by Olivia Arran
No reaction.
I looked to Annie or John, but they shrugged as if to say you’re on your own, scurrying away to do whatever the hell it was that they needed to do.
I heard my name, followed by the words broken and go through that again, and my temper boiled over. I’d had enough. Wielding my elbows like weapons, I shouldered and pushed my way into the middle of the huddle, not caring who or where I damaged in my bid to gain some answers. Grunts and oomphs colored the air, along with a few well chosen curse words, but I was where I needed to be. All the men were staring at me with identical looks of astonishment on their faces.
Heat flooded my cheeks at the attention, despite it being exactly what I’d been aiming for. Holy cow, the Everson guys were a good looking bunch. From dark and dangerous looking Ralph, to Ryan with his blond curls and cheeky grin, they ticked every box a single woman might think of. But, I flinched as a stark realization set in: they did absolutely nothing for me. They were pretty enough, sure, but I preferred a man who was rough around the edges, with buzz cut brown hair and clear blue eyes, and colorful tats that hinted at a playful side. And it didn’t hurt that he was easy on the eyes too.
Max.
Panic twisted inside me. I had to find him; I couldn’t lose someone else.
“Please…” I aimed my words at Max’s father.
He squeezed my shoulder, a sad smile playing on his lips. “I’m sorry we had to meet like this, Jeanie.” Taking a deep breath, and seeming to collect himself, he continued, “What I’m going to tell you is going to seem a little strange, but I need you to hang in there with me.”
At his pause, I nodded, willing him to continue.
“Close your eyes, sweetheart.” His gruff voice lowered, until it was barely above a whisper, so I had to stain to hear his next words.
Max’s brothers blocked out the world around me, forming a barrier with their large bodies and encouraging smiles, keeping me safe. I closed my eyes.
“I need you to reach within yourself, to imagine the place where your soul lives, right above your heart. Can you see it in your mind’s eye?”
Nose scrunching up, I tried to do as he asked, but it was as if I were fumbling around in the dark, unsure of what I was even supposed to be looking for.
“I … I don’t know,” I eventually said, and the disappointment in the room was palatable, even with my eyes closed.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, you tried.”
The resignation in his voice had the panic flaring even higher, burning brighter and out of control. “I don’t even know what I’m meant to be looking for!” I wailed, desperation riding my voice.
“The soul bond.” I wasn’t sure which of the brothers had spoken, but it had been through gritted teeth.
“Soul bond?” I couldn’t keep the tremor from my voice. Were they messing with me? Was this all some kind of big joke? Would Max jump out from behind the door any minute now?
“Pa, are you sure?” That was definitely Ryan.
“Your Mom says her bond has diminished, she can’t find him. But she knows that he’s in real trouble.”
“And this is definitely her?”
“What do you think?”
Then silence.
I should open my eyes, demand answers, but I was scared. They were scaring me.
“Darling, Max will explain everything when we find him, I promise.” The grim resolve in his voice told me that Pa wasn’t going to leave his son much of a choice in the matter. “Can you go with me on this and trust me for now?” Not waiting for me to answer, he hurried on, “The soul bond looks like a strand of light reaching out from your chest into the distance. At the end of that thread will be Max. Find my boy for me, Jeanie. Please.”
His heartbroken plea shattered the panic that gripped me, reaching inside and tugging at a buried strength I’d thought long lost. A strand of light. Now I knew what to look for. Turning my gaze inward, I tried to do as he instructed, feeling distinctly uneasy and a little bit foolish. I didn’t believe in all this mumbo jumbo, and, up until now, hadn’t thought the Everson brothers were the type to either. Still, I’d do as they asked, then we could get out there and start—
I froze, my mouth dropping open.
“Tell me where to find my son, Jeanie.”
It was as he’d described, a thin strand of light stretching out from me into the distance, streaming with colors and pulsing with life. But it looked fragile, as if it might snap in a strong breeze. My eyes flashed open and I met the gazes of the five men towering over me. “I can find Max.”
Then I ran.
Chapter Nine
Max
Everything hurt. Pain stabbing, skewering into me and twisting. Blackness pulled at me, coaxing and loving, wrapping me in warmth and numbing reality.
I’m wet, but I’m not drowning. I can breathe, but I can’t take a breath. I sucked up air as fast as it left my body.
I wasn’t healing.
Why?
My bear was silent. Missing.
I’m dying. I had things to do, promises to keep.
Jeanie.
She’ll be alone again.
I won’t be able to hurt her.
I won’t be able to save her.
The ground was vibrating beneath me. I ordered my eyes to open.
They’re not listening.
It’s so quiet here. Cold. The pain is fading.
I jerked back to consciousness.
Something had woken me; I’d been dreaming. Jeanie had been whispering in my ear, telling me everything was going to be okay. That I had to hang in there.
She was right.
I was so cold. Tired.
But I wasn’t allowed to die.
Near death clarity was a much needed slap to the face.
I loved her.
The room swam into focus with startling clarity. I knew this place, the pictures on the wall familiar and comforting. Paintings of young boys with mischievous smiles, their faces grimy and heads full of devious plans. I remembered Mom standing on the veranda, paintbrush waving in the air and a smile on her face as she watched my brothers and myself tumble in the clearing, not minding if we ripped a trouser leg or skinned a knee. Another painting of us as bear cubs, identical to the human eye, but distinct to one of our own.
I was at my parent’s cabin in the forest. I was safe.
Testing my strength, I pushed up from the bed, the sheet falling away and leaving my chest bare. My hand flew to my chest, feeling for a gaping wound, a telltale sticky wetness. No blood.
I sucked in a breath, the air whistling through my teeth. Fuck, that still hurt.
The bedroom door cracked open.
“Mom, how did—” The words died on my lips as I watched Jeanie inch her way into the room. Dressed in a clingy scoop necked top and a floaty floor length skirt, she looked nothing like she normally did, with her baggy clothes and everything like the woman of my fantasies.
Her hands smoothed over the skirt, picking at one of the many embroidered birds dotted across the midnight blue background. Her eyes darted to my chest, lingering in a way that had heat flooding my cheeks and blood rushing to my cock.
It took me less than two seconds to realize I was butt naked under this sheet.
And less than a second for her eyes to travel the length of my body, widening at the sight of my makeshift tent pole. She swallowed, but didn’t move.
“Jeanie.” Her name came out a whisper, a benediction, a plea for her to stay. Nearly dying gave a man a whole lot of perspective, and I didn’t want to waste any more time.
“You’re feeling better?” She had to physically turn her head to meet my eyes, and I fought back the urge to chuckle, settling for a smug half smile. Even looking half dead, she wanted me.
Speaking of which… “Better than dead. Who found me? And how?” I motioned for her to come sit on the edge of the bed, grappling with the pillows as I forced myself to sitting. Beads of sweat sprung up on my brow, my eyes tight
ening as pain crawled through me.
Rushing forward, she clucked her tongue, pressing her hand behind my shoulder while she organized my pillows to her satisfaction.
At her command, I collapsed back into the cloud of pillows with a heartfelt groan. Damn, I was weak, but I still had enough strength to grab her hand before she had chance to move away. “Sit with me, please.” I widened my eyes, trying for puppy dog, and ended on grin when she gingerly lowered herself down onto the edge of the bed with a soft laugh.
“Sweet and innocent doesn’t suit you, Max,” she murmured, but she stayed where she was. Didn’t pull her hand away.
Indulging myself, I stroked my thumb across the back of her hand, back and forth until the tension melted from her shoulders, the lines around her eyes fading.
“You’re really alive,” she whispered, her eyes searching my face for the truth.
“I am. What happened, Jeanie?”
“We found you at the edge of the lake, hidden behind a fallen tree stump and covered in branches and leaves. You’d been shot.” Her eyes fell to my naked chest and I winced. I hadn’t been planning on approaching the whole I turn into a bear thing quite so soon, but she was going to have questions.
“I remember that part. I think I was drugged too.”
“We found a dart not too far away from you, and…” Her voice trailed off, her lips tightening and throat working.
“Sweetheart, it’s okay. I’m here—look at me.”
“That’s just it! You shouldn’t be! You were dead!” She looked as if she were considering hitting me, her fingers twitching and curling up into her palm as she tugged away from me.
“Nearly dead,” I corrected, not knowing where to begin to explain the whole healing powers of a shifter. A human might not have been able to come back from the brink, but once the bullet was removed, a shifter had a better chance than most. “Who removed the bullet?”
“Jack. He—he dug it out while you were bleeding in the dirt. There was so much blood!” Her voice broke, a strangled sound forcing its way out of her.
Ignoring the sharp stab of pain, I reached for her, tugging her into my arms and holding her tight as she shook. “Shhhh, he did the right thing. I’m so sorry you had to see that.” Rubbing her back in large circles, I tucked her head under my chin, breathing in her scent as I listened to the steady thump of her heartbeat. I hurt everywhere, even my eyes stung, but I would welcome ten times more pain if it would mean that Jeanie hadn’t had to go through this. “Is Jack here?”
A muffled sigh, then a small nod. “Everyone’s here.”
My eyebrows rose at the sound of suffering in her voice. “Everyone?”
“Both of your parents, Jack and Gina and their kids, Ryan and Amy and their son, Craig and Merrie. Oh, and Ralph, he’s here too.”
“Big crowd, huh?”
Another sigh, her breath hot on my skin and lashes tickling, then, “Is it that obvious?”
“That you’re not used to a crowd? Yeah, maybe just a little.” I gave her a squeeze when she tensed, waiting until she relaxed again.
“Max?”
Lifting a lock of her hair, I let it run through my fingers, my other hand content with just holding her. I could get used to this. “Uh huh?”
“What are we doing? What is this?” Her tone sounded wary, but her hand was busy petting my chest.
“We’re comforting each other. We’ve had a rough day.” As she squirmed against me, I had to bite my tongue against a groan, my cock thickening even more and demanding attention. I might be hurt, but this was my mate wriggling against me, her soft curves and irresistible scent enticing me. The only thing stopping me from rolling her underneath me and claiming her mouth was the fact that my family was under the same roof.
Though, I was about ten seconds away from not caring.
“Sweetheart…” I muttered, a low, hoarse plea.
“What?” She glanced up, her mouth opening and pupils dilating as understanding dawned on her.
Not that she could miss it, I was pretty sure needy was etched into my skin in big, harsh lines.
“Oh,” she whispered on a breath as I rocked against her hip, wanting her to know exactly how much she affected me. How hard she made me.
Trailing my hand down her spine, I circled the line of her ass, palming the plump curve of her buttock. Fuck, she was hot. A real woman, with curves designed to drive a man crazy. That he could bury himself in for days on end, worshiping and loving. “You’re driving me crazy, sweetheart,” I groaned, as she gasped against my neck, her nails digging into my skin in tiny pinpricks.
Indecision warred with desire on her face. “Max…”
I didn’t think, my lips crashing down on hers and swallowing any denial she might have voiced. Sliding my tongue between her lips, I ruthlessly claimed her mouth, swallowing her soft moans as I cajoled and teased, until she trembled in my arms. Gripping her hips, I pulled her up and over me, fitting our bodies together and holding her against me.
Her hands slid up to my face, cupping my jaw as she nibbled at my lips, her breath coming out in sweet, short pants, her tongue sliding between my teeth to chase mine, her eyes squeezed shut tight.
I broke away. “Look at me, sweetheart.” I waited for her eyes to blink open, then thrust up beneath her, sliding my rigid shaft between her legs, the cotton of the sheet and her skirt barriers that needed to be gone. Now.
Pulling her mouth back down to mine, I slid my hand down over her ass, trailing my fingers down, over her bent knee, to her ankle. Toying with the ends of the fabric, my fingers skirted soft, smooth skin.
Every muscle in her body froze, her lips pulling away from mine. Panic widened her eyes, the flush of heat fading from her cheeks. “Stop!” It was a whisper, but it carried the weight of a scream.
My hand froze, then lifted away as she started to shake. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“The scars.” This time her whisper was a broken cry of shame.
It tore into me with more devastation than any bullet could ever do. “You’re beautiful—”
She turned away, hiding her face. “You can’t know that. You haven’t seen them.”
I tried again, searching for the right words, “I know that I would love everything about you. Everything.”
She jerked away.
I bit back the yelp as she crushed me beneath her, and not the good kind of crushing.
This time her eyes were so wide, there was more white than brown. Her face was devoid of emotion—too blank for my liking. “Who said anything about love?”
Shit. “Jeanie—”
She rolled off me, her feet hitting the floor, and then she was backing away, her hands out in front of her as if to ward away any further declarations. “That wasn’t part of the deal.” Her head whipped back and forth as she refused to make eye contact.
“Sweetheart, let me explain.”
“No. I don’t want to hear it, not if you’re going to tell me you think you love me.”
I swung my legs around and off the bed, ignoring the fire shooting through my chest. Wincing, I set both feet on the ground, pushing myself up to standing and taking the sheet with me. If she was going to run from me, then I’d damn well be ready to follow. I wasn’t giving up, not when I’d been given a second chance at life.
She took a step toward me, her retreat halted. “Max! You need to stay in bed! You’ve been shot!”
“Then don’t run away from me. Talk to me.” Our words melded together.
She shook her head, her dark hair swishing back and forth as if underlining her point. “No. Not until you let go of the ridiculous notion that you might love me.”
“Do love you,” I corrected before I could stop myself.
She tensed, about to flee, so I did the only thing I could think of to keep her from running.
I dropped the sheet.
Chapter Ten
Jeanie
Oh … wow! My mouth closed with an audible click, just in tim
e to stop the drool from escaping. Minutes ago I’d been crushed up against that hard body, able to feel every inch of him through the thin cotton sheet, but that had been feeling, which had been exciting and arousing and stomach churning all in itself. This was seeing, a whole other ball game.
No matter how many times I ordered my feet to move, they remained glued to the floor, just as my eyelids remained pinned wide open, unblinking, unable to look away from one gloriously naked Max. He was hung. As in, stupendously gifted. Enough to make a woman’s eyes water and legs clench in anticipation of what could possibly happen if she ever had the chance.
He said he loves me. Or, he might love me. Soon. Maybe. Actually, it had been confusing as hell along with everything else that had happened since he’d walked into my life, the last couple of hours taking top prize in all kinds of freaky shit.
“You don’t play fair,” I eventually forced out.
“I’m playing to win.” He took a step toward me, and I couldn’t stop my gaze from dropping, from drinking in the sight of him as he prowled toward me, utterly masculine and strong, his body every woman’s fantasy and apparently designed for ultimate pleasure.
I sucked in a breath, then another, my heart hammering in my chest and palms clammy. I had to tell him why this wouldn’t work. Sure, he might find me interesting enough to put up with my imperfections for a short while, but this could never be long term.
And that’s why I had to say no.
“Maximillian Joshua Everson! You know the house rules: no running around naked!” A woman’s voice scolded from the doorway behind me and a pair of sweatpants sailed through the air, smacking Max in the chest. “You’re going to give the poor girl a heart attack.”
“Aw, Mom,” Max groaned, but he did as he was told, shoving his feet into the pants and tugging them on.
Hell, no! Max’s mom had just caught me staring at her son while he was butt naked. I wanted to curl up and die of embarrassment, heat scalding my cheeks as I made myself turn around to face her.
