Shifters of Grrr 1 (101 page)

This time Ada laughed. “Even better; you remembered how much I love champagne.”

“I haven’t forgotten anything about you, Ada. That would be impossible.” He passed her a glass of champagne then lifted his own in a toast. “To us… To a new beginning.”

Suddenly she looked anxious as she tipped her glass towards him then took it to her mouth for a sip. It wasn’t exactly an acknowledgment of his toast.

“What is it?” he asked.

Ada took a deep breath. “Let’s not spoil dinner; we can talk later.”

“Your deep respect for food is one of the many things I love about you.” He pulled out her chair and sat her at the table, unfolding a napkin and laying it across her lap. “Don’t move,” he ordered.

Soon he was back at her side, carrying a plate.

“Tonight, Madame, we start with roasted fennel and pine nut polpette; delicious, delicate balls of pine nuts and herbs in a rich tomato sauce.”

He took the seat opposite her and cut one of the polpette in half, dipped it in the sauce and held it out to her. “Open.”

He had to concentrate on keeping his hand steady as her luscious lips parted, her tongue protruding just the way she did when she teased him. He placed the food in her mouth watching as she chewed a few times. On the nights they’d cooked together, they’d learned how competitive they each were in the kitchen.

 
Ada closed her eyes, keeping them that way even after she swallowed. Her tongue slid along her lower lip, catching a smear of sauce, and the sound she made almost doubled him over. If she continued that way, they’d never make it through the first course because his bear was pushing past the hunger and demanding they get along to the bedroom immediately.

“Ranger, this is stunning. I have to know where you bought it because I want to eat it every night.”

“I made it from scratch; made everything we’re eating tonight, and no, you’re not having the recipe. If you want to eat any dish again, you can only do that at my table.”

Satisfied that she liked the food, he spooned some onto each of their plates.
 

While they ate they chatted about Ada’s work and the new bear sanctuary in Vietnam. They flirted and laughed, and stole looks of longing.

At one stage, Ranger reached with a finger and wiped a smudge of sauce from Ada’s chin. She leaned in and took his finger in her mouth, sucking and swirling her tongue around it pulling a long groan from deep within him. His cock jumped at the memory of having her mouth, lips and tongue do that exact thing to him, and it was all he could do to contain himself.

The memory of the time they’d spent together, their comfort in each other’s company and that odd feeling of not needing anyone else, or to be any other place, stayed in the forefront of his mind.

“I’m full,” Ada announced as Ranger moved to add more food to her plate.

“Good, because you’re dessert tonight, although I do have some fabulous chocolates for later, once we’ve worked up an appetite again.”

She chewed her lip and sighed. “I don’t want to bring the mood down, but nothing’s changed, Ranger. Every reason we parted still exists.”

That was the case, until this afternoon. But he’d fixed that, by doing what he could today to smooth her path of resistance. He felt like a sniper with a single bullet—one opportunity to make the target his. The reason he was alive today, the reason he was also so wealthy, was because he never tackled a job or a deal unprepared. By tonight, he was certain he’d removed every barrier that would prevent them having a future together.

“Possibly some of those reasons do still exist, so tell me again why we can’t be together, and I’ll see if I can allay your fears.”

“We’ve been through this before—”

“I have to be certain I haven’t missed something. Humour me; take a moment to explain.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

~ADA~

There was something in what he’d just said that piqued her curiosity, and without arousing her hopes, she wanted to know more. This had been the best day she’d had since they broke up, and everything about being together felt so right.

He wore jeans and a casual buttoned shirt that she’d spent much of the evening resisting a drive to grab and rip from his tight body.

Running into Ranger this morning tilted her axis. In the last few months, she’d reached a place where she no longer saw him in the stranger glimpsed darting into a shop, or standing at a bar—men who on closer inspection scarcely resembled him at all. The mind tricks may have ceased, but her heart had only paused. Being in his presence today had reactivated the play button.

It was foolish to have come to his apartment, because there was no way she’d be able to resist him, no matter how many pep talks she’d given herself about it being
 
just dinner.
Who did she think she was fooling with that one?

If only Nicki and Jessa had been home to talk some sense into her. But seeing as they both thought she was mad to have walked out on Ranger in the first place, she probably couldn’t have banked on much support there.

To reinforce what was fast becoming a flimsy ‘
Ranger and I can just be friends
’ facade, she’d deliberately dressed down. Loose sweat pants and a baggy sweater hid every curve and bulge Ranger professed to love. And lord, if he could see what was going on with her underwear, he’d have thought she’d raided her granny’s knicker drawer.

 
But if she was going to end the evening leaving his apartment after dinner, it was only fair she did as he asked and explained, one more time, why they couldn’t be together. It would help shore up her wall of determination that seemed to lose a row of bricks every time Ranger looked at her
that way!
 

“Let’s go through to the lounge room.” Taking her hand, he led her into a room with a wall of glass that showcased the city and harbour in a way she’d never seen before.

“Wow. Your apartment is stunning. This view! What else have you got hidden away?”

“Just the usual; office, bedrooms, bathrooms, and a master bedroom that I think is too big for one person. I wouldn’t mind your opinion about that. Do you want to see it?”

Ada laughed. “That was so uncool, I can’t believe you said it.”

“Maybe I’m nervous.”

That’ll be the day, she thought, but one glance at him told her he wasn’t kidding. He looked as edgy as she felt.

They settled on a massive sofa and Ranger tucked Ada into him, though she did notice him wince slightly as she snuggled in against his side. He draped his arm around her shoulders, making circles with his fingers on her upper arm. She loved that even though she was nearly six feet tall with ample padding, he could still make her feel tiny simply by the strength of his presence. Then she wriggled from his grip and put a few inches between them.

“I think we need the space.”

“Fair enough.”

That he allowed her a physical gap without teasing or cajoling proved to her he was taking tonight seriously.
 

“Tell me what’s stopping us being together, because, this…us, tonight…we’re good together. It feels right, don’t you think?”

Being in his company did feel right, but it was the reminder that he could be called out on a special job that she couldn’t live with.

“I’m not going to turn into my mother, Ranger. We aren’t going to become my parents, because we’d destroy each other.”

She pushed herself from the sofa and began to pace the room.

“This is the reason, Ranger. Like my parents, your love isn’t big enough for me that you would give up your special ops work. I can’t go through what my mother did wondering every time you go out on a Bear Force mission whether you’ll be back safely or…” She waved a hand in the air. “You know?”

She heard his bear rumble loudly.

“Calm your bear,” she said.

“Sorry, he wants to protect you, to take away all of your hurt.”

For someone to take away the hurt, and love her in a totally unconditional way, sounded like perfection. But she knew perfection was a pipe dream, and that people could only love as much as their limitations allowed. “It’s in your hands now, Ranger.”

An enormous smile spread across his face, his amber eyes glinting with flashes of gold and green as he took two massive strides across the room to take her in his arms. He dipped his head, and his mouth covered hers before slipping along her jaw to nuzzle her ear. “I’ve been busy today,” he said.

“I know, dinner was tremendous, but you’re not taking me to bed to fuck our issues away. That won’t work.”

He threw back his head. “If only I could. I would have locked you in our bedroom for the last six months rather than having you out there on the loose.”

She thumped him on the shoulder. “Idiot. Only a man would think that was the solution to all that ails a relationship.”

“I’ve been busy on other things besides dinner.” He placed a hand on each shoulder as if to steady both of them. His touch was so firm, so safe, that her chest tightened at the thought of having it taken away.

“Let me explain. Today, in between going to the market three times to buy ingredients I’d forgotten, and cooking us what I think we both agree was a dinner you’re going to have to work hard at to knock from its position as one of the best, I resigned from Bear Force combat duties starting immediately. No ‘one last op’; nothing.”

Ada’s pulse pounded in her ears to the extent she wondered if she may have misheard him.

“Why?” It was no more than a whisper but it carried so much hope.

“Seeing you this morning gave me a good kick in the butt as to how stupid I’ve been. You’re my mate, Ada, and you always will be. There’s no-one else for me. I don’t want to waste another day without you at my side, and if what you told me tonight about your reasons for breaking up with me are true, all the barriers have gone.”

“But, Bear Force is who you are. It’s your life. When Mum used to complain about Dad’s work, he always said that being in the STG was part of who he was, and without it, he’d be only half a person. In that way, I sort of understand why he continued.”

“You’re right. Some people are born to protect, and for bear shifters that certainly is an innate part of us. We’d only had that short time together, and I thought I could carry on without you, but it made me crazy. My destiny is also to be with my mate—with you, Ada—and during this last six months I was less of a man without you.”

“You’ll miss the excitement,” she said quietly.

“In some ways, yes, but every time I look at you I get enough of an adrenaline rush to make my life exciting. I’ll still do Bear Force work, but in a non-combat role. There are plenty of other things I can do within the organisation. Certainly, my drive is to save the bears, but I don’t have to take risks to do that.”

“That’s a big sacrifice, and I’m astounded.”

“It’s not a sacrifice when it comes to you. We’re going to start over again, properly. And, we’re going to be okay. Let me prove it to you.”

He slid his hands up the back of her neck, his thumbs stretched forward, running along her jaw, causing a shiver through her body. Her gaze darted around his face, jumping from the brightness of his eyes to the slight twitch of his mouth. The pull between them was magnetic, making her want to lean in and rub her body on him like an animal in heat.
 

She was right back at the state he’d drawn from her when they’d been together, her desire for him causing a pulse of need between her legs, and a deep sense of pleasure in her mind.

“I can smell your arousal, Ada. I’ve been aroused by your scent all evening.”

His mouth crashed down upon hers, claiming a kiss that spoke of all the denial they’d both experienced throughout their time apart. Their tongues crossed and fought with pent-up passion as they shared one breath.

Finally, Ada pulled away, their kiss unlocking the desire she’d boxed up and contained for months. The sacrifice he had made for her, the one her parents had not been able to do, shattered her walls, and the breach allowed her longing to run free.
 

“Come with me. I want to see if I’m right about something.”

The lust in his eyes sent a new wave of heat through her. Kaleidoscopic changes of colour flashed like the shift of the seasons in variations of amber, gold and green. His bear was clearly close to the surface.

He led her through a hallway and into his bedroom. The bed was huge, the room decorated in muted masculine tones of deep chocolate brown, cinnamon, and cream. They reminded her of his bear colouring, and she was about to mention that when she noticed the photograph in the frame beside his bed.

In it, Ada sat on the trunk of an enormous tree that had fallen, decades ago, across the creek at the bottom of the waterfall. It was the tree that created a dam for the swimming hole she’d seen Ranger use the first time she’d seen him.

They’d revisited the place, the walk in from Ranger’s cabin on the retreat property much easier than the one Ada had used from the Department of Conservation tracks on public land.

She recalled when he took the photo. She’d walked across the fallen tree trunk and sat dangling her feet in the cold water. It was so still up there, and the way the trees and sky reflected in the stream winding away from the falls was stunning.