He smiled awkwardly. “Right...”
“So?”
“Can’t hurt,” he said finally.
Danika leaned forward and reached up to touch his face. She liked the feel of his beard under her fingers. Gideon had always been clean shaven, and she had convinced herself that she liked it... but she knew that had been a lie, too. She’d been such an idiot. She didn’t know why she’d asked Bracken for this... But she wanted it.
Bracken was the first calm place in her life in the last five years, and he might be the only one.
He flinched slightly as her palm came to rest against his cheek and she felt the crackle of static electricity in the air.
Just one kiss.
Danika’s eyes closed as she leaned forward to press her lips against Bracken’s mouth.
She wasn’t entirely sure of what she was expecting to feel, but nothing could have prepared her for the instant rush of heat that swept through her body and lit every inch of her skin on fire.
Her gasp of surprise was muffled by Bracken’s sudden growl. It rumbled low and deep in his chest as his arms came around her and pulled her against him. Her mouth opened instinctively and his tongue swept into her mouth to tangle with hers. Their kiss was strange, yet familiar—and the intensity of the passion she could feel from him was enough to leave her breathless. The pressure of his hands on her back and the feel of his arms around her was intoxicating, and from the way her heart beat in her chest she wasn’t sure how much more she would be able to handle.
But her hands were in his hair and she couldn’t stop kissing him.
She had never felt this way with Gideon. Or anyone for that matter.
It was Bracken who finally broke the kiss, and Danika leaned her forehead against his, panting slightly as she tried to sort through the tumble of emotions and sensations that threatened to overwhelm her.
“What the fuck was that?” she whispered.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” he replied.
All at once, something cold slipped through the pleasurable fog that was clouding her mind. Was that the Call?
No.
No way.
She pulled away from Bracken’s embrace and tried to straighten her coat and smooth down her hair. Over the water, the sun was almost fully set and it would be dark sooner than later.
“Look... Thanks for the date. And the beer.” She looked down at the ground and saw she’d kicked over her red plastic cup during their makeout session. Her cheeks flushed as a remnant of the heat she’d felt flared up inside her again. “But I have to go. I have an early shift in the morning...”
Bracken’s eyes widened in surprise as she got up from the bench and she felt a stab of guilt to see him try and figure out what he’d done or said. It wasn’t his fault... it was her.
“I’ll call you, okay?” she said hastily.
Bracken shook his head in disbelief, but he didn’t make a move to stop her. That would have made everything worse. “You’ll... you’ll what? Can’t we talk about what just happened?”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing to talk about,” she said. “You’re a good kisser... and I did have fun tonight. I just... I have to go. I shouldn’t have—”
“You shouldn’t have what?”
“I just—”
She couldn’t force herself to say the words. She knew she shouldn’t have kissed him. But she’d wanted to. He’d wanted to. Except she was confused—and then there was the whole ‘call’ thing... She couldn’t face it. She’d just escaped that life.
“I’m sorry,” she finished lamely as she turned away from the bench and ran through the parking lot back toward town.
“Danika!”
She didn’t turn around, she couldn’t bear to look at him... If she did, she would just go back, and she wasn’t ready for any of what that meant.
In a strange mix of running and panicked walking, Danika found her way back to the Alpine Motel just as the street lights hummed to life and flooded the pavement with their orange glow.
“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid,” she muttered. She should have known better than to get mixed up with another shifter. When she was younger it had been fun to flirt with them—they might have been looking for their mates, but Danika and her friends had been more interested in the no-strings-attached fun they got to have in the process. Their philosophy had always been, if it did happen, there were worse things than being protected and worshipped by a hot guy who was sometimes a wild animal...
She’d never been as into it as the other girls she used to hang out with—how impossible was it to find your ‘soulmate’ living in the same city? Beyond impossible. Ridiculously impossible.
Danika had been prepared for expensive dinners, rides in fancy cars, and mind-blowing sex with no expectations on either side. She hadn’t been prepared for Gideon. But that was why everything that happened with him had taken her by surprise. He’d convinced her that he’d heard the call on the night they’d spent together, and that she shouldn’t feel bad that she hadn’t felt anything different. She wasn’t supposed to feel anything... it was a ‘shifter thing.’ That’s what he’d told her, and all of the wolves around him had confirmed it. What the hell did she know?
She rubbed her hand over her lips and shook her head. “Stupid,” she muttered again. She’d most definitely felt something. Whether it was the call or not, she’d felt...
She’d felt something amazing.
The Alpine Motel’s office door was open, and she could see a large shape moving behind the desk. Danika crossed her arms over her chest and ducked her head, hoping to avoid the motel’s owner. She didn’t want to talk to anyone right now, especially a bear.
“Texas,” a man’s voice barked out.
Danika gritted her teeth and stopped mid-stride. There was no sneaking by a shifter.
“Yes?” she shouted back.
“Get in here!”
Danika shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and stomped across the parking lot toward the office. Glen was a big man, broader than Bracken, but not as tall. He was a black bear shifter; she’d seen him in at the edge of the woods behind the motel scratching his massive back against the trunks of the pine trees that grew there.
He was either marking territory or trying to attract a mate... her drunken google search had been a little unclear. Whatever it was, she wasn’t going to ask.
“What’s up, Glen?” she asked casually as she stepped into the office.
The big man glared at her and slammed a handful of paper onto the desk.
“I’m paid up until like... May,” she said hastily. “Is there something wrong?”
“Nope. You know I don’t say no to cash,” he growled. “But I draw the line at being your secretary.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at the crumpled paper. “What are these?”
“Messages. Calls from down south tyin’ up my phone line.”
Danika’s mouth went dry. “Calls? Calls from who?”
Glen shook his big head. “They didn’t say. They were just looking for someone... I don’t like questions, Missy.”
“Yeah... me neither,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry, Glen. I—” She faltered for a moment, wondering if she should tell him that she was on the run... “I don’t really want any calls from anyone outside of town,” she said finally. “What did you tell them? What questions did they ask you?”
“Personal ones,” the man grunted. “Lucky for you, I don’t give out information about my guests. It’s against our policy. So, no, I didn’t tell ‘em you were here, if that’s what you’re askin’.”
Danika sighed briefly. “Thanks, Glen.”
“Sure. But just so we’re clear, I don’t want any trouble. Life is nice and quiet up here and I’d hate to see that change.”
“Yeah. Me too,” she agreed. She grabbed the pile of paper and shoved it into her pocket. “Thanks again. I hope they don’t keep bothering you.”
Glen grunted and
turned away and Danika smiled at his wide back. He was looking out for her, and she appreciated it. She’d have to find a way to thank him later.
Danika half walked, half stumble-ran across the parking lot and up the metal stairs that led to the Alpine Motel’s second floor. She fumbled with her key and let out a frustrated cry as the key stuck in the lock.
The pieces of paper in her jacket pocket might as well have been made of stone, weighing her down and dragging her right back to Dallas.
She blinked hard and took a breath. With a shaking hand she turned the key in the lock and pushed on the door. It opened easily and she gritted her teeth as she pulled the key from the lock and stumbled into the room.
“Ugh, why is it always so cold?” she muttered as she slapped her hand against the wall in a vain attempt to turn on the light. “Heat first, then light.”
She left the room door open and used the glow of the outside lights to find her way to the ancient heater attached to the wall. She turned the knob on the top and stood there, shivering, as the heater clunked and shuddered its way to life.
“Come on you bucket of bolts,” she muttered. She reached for the wall to turn on the minimal lighting in the room and kicked a foot out at the open door.
The door slammed shut just as her hand hit the lightswitch and Danika sighed heavily as the lamps next to the queen sized bed flickered to life. She pulled off her scarf and then unzipped her jacket and threw it on the floor.
Her top layer of sweaters followed and Danika smiled as she felt the warmth of the heather begin to permeate the room. Two sweaters, a Henley, a thermal top, her jeans, and one pair of wool socks landed in a heap on the carpet beside the bed and she sighed heavily before falling face first onto the mattress.
“What the fuuuuuuuuck,” she moaned into the blankets.
It seemed like the only appropriate reaction to her day. Especially the last hour.
What the hell was she supposed to do with whatever had happened between herself and Bracken? Were they supposed to talk about it? Or was she supposed to just... forget that anything had happened and try to avoid him for the rest of her time in Anchorage? There wasn’t anything any farther north, so she was kind of stuck... and kind of out of money to move anywhere drastic. She wasn’t earning much at the Golden Horn, but it had been enough to keep the proverbial, and literal, wolf from the door.
At least, it had been.
She rolled off the bed and pulled the crumpled paper notes from the pocket of her jacket.
Call after call, message after message. Gideon was looking for her. He’d obviously figured out where she’d gone. She kicked the bedframe and shook her head furiously. It wasn’t as if she could have used a fake name for that airline ticket.
“Fuck,” she whispered.
She crumpled the notes into her fists and dropped them onto the TV stand that did double duty as a chest of drawers. “Fuck you,” she said meaningfully.
Gideon should have taken the hint. The burned out husk of the Mercedes in the driveway and the empty house should have given him the hint that they weren’t a thing anymore.
She didn’t know why it mattered to him. Why did she matter? It’s not as though she was actually his mate or anything. She was just... a walking possession. Maybe that was his problem. No one ever said no to Gideon Ray of the Quickthorn Pack.
But she had said no.
She’d also said ‘fuck you,’ ‘hope you get rabies,’ and a few other choice (and ridiculous) phrases in her last voicemail message before she’d thrown her new phone into the semi-intentional inferno she’d created in the driveway of the posh estate she once called home.
She laughed weakly and threw another crumpled piece of paper onto the dresser. It bounced off the TV and fell onto the floor again. She groaned and bent to pick it up, and almost fell over as a heavy hand knocked on the door.
“I said it’s fine!” she called out. “I’ll deal with it in the morning, Glen!”
Whoever was outside knocked again and Danika groaned dramatically.
“Fine. Fine,” she muttered. She was only wearing a merino tank top and a pair of thin thermal leggings, but she didn’t care. She’d become adept at hiding behind motel doors, and despite the fact that Glen was a big, tough bear, he was easy to embarrass, which never failed to cheer her up.
She unbolted the door and pulled it open enough that she could peer around the edge. But instead of Glen’s rough features, and three-day-old beard, it was Bracken Quinn standing outside her door.
“Uh... Hey,” she said awkwardly.
“Hey,” he replied. “You ran off before... Before I could say anything or we could talk about what happened—”
“What happened?” she asked tartly. “Did something happen?”
She’d half-hoped that he would back down and leave, but Bracken’s pale gray eyes didn’t leave hers.
“Yeah. Something happened,” he said softly. “Can I come in?”
Danika leaned her head against the door and groaned. Everything was too confusing and she wasn’t sure how she felt, or what she wanted. But none of that was his fault, and she felt guilty for snapping at him when she was the one being difficult.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “I’m so tired of everything being so serious all the time.”
“WHAT IF I DO THE TALKING and you just listen?” She couldn’t see his face, but she could hear a smile in his voice and some of her anxious panic began to pull away. She peered around the door again and looked at him carefully. He didn’t move. Finally, she let out a heavy sigh.
“Fine. Fine, fine, fine. What the fuck. Come in.”
She opened the door wider and grabbed for her pajamas. “But you have to close your eyes until I get to the bathroom!”
“You want me to what?” he laughed.
“Close your goddamned eyes!” she ordered.
Bracken did as he was told and Danika reached out to grab hold of his leather jacket so that she could pull him into the room.
He stood awkwardly just inside as she closed the door, and then laughed in frustration as she pushed him back toward the bed. His calves hit the mattress and he sat down heavily on the bed.
“What now?”
Danika pushed a finger into his chest. “Now you promise you won’t say anything about my pajamas, and keep your eyes closed until I’m in the bathroom.”
Bracken raised an eyebrow, but didn’t open his eyes. “Your pajamas...”
“I said you can’t say anything! That includes questions!”
“Okay, okay,” he laughed.
Danika removed her finger from his chest and tucked her pajamas under her arm. “Good.” She kicked at the pile of clothes on the floor and walked quickly to the bathroom.
“It’s a bit warm in here,” Bracken said.
“Not warm enough,” Danika called out as she snapped on the bathroom light and closed the door.
She took a deep breath and stared into the mirror. “What the fuck,” she whispred at her reflection. This was not how she had planned for this evening to go... None of it had been. And now there was a pile of bullshit from her past sitting in a crumpled heap next to the cheap TV and a polar bear sitting on her rented bed.
What the fuck, didn’t even begin to cover it.
Chapter 8 - Bracken
When Danika had abandoned him in the parking lot, his heart had been racing and his blood had felt like liquid fire in his veins. That was it. That was what it was supposed to feel like... that was the signs from the Great Mother that he had found his mate—and then, before he could say anything, she’d run off into the darkness and left him sitting there like a fool. His bear roared in his mind, ordering him to chase after her and claim her, but Bracken knew that it wouldn’t be that simple.
The kiss had been impulsive, something she had wanted to do... But it was obvious that she hadn’t been prepared for what had happened.
He hadn’t been prepared either.
Obviously.
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“Fuck!”
He could almost hear his siblings laughing at him as he pushed off the bench and groaned as he reached down to readjust his jeans. The Great Mother never messed around with the Call... He was hard and ready to claim his mate. There was no denying what had happened, no way to push it off... It was real. Almost too real.
“Unbelievable,” he muttered.
Part of him wanted to just go back to the tattoo shop and wait for Danika to come to him—but his bear wasn’t having any of that. He could feel the animal inside him pushing to come out and he gritted his teeth against the urge to shift.
Stop it. I’m going.
The bear in his mind paced with agitation. The beast wouldn’t be satisfied until their mate was naked underneath them, but Bracken knew he couldn’t lead with that. Danika was different. He’d have to talk to her, and even then there was a chance that she wouldn’t believe anything he said... and he couldn’t blame her for that. Not after what she’d been through.
And now he was sitting on her bed with his eyes closed, trying to figure out how to explain what had happened, and what was supposed to happen now... But there was no good way to explain it. No right way. No—
“Fuck.”
He didn’t know anything about her. He opened his eyes and shifted his position on the bed. This was ridiculous.
Sure, that was part of the mating process, get the complicated ‘we’re meant to be together because the Great Mother says so’ stuff out of the way, and then work on the rest. That’s how it always went. The bond between mates was what they could lean on while life sorted itself around what the Great Mother had planned. There was no arguing. No questioning. It just was. Every shifter knew that. He’d known when he was a cub, but now that he was faced with the reality of something he’d never planned for, it was looking less and less like the uncomplicated joy he’d always been told about.
Not everyone found their mate in their friend circle like his parents had—everyone else he knew had found their mates by accident. This was definitely an accident.
Bound to Change: A Limited Edition Spring Shifter Romance Collection Page 58
