms. “That so? Because I—“

He silenced her with a quick kiss, then said, “Felt guilty for her. Not for me.”

“Oh.” Sara blushed and looked over at me. “I understand.”

“Was it hard for you to leave?” I asked Ramsey. So far, I had no regrets but I wondered if they’d kick in later.

“I have never looked back,” Ramsey said after a long moment. Then, he added, “But I felt bad I ruined your life.”

“Not ruined at all,” I said, and squeezed Leif’s hand again. “I have my mate, and we’re expecting a child. All we need is a home.”

“Home is where you make it,” Ramsey said.

“That’s right,” I said, surprised to hear Leif’s words echoed in the fellow exile. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“A baby?” Sara’s face softened. “A baby bear? That is so cute.” She patted Ramsey’s arm that was linked tight at her waist. “We should let them stay in the cabin. Just until they get on their feet.”

“Oh,” I said quickly. “We didn’t come to impose. I just wanted to reconnect with Ramsey. He’s the only kin that Leif and I have now.”

“Stay,” Ramsey said. “We have room.”

“And you can tell me all about the bear baby,” Sara said, grinning. “I’m taking notes for the future.”

To my surprise, big burly Ramsey blushed beet red. As he did, I noticed even darker marks on his neck. Were those…? His long hair swung over them again, and I missed my chance to see it.