Running Bear (Wounded Warriors Book 1)

by Tunstall,Kit

  After a moment, she nodded before falling into a thoughtful silence.

  Wyatt held her even closer, letting a purr of contentment escape his mouth. Circumstances weren’t ideal, but the most important thing was they were together, and they were both safe, at least for now. “I love you, Gillian, and I’m sorry I put you through hell, both for the last eighteen months, and for leaving you earlier. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I see now the right thing could never involve being away from you, especially permanently. I’m not letting you go again.”

  With her own purr of satisfaction, she cuddled closer to him. “That suits me fine, since I didn’t ask to be let go anyway. I’m going to miss my family, and our lives in Spring Hills, but I understand the necessity of breaking cleanly and moving on.” She sniffled, but offered him a brave smile that was almost convincing.

  “We’ll be okay.”

  She nodded, looking more confident this time. “I believe that with all my heart, Wyatt.”

  Epilogue

  Gillian took a deep breath for courage as she joined Wyatt on the sand. They were in one of Malcolm’s safe houses, having felt the need to spend time as just the two of them for a while. She thought they were still in Central America, though they might have been edging toward South America. She wasn’t entirely certain of the destination or the coordinates, since she hadn’t been the one to drive.

  She had left the driving to Wyatt, having been too tired to do so. She’d been exhausted for several days, and now she knew why. She’d found the device that gave her the answer in the well-stocked bathroom. Malcolm really seemed to have thought of everything. Ironically enough, he kept the boxes of tests next to a stash of condoms.

  She’d giggled at the idea, which had relieved some of her tension as she waited for the test to give her an answer. Deep down, she’d already known it was going to be positive though. Her period was regular and had been for years, and now that she was four days late, and feeling tired, nauseated, and with sore breasts, it wasn’t exactly a shock to see two pink lines. She wondered how Wyatt was going to take it though.

  He was sprawled on the sand in a sand chair, legs stretched out before him and looking relaxed. It was the most peaceful she’d seen him in a long time, though he was generally more at peace these days, since the confrontation at the base, when he had managed to control his bear. He’d faced his greatest fear, finding it unfounded, and was far more like the old Wyatt than he used to be. There were still rough times and nightmares, of course. She anticipated those would haunt him for the rest of his life, but he was with her, and he was making no effort to escape now.

  She sank down presumptuously on his lap, knowing he wouldn’t care. Especially when he realized she was wearing nothing more than a swimsuit cover-up—and the swimsuit was still drying in the bathroom. She had every intention of telling him right away, but her intentions changed as his mouth drifted down her neck, seeking out all the spots that sent tingles shooting up her spine. With a groan, she shifted her position so she was straddling his lap instead of sitting with her back to his stomach. She put her arms around his neck, taking his mouth in a hungry kiss. When they broke apart a moment later, both breathing heavily, she said “I love your mouth. I love your taste.”

  He groaned. “I love everything about you. You’re perfect for me, Gillian.”

  Though he said such things frequently now, it still sent a shiver of pleasure through her to hear them each time he verbalized how he felt. It had gone a long way toward soothing the hurt she’d carried during their eighteen-month separation, even though she’d understood the reasons for it. It still hadn’t kept the rejection from eating at her, scarring her more deeply than she’d realized, as evidenced by how much even a small admission of the depth of his feelings healed her.

  He let out a hum of satisfaction when he realized she was completely bare under the cover-up, his hands moving between her thighs to stroke her clit. “I love this part in particular.” His hand moved lower, his fingers surging inside her. “Or maybe this part. I don’t think I have a favorite.”

  She tossed back her head, pressing downward against his hand. “That’s my favorite part, at least when you do that.” Reaching between them, she dipped her hand into his board shorts, pulling out his cock to stroke the length of him. He was already hard for her, the tip of his cock leaking pre-cum to smooth her way. No wonder she was pregnant, since they rarely bothered with condoms. It was as though they had both been deliberately seeking this goal, but hadn’t spoken of it yet.

  “I take it you’re feeling better?” As he asked, he pushed aside the shoulder of her cover-up to nip her there. It was the place where he’d first marked her with his mating bite that night they had returned from Fort Glacier.

  She yelped, but then moaned in pleasure as he craned his neck to move his head lower, his mouth engulfing her nipple through the cloth covering it. She hissed in a combination of pleasure and pain as he lightly trailed his tongue over the tip of the taut bud. “Ow, that feels good.”

  He laughed against her. “That’s a strange combination,” he said, pulling away just enough to speak, and causing his lips to brush against her breast with every word.

  She shivered at the sensation. “That’s how it feels.”

  With a slight growl of possessiveness, he shifted position, slouching down more in the chair and lifting her higher to better align their pelvises. “And I love how this feels.” As he spoke, he sank inside her, until every inch of his erection had filled her.

  Her sheath clung to him, just like always, and she dug her fingers into his shoulders as she started to ride him. “I came out to tell you something,” she said as she tossed back her head, squeezing her channel rhythmically around him while she bounced up and down.

  “What’s that?” He sounded breathless as he surged upward, his hands locked on her hips to keep her against him as he thrust rapidly inside her.

  “I’m…” She trailed off, suddenly uncertain about the admission. A lot of the future was still unsettled, and she was fearful of what a baby could mean for both of them, even though she was ecstatic about the idea as well.

  “Yeah?” He prompted when her silence lengthened, though he didn’t break pace on his thrusts, adding in the swirl of his hips to further stimulate her already-twitching pussy.

  She surrendered to orgasm, feeling her thick cream coat him a second before his cock stiffened inside her, and he filled her with jets of his release. With an exhausted sigh, she laid her head against his shoulder, averting her face from his as bravery deserted her. “I’m pregnant.”

  To her surprise, he started chuckling softly. “I know.”

  In her shock, she got over her shyness and hesitation to lift her head, looking at him. “What do you mean, you know? I just found out for sure myself.”

  “Your pheromones smell different.” He shrugged. “Even if I weren’t a bear-shifter, I’d know. You’ve been a bit moody, tired, and three out of the last four mornings, you’ve thrown up before feeling great afterward. We hardly ever use protection, and I’ll admit this is what I wanted from the day I turned myself in at the military base. The idea of you with our child somewhere on a beach just like this was the image I used to get through the uncertainty of being in that prison for days, left there to rot and never knowing when they’d come to collect me, either for execution or further experimentation. I’m thrilled about our baby.”

  She let out a soft sigh of contentment, snuggling against him once more even as she bit her lower lip. “Is it safe to have a baby?”

  He hesitated for a moment, and he didn’t offer platitudes. “The future’s uncertain. I don’t know if or when they’ll catch up with us again, and I’m certain they wouldn’t let a little thing like our baby’s age deter them from completely wiping away all evidence. But I know you and I will fight like hell to protect our children, and while we have each other, we have to live, not just be alive. If we both want the baby, and I think we do, then we n
eed to focus on that.”

  She nodded. “I want the baby very much.”

  He nodded. “Then we’ll expect the worst, but hope for the best. I don’t want to think about the future that might await us. I just want to be with you here, in the present, and let the future take care of itself.” He shifted her slightly so he could put his hand on her lower abdomen. “Today belongs to you, me, and him.”

  “Or her,” she teased as she gracefully accepted his statement about the future. He couldn’t know what awaited them, but at least they’d be together to face it.

  “Or her,” he agreed amicably. “As long as the baby’s healthy and happy, that’s all that matters.”

  He basically turned her into a pile of melting goo with those words, and she allowed the rest of the tension to fade from her body. “Do you have any idea how much I love you, Wyatt Stone?”

  “Not as much as I love you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I love you more.”

  He chuckled, seemingly never growing tired of the old pseudo-argument. “Let’s call it a draw and celebrate how much we love each other.”

  She tilted her head, looking up at him, intrigued. “What did you have in mind?” Her body was already humming with sensual energy as she envisioned all the things he might say.

  “Let’s get married as soon as possible.”

  She jerked in surprise, not having anticipated those words at all. “Seriously? Do you mean it?”

  He grinned at her. “You’ve been my fiancée since we were eighteen. Almost ten years later, I think it’s time you made an honest man out of me before I have a baby out of wedlock.”

  She giggled, even as she rolled her eyes. “When you put it like that, how can I fail to do the right thing?”

  He threaded his hand in the back of her hair, holding her head steady as his mouth settled over hers in a slow, tender kiss. “I think I finally have everything right myself. I spent so long going in the wrong direction, but I’m finally where I belong. With you and our baby. I’ll never leave you again.”

  With a sigh, she melted against him, taking comfort in the sincerity of his words and clinging to them. She was absolutely certain he meant every word, and there was no need to confirm she felt the same. He already knew that. There was no point in dragging up the past if they were going to put focus on living in the present and hoping for the best from the future. There was no space for regrets or recriminations when they had so many reasons to celebrate, and so much love between them.

  ******

  Look for the rest of the stories, coming soon:

  Author Bio

  Kit Fawkes is the pen name Kit Tunstall uses when writing steamy paranormal (especially shifter) romances. It’s simply a way to separate the myriad types of stories she writes so readers know what to expect with each “author.”

  Kit Tunstall lives in Idaho with her husband and two sons. She enjoys writing several genres and subgenres, but almost everything she writes has a strong romantic element. A fan of post-apocalyptic, zombie, and dystopian books, she prefers to read or view such stories from the comfort of her living room and never, ever in person.

  If you enjoyed this story and would like to receive notifications of new releases or access bonus chapters for your favorite books, please join my Mailing List. You’ll also receive six books just for joining. If you prefer to receive notifications for just one, or a few, of Kit’s pen names, you’ll have the option to select which lists to subscribe to at signup.