by Bianca D’Arc
Relief made her sob as she joined in the desperate motion as best she could. Kiki was pinned to the wall and enjoying every delicious moment of it. This was real. This was good. This was all that mattered.
Everything that had come before was wiped out in the reality of their bodies straining together toward mutual bliss. Jack growled, and this time, she recognized it for what it was… The human expression of his beast half. The bear was part of him, but that didn’t scare her. No, the bear was a treasure. A protector and a badass warrior that had taken out evil today. For her. And for all who wanted to live in the Light.
Good lord, how she loved this man!
He strained against her, his body hard and slick from the water that continued to pour over them from one side. This felt better than anything she’d felt before. This might just be nirvana, she decided, before Jack pushed her just that little bit higher.
Short, hard thrusts brought her to the very edge of madness. She cried out when he reached between them, touching her in just the right spot to send her crashing over the precipice, into the warm, welcoming void. She reached for the stars, and he came with her, roaring his release as they flew up toward heaven together. One.
Chapter Nineteen
It was a long, long time before Kiki came back to herself. Jack let her down from the wall and stroked his powerful hands slowly over her body, washing her with the bath scrubby she kept in the shower, using her favorite foaming cleanser. He washed her with tender care, rinsing himself, as well, so that they were both clean of the dirt of the day.
Jack took such good care of her. He dried them both off and carried her into her bedroom, laying her on the soft sheets that she had changed this morning before going in to work. Had it only been that morning? It seemed like a lifetime ago after all that had happened.
Jack came down beside her in the small bed. The full size bed had felt large to her after a lifetime spent in a twin bed at her parents’ home, but Jack was a big guy, and he made the formerly large space seem quite cozy. He leaned up on one elbow to meet her gaze. His expression was serious, but also warm and…caring.
“You know I love you, don’t you?” he said, causing her breath to catch. The statement was as bold as the man himself, and she had to smile.
“I do now. Thanks for clearing that up,” she teased him, knowing what he wanted to hear but holding out so she could enjoy the moment a bit more. Such profound moments came around rarely in life.
Jack chuckled. “You’re going to make me work for this, eh?”
She reached up and cupped his stubbly cheek. “No, my love. I’ll never hold out on you. Ever.”
She saw the way his eyes flared when she called him her love. The same fire blossomed in her veins at the thought of having her feelings reciprocated.
“I figured it out when Carol told me she was only holding me as bait to get to you. She said you were the real prize…and she was right, but not in the way she meant.” Kiki smiled at him. “I knew I loved you when I realized that I would rather die than have you walk into Carol’s trap to save me.” She took a deep breath. “And I knew you loved me when you stepped in front of me when Bob was going to shoot me. We’re clearly willing to die for each other. Question is, how do we make it work so we both can live for each other?”
“Easy,” Jack responded, moving closer and dropping a gentle kiss on her lips before drawing back again. “Defeating the bad guys was the first step, so we’ve done that. The next hurdle was going to be me breaking it to you that I’m a shifter.”
“Carol used that word. Shifter. I’ve never heard that before,” Kiki said, hoping he would elaborate more about his fascinating condition.
“It’s short for shapeshifter,” he explained, getting comfortable on his side, facing her, as if they had all the time in the world. “We’re also called were. Like werewolves? Only, I’m a werebear. The two guys you met earlier—Arch and Jim—they’re werewolves.”
“They are?” Kiki wasn’t surprised they were shifters, but she’d had no idea they were werewolves. She hadn’t known such things were real until today. “What about Ben?”
“Ben? Nah. He’s just a regular human as far as I know. Military trained. He was a Navy SEAL. That’s how he knows Jim and Arch. They were both SEALs, too. Though Arch was in the teams way before his nephew, Jim. He’s a lot older than he looks, and he’s a legend in Special Forces circles. Even my brothers and I had heard of Arch, and we were Green Berets.”
“You were in the military?” He just kept on surprising her.
“Yeah. I joined mostly because my brothers were in. Once the three of us were together, the Admiral who knew what we were, used us as a highly specialized team. Some wise guys started calling us the Three Little Bears. I thought it was funny, but my brothers took exception.” Jack’s eyes sparkled with humor. “A few broken noses later, and they stopped using that name when we were within earshot.”
“So, when did you get out?” she asked, wanting to know everything there was to know about Jack. Her lover. Her love.
“Oh, over a decade ago. We were done fighting other people’s wars, and we wanted to try to give ourselves a chance to find our way in the civilian world. I think, as the oldest, Ace was feeling it the worst, but we always followed where he led. He wanted to find his mate and settle down. King did too.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask this. I hope you won’t take it wrong. But your brothers are named Ace and King? Those aren’t nicknames, are they?” She wanted to be clear.
“Nope. Ace, King and Jack. Those are our real names. Our parents were dealers in Tahoe for a long time.” He shook his head, his smile turning into a chuckle. “I’ll promise you right now, we can pick nice, normal names for our kids, if we have any.”
Her breath caught. “You mean…” She couldn’t put it into words. Her boldness had suddenly fled.
“I mean that, when a shifter finds his one true mate, it’s for life. You’re never getting rid of me, honey. Not in this lifetime or any possible future lifetimes. Our souls will always find each other, no matter what. That is…if you feel the same way.” He looked uncertain for the first time. “If you were a shifter, you’d feel it, and I’d know, for sure, that we were on the same page. But you’re human, and you need to tell me that you want this. I won’t force it on you, not if you don’t really want me, but you should know that there will never be another woman for me. Ever. I’m yours if you want me.”
“If I want you?” she repeated, incredulous. “Are you kidding?”
“I’ve never been more serious in my life,” he told her quietly. “What do you say? I can try to give you more time, if you need it, but my bear is set on you, as is my human side. I love you, Kiki.”
She threw herself at him, taking him down to the mattress as she placed kisses all over his face. “I love you. I love you. I love you,” she repeated over and over. She pulled back, a thought occurring to her. “But we have to get married the human way, for my family, okay?”
“Anything you want, Kiki. Absolutely anything,” he promised, a joyful light in his sparkling brown eyes.
She thought about something else, through her happiness. “Can this really work? Can your kind… Can shifters marry regular people and make it work?”
“First of all, you are far from regular,” he told her gallantly. “And second, shifters marry whoever the Mother of All picks out for us. You’re the one She picked for me. I feel it in my soul.”
“That’s beautiful,” Kiki said, feeling tears gather in her eyes at his candor and faith.
“It’s the truth,” he told her in a solemn, quiet voice, that she felt clear down to the depths of her soul.
They made love more gently this time, taking time to wallow in each other’s presence and really learn what each of them craved. They got up to shower again, then dressed to have a late dinner that they both helped cook. Jack reminded Kiki that the others were expected at her cottage as soon as they finished with the cleanup at the pla
nt, which he estimated to be within the next hour or so.
He raided her kitchen and headed outdoors with every last bit of meat she’d had on hand. Luckily, she’d had quite a bit, delivered a few weeks ago from the family farm. The meat delivery was meant to help her save money, but it had also served as an excuse to check up on her for her older brother. He’d wanted to see where she lived and if it was safe. He’d left satisfied with the cottage and had stocked her pantry, fridge, and freezer. It was one of the many ways her family showed they cared about her welfare, even if she wasn’t the most magical of family members.
“I’ll replace all this,” Jack promised as he carried a small mountain of steak, chops, sausage and chicken out to the grill on the back patio. “It’s just that, among shifters, it’s good manners to provide a decent meal if someone goes out of their way to help you. Plus, Arch is…well…we’re all a little in awe of Arch,” he explained with a chagrinned expression. “He’s legendary among shifters, as well. And his nephew, Jim, is a good guy.”
“No problem, Jack,” Kiki said, following him outside with the condiments and marinade she wanted to use on the chicken. “All that meat is from my family’s farm. My brother stocked the kitchen for me a few weeks back when he came to see where I lived,” she admitted to him.
Jack paused, meeting her gaze. He seemed impressed. “That’s even better. I assume your family farm adheres to the old ways of farming, right?”
She grinned. “Better than that. We’re one hundred percent certified organic.”
A spark of pleasure lit his eyes. “That’s fantastic. You should know that our senses are all sharper than yours. We are really picky about things like the drinking water in our homes. We don’t like chemicals in anything we eat, and we’re big time carnivores.”
“Makes sense,” she told him as she moved next to him at the small grill. “We’re going to have to cook these a few at a time,” she thought aloud. “I just want a chicken breast to go with my salad. You and your buddies can have the rest.”
“I didn’t see any salad in the fridge,” Jack said, his entire expression dropping. She had to chuckle.
“That’s because it’s in the garden right now. I’m going to pick myself a few greens while you man the grill.” She smiled up at him, standing on tiptoe to kiss him gently on the lips.
The kiss was just starting to get interesting when there was noise at the garden gate. Jack heard it first, letting her go and placing her behind him a bit, the big teddy bear. He was protecting her again, and she loved every caveman-ish impulse of it.
He relaxed visibly when the three amigos walked around the side of the house and onto the patio area. Ben was leading, Jim in the center, carrying what looked like two cases of beer, with Arch bringing up the rear. He had a box in his hands that looked like it had come from the local bakery.
“We come bearing gifts,” Ben said, setting his bottles of wine on the table.
“Perfect timing,” Jack told him as he set the first pieces of meat on the small grill. “This is going to take a while to cook on this small setup, and the fridge is almost empty, so there’s room for the excess beer and wine to stay cool.”
“Ma’am,” Jim said, addressing Kiki. “Is it all right with you if I put this in your fridge?”
“Sure thing,” she replied, pleased with his formal manner. She liked that these big men hadn’t just walked into her yard and taken over her home. “Please, make yourselves at home.”
She smiled at Jim and headed out into the garden to find her salad patch. She heard Ben ask Jack in a stage whisper, “Where’s she going? I hope we didn’t scare her off.”
“Nah,” Jack answered back. “She just went to find some rabbit food to go with her chicken. The rest of this meat is for us.” She grinned at the satisfied sound in Jack’s voice. She finally understood why he ate so much. He was a bear!
It made perfect sense now. He probably used a lot of energy going from human to bear form. And bears were known to be big eaters at times.
“I like a good steak as much as the next guy, but are there, like, any potatoes to go with all that meat?” Ben asked, chuckling.
“I saw a sack of baking potatoes in one of the lower cupboards,” Jack told Ben. “Nuke one in the microwave if you want to. I’m sure Kiki won’t mind. All this food comes from her family’s organic farm.”
Oh, she liked the pride in his voice when he said that. She thought that boded well for how he would get on with her brothers. Her siblings took great pride and worked hard on the farm. If Jack appreciated that effort—and it sure sounded like he did—he’d be golden with them. The thought made her happy.
Kiki thought about how and when they’d meet while she picked a bunch of the outer leaves off her lettuce plants. She had a nice mix when she went back toward the house. The three shifters were on the patio, and she heard the hum of the microwave inside the small kitchen. She went in, finding Ben staring at the machine while a lone potato went round and round inside. She had to stifle a giggle at the hungry look on his face.
“I’m glad I’m not the only one who’ll eat a vegetable tonight,” she said by way of greeting as she went to the sink to wash her lettuce leaves. “Do you want some salad to go with your meal? There’s plenty.”
Ben looked at her and smiled tentatively. “If you can spare a little, I wouldn’t say no,” he told her. “That’s one thing you’re going to have to get used to about shifters, they eat meat like it’s going out of style and seldom think much about side dishes.”
“We heard that,” all three shifters chorused from outside.
Ben rolled his eyes. “That’s another thing you’ll have to get used to. They’re big time eavesdroppers.”
Sounds of protest came from outside, and Kiki laughed. She set up two salad plates and put them on the kitchen table. “I have balsamic vinaigrette that I made myself, or there’s some ranch dressing in the fridge.”
“The vinaigrette sounds great,” Ben said with an easy grin as he pulled his baked potato from the microwave. “Just splash some on there. Thanks.”
“Butter and sour cream are in the fridge. The sour cream is in that glass jar in the door next to the taller one that has whipped cream in it. My family’s farm is bordered on one side by an Amish dairy farm, so we get everything fresh from them. It’s all organic, and it tastes better and lasts a lot longer than the stuff you buy in the store, but the packaging is very no frills,” she explained.
“Bring that out here with you,” Arch called from outside. “If the lady doesn’t mind,” he added.
“I don’t mind at all. My brother brought way more than I could ever eat the last time he visited.” She thought about that for a moment. “Huh. I think somebody was looking into their crystal ball again.”
“You don’t seem surprised,” Ben observed. “And you seem to be taking everything that went on here in stride, if you don’t mind my saying.”
Jack opened the backdoor and stood in the opening, a looming presence. “Don’t answer that, Kiki. Ben works for an ancient order of busybodies who take notes on every little thing that even hints of magic. You don’t want to end up in an Altor Custodis file somewhere. Especially not since we’re pretty sure they’ve been infiltrated at the highest levels, and those files are being used to target innocent people.”
“Hey.” Ben held up both hands, palms outward. “You know I don’t file real reports anymore. Not since all that came to light. I’m on your side here.”
“Cool it, Jack.” Arch’s voice came from behind Jack. His words were casual, but his tone rang with authority.
Kiki could see that Jack didn’t like being contradicted, but she knew he thought very highly of Arch. She could read the conflict in his gaze as he looked at her. His need to protect her was making him touchy. Well, she could do something about that.
Kiki walked up to Jack and put her arms around him. He had no choice but to accept her hug as she snuggled her head against his chest.
“It’s okay,” she said, trying to soothe him. “Let’s go outside. Ben, you bring the food, okay?”
“Sure thing,” Ben answered promptly while Kiki pushed Jack out into the yard. She made him sit in one of the big patio chairs and followed him down to sit on his lap.
Arch just looked at her, one eyebrow raised, for a long moment, then picked up the spatula and turned to the grill. Jim was at his uncle’s side, and they handled the grill while Ben brought out the salads and the other things.
Ben sat across from Jack and Kiki. “Look, Jack, I didn’t mean anything by what I said earlier. I’m sorry. I won’t be reporting on any of this to the AC, except the contact with the janitor. I suspect he’ll keep filing reports, and he might mention me, so I have to say something about coming in contact with the guy as I was passing through.” Ben sighed. “I have to keep up the AC contacts so I can help from the inside. I’m also looking to clean house there, if I ever figure out exactly where the trash is hiding that needs to be taken out.”
“Personally, I’ve never seen the point of the Altor Custodis mission. Watching and reporting, but never getting involved? What for?” Jack scoffed. “It seems like the perfect recipe for disaster—and has proven to be such—when the wrong people get their hands on those supposedly secret files.”
“Try to look at it from the human perspective,” Ben said quietly. “I worked side by side with Jim for years and never knew he was a shifter. I didn’t even know shifters existed. When I found out—rather rudely, for that matter, since they were trying to kill me in a South American jungle at the time—I embraced the idea of a human society dedicated to learning what we could about the Others who lived among us in secret, and keeping track of them so that, if strange things started to happen, we could at least try to protect the innocents in the area.”
“I’ve heard that argument before, but I still don’t buy it,” Jack said.
“That’s because you aren’t powerless,” Kiki piped up. “I’ve been the most powerless person in the room all my life. I knew about magic, but I could never do any,” she went on, realizing she had everyone’s attention. “I can see where I would’ve endorsed a group of watchers, had I known there were powerful beings like you guys in the world. What other defense do mere mortals have?” She looked down at her hands. “It’s not easy being the weakling in a world full of magic.”
