by Reina Torres
Debris, in the form of blankets, pillows, and comforters lay in vast piles all over the floor.
But when dawn filtered through the curtains on this particular morning, she found herself cuddled up to a heater… and she loved it. She was missing a pillow under her head, but she knew that strong, muscular arm that she laid her cheek on was Aaron.
The warm chest and strong thighs pressed up against her back… Aaron.
The scent of everything around her was him.
The last thing she wanted to do was move.
Shifting slightly on the bed she felt the protest of her body, especially her muscles. Finally breaking what TV shows would call her ‘dry spell’ hadn’t just ended with one moment in the hot spring. After they’d returned to the cabin, they finally made the most out of Aaron’s huge bed.
And even when he was a human, he had no problem filling the space. Clinging to him and having him cuddle her in the darkness had opened up a whole new world in her experience.
Celeste found that she not only liked to be touched in her sleep, she craved it.
As her mind swam up toward consciousness, it wasn’t just the sensation of warmth that she wanted. It was Aaron’s company.
His hand covered her stomach, tenderly holding her against his larger form on the bed. Lifting her own hand from the sheets, she covered his hand where it lay against her body and felt his arm jerk.
Celeste smiled, looking forward to learning more about what he was like. The little things that people discovered about each other over time.
But at the moment, Aaron seemed perfectly content to sleep on, and so she let out a long, slow sigh and closed her eyes. She could use a few more moments of sleep herself.
Both of them jerked when the phone rang.
Panic shook Celeste as she darted her gaze across the bed to the nightstand a few feet away. She reached out an arm knowing that there wasn’t a hope in hell of actually reaching it that way.
She wanted her phone. She wanted to stop it from making noise. She didn’t want to wake Aaron up, not like this.
A deep chuckle reached her ears and relief flooded through her. Aaron wasn’t like her first husband. He had patience where Josiah was quick to judge. She had to remember that in the future.
But she also didn’t want to take advantage of Aaron’s easy-going nature either.
She tried to reach one more time and managed to make it a foot or two further when Aaron lifted his big arm away. The loss was visceral with the cold of the air suddenly clawing at her skin. “Sorry,” she murmured as she moved across the bed to snatch up the phone in her hand.
“No need.” His rumbling tone did so many lovely things to her body.
Picking up her cell phone off the nightstand she smiled. Unlocking the phone, she held it up to her ear. “Hey sweetie!”
“Mom!”
Celeste sat down against the headboard and looked at Aaron, mouthing the word ‘JULIA’ before she spoke again.
“Morning, baby.”
“Wow, are you okay? You sound tired, Mom.”
Nodding, she shook herself to wake up faster. “Yes, yes… just a little bit. What’s up?”
“Is something wrong?”
Leave it to her daughter to worry over her.
“No, sweetie. Everything is just great!” Celeste felt the flush of heat on her cheeks. “How are-”
“Are you just saying that so I won’t worry? If you are,” she continued, “you don’t have to. This isn’t about me, mom. I want you to be happy.”
A knock echoed through the house and she shared a look with Aaron. He held up his hand to tell her to stay before he slipped off his side of the bed and picked up a pair of jeans off the chair he kept against the wall.
While she tried to concentrate on the call with her daughter, watching Aaron step into his jeans was more than a little distracting. Just a couple hours before she’d had her hands on that perfect backside.
“Mom?”
“Yes? Sorry,” she laughed and watched Aaron walk out of the room and hung her head in shame, “I was distracted.”
“Hmm…” her daughter still sounded concerned, “I just haven’t heard from you in a few days and Jason said we should just leave it alone, that you two were hitting it off and we should let things… happen.”
Celeste rolled her eyes. “I’m fine.” Then she clarified her statement. “We’re fine.”
“Oh, good.” Julia’s bright tone was reassuring and Celeste hoped her daughter was going to leave it there. “Oh… really?”
Oh no.
“How fine are we, mother?”
“Julia, it’s far too early for me to try to fend off your curiosity.”
“You can’t blame me. Not really. Jason and I have had hopes for you and Aaron to come around for years, but we’re done hoping and we’re on to pushing the two of you together.”
Tears prickled at Celeste’s eyes. Is that what her kids wanted? “I know you two love Aaron, but-”
“Now you hold on,” she scolded, “this isn’t just wishful thinking that you find someone and Aaron finds someone and this is some kind of proximity thing. Jason and I know you care about Aaron. You’re good at hiding things like how you stood in for Santa and the Easter Bunny, but if you tried to hide how much you love Aaron, you failed.
“Big,” she clarified, “you failed big time!”
“You two think that I… that I love Aaron?”
“We know, mom! We’re young. We’re not stupid.”
Oh boy.
When Aaron reached the front door, he already knew who was waiting for him. He knew the scent of every resident in Mystic. Many kept to themselves and socializing wasn’t something everyone did, but Aaron was a descendant of one of the families who had lived in Mystic more than most.
And just by that stroke of longevity, people came to him for many reasons, but they also knew he was fair and helpful.
He could tell something was up. The two standing out on the porch were as matched a pair as he’d ever seen. Harry and Georgia Huang were slight of form and generally quiet, but they were good friends and neighbors.
They wouldn’t be on his front porch if it wasn’t important.
Opening the door, Aaron saw Georgia take in a deep steadying breath and arch an elegant brow at her husband. Hmm… she wasn’t happy to be there.
“Morning, Harry. Morning, Georgia.”
She answered for the both of them. “Good Morning, Aaron. My husband insisted we come today.”
Yeah, Harry was in trouble.
The man in question managed to pry apart his thinly pressed lips and speak. “So sorry to come and interrupt your morning-”
“Especially,” Georgia interjected, “because you have a guest.”
“And because he has that guest,” Harry looked over his shoulder at his wife, “that this is a timely conversation.”
Aaron could hear Celeste talking and knew that the conversation was going to be awhile so there was no need to rush the conversation and upset Georgia any more than she already was. He didn’t want to share in Harry’s punishment later.
“All right,” Aaron smiled at both of them, “what may I help you with?”
Georgia hissed at her husband. “Don’t you dare.”
Still, Harry squared his shoulders and spoke. “We heard you were open to selling the cabin.”
Aaron felt heat crawl over his skin. “No.”
Harry didn’t recognize the sound of that particular door closing on the conversation. “One of our pups wants to come home and start a family. There is only one empty cabin ready at the moment.”
“No.” Aaron felt a pain through his chest. “I’m sorry, but no.”
“Hammish said that with your woman here, you’d be interested in selling the cabin soon.”
Turning his head he looked in the direction of the bed before he turned back to the smaller man. “No. I don’t ever intend to sell it.”
“But someone could live there.”<
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“No,” he hated to argue with the other man. Henry and his wife had always been good friends, “not there.” He grumbled under his breath. “I should have burned it down a long time ago.”
“But you didn’t,” Harry pointed out. “Surely you understand the value of it.”
Tears prickled at the backs of his eyes. “I understand the value of keeping a hurtful past locked away. If you want a cabin for your pup, I will help you build one with my own hands.”
“But the wait.”
Aaron knew the man well enough that the hard pinch of his brow said that Harry was digging in his heels. Georgia stepped closer and got in front of him.
“Enough, Harry.” She lightly pinched his arm. “You were the one who wanted to wait and ask Aaron. If you and Hammish had listened to reason-”
“You mean, if Hammish and I had listened to you,” he shot back.
She shrugged her shoulders.
“Aaron would have helped. I told you he would.” She seemed done.
Seemed.
“And he would have but you waited. So, don’t you think you can bully Aaron into giving up the house.”
“He doesn’t need two,” Harry folded his arms and Aaron wondered if he was even needed for the rest of this conversation, “his mate is unlikely to bear him any cubs and our pup-”
“And our pup,” she shot back, “would be mortified to know what you were doing. He loves Aaron like family, just like you should.”
Harry’s chest swelled up in indignation. “Of course, he is!”
“Then respect his wishes.” With a nod she walked over to Aaron.
Out of habit, he crouched down and accepted her kiss on his cheek with a smile.
“I am sorry for his stubborn behavior.”
“I’m sorry I can’t give you what you want. I can’t chance that she’ll find out it’s there by accident. I want her to feel comfortable here and I don’t think she can do that if she finds the cabin and remembers what happened that night. The only way I can keep it quiet is to keep anyone from living there.”
Georgia gave his arm a sympathetic pat. “I know, Aaron. I too love someone enough that I would do anything I could to protect them.” She narrowed her gaze on her husband. “Even if it means knocking him over the head with a lamp.”
Harry looked between the two of them. “Hmm?”
Georgia shook her head. “Say goodbye, Harry.”
Grumbling, Harry repeated the words. “Say goodbye, Harry.” Before he tromped down the steps, Harry looked up at him and gave him one last request. “If you change your mind…”
Aaron knew that he’d never side with the old man, but it didn’t hurt to tell him. “If ever I change my mind, Harry, I will let you know first.”
Nodding silently, the man moved off down the stairs.
Georgia waited beside Aaron for a moment. “I am so sorry, Aaron. I tried to warn him.”
He couldn’t be angry or even upset with the woman standing beside him. Georgia was a grand and elegant woman. She had always been kind and generous with him. That’s why his heart twisted in his chest. “I don’t want to hurt Celeste any more than she’s already been hurt. What she’s lost shouldn’t be revisited on her again. I hope you can understand.”
Georgia took one of his hands in both of hers. “In matters of the heart, Aaron, I would always trust you. A kinder man I’ve never known.”
He knew what it cost for her to say the words. Of course, she wanted one of her children to come home and start a family. Mystic could use the influx of youth and a new generation.
But his first need was, and would always be, to protect Celeste. He wouldn’t change that.
“I am sorry.”
She shook her head with a genuine smile on her beautiful face. “Don’t be. Harry understands as I do. I hope you’ll allow us to have the two of you to dinner when time allows.”
“Of course, Georgia. I-”
“I should be going,” her smile began to slip as her eyes watered, “if I leave Harry alone for too long, I’ll have to undo whatever silliness he gets in to.” With that, she moved off down the steps and walked into the woods.
It was a testament to the volume of the thoughts in his head that Celeste was able to walk up behind him before he realized she was there.
She wrapped her arms around him and set her cheek against his back. “Something wrong?”
He crossed his arms over his middle, holding her arms trapped against his belly. “Not when we’re together.”
Her sigh was music to his ears. “You say the sweetest things, Aaron Winter.”
Careful to keep her arms wrapped around him, he turned about and cradled her head against his chest. He leaned in and drew in a deep breath, reveling in her scent. “You smell delicious.”
Celeste pulled slightly away and looked up at him with a cautious curiosity. “Do we need to feed your bear? I don’t want to end up on the menu.”
Aaron shook his head as he looked down at the amazing woman who held his heart and soul in her hands. “You know I love to taste you, Cel. I won’t ruin that by turning you into dinner, but the scent of your hair… of your skin. They draw my notice. They lead me to you. Bind me to you on a physical level that I’ve never experienced with anyone else.”
Her hands gripped onto his biceps and he couldn’t help the urge to flex them under her touch. “You better not find it with anyone else. I won’t share you with anyone.”
“And I,” he agreed, “would tear apart anyone who tried to come between us or take you from me. I would lay down my life to protect you. And your cubs.”
She leaned closer and pressed a kiss over his heart. “You know, when you would say that about the children when they were younger, I thought you were a cub scout in your youth and that’s why you would call them that. Now, I know better. And it makes so much sense.”
“Really?” His hands slid down to the curve of her lower back. “You’re not upset that I didn’t tell you back then?” Once the question was out of his mouth he worried over her answer. He couldn’t take it back now.
Her gaze lifted to the roof over their heads before she lowered it to meet his. “I think there was an awful lot going on back then. We were so glad for your help. The way you protected us. I can’t imagine what would have happened if you tried to tell me that you… that umm… that you could-”
“Become a bear at the drop of a hat?”
She laughed, a gentle peel of sound. “I’m so glad we didn’t have much in the way of hats to drop back then.” Before he could think of how to broach the rest of the conversation, she saved him from having to make that decision. “Who was out here?”
“Mister and Missus Huang. I’ve known them for an age.”
“Are they bears like you?”
The question struck him upside the head enough to jog his brain. “No,” he grinned at her. “They’re not bears.”
“Oh?” Her eyes brightened with naked curiosity. “But they are… something?”
“Neighbors,” he nodded.
She pushed at his arm. “You know what I mean, Aaron!”
Shrugging, he leaned in for a kiss. “Of course, I do, but you’re the one who wants to guess. Still, since you didn’t meet them, maybe you should try to guess someone you have met.”
The confusion in her expression cleared quickly. “Oh… The Fishers! Of course! They’re shifters like you.”
Nodding, he cuddled her closer. “Most of us here are.”
Celeste was already mulling over the question in her head. “What do I get,” she wondered aloud, “If I guess correctly?”
He grinned at her and warmed his palms on the curve of her hips. “What do you want?”
“A good, long… kiss.”
Oh, she knew how to tempt him all right.
“I can live with that.”
She pushed at his shoulders. “Hey!”
His laughter felt like it came from deep in his soul. “What do I get if you guess wrong?
”
She leaned her head back and he watched helplessly as her gloriously thick curls slipped back over her shoulders. “What do you want?”
His mind was suddenly filled with a plethora of delicious ideas, but there was one that rose above the rest. Leaning forward, his eyes focused on hers, he managed to nip at the silken curve of her earlobe before he whispered into her ear.
Aaron heard her gasp.
And then he felt her body melt against him as heat blossomed across her cheeks.
“Re-really?”
He let his hunger lay bare in his eyes and saw her suck in a breath.
“Really.”
She swallowed hard and he watched the flex of the muscles in her neck like a small frightened rabbit darting through the grass. He wanted to taste it in his mouth. Just like the rest of her delectable body.
“Really.”
At his spoken answer she lifted her hands and clung to his shoulders. “Then,” her breath shook, “we should go inside.”
She had to know, with an invitation like that, he’d follow her anywhere.
And so, he did.
Twelve
It was a gift that Lynnie and Samuel had invited Celeste to visit with them at their house. It had been an opportunity to see her eyes light up when they stepped into the first greenhouse and entered a wonderland.
Celeste wandered in about twenty feet and turned a slow, full circle before her face broke out in a big grin. “It’s like a real-life wonderland!” She reached out a hand toward Lynnie and Aaron’s heart was warmed even more when his friend didn’t hesitate to fold their hands together. “Are these bananas? In winter?”
“Plantains.” Lynnie’s answer sounded like she was imparting a secret, and in a way it was. Even though the Fishers were friends with many in Mystic, there were few who had ever been invited into their growing space. “When they’re ripe you’ll come over and we’ll cook together.”
Aaron’s heart began to pound like a jackhammer against his ribs. The love that he had for this wonderful couple doubled… tripled. The Fishers didn’t make empty gestures. They were incapable of that kind of subterfuge.
