Russell frowned, and looked at his sons once more. “Am I that bad?”
“No, Dad,” Jon said, coming to stand by his father’s desk.
“Are you sure, because I’m beginning to think I must look like a tyrant to you? One of my sons won’t tell me he’s found his mate, and it seems the four of you decided you needed to tackle me in force about the inheritance side of things.”
“Not a tyrant.” Adam took up his drink again, twisting the glass in his hands. “I’d say it’s more to do with your drive to fulfill your grandpa’s wishes. And we all get that. But what happened to him and his brother will not happen to us. We are strong together, and we won’t make the same mistakes.”
“That’s what we all think, but it’s not always that easy,” Russell said.
“Then it’s a good thing we have a father like you. And Mom. You both have raised us to be open to the new, while learning from the old,” Jordan said. “It’s what gave me the courage to pursue my dreams in the army.”
“Then I guess it’s settled.” Russell downed the rest of his scotch. “Amazing how things change, in the course of a couple of days.”
“No, Dad, they’ve been changing ever since we were born, it just took us this long to realize it,” Jordan told his father.
“Well, I’m proud of you all.” Russell stood up and stretched. “And when do we get to meet your mate, Adam?”
“As soon as I’ve told her about… You know.”
“She’ll be OK with it. It’s fate,” Jordan reassured him.
“Maybe all of this is fate,” Russell mused.
“If that makes it easier, Dad,” Adam said.
“It does,” his dad answered. “It does.”
As they left the study to join Skyla and Judy, Adam just hoped that his evening with Lynn would be as easy and as satisfying, as making sure his brothers didn’t lose out on their birthright.
Well, maybe he wished his evening with Lynn was going to be a lot more satisfying. In a completely different way.
Chapter Thirteen – Lynn
Lynn had come home, made herself a light meal, using up the last of her fresh vegetables and bread, and added food to her list of things she needed, underlining it twice. She would survive tomorrow, but once her furniture was delivered she would have to take a trip into town and stock up on groceries.
Then, she would begin working her way through the rest of the list. Particularly getting quotes and dates from electricians and plumbers. And the roof. She made a mental note not to forget that Pete was coming the day after tomorrow. It would be good to have an idea of the costs: her savings were not inexhaustible, but there was enough to renovate the house. Or so she hoped.
After her meal, which she ate sitting on the back doorstep—it was quickly becoming her favorite spot—she went back to cleaning. This time she took on what was the only room in the house which had not been completely closed up, the dining room.
At least it had been a dining room once. There was still a table in there, which had been pushed to one side, the chairs all stacked on top of it. The rest of the room was taken up by the bed in which her uncle had slept as his health deteriorated. Lynn had avoided this room, mainly because it held the source of her guilt—the evidence of how the Williams family had stepped in and helped the old man.
“So why didn’t you sell the house to them?” Lynn asked the empty room.
It had puzzled her ever since she had learned of the feud, and how Adam’s family had stepped in and helped Uncle Freddy. They had never expected anything in return, although they had offered to buy the house back. And that would have been fair. Wouldn’t it?
When Uncle Freddy died, he could have left the money to his long-lost relation, instead of the ranch itself.
“Everyone has their reasons for their own actions,” Lynn told herself. She’d learned that in so many ways throughout her life. Her parents acted a certain way, because they wanted their business to prosper and figured their daughter was made in their own image. Lynn had met men who acted kind and confident, until their towels weren’t fluffy enough. Everyone had their own lies, and their own truths.
“So what was your truth, Uncle Freddy?” Lynn asked the bare bed.
“He figured it would do my dad good not to get what he wanted. Or what he thought he wanted,” Adam said, coming into the room.
“You’re here! How did it go with your dad?” Lynn asked.
“Better than I thought it would. My dad took it in his stride. And he knows about you,” Adam said, coming over to her, and putting his arms around her to pull her tight to him. Lynn had to admit she liked being in his arms. She liked it a whole lot.
“I’m impressed. I’m no longer a dirty secret,” she said lightly.
“But you are dirty.” Adam looked down at her clothes.
Lynn giggled, and held her arms out. “I can’t argue with that.”
“So we could always take them off.” Adam clamped his hand over his mouth. “Did that actually come out of my mouth?”
Lynn blushed, and swung her hair in front of her face to hide her embarrassment, which was tinged with something she wasn’t ready for him to know. Right now, the thought of stripping her clothes off and Adam doing the same, had an appeal she couldn’t fathom.
Maybe it was his long, well-toned thighs, encased in jeans that clung to him in all the right places—like his butt, which was one hell of a sight, thanks to all of those hours in the saddle. The times she had fantasized about his broad chest, made strong by heaving hay bales, and his hands, big and broad, just right for stroking her flesh.
“Lynn,” he said, his voice soothing. “It’s what I want. But there’s something I have to tell you first.”
“What?” she asked her head snapping up to look at him. Anything would be a welcome distraction. Otherwise her fingers were itching to tuck under the hem of her sweater, and lift her arms, dragging it over her head.
“There’s something you need to know.” He came and stood in front of her, lifting his hands and placing them on her upper arms. His touch sent thrills through her body.
Lynn tilted her head back, her eyes fixed on his. “Tell me. This has been a crazy kind of a day, so whatever it is, tell me.”
“It would be better if I show you.” He broke away from her, taking her hand and leading her outside. For a moment she thought about dragging her hand from his. But there was something about him that made her feel safe, made her trust him. For better or worse, she was going to let him show her whatever it was he needed to.
“OK,” she said, as he stopped and turned toward her. “What do you need to show me?”
He looked up at the sky, and for a moment she thought this was going to be a huge anti-climax and he was going to say, the moon and the stars. Lynn looked up, and there they were; the sun had set behind the hills and the first stars were lighting up the inky-blue sky, while the moon skimmed the horizon, giving only the promise of light.
It was a perfect evening. Perfect for two lovers to lie on the ground and make love under the stars. She flicked her mind away from that image, and back to reality. Back to the man who stood in front of her, a look in his eyes that was half wild, half scared, but completely fixed on her.
“You know Skyla called us mates,” Adam began.
“Yes. I figured it was a local phrase for boyfriend and girlfriend. Not that that’s what I think we are. I mean, we haven’t been out on a date or anything. Not that I’m hinting that I want to go on a date.” She stumbled over her words, and decided it was time to shut up and let Adam show her whatever it was he wanted to show her.
“It’s a little more than that,” Adam said.
“OK. So does this mean relationships move forward a lot quicker in this part of the country?” she asked, her voice showing her nerves.
“A lot quicker.” He looked unsure, and then straightened up, shoring up his nerve to speak. “When … certain people see the person they are supposed to spend the rest of their liv
es with. Well … they know.”
“Like love at first sight, I think we’ve been over this,” Lynn said. Was this how men went about wooing their woman around here? No date, no dinner, just hey, you’re the one for me, let’s get it on? If that were true, she might just have second thoughts about Adam.
Hell, who was she kidding, she was ready to find out what he wore under his snug denim jeans. This was a fresh start, and a girl needed a little time to get to know the locals, intimately.
“This is more than love at first sight. It’s a knowing.” His voice dropped in tone; he was deadly serious when he said, “Because I’m a little different than other men.”
“A little different? Oh, come on, Adam, please, I don’t need this kind of pick-up line. If you want to get to know me, please don’t treat me like some stupid female. I don’t need these kind of lines, I don’t need to be told I’m special. We’re both consenting adults, and if we both want sex, then let’s just see what happens.”
He looked shocked as if she had taken the wind out of his whole argument. However, he wasn’t ready to let it go. “No, it’s nothing like that.”
“So you don’t want sex?” Lynn didn’t think she would ever have the power to bring a cowboy to his knees, but that appeared to be what she was doing. Confused, she took a step toward him. “OK, say what you have to say.”
He rubbed his hand over his eyes, and then looked at her straight, his eyes intense, like nothing she had ever seen before, and she wondered if she should be afraid of him. They were strangers, really, his family wanted her property and maybe this had all been an act. And he was going to do something to her. Something bad, which would result in the Hawkins Ranch being back under the control of the Williams Homestead.
“You know, I think I’ve changed my mind.” Lynn spun around and strode back toward the house, but he was fast, impossibly fast, and he blocked her way. “Adam, please.”
What was he? No man, even one on drugs, could move that fast. Her legs were weak, as if all the blood had left them. There was no way she could run from him. No way at all.
“Please. I’ll show you what I am. I trust you not to do anything stupid.”
“Me, not to do anything stupid?” she asked, arching her eyebrows. “Like what?”
“Like … I don’t know, call the police or anyone.”
“You are going to show me something that you think might make me feel as if I need to call the police.” She held up her hands to him as if in surrender, but she sure as hell was not going to surrender to anything he had in mind.
In that moment, it was hard for her not to hate Adam. Her breath came in a hoarse sob. He was standing here, blocking her way into her house, the house that she had given up her old life for. The house she had dreamed of turning into a business she could be proud of. The house she had damaged her relationship with her parents for.
Yes. Right now, she was close to hating this man standing in front of her. So what if he had a body to die for, and eyes that she wanted to melt into, and hair that just itched to be stroked? And lips that were ripe for kissing.
Her hormones seemed to have gone into overdrive. No matter what he’d said, or how much he threatened her future, she wanted to throw him down on the grass and make love to him.
“Say what you have to say,” she ground out. “Show me whatever it is that can’t wait, and then let me get on with my life.”
“No,” Adam said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Damn it, Lynn, I’m messing this all up. I’ve managed to change the mind of my father over the ranch, and brought my brothers together, but I’m throwing away the most important thing in my life.”
“Which is?” she asked.
“You. You are my mate, the woman I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with. You are the only one for me. And I’m ruining it.”
“You can’t ruin something that hasn’t happened,” she said defensively. How the hell was she going to get past him and into the house? And if she did get into the house, where could she hide? There was no door strong enough to keep Adam out.
“OK. Let me try this again.” He took a step back from her. “Just give me one minute to show you.”
“Show me what?” Lynn asked.
“What I am. What should make you believe that all those things I said to you are true. I’m a shifter, Lynn. We mate for life, we know who our mate is when we see them. And we will never do anything to hurt them.”
“Why are you doing this?” Lynn asked.
“Because I have to.”
What happened next might have been a dream, or it might have been real. The figure of Adam moved in front of her, fading away, with a burst of static electricity, only for him to return as something else. As a bear. Lynn fought to make sense of it. Her world had always been one of order, no room for make-believe. Her parents had destroyed her belief in the tooth fairy and Santa at a very early age. For her own good, of course. This left her with no room to process how the bear had appeared in front of her.
She should have run. She should have gone into the house, and found somewhere to hide, or grabbed a knife with which to defend herself. But she didn’t. Instead she stood, her mouth open, pointing at the bear. Who cocked his head on one side and studied her, with the same intense look she had seen in Adam’s eyes.
What had happened wasn’t real, couldn’t be real. But in Lynn’s world, everything had to be quantified and proved. That was what her parents had taught her. So when she reached out her hand and the bear touched her with his snout, breathing his warm breath on her, she had to believe.
Either in the bear, or that she had gone completely mad.
Chapter Fourteen – Adam
She hadn’t run away. That was a good thing, wasn’t it? Adam sniffed her hand, his bear taking in the scent of her, and imprinting it on his brain. Lynn’s scent, their mate’s very own, unique scent. Of course, it was mixed with a cocktail of cleaning fluids, but underneath that it was all her. And she was all theirs.
Because she hadn’t run away.
Carefully, he took a step forward, and rubbed along her leg, like a big, soft pussycat. If he could have purred, he would have. Instead he shivered in a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Should he change back now? Had Lynn had enough of the bear experience to know he was real, and more importantly that he wouldn’t hurt her?
The answer came when she took a stumbling step back and he saw the vacant look in her eyes. The experience had overwhelmed her, and he shifted back into his human form, arms outstretched to catch her as her arms flailed.
“I’ve got you.” He scooped her up in his arms, and cradling her against his chest, bowing his head to kiss her. “I’ll always look after you.”
She tilted her head back, and said, “I can take care of myself.”
“I know.” He gave a small laugh. “But could I just carry you inside? Just this once, let me look after you.”
She settled back against him. “I guess that would be OK.”
Her voice seemed distant, and he feared he had lost her, that she had seen his bear and decided she did not want her life to be some kind of a freak show. If that were true, he would spend the rest of his life trying to persuade her otherwise. He wanted her, she had to be his. It was fate.
Adam carried her to the dining room; there was still a bed in there. But Lynn said, “The sofa. I can’t sleep in that bed.”
He turned back around and carried her to the old lumpy sofa; it had a blanket and sleeping bag on it, and a pillow. “This is where you have been sleeping?”
“Yes. My bedroom set doesn’t get here until tomorrow.” She put out her hand to steady herself as he lowered her down onto her bedding.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked, standing back, not knowing what to say. How exactly did you discuss something like this?
“There is the rest of the wine. I think that might be better than tea.”
“I think you might be right,” he said, cursing himself for not bringing so
mething stronger with him. Lynn looked pale with shock, and Adam felt guilty for being the cause of that shock.
He went to the kitchen and fetched the wine with two mugs, because they were the first things he saw, and the rest of the apple pie his mom had sent over the first day Lynn had arrived.
“Here, have a drink and something to eat. It should make you feel better,” he said, fussing over her in what he hoped was an attentive way. He didn’t want to foist himself on her; if she wanted him to leave, he would.
And if she doesn’t want us to come back? his bear asked.
Adam didn’t know if he could agree to that. Ever. He wanted what was best for Lynn, but to Adam, that was them being together. They were born to be together: she was his mate, it was fact.
He stopped the stream of words that went around and around in his head. He needed to calm down, to let Lynn speak, and tell him what she wanted. And he would have to respect it, because that was part of being a mate. Love and respect were at the top of the qualities a bear shifter prided himself in. That was what his parents had taught him his whole life.
“Thank you,” Lynn said, as he passed her a plate full of pie. She took a bite, taking her time to eat it, avoiding his eyes.
“Are you OK?” he asked eventually, unable to stand the suspense. He needed to know if he’d blown it with her. He should have been more patient, but he wanted her, and she wanted him, physically at least. There was no way he could have claimed her, not without her being fully aware of what she was taking on.
“That I’m not sure about,” Lynn answered. “Truthfully, I would be happy to go through my life not knowing shifters exist, because that is some kind of weirdness no one can be prepared for.” She sighed, and looked up at him. “But my great-uncle did try.”
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