by Bianca D’Arc
A moment later, Amelia opened her eyes and smiled. She looked up at John, a relieved expression on her face.
“She’s okay. She just needs to sleep it off for a while.” Amelia got up and walked toward the door to the bedroom. “Can I offer you a cup of tea? Or something stronger?” she asked politely.
John didn’t want to leave. In fact, he didn’t want to leave Ursula’s bedroom, but he couldn’t very well just sit there and watch her sleep. Amelia’s invitation gave him an excuse to stay in the apartment at least. He’d take what he could get.
Tea would take time to brew, so tea it was.
“That sounds great,” he said quietly, so as not to disturb Ursula’s sleep.
He followed Amelia out the door and down the hall, back toward the kitchen that was at the other end of the apartment. There were still boxes everywhere, but the important parts of the household had already been unpacked, and the kitchen looked like it was fully equipped.
He’d been in the kitchen before, of course, when they’d had dinner, but he hadn’t seen much of the rest of the apartment before. The sisters had done a nice job with their decorating, and John said as much to Amelia, earning a smile from her as she bustled around, making the tea.
When they were both seated around the small kitchen table, holding mugs of steaming tea, she finally seemed to relax a bit.
“It went well, Amelia,” he told her. “You should’ve seen her go. The power she called up was really impressive.” He hoped that by stating his impressions about what her sister had done, he would get Amelia to open up a bit more to him.
“Yeah, I could feel the whammy when she released it from the circle. I couldn’t go out because sister dear warded the doors and windows specifically against my leaving before she returned. She locked me in,” she said, sounding horribly offended.
John tried unsuccessfully to smother his smile.
“Don’t you laugh,” she scolded with some humor. “I wanted to be there for her, but she made it so I couldn’t even get out of the building. The stinker.”
“She loves you.” John shrugged, thinking it was obvious. “She wanted to protect you.”
“I get it, but it still stinks,” Amelia groused. “First Nonna tells me not to help, and then, Urse goes one further as if I’m not to be trusted.”
“Well, if she hadn’t sealed you in, would you have been out there, where you probably shouldn’t have been?” John challenged with a grin.
“Yeah, okay. I probably would have.” She looked chagrined as she sipped at her tea.
“Believe me, she couldn’t afford the distraction of worrying about you,” he told her, not unkindly. “That spell was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
“You saw it?” She sounded intrigued.
“I was in the circle with her,” he admitted.
“Really?” Amelia shot him an impressed expression. “I’m surprised, but glad you were there for her. She always tries to protect everyone else and takes too much on herself.”
John had to chuckle. “I’ve been accused of that very same thing once or twice myself.”
“The two of you are a pair,” she said absently, but the words made him stop and think.
Were they? Meant to be a pair? Hmm.
Possibly.
They sipped their tea in silence for a few minutes before Amelia put her empty mug down on the table and sat up straight. She looked at him, as if wondering how far she could trespass on his good nature.
“Do you think you can stay here for a few more minutes and keep an eye on Urse? I don’t want her to wake up and have nobody here. She’ll worry about me, and she doesn’t need to do that right now,” she said in a nervous rush. “I want to go over to the bakery and get some of her favorite breads and pastries for when she wakes up. Believe it or not, this kind of magical work can burn a lot of calories, and it’s important to keep her fueled up if she’s going to do this again tomorrow.”
“I’ll stay. Take your time. I’ll look out for her.”
“Great. The wards came down when she crossed the threshold, so I can finally get out of here for a few minutes.” Amelia was gathering her bag and cleaning up the tea stuff, bustling around before she headed out. “Everything is where you would expect it in here. If you’re hungry, help yourself to anything in the fridge or cupboards. I’ll be back in about twenty minutes.”
“It’s okay,” John told her. “I’m in no hurry. In fact, I’d like to talk to your sister when she wakes up, just to satisfy myself that she’s okay, so don’t rush.”
“She may not wake up for a while,” Amelia said, a worried expression on her face.
“That’s okay.” John shrugged. “If she does, I’d like to talk to her if she’s up to it. If not, I’ll come back later when she is awake, if that’s okay.”
“Oh, sure,” Amelia immediately agreed. “She’ll probably want to talk to you about the plan for tomorrow’s ceremony anyway, so that’ll work.” Amelia headed for the door to the stairs and headed out. “See you in a bit. And thanks.”
John just nodded, watching her go.
He cleaned up his half-finished mug of tea, draining the rest of it down the sink before he felt the pull toward the front bedroom again that had never quite left since he’d placed Ursula on her bed. Why he was suddenly picturing her there, wearing quite a bit less than the jeans and sweater she’d been wearing that morning, he really didn’t want to examine.
He only knew he had to go check on her.
Following the pull, he walked silently up the hall, to the door at the end that beckoned.
Urse was just opening her eyes as the door to her bedroom opened and John was there. Was she dreaming? She blinked a few times as he walked closer.
“John?” she asked, her voice a bit weaker than she liked.
He came closer. “I’m right here, honey. How are you feeling?”
“Like I got run over. But it’s to be expected.” She sat up in bed, realizing only then that she was in her own bedroom. The last thing she remembered, he’d been carrying her and they were outside. “Fill me in on what I missed.”
“Nothing much,” he said, surprising her by sitting on the side of her bed, facing her. It was close…intimate. More than she’d expected. “I carried you in. Your sister complained about you warding the doors and windows, but apparently the wards dropped when you came through. She went down to the bakery to get some treats she said you deserved, and I agreed to keep an eye on you so you wouldn’t wake up alone. No news from my guys, which means everything is just as we left it.” He took one of her hands, gripping it lightly. “That was a hell of a thing you did out there. I had no idea you were that powerful.”
She felt a bit of discomfort. “I don’t suppose that’s a good thing. You probably want us gone even more now, right?”
“On the contrary,” he surprised her by saying. He scooched a little closer to her, adding his other hand to the one that was already wrapped warmly around hers. “I like knowing you can hold your own, and after being inside that circle with you, I’m in no doubt as to your basic nature. Your magic feels pure and good. You can be a strong ally of my people, if that’s your inclination, but either way, you’re welcome here. I’ll square it with the rest of the guys, but I think after they saw what you did out there to protect us, they won’t need much convincing.”
Urse breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t know exactly when it had happened, but Grizzly Cove had begun to feel like home, and she wanted to stay.
“I’m glad,” she said, feeling emotional about his turnaround. “And I promise…we’re the good guys. We don’t have any hidden agendas or sinister plans. We don’t even do a lot of magic most of the time. Just when it’s needed. As you see, it takes a bit out of you, so we’ve been taught to only act when it’s really necessary.”
“You don’t have to explain. After what I witnessed in that circle, I trust you. And that’s not something I say easily.” He tilted his head, his voice dropping
low. “You’ve earned both my trust and my respect.”
“I’ve always respected you, John,” she whispered, feeling the air around them warm with a strange sort of intimacy.
Silence fell, and he drew closer. Was he going to…?
Oh, yeah.
John’s lips touched hers, and all coherent thought fled, replaced by pure feeling.
He kissed like a dream. Like a conquering hero who knew how to seduce. Like the masterful Alpha he was. And she was drawn in, the willing partner to his passion.
Something ignited between them. Her blood heated instantly, her heart going from zero to sixty in no seconds flat. It was fast and furious, passionate and powerful. It was unlike any response she’d had to a man before. John was unique. His kiss made her want oh-so-much-more.
His tongue seduced, his taste zinged through her body like a drug, and she was an instant addict. He moved his hands over her body, at first just holding her, then growing bolder, touching her through her clothes.
When his big hand cupped her breast, she wanted nothing more than for the layers of fabric separating his warm palm from her skin to be gone. If she could have twitched her nose and made her clothes disappear, she would have, but that wasn’t one of her powers. No, if she wanted skin on skin, they were going to have to do it the old fashioned way.
Impatiently, she pushed at his shoulders, trailing her hands downward to the hem of his stretchy golf shirt. She liked the way he dressed—clean and simple. And easy to take off.
He seemed to get the message and moved back for the short moment it took to remove his shirt, pulling it up over his head. The sexy six pack abdominals revealed by his too-quick striptease made her mouth water. She wanted so badly to touch.
When he recaptured her lips with his, she allowed her hands to roam. He was hard and muscled all over, inviting her fingers to linger.
She liked the sexy growl that vibrated through his chest against her palms. It awoke something within her—an animal spirit she could trace directly back to that long-ago bear shifter in her lineage. She didn’t notice it often, but every once in a while, she felt the presence of it, way down in her soul.
Only now, it was much closer. It was as if being around John had woken the grizzly. It wanted to be near its own kind. Well, one in particular.
Her hidden inner bear was riled…in a good way, and she wanted to hear John growl in that special way again. More than that, though, she wanted to feel his hands on her skin.
Like a mind reader, John finally got around to pushing the light jacket she’d worn off her shoulders. She let it slide down her arms and pushed it off her hands to fall behind her. His fingers toyed with the hem of her T-shirt, and she covered one of his large hands to urge him onward.
They broke apart again so he could pull the shirt up and off her body, leaving her only in her bra. She wanted that gone too, but he seemed to want to take it slow. He kissed her again, making her his willing slave. She’d do anything he wanted. He’d mastered her mouth, and she couldn’t wait to see how the rest of her body would react to his advances.
Then he reached around her to unhook the clasp of her bra. Yes!
The thin straps were tugged slowly down her shoulders, and then, the cups were peeled away, one at a time. All the while, he kept kissing her, learning the shape of her body with his hands and skilled fingers.
She loved every minute of it. Every touch. Every caress.
And then, John moved away, letting her go. Urse tried to follow, but he pushed gently against her shoulder.
“Your sister is home,” he told her softly. “She’s coming up the stairs.”
Now that was a mood killer, right there. Urse felt like a panicked teenager caught necking at the drive-in. John seemed to understand. He rose and put his shirt back on, then ran a quick hand through his hair.
“I’ll go out and meet her, give her a sitrep and tell her you’re awake. Five minutes enough?” he asked, already heading toward the door of her bedroom.
Thank goodness at least one of them was thinking. She nodded, already scrambling to find her clothes. Mel was sharp-eyed, and the last thing Urse wanted was to sit through her teasing, if she realized what she and the hunky mayor had just been up to. It wasn’t likely she’d be able to fool Mellie for long, but she’d give it her best shot.
This thing with John was too new. Too fragile. Too uncertain.
Would he want a repeat? Had they crossed over into a new sort of relationship just now? Or was this a one-off? A moment out of time, never to be repeated.
She just didn’t know. She wasn’t sure where she stood with him, but she did know, for certain, that she wanted more.
John had just shown her things about herself that she hadn’t known. He’d somehow bared her soul and left her feeling stronger and more empowered as a woman than she’d ever felt before. He was a good man, who knew how to make a woman feel good…in more than just the obvious, sexual, way. He made her feel good about herself.
And that was something she hadn’t expected.
Nor had she expected that he was attracted to her. The last she knew he was mad at her for lying—by omission—about her magical nature. Okay, maybe not mad. He’d seemed more disappointed and sort of annoyed because he didn’t seem to know what to do about the situation. Not that he’d have to do anything. She was a witch. So what?
That wasn’t to say that she didn’t understand where he was coming from. He’d built this town for shifters, and everything he’d said indicated that he hadn’t really thought about other magical races wanting to join him and his group of bears in the new settlement. Really, though, he probably should’ve thought about it a little more. If there was one thing she knew for a fact, magic often attracted magic.
And bears were some of the most magical of shifters, according to everything she’d been taught. Many of them were shamans and mages in their own right. Holy men and women. Priests and priestesses in various cultures. Not all, of course, but many, according to Nonna and her other teachers who’d sometimes mentioned shifters.
Urse got out of bed and went to her dresser—and more importantly the big mirror above it. She looked flushed, but maybe that could be explained by having just woken up or something? She did her best to make sure all her clothes were in the right places and her hair tidy before she turned toward the door to her bedroom, which John had thoughtfully closed.
Even Urse could hear Mellie coming down the hall now. Thank goodness for John’s sharp shifter hearing. If he hadn’t given her a few minutes to get herself together…or if Mellie had caught them in the act… Well, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but Urse would have been really embarrassed.
As it was, she just wanted to hug the knowledge of what they’d done—not that it was all that much, darn it—to herself for a while. It was too new to share just yet, or put on public display, even accidentally.
“Urse?” Mellie tapped on the door before opening it a tiny bit. When she saw Urse standing by the dresser, she opened it all the way and walked in. Mellie came straight to her and hugged her tight. “You had me worried, sis,” she said somewhat raggedly.
“I’m okay,” Urse reassured her little sister. “It just drained me a bit, but I’m feeling better now. You know how it goes.”
“Boy, do I.” Mellie let her go and then hiked herself up to sit on the edge of the dresser, looking Urse over. “And you have to do this a few more times, right? Do you think you can handle it?” Mellie looked concerned.
“I’ll have to, but honestly, it wasn’t too bad. John was with me. He was right there in the circle with me.” She still couldn’t really get over that. She’d thought she’d be all alone, but he’d been her partner, her protector and her anchor. “He even added quite a bit of power to the spell, which I definitely didn’t expect going in. He made it a lot stronger and a lot more effective. Plus, I wasn’t as scared with him in there with me. I figured if I screwed up and those tentacles came for me, John would help me figh
t them off.”
“I wanted to be the one to help you,” Mellie insisted in a quiet, hurt tone.
“You know you can’t. Not only did Nonna forbid it, but you know as well as I do that my kind of magic isn’t your strong point. Nor can I help you with the potions you’re going to need to work on for the second phase of this operation.”
“Second phase?” John’s query came from the doorway. The man moved so silently he’d snuck up on them.
Urse looked at him, his endearingly raised eyebrow invited her to answer, but her heart was racing—both from being surprised by his presence and a little excited about seeing him again after what they’d done just a few minutes ago. Was she blushing? She really hoped she wasn’t blushing.
“Come on,” she said, going for distraction and heading for the hall. She’d have to pass John to get into the hallway, but at least Mellie wouldn’t see the telltale flush Urse just knew was racing to her cheeks. “I’m hungry. Let’s nibble on something, and we’ll go over what comes next.”
She led the way toward the kitchen, glad when she heard them following. She had to regain control of herself, and the situation.
Urse busied herself making a sandwich at the kitchen counter while the other two took seats at the table. She looked at John, shrugged, and decided to make two sandwiches—one for her and an extra-giant-sized one for him. They’d both been up since before dawn, and it had to be mid-morning now, if not close to lunchtime.
Without a word, she placed the plate she’d made up for him in front of John, then took her own seat next to him at the table. Mellie was on one end of the rectangular table, unpacking a bag from the bakery and putting her purchases on a platter.
Urse took a bite out of her sandwich, chewed and swallowed before she spoke again. Yum. She’d needed that. The magical work had taken a lot out of her, both emotionally and physically. She needed to replace the many calories she’d used.
“Okay.” She wiped her mouth with her napkin. “So, Phase Two. That would be Mellie’s part. Tell him, Mel.” She introduced the topic and let her sister take it away while Urse concentrated on stuffing her sandwich in her mouth.
