Bearly Christmas

by Becca Fanning

  When she could bear to look again, Ryan and Calvin were circling each other. Round and round they went. They would jab each other in the face with their fists while trying to block the other’s blows. It was so stupid! Jeanie cursed testosterone and its idiocy. Fighting to prove a point was no way to go about it. There were better ways.

  Ryan was down. Jeanie stood on the roof of the SUV her heart in her throat. Wyatt was on the ground yelling something to Ryan while Calvin pummeled him with his fists. Jeanie’s eyes filled with tears. She blinked them away as with a great push, Ryan threw Calvin off him, pounced on him and slammed his head into the dirt with such force that Jeanie was sure he should be dead. But he was a Werewolf. Could they die from that?

  And then it was all over. Jeanie sagged to her knees on the car and stared. Ryan had won. It was all over and he was still breathing.

  “Told you it would all be fine,” Valerie said. Smiling.

  And then a cry went up and all hell broke loose.

  Jeanie would never know how she and Valerie landed on the grass, but suddenly there they were. Feet ran passed them and not all of them were human. There were snarls and yelps, roars and screams from all sides. Jeanie tried to stand up but she was knocked over, pushed face first into the dirt. She heard Valerie calling over the din but by the time she looked around, Valerie was gone.

  With numb legs and hands that tingled like she’d got pins and needles in them, Jeanie hauled herself up and looked around. People were fighting everywhere. Blood splattered and clumps of fur and flesh dotted the ground. She was petrified.

  Running, ducking between the combatants, her only thought was to get to Ryan. She had to get to him. But where was he in this mess of bodies? Jeanie struck out and pushed her way through. Suddenly she felt pain down her back as something sharp dug into her flesh and dragged her to the ground. She turned and saw a wolf standing over her snarling and she realized it had clawed her back.

  Jeanie kicked out and caught the wolf on the muzzle just as a bear swiped a huge paw at the beast and sent it flying. Crying from fear and panic, Jeanie crawled to her feet and stumbled through the battlefield. She stepped over bloody bodies; some whimpering and some horribly silent. Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. She repeated his name in her head like a mantra, over and over and over.

  And suddenly a white wolf appeared in front of her. It snarled, displaying sharp white teeth. “Mr. Snow,” Jeanie whispered.

  The wolf inclined his head and then leapt for her.

  Jeanie screamed and fell under the weight of the beast. She closed her eyes waiting for the teeth, but they never came. In a flash the weight lifted, was spun off her and a big black bear, its fur matted with blood charged after the wolf.

  Jeanie scrambled to her feet. She turned and found herself now face to face with Calvin. He was awake. He had a gash across his chest and a murderous look on his face.

  “Don’t hurt me!” Jeanie screamed at him panicking.

  He laughed at her and hit her. The blow sent Jeanie onto the grass again, sprawling as a ringing sound filled her ears. “I’ve been dying to do that since I met you,” he snarled. “And now I’ll just kill you, so you cause no more trouble.”

  He glared at her and grabbed her by the throat lifting her off the ground. Jeanie was choking. Her lungs were on fire and she could feel the world slipping away. As she dropped into darkness she thought of Ryan’s kiss.

  Snow had settled on everything. It wasn’t deep, just a powdering that made the air taste of tin and everything look like a gingerbread Christmas scene.

  Jeanie snuggled in Ryan’s arms, cozy in one of his pajama tops. They were in his cabin, lying in front of the fire, cozy and warm. She ran a finger over the scar on his chest where Calvin had sliced him with a claw.

  “Are you still upset that Petersen and Snow survived?” Ryan asked his gaze still on the book he was reading.

  Jeanie was amazed at how well he knew her. “A little. I mean they caused such a lot of trouble and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Why does Clan law say it’s all over when it shouldn’t be?”

  “Because if you keep hitting back, eventually everyone will die. Revenge is for the stupid. Now let it go. You don’t have to fight them now, Jess and Wyatt are safe and we have Sun Valley. And it’s all thanks to you.” He put the book down and kissed her hand. “Anyway, I’m way too relaxed to think about something that happened a month ago.”

  “Fine. So what do you want to do?”

  Ryan grinned at her. “Come give me a kiss little girl, or I’ll feed you to the big bad wolf.”

  “You’d have to fly me to New York to get that right,” she said going along with the joke.

  Ryan sighed and pulled her up. Then he flipped her on her back and kissed her. Jeanie wound her fingers in his messy black hair. The kiss was deep and unhurried. Neither one was going anywhere. With practiced fingers Ryan began to unbutton his pajama top exposing Jeanie’s naked flesh beneath. He cupped her right breast and licked the nipple until it stood hard as a rock then he moved to the left. Jeanie closed her eyes and lay back feeling little explosions of what she liked to call happy hormones, rush into her system each time he touched her in a new place.

  As his tongue slid down her body, peeling her out of the pajama top, Ryan stopped suddenly. Jeanie looked up.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he said. “Just nice to find no underwear in the way.”

  His tongue continued moving down her, along her thighs and into her crotch. What had mornings been like before she’d met Ryan? Jeanie couldn’t remember. Not this good that was for certain. He busied himself in her, slipping his fingers in and out of her teasing her. Jeanie played it cool, letting him think he wasn’t driving her mad with desire. But eventually she couldn’t take it anymore and she pushed him onto his back.

  “Your turn,” she said and began to kiss his stomach as she undid the ties on his pajama bottoms. They came loose and she pulled the fabric off him exposing him. He was hard and ready. But she also wanted to play so she took him in her mouth and sucked and massaged him until he groaned and pulled her off him

  Jeanie straddled Ryan feeling him slip inside her as he had many times in the last month. They knew what they liked now, but each time was different, special. It was a dance where they made up the sequence of the steps each time and the rhythm changed as their moods fluctuated. It was heaven. Jeanie felt a wild abandon that she had never felt before. Ryan held her hips as she ground her pelvis against him making them both gasp with pleasure.

  He flipped her onto her back and slid back inside. Now she wound her legs around him, holding him to her, feeling him go deeper and deeper. The moment rose and took them until neither could hold it back any longer and they melted into each other in bliss.

  As Jeanie lay panting in Ryan’s arms, she looked up into his golden eyes and knew that she would never be lonely again. This was home, he was her Superman to her Lois Lane. Together they could take anything, after all they already had.