Tempted by the Bear - Complete (51 page)

A
nnie

S
ven struggled
to stay awake as he continued to try to communicate with Lucy, but sheer fatigue from his ordeal took over, and now he’s asleep. With nothing to do as I wait for news, I make my way downstairs. It’s well past midnight, and when I glance out the window I notice more lights are off over at the De Rozier dorm. Two males are on the porch with what I suspect is an unofficial night watch, and I detect their low voices as they discuss their love lives.

Two guards are watching my house, but they’re more discreet, and I wonder where they’re stationed. While I’m not one to live in fear, my lack of something to do has me on edge, and my senses are on high alert. I give in to my urge to bake to occupy my time. My industrial mixer motor whines as it kneads dough, and metal pans clatter on the counter when I set them out.

Tristan speaks to me.
“It’s done. The hunters are dead, and we’re on our way home with Lucy and the girls.”

I breathe a sigh of relief as I flip off the mixer.
“I’m so glad. Is anyone hurt?”

“The triplets and Lucy are still sedated but appear to be fine. One of the Le Roux was shot, but he should recover easily.”

I think about Brady and wonder if he knows Carly is in labor yet. I haven’t heard from her and am tempted to contact my brother, but I’m sure his hands are full. I’m the last thing he has on his mind, as it should be, and I decide to let them update me when they’re ready. I say to Tristan,
“I can’t wait to have my family back home.”

“We can’t wait to be there.”
He pauses for a moment and then adds, “
This isn’t over, Annie. I think there are more hunters out there.”

My brow furrows as I answer,
“All the more reason we need the clans to be united as one. The only way we’re going to survive is with numbers.”

“And magic. You should have seen Isabelle tonight. She created a shield around us that kept us safe and bounced the bullets back at the hunters that shot them. It was amazing.”

Pride is in Tristan’s voice, and it makes me smile. Isabelle has come back to him. While I’m not completely comfortable with her yet, perhaps I can find a way to forgive her the way I’ve forgiven my mate.
“That does sound incredible. Maybe she and Carly can train together.”
I remember that Carly is in labor and say,
“Goodness, I almost forgot. Carly’s babies are on their way. I expect to hear she’s had them by morning.”

“And here I was hoping to sleep in with you. As I recall, we had plans, my love.”

Heat rises to my cheeks when I remember how I wanted to re-bond with my true mate tonight before we discovered Lucy and the girls were kidnapped. I say, “
Yes. I believe we did. Babies can wait.”

Tristan’s chuckle sends a tingle of desire through me as I say,
“See you soon.”

A huge smile covers my face as I go upstairs to wake Sven. He’s going to be so relieved to know that Lucy is on her way back to him. His breathing is soft when I enter the room, but he jerks under my hand when I touch his shoulder and grabs my fingers as he opens his mouth to reveal fangs. It makes me gasp in pain from his grip and terror.

I scream, “Sven, it’s Annie!”

He groans as he releases me, and he swallows before he whispers, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I just wanted to let you know that I just spoke with Tristan. He’s on his way home with Lucy and the girls. They’re still sedated, and everyone is okay.”

Sven sits up as joy gives his face life. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. They’ll be here soon.”

Sven lifts his arms slowly over his head and winces, but moves to get out of the bed anyway. I suspect he needs to be with Lucy more than he needs to rest, so I say, “What can I do for you? Should I cook something?”

He nods. “Food would be good. I’m not going to be able to sleep until I can talk to Lucy again.”

“I understand. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

As I make my way down the hall, I shake my head at the irregular thumping of his limp as he moves around his room. That’s one determined polar bear. But I shouldn’t be surprised. True mate love is a powerful thing.

When I get back to my baking, dough is sticky in my hands as I divide it and form loaves to put in the bread pans. The oven timer beeps as I set it, and the vibration of bear feet running toward my house captures my attention. I wonder if a warrior has come to warn me of something. A towel is rough on my palms as I wipe my hands, and my senses kick into high gear. When the back door squeaks open, I move toward it. I gasp when I see Patricia Veilleux, and adrenaline floods my bloodstream.
How did she get past the guards?

She’s naked from her shift, and her eyes are wild as she pants from her run. There’s a wound in her shoulder that is an angry shade of red. She says, “Annie, come quick.”

She latches on to my arm before I can back away, and because her claws haven’t quite retracted, they dig into my flesh with sharp pain. My skin prickles with the beginning of an instinctual need to shift as she says, “It’s Tristan.”

“Tristan—”
I blink in confusion as she swipes out at my neck. Agony burns at my throat as blood sprays forward. Heat spreads down my chest, and I clasp my hand to my throat to stop my bleeding. I open my mouth to inhale air, but I can’t breathe. Stars float before my eyes as I fall to the floor. I croak out final words to my mate.
“I’m dying. I lo—”

The angry roar of a polar bear explodes around me. Patricia’s head is jerked back as it twists too far in a grotesque manner. Like a horror movie, it appears to rip from her body as blood sprays, and warmth covers me as I fade away.

I
sabelle

I
bolt
up in the backseat of the car as if I’ve been shocked when Tristan’s voice screams in my head,
“Isabelle, get to my house, now!”

Jean Luc asks, “What’s wrong?”

My seatbelt clicks as I remove it, and I lean toward Lily, who’s driving the BMW. “I need to get to Tristan’s fast.”

“On it,” she says as she stomps on the gas pedal. “We’re less than five miles away.”

I speak to Tristan telepathically.
“We’ll be there in minutes.”

“Oh god, Izzy, it’s Annie. She’s—I need you! You have to heal her!”

Heal?
I recall one of my sessions with Tallulah. She discussed how we should explore that avenue with my powers. The Ouellette medicine woman believes I have potential beyond most with magical powers, and she’s quite excited to test out all the things I can do. I’m not so sure and think she might be overly optimistic. But the panic I hear in Tristan’s voice makes me want to try.

A horn blares as we whoosh by a truck. It’s déjà vu from when I first arrived in Maine and was racing in a car to save the Veilleux babies. Annie was the crazy driver that night.
Annie.
The woman I came here to destroy.

Her death was something I wanted not too long ago. But now...

Jean Luc asks, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Annie.” Jean Luc wraps an arm around my shoulders to brace me as I communicate with Tristan.
“Talk to me.”

“Patricia attacked her. She sliced Annie’s throat open. HURRY!”

I say out loud, “Patricia got to Annie, and Tristan thinks I can save her.”

Lily says, “Turning!”

I’m grateful Jean Luc is holding me and keeps me from slamming into the door. My strength is lacking, and I have no idea if I’m going to have enough energy to heal Annie.
“Jean Luc, what if I can’t save her?”

“Don’t think that. Believe you can.”

We swerve erratically as we travel up the driveway to Tristan and Annie’s house. I’m out the door before Lily comes to a complete stop, and energy I can’t believe I have lets my feet pound up the two stairs to the house. Nadia, a De Rozier I remember being married to Sven, is at the entrance, and she says, “Mudroom,” as I tear by her.

I stop in my tracks the moment I see blood pooled on the floor beneath Annie. More is sprayed on the walls.
So. Much. Blood.
My stomach lurches as I flash back to the convenience store where Helga had sliced open the throat of a sales clerk. My body trembles, and I’m suddenly lightheaded.
Oh god.
I can’t do this.

Tristan’s voice pulls me out of my momentary trance. “Save her, please.” His face is tear stained, and I’ve never seen my brother look so weak.
So devastated.

I nod and drop to my knees. A straw is sticking out of Annie’s throat, and I realize the extent of the damage as I say, “Hold her head.” Air rasps in and out of Annie’s makeshift windpipe. Sweet Annie, the woman who takes care of everyone around her. A vice grips my heart, and I realize I want her alive. Her death would hurt me.
I love someone other than Tristan without a true mate bond?

The plastic is warm in my hands as I grab the straw to remove it. My motions feel like someone else is making them happen. Someone steady and sure of their actions. I hold my palms just above Annie’s throat and envision her esophagus in my mind. I imagine it closing up to heal much like our topical wounds do.

A warm yellow glow radiates from my hands. Blood is still oozing from her gash, so I picture veins in her neck connecting and melding into a hollow tube. My vision becomes gray as sweat drips from my chin. Stars float before my eyes, and I whisper, “Jean Luc—”

Strong fingers grip my shoulders as he speaks. “Take from me, ma chérie.”

I close my eyes and visualize siphoning an energy source that is connected to my true mate’s hands. Warmth spreads through my chest.
Is it...?
I will the energy to flow through my arms and hands to Annie. My body is shaking now, and I’m so weak I’m not sure I can keep my arms up.

Jean Luc’s hands slide down my arms and over my wrists. A trickle of something gives me enough juice to keep me conscious.
It’s Jean Luc’s power.
The magic and love of our true mate bond is giving me strength, and I push the stream of energy toward Annie as hard as I can.

Her body shudders, and she gasps.

Jean Luc pulls me away and breaks my connection to Annie. He grips me tight, and my back is pressed hard against his chest as he says, “
Mon dieu
! You did it.”

Tristan and I lock gazes. Tears flow freely from his eyes as he attempts a smile and says, “Thank you, Isabelle.”

For a second I can feel my brother’s love. I nod as my body slumps down farther. My eyelids are heavy, and I sigh.
Now I must sleep.

I
glance
over at the clock in the dark bedroom to discover it just before sunrise. My mate’s limbs are wrapped around me as if he’s afraid to let me go. His leg is heavy on mine, and I squirm to slide out from under it. My stomach growls loudly, and Jean Luc’s scent wafts toward me as he sits up to say, “You’re awake and hungry.” He grins at me.

“Starved.” I glance down at my hands as I sit up. I recall the yellow glow that came from them when I was trying to heal Annie. I ask, “Did it work?”

“Yes. Annie will be fine.” Jean Luc grips my arms and begins to massage the muscles as he works his way up to my shoulders. “You saved her, ma chérie.”

His squeezing makes my limbs feel like jelly. “Hmmm, your hands are magic.”

“That would be a nice trick, no?”

My stomach rumbles again. “It would. So would you producing food on the spot.”

“I can cook. Let’s go see what we can find in the kitchen.”

“If I know Annie, there’s plenty to work with.” I sit up to discover nothing hurts the way I expected. “Wow. I feel better than I should.”

“That’s good.”

Jean Luc flips on the light, and I blink in the brightness as I ask, “What about you?” I frown, thinking about what I did to my mate. “I took your energy.”

He chuckles as he climbs out of bed and grabs his pants. “Yes, you did. After I got you upstairs I collapsed next to you. But I feel fine now too.” His stomach grumbles, and he places a hand on it. “Your magic likes sleep and food.”

I tug on a pair of worn sweatpants, and the cotton is soft on my legs as I say, “I recall something about a promise to make poutine.”

Jean Luc reaches for my hand. I gaze into his eyes, and the familiar twinkle of his devotion that warms my heart is there as he says, “Come. We’ll see what I can do.”

L
ucy

I
woke
up a little while ago, and the warm body next to me convinced me I was still asleep, having the best dream ever, instead of being trapped in a cage. My stomach growls before the realization hits that I’m really next to Sven.
He’s alive!
His scent is mixed with something slightly off, and I wonder if it’s from his healing. I lean up on my arm in the darkness to gaze down at the man I was afraid I’d never see again.

I’m not sure how I got here, and I really should use the bathroom, but right now I don’t want to stop touching the man I love. I flash back to when he was shot and inhale sharply at the memory of his body falling as I sank to the ground with him.
I thought I’d lost him forever.
Anguish squeezes my heart for a moment before I shake the feeling away. I speak in my true mate’s head even though he’s asleep. “
If you had died, I would have died with you.”

The need to use the bathroom is too great to ignore, and I slide out of bed to go. Plush carpet is softer under my feet than I remember it. I suppose being locked in a cramped cage makes one appreciate the little things. I enter the bathroom and notice the faint scent of lavender that seems to be present throughout Annie’s house. It’s a welcome odor and wraps around me like an embrace compared to the stench of the horse trailer where I was kept as a prisoner.

I shut the door softly and flip on the light. My filthy clothes were stripped from my body, but the dirt and grime is still present, so once I flush the toilet, I flip on the shower. The water splashes, and a drawer scrapes lightly as I open it in search of a hairbrush. When I’m done detangling my locks, I step under the scalding-hot spray to cleanse more than filth from my body. I want to rid myself of my ordeal. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to handle small spaces for a while.

I imagine the little girls are cuddled in their beds and happy to be warm. While we weren’t hurt in any way, the trauma of being trapped in a cage would take its toll on anyone. I could imagine the horrors that awaited us, and this experience will stick with me. I hope for the children it fades to nothing more than a bad dream that won’t scar them for life.

When I’m sufficiently clean, I dry off and make my way back to the bedroom. Sven has kicked off the sheets, and his naked form is on display for me. Tears form in my eyes as I gaze at my true mate. I stand at the end of the bed and touch his foot. Hair on his legs is coarse under my fingers as I slide my hand up his legs, being careful to avoid his scars. I massage his thighs gently as I continue.

Pleasure from our connection sends electricity up my arms and to my heart. I want to devour him in every way possible. I lean down over his crotch to inhale his scent and let it make me giddy with desire. Sven moans when I lower my mouth over his cock. It pulsates in my hand as I grip him and twirl my tongue around the head.

Sven’s fingers thread through my hair. “Little Bear...”

I take him in my mouth, and he jerks his hips up as he hisses. “God, what you do with that tongue.”

I speak telepathically.
“Shhh, you can thank me later.”

“I will.”
He lets out a low groan as he rocks with my movement. When his body begins to quake beneath me, I know Sven is close to his release. I say in his head,
“I want it all, Big Bear. Let me fill myself with you in every way.”

Heat fills my mouth, and I swallow his essence down as he cries out in ecstasy. I move my mouth up his trembling torso and nibble as I go. Sven says, “Lucy, if you wanted to talk, you could have just shaken me awake.”

I’ve made it up to his neck, and I hover over him as he grins. “This way was a lot more fun,” I say. I lean down and kiss him.

Sven’s hands start on their own course as he grabs my bottom and squeezes. He grips my hips and flips me over onto my back. Shoving his leg between my thighs, he presses hard against my sex as he smooths damp hair from my face. He says, “You’re wet.”

I gyrate my hips under him to cause friction on my tender slit as I whisper, “So wet, and it’s all for you.”

My mate moves down to lift my legs and place them over his shoulders as he says, “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

I reply with a few sounds of my own as he takes me to pleasurable heights. I’m squirming with my impending orgasm when Sven stops and leaves me panting. His hot breath tickles my thighs and tender folds as he says, “I’m drowning in you, Lucy. I just can’t get enough.”

I clutch his hair tightly when he nips at my clit and thrusts his tongue inside me. My cry is loud as my hips buck up and my climax races through me. When I recover, Sven moves up the bed to lie next to me. He traces my collarbone and swirls his finger around the faint scar from his bite. “Little Bear, your mark is fading.”

“On the outside.” I grab his hand and place it over my heart. “But here? You’re imprinted forever, Sven.”

My mate lifts up on his elbow to gaze down at me. “I need you to bite me tonight. I almost lost you. Again.”

He’s referring to his brother being a true mate for me too, and the fear that Serge may have been my destiny. The low rumble of my bear’s growl builds in my chest. “I almost lost you too.” Tears fill my eyes as the memory of Sven being shot floods my mind, and I say, “I need you to bite me too.”

Sven crawls over me and reaches between my legs as I grip his thickening cock. “Take me, Big Bear. Take me with you.” I guide him toward my opening.

Sven thrusts quickly into me and seats himself deep. I inhale, and our combined aroma fills my lungs as its pungency makes me taste it too. I clutch at his back, and strong, thick muscle flexes under my palms as he pumps in and out slowly. I gaze into his icy-blue eyes, and it’s as if I can see his love.
Our love.
My orgasm is close, and I lift my head as I call up my bear to latch on to the meat of Sven’s shoulder.

While our connection races through Sven, he manages to bite me too. Threads of attachment intertwine to strengthen our bond as our bodies shudder with the explosion of our release. Our cries fade into the night, and my mate sinks over me like a heavy blanket. One I never want to remove.

My heartbeat thuds along with Sven’s as we catch our breath. He lifts up, and his eyes are almost green for a second. I’m about to frown at the odd change as he says, “Marry me, Lucy.”

My heart skips a beat now as I smile at the simple question. I grew up dreaming of a romantic proposal with a fancy location, flowers, and champagne. But my true mate isn’t wrapped up in appearances or fanfare. He’s honest and genuine in his communications with me. Sven’s skin is damp under my hand when I place it on his chest as he gazes down at me, waiting for an answer.

Sven needs nothing more than direct words and actions. I recall the man I met the first day, who took off his shirt in a restaurant because he was hot. Women noticed, and he didn’t give them a second thought, because he only had eyes for me.

That’s what I want. A mate who won’t play games or create illusions. A love that will remain real throughout time. I smile up at Sven. “Yes.”