Bill was suddenly standing in front of Tony. “That’s enough!”
That was when I saw Tony’s face. His eyes were red, his teeth were long and sharp, and his own claws were rupturing through his gloves.
I didn’t believe what I was seeing and I could not understand why I had never pieced this together before. But suddenly a few things made a lot more sense to me.
Tony was a bear shifter too.
Chapter Six
“You still up?”
I looked up from the book I was reading to see Tony standing in the doorway. I was sitting in a very comfortable chair in the middle of a bedroom, turned library.
This cabin had a lot of the classic books on hand. I was impressed. I used to read all the time to relax and to escape the world that I was living in. No matter how tough things seemed, I could always open up a book and just escape for a while. It always helped me.
“Yea, I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to check this place out,” I said.
Tony walked into the room and began perusing the shelves of books. I tried not to check out his strong, muscular body standing in front of me wearing just a tank top and a pair of exercise shorts. I wonder if he slept in that or he was wearing it for our benefit. I figured he was the kind of guy who would sleep naked, or maybe that was just my crazy mind going to work on things.
“Oh, they got all the good stuff,” Tony said.
“You got any favorites?” I asked grabbing my glass of wine from the coffee table.
“Oh, I love Dickens and Poe. Those are the two classic guys that have always had the biggest influence on me. There was just something about the way they put things into words. They could paint a masterpiece of color and theme with perfect word placement.”
I smiled. I had never heard it put so eloquently.
“I agree,” I said.
Tony grabbed a book off the shelf and sat down on the other end.
“Hope you don’t mind if I join you,” he said.
“Not at all,” I replied. “If you don’t think Beth will mind,” I added with a smile.
Tony laughed. “Oh, I think she would not approve. But that’s her problem.”
“So how did you two meet?” I asked.
"It's kind of a funny story. I was having a few beers at Jack's, my favorite local hangout. A few of my friends that I've known since college were indulging in a few beers and some pool. Suddenly Beth comes from out of nowhere and asks me if I think I could beat her. I was intrigued, to say the least, and I just had to go ahead and give it a shot."
“And I take it you won?” I asked.
“Yea, I won four racks out of six,” Tony said. “And on the last rack we made a wager.”
“What were the stakes?”
"Well, if I won then she had to go out with me and if she won then I had to sing 'Don't Stop Believin'" in the bar. It was karaoke night after all. Hell, she could have just waited until I had too many beers and I would have sung karaoke if someone just dared me to do it," Tony said.
“That sounds like quite an evening,” I said.
“So, how long have you been one?” Tony asked.
“How long have I been what?” I teased.
“How long have you been a pain in the ass?” Tony joked. “How long have you been a shifter?”
“Well, I‘ve been a pain in the ass since birth, but I’ve been a shifter about a year.”
“Wow, that’s rough. I knew you were made because I could smell it on you. But I did not smell it the last time we met after you whipped my butt in court. You were human then; what happened?”
I took a deep breath and told Tony the whole terrifying story.
"Wow, I guess I can't totally hate Derek anymore. He saved your life. That gives a fellow several high marks in my book. Although, I’m pretty sure he just tried to end my life so maybe it balances out.”
I laughed. “I don’t think he meant to do that on purpose. I think he was trying to impress me.”
“Oh, well I can understand that. Are you two having a little thing going on?” Tony asked coyly.
“No, we are just friends, but I’ve known for a long time that Derek would like it to be more. But it is just what it is.”
“Wow, the poor dude is in the perpetual friend zone. That is cold.”
“It’s not my fault. I just don’t feel that way about him,” I said.
“Well, I can’t say I’m terribly upset about that,” Tony said a sly smile creeping across his face.
I felt the blush coming on. I had caught him red-handed now. "Hey, you can't keep doing that," I said.
“Doing what?” Tony said playing innocent.
“Flirting. I have excellent flirt radar. You can’t fool me,” I said.
“Well, with you I can’t help myself.”
“What about Beth?” I asked.
Tony took a deep breath and looked at me. The expression on his face was serious.
“I don’t think it’s working out,” he said. “You’ve met Beth. Well, I’ve spent considerable time with her and her controlling, weird, bitchy nature is really starting to drive me up a wall.”
I could not help the smile that spread across my face right then. “You’ve noticed that?” I asked.
“Well, not at first. I mean she hides it well, I guess. I’m not even sure why I came up here,” Tony asked.
“That is a good question. How long have you been feeling this way about Beth?”
"We've only been dating a few months, but I'd say about the past two weeks is when I've really noticed that she isn't at all who she pretends to be with me. But I coasted with it for a while. Things have been rough for her at work and I just thought that she was dealing with some of that stuff. I mean, we've all been there, but it's becoming a more persistent problem. She is starting to constantly ask me where I am and what I'm doing and accusing me of lying about random things. I shouldn't have come up here, but I guess I was just hoping that the fresh air and getting away from everything might help to get Beth back to being the girl I first met."
“That is understandable,” I said. “We’ve all made mistakes getting into relationships only to regret them later, but I like to think that all relationships are learning experiences and so I tend to value them, even the bad ones.”
Tony looked at me as if he was digesting what I said. “You have a good point. But the thing is, I don’t want to hurt Beth and I definitely am not going to break up with her while we are here on Christmas vacation.”
“I’m glad to see you realize that might be in poor taste,” I laughed.
“So, you see my flirting is not in total bad form,” Tony said.
I could feel my eyes bugging out. "Are you serious? It is in totally bad taste," I said. "You should be ashamed of yourself," I said adding a bit of flirt to it.
“Oh, I am. I’m totally in the wrong here,” Tony added. “I guess I just can’t help myself.”
I tried to keep my smile from growing any wider and pretended to go back to my book. I desperately wanted to reach over and just kiss Tony right then. When he flirted with me I could not help but feel tingly all over. It was maddening knowing that I wanted a man that I could not have… yet.
“So, what is the plan?” I asked.
“I figure I’ll just play things by ear for now,”
Tony said. He had sat the book down and draped his arm over the back of the couch. I felt it close to me. I could almost feel the warmth, the heat rising off his arm and caressing my shoulders. But he wasn’t even touching me.
I tried again in vain to concentrate on my book, but it was just not happening. I wanted to read and ignore Tony for a bit. I was feeling like this had started to get a bit out of hand. We could not be seen flirting and hanging out like this.
Even if someone saw Tony’s position on the couch they might get the wrong idea about things, or the right idea as it was starting to become. What was I doing? I had been invited as a guest to this family’s Christmas and I was on the edge of
indulging with stealing Beth’s boyfriend.
But they were basically broken up, right? I tried to rationalize it and remind myself what Tony said. He was going to break up with her. It was not working out. She was pushing him away by being Beth. It was not my fault.
Ugh! But I still felt so guilty. He was not broken up with Beth yet. She had strong feelings for him, that was obvious and if somehow this did come out it would ruin the entire trip for everybody. And I was also a guest there.
I had to get out of there. If I stayed on that couch with that amazing man for another minute I had a feeling I was going to end up hating myself.
“Well, I think I’ll head to bed now,” I said.
I hoped that Devon was still asleep. He was not making any noise, so it was likely. That was a relief.
I stood up and placed the book back on the shelf, sliding it into place.
“Goodnight,” I said. I took one last glance at his amazing looking form and felt my insides flutter as I walked towards the door.
Suddenly my arm was pulled backward slightly and before I realized what was going on I was leaning over Tony. He had grabbed me gently and pulled me to him. Now my mouth was right in front of his.
His warm, sweet breath was coming up to me. His eyes were staring right into mine pulling me into him. This was really happening.
And his lips were touching mine, massaging them with his own, his warm mouth engulfing my own with total comfort and sweet pleasure. I felt my body coming forwards towards his. This felt so right.
But we couldn’t do this. We could not do this...
Why did something that was so wrong feel so good? I wanted it to go further I wanted him to rip my clothes off and just throw me on the couch and take me in every possible way. I wanted his hands to rub over my large, luscious breasts. I needed to feel his hard girth deep inside of my center filling me up so tightly… so tightly… I could feel myself already getting so moist as I anticipated what I wished would happen next.
But I knew it just couldn’t. I had to pull it back. I had to, but I felt so weak. I was willing my body to pull away and keep this lust from materializing further but my body was not responding. What was I going to do?
Suddenly Tony made the decision for me.
Tony pulled back right then slowly. His warmth was gently being replaced by the cold air between. I longed for him, wanted him. I wanted to pull back in and continue the kiss. I didn’t want it to end, but I knew that it must.
Our lips brushed against each other once more as they pushed off. Tony looked square in my eyes again as he smiled at me. My whole body felt frozen in place.
“Goodnight,” Tony said as he slowly released my arm.
I stood back up and walked towards the door. My feet felt like they were not touching the floor and I had to pay careful attention to each step to make sure that I was not going to misstep and fall on my face. That would have been a significant downer after the amazing experience that had just happened to me.
“Goodnight,” I said softly as I walked through the door and headed towards my room.
When I reached my room, I closed the door behind me very slowly. Devon was still sound asleep. I checked on him and marveled at how he became more beautiful every single day. I loved my little angel more than my next breath. I thanked God every day that he had given me this beautiful little boy.
I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes. I tried to drift right off to sleep but it was just not happening. I’d been having trouble drifting off earlier because my mind had been stuck on the ski races and the fight that had happened earlier that day.
Derek and Tony had basically avoided each other since then. I hoped they would bury the hatchet soon, but I wasn’t counting on it. There was some definite animosity brewing between those two guys.
And I believed a lot of it was about me. I found the idea of two guys kind of fighting over me flattering, but it was also a headache I didn’t really need.
I realized that Derek felt very threatened by Tony and I understood that Tony was not about to put up with any of Derek’s childish crap either. I felt sorry for Derek, but the more I thought about the accident the madder I got at him. Was Tony right? Did Derek really try to injure him out there?
I didn’t want to believe it and I doubted I would without solid proof, which I did not see forthcoming. I doubted that Derek would ever admit that sort of thing to me even if he did do it. It was probably for the best; I wasn’t sure I wanted to know that Derek would go to that length to get rid of competition that wasn’t there.
What about Beth? Did she suspect that Tony had feelings for me? Or was that just her natural paranoia I was feeling?
I groaned as I realized my life was turning into one of those bizarre soap operas I had caught on TV during the day. I hated those stupid shows and I swore I would never allow myself to get caught up in juvenile stuff like that, but here I was finding myself smack dab in the middle of that same type of stuff.
I hoped that tomorrow would be better and that everything would start to sort itself out. It was only two days until Christmas. This was going to be a long week.
Chapter Seven
“It feels so good out here.”
I looked around at the trees, the sunshine that was peeking through the break in the overcast sky, and the crisp, cold air that swirled around my face in the space above my hooded sweatshirt and gave me an odd sense of peace. Derek looked over at me as if hoping I would agree with him.
There was a different look in his eyes today. He acted like something was definitely on his mind. I had a few ideas what might be worrying him or what he might have had to tell me, but I didn’t want to pry or ask him what was up. If he wanted to tell me then he would just come right out and say it.
"It is actually. I hardly miss the city at all," I said. This wasn't exactly true, but the peace and quiet were pretty sweet I had to admit. That was something you took for granted when you lived in a rural area like this. Nothing surrounding you but the sounds of nature.
“I sometimes think about coming back here and just giving it all up,” Derek said.
“So, moving here is giving up?” I asked. I wasn’t sure where this was going.
“Well, I mean the city life. I grew up in a small town and we lived just outside of it in the country. It was a nice idyllic place to grow up. I remember that I practically counted the days until I could leave the place and now I almost count the days until I come back.”
“Well, what’s stopping you? You can come back her anytime you want.”
“I feel like I’m giving up if I do that. And I just won’t let myself give up. I won’t let myself become a statistic.”
I looked at him as if he had lost his mind entirely. “You think that moving back to where you grew up and trying something new makes you a statistic?”
"Yea, to me it is. It doesn't feel like it would be trying something new. To me, it's giving up on what I set out to do and going back to what's safe. I can't let myself do that."
"I can understand that, I guess. But at some point, you have to ask yourself if you still have the same dream you had before. I've always believed that things happen for a reason, even bad things. And sometimes it is terrifyingly hard to find out what that is."
Derek looked at me and smiled. He stopped walking and just stood there.
“You are incredibly wise, Jackie Banks,” Derek said.
“Well, thank you. I’ve always thought so. Why else would you put up with me?” I joked. I wished instantly I hadn’t asked that last question. It was offhanded and I immediately felt like I had opened a can of worms. Was Derek going to take that bait?
I could see the gears turning in his eyes.
“I often wonder,” he said.
I laughed. “Hey, that isn’t fair.”
“What isn’t fair? Life is sure as hell turning out to not be fair. That bastard Josh Thorn needs to pay for what he did to us.”
“Wow, where did that come from? I
thought we were playing around and you just throw that out there…” I said.
“Sorry, it’s just really been weighing on my mind lately,” Derek said.
He was silent for a minute. I wanted to tell him that it was pointless to think about that jerk, but that wasn’t the sort of pep talk that Derek needed right then. I think he just wanted me to listen most of all. Despite doing most of the talking in most situations, I was actually a really good listener.
“I’ve had some bad thoughts, especially lately,” Derek finally said.
“What kind of bad thoughts?” I braced myself. Was this the please don’t commit suicide talk or the please don’t commit murder talk?
“I’ve had thoughts about going to his place and just putting several silver bullets right through his heart.”
Ok, that answered that question. I knew that the only way to kill a shifter was to shoot them in the heart with a silver bullet. Or another shifter could suck their soul out. But shooting them with a silver bullet just sounded easier, I supposed.
“That’s not you,” I said.
"What? Don't you think I've got it in me to kill someone? He is a despicable being. God only knows how many people he has probably killed."
“We don’t have any evidence that he has actually killed anyone.”
“He tried to kill you. You think that you are the first woman to reject him?”
I didn’t really have an answer for that. I supposed that the idea had definitely crossed my mind, but I was not ready to dwell on it enough to think of it. I guess that it was just putting it all out of my mind.
“I guess not, but if you want to get him then do it right and find some evidence of his crimes. Put the police on his trail,” I said.
"You think the police could do anything against him? They wouldn't have a clue. Besides if something like what he is got out in the media then our kind would be ruined. We would have to hide forever. They might find out about us and have us all destroyed."
I closed my eyes and swallowed. I had never thought of that. Derek had obviously had much deeper conversations with himself about this than I had.
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