by Amelia Jade
Closing her eyes, she took in a long, slow breath, and then opened the door.
“Hi,” Hector said.
She shut the door, the air expelling from her lungs in one violent burst. It wasn’t possible. He couldn’t be here.
“Hello?” he said from the other side.
It was Hector’s voice. It looked like Hector. But it couldn’t be.
“Who are you?” she asked through the door.
“It’s Hector,” he replied, sounding puzzled. “Are you not Rachel? Are you her evil twin?” There was a tinge of humor to his voice.
“Not funny,” she replied. “Hector is under house arrest or some bullshit. You can’t be him. He’s not allowed out.” She carefully didn’t mention the fact that he’d been there the night before. “Maybe you’re his evil twin.”
“Nope, it’s me. Back again. I’m sorry I had to leave early this morning, but things are going better at the embassy now. I’ve got some freedom to move around.” There was a pause. “Can I come in? I’m feeling really silly talking to a door instead of you. Especially after last night.”
Rachel opened the door. “What did you say to me after we finished the first time?”
He recoiled in surprise at the suddenness of it all. Then his eyes narrowed and he took on a thoughtful look for a few moments before replying, “I said that it had been intense. But why all the secret code and questions? It’s me, Rachel. Made with genuine, one hundred percent real Hector. No preservatives or additives.”
“I see. Come in,” she said, stepping back from the doorway and letting him inside.
Stepping in, he stayed on the front mat while closing the door behind him, making no effort to remove his shoes. “Am I welcome?” he asked at last.
“I’m not sure. Are you? How are you here?”
Hector shook his head in frustration. “I talked to Andrew. I’m no longer confined to quarters. I just have to sneak out, sort of. Letting as few people as possible see me.” He shrugged. “There are few shifters at the embassy to begin with. It’s not hard to leave without anyone noticing. So, here I am again. Where else would I go once I was free anyway?”
Rachel couldn’t quite keep the smile off her face. “I’m sorry, I guess I’m just nervous. It seemed way too good to be true for you to actually be here. So I feared a trap.”
He frowned. “Did we watch a thriller last night or something? When did you get so paranoid?”
“I…don’t recall which movie we put on last night,” she said with a laugh. “Someone wouldn’t let me watch it.”
Hector grinned, relaxing and finally removing his boots. “I don’t recall getting much in the way of a protest from anyone.”
“Indeed,” she said with a false snobbish sniff of the air. “I decline to comment.”
He chuckled. “Maybe we can finish watching the movie tonight then?”
“Perhaps later. So does this mean that you got your job back?”
Hector sobered. “No, not quite. I’m still relieved of duty, but I’m working full-time on the repairs and a few renovations that Andrew wants done that the fire has given us the impetus to do. So I’ll be working on those full-time during the days, but the nights are now my own again.”
“That’s nice,” she said. “So you thought you’d come and spend the evening with me?”
He smiled and nodded.
“Well, you can,” she said slowly. “But I have other plans for an hour and a half. If you want to see me, you’ll have to come along.”
Hector looked slightly pensive. “Would you prefer I just leave and come back? I can do that, you know. I don’t want to intrude on you and your gang.”
“My gang?” she asked dangerously.
“Spoken like a true gangster,” he teased. “You and your groups of women. It’s kind like gangs.” Hector paused thoughtfully. “Or maybe it’s more like a cult, where they worship you because you organize them all.”
Rachel stared at him with a mixture of horror and hilarity, unsure of the reaction she was going to have in the end. “I don’t know what to say to you right now.”
He grinned from ear to ear, obviously pleased with himself. “Then don’t say anything at all.”
He stepped forward and took her into his arms, lowering his head to kiss her. Rachel inhaled sharply at the brush of his stubble against her face but was silenced as his lips sealed against hers. The heat of his kiss made its way into her very core, warming her near instantly.
They broke apart a few seconds later.
“It’s definitely you,” she said breathlessly, holding onto one of his arms for support, even though he had them both wrapped around her still.
“I told you it was,” he replied, kissing her on the forehead, heat searing through his skin to the point that Rachel wondered if he’d just branded her forehead from his lips.
Images of the night before, of the two of them interlocked on the couch and then the bedroom, flowed through her, awakening her desire once more. The draw to just follow him to the bedroom grew and grew until it became unbearable, and she felt her hand slip lower on his chest, heading toward his belt and the bulge she could see forming below.
“No,” she said at the last moment, shaking her head and pulling back. “Not now. Stop.”
Hector shook his head and a deep rumbling growl, like that of summer thunder as it came rolling in over the plains, filled the room as he got himself under control. His right arm still held her, wrapped around her back, but he stepped away, so they were more standing next to each other instead of facing. She saw his lungs rising and falling as he took in huge lungfuls of air to try and calm himself.
“Sorry,” he said through a clenched jaw. “Didn’t mean to.”
A moment later his body language changed and he relaxed, tension flowing out of first him, then her as the moment passed them by and they could resume normal activities.
“That’s some powerful stuff,” she said quietly.
He nodded. “Not all mine though, which is what makes it hard to resist. I can stop myself, but when you react like that, it…it makes it harder, if you’ll excuse the pun.”
The two of them laughed. Then Hector brought his left hand up and laid it on her stomach. “How are you doing?” he asked, his intent clear.
“We’re good,” she said. “Really good. Growing like a weed, and starting to get nice and active too.”
Hector nodded. “I felt him once last night while you were asleep.”
“You were awake?”
He looked away sheepishly. “I…um, was listening to its heartbeat,” he admitted at last under her gaze.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. I’ve never been quite so close to someone pregnant before. It’s all new to me.”
Rachel smiled, reaching out to take his hand and keep it on her stomach even as he tried to pull away. “Have you thought about being a dad before?”
The question came out so suddenly, so unexpectedly that it caught both of them by surprise. Rachel cursed herself for letting it slip out like that. She’d been wondering it herself, almost since she’d met Hector, and definitely since their first date. It wasn’t something that had truly come up however, but she’d known it would. After all, in two months or so she was going to give birth. If he intended to be a part of her life for the long-term, which was apparently the only way he saw things with her, then being a bear dad was just what he was going to have to do.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t scared shitless of his answer to the question. What if he wasn’t interested? Did he expect her to get rid of the child? She didn’t know, though she suspected not. Still, it was a big question, and an even bigger answer. What would he choose?
There was a long pause while Hector looked at her. His face grew serious, the laughter and cheer fading the longer his brown eyes stared at her. She admired his defined jaw and the beginnings of laughter lines in his face. Hector was always laughing, which was something she loved about him. But he was
n’t laughing now, and that worried her.
“I hadn’t thought about it too much until I met you,” he admitted. “I just sort of always knew I wanted to have some cubs one day, but the right woman had never come along, so it was never a discussion I had in earnest with them, or myself.” He paused, working his brain some more. “But I have thought about it. Several times in fact, since that first day you appeared at the embassy out of the blue.”
“You’ve thought about being the father to my child since then?” she asked, surprised.
“Yes,” he said simply. “I don’t choose who my animal decides is my mate. That is something designed by fate.”
Rachel rocked backward at his words. “You…think that I’m your mate?”
Hector’s eyebrows narrowed. “Yes, of course.”
“I see.”
He seemed to curse angrily. “I’m sorry, Rachel. I didn’t mean to spring it on you like this. I was waiting for the right moment to bring that up. I know humans have a much harder time accepting that truth than another shifter. You’re used to extremely long courtships and such. I shouldn’t have been so blunt.”
Rachel just looked at him, at a loss for words. Hector had known all along that they were mates? That he was destined to be with her, or nobody at all? That seemed, well, far-fetched didn’t really cover it. Insane, maybe? Crazy? Impossible? There was just no way for him to be that sure.
“Have you thought of any names yet?” he asked, his hand still on her swollen stomach.
She blinked several times, bringing herself back to the present, tearing her mind out of the near endless loop of thoughts it had been having about the two of them being mates, destined to be together by fate.
“Um, not yet,” she said. “I don’t know the gender, so I have to come up with both. Nothing so far has seemed suitable.”
He smiled and nodded in understanding. “Got it.”
“Any suggestions?” she asked lightheartedly, glad for the change in subject.
“Anything but Hector,” he joked.
They both laughed.
“So, Hector, did you want to stick around and come to one of my groups tonight?”
He bit his upper lip. “And be surrounded by a dozen pregnant women?”
Rachel let her jaw drop open. “What? No, not at all. You’ve got it all wrong!”
He frowned. “I do?”
“Of course,” she said, patting him gently on the shoulder. “There’s only ten pregnant women.”
The look on his face was priceless.
Chapter Sixteen
Hector
He sat up in bed, eyebrows furrowed, mouth pressed into a thin line as a thought occurred to him.
“What’s wrong?” Rachel blearily asked from next to him.
Hector couldn’t help but smile. He was getting used to going to sleep with Rachel and waking up next to her. It was relaxing and amazing in ways he couldn’t truly express to anyone who hadn’t experienced it before. Everything just felt right, even in subtle ways he’d never have expected to need until he’d met her.
They’d been sleeping together every night now for over a week, ever since he’d shown back up at her door unexpectedly and been dragged to one of her support groups. It wasn’t the only one he’d gone to, but for the most part he let Rachel go on her own. The women needed to have friends, and she didn’t need him intruding into every facet of her life, nor did he want to. He wanted his own space too, not always when he was at the embassy working.
Things hadn’t been going well there. Oh, the renovations themselves had been progressing along just fine, but it was his relationships with the others there that were heavily, heavily strained. Andrew had taken a hit by releasing him from house arrest, while Gray was caught between understanding Hector’s actions and his loyalty to Andrew. Martin, meanwhile, hadn’t spoken a single word to him since they’d fought, and all the other shifters there seemed to view him somewhere in between. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to be for him, so he spent as little time there as possible, showing up to work and leaving right after.
It hurt him, after how hard he’d worked to establish himself as one of the good guys, as someone the other shifters could trust if they ever needed help. Now they spoke in hushed tones when he was around, occasionally casting angry looks his way. Hector was feeling cut out, as if he’d been pushed out of the life he once knew and loved.
Hector didn’t blame them. He’d been on duty. It was his responsibility at that point to see to the safety of the others, and he’d failed. A complete and total failure. He’d left his post, and the fire had burned the embassy and taken the life of one of their own with it. It had come at such an inopportune time. A minute or two in either direction, and it wouldn’t have mattered.
“I just forgot something,” he replied to Rachel.
“What did you forget?” she asked, rolling over to face him, resting her head on one of his thick arms.
“I’ve been meaning to ask Andrew if he ever figured out how the fire started.”
“What do you mean?”
He smiled and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. Rachel was clearly still half-asleep, or even more than that.
“There wasn’t anything really flammable in the area where it started. So I want to know what caused it to go up just as I left the embassy.”
Rachel rubbed his chest. “Why? Do you think someone started it?”
Hector sat up straight. “I…no, I hadn’t thought that,” he said. “Not until you just mentioned it at least.”
Could someone have started the fire? He’d been operating under the assumption for so long that it had just been a horrific case of unfortunate timing. But there were a few things that would make more sense if it had been deliberately set.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked, her voice sounding stronger, more awake. She must have felt him stiffen at her question.
“I’m just trying to figure out if your idea that it was set has any merit.”
“I see.”
“I don’t get it though. Who would set fire to the embassy? And more importantly, why would they feel the need to do such a thing? It’s not like there’s been any major trouble between us and the residents lately. Things have actually been rather peaceful besides the odd drunken mistake.”
“I don’t know,” she agreed, still resting on his arm. “But it’s awfully coincidental that it went up in flames just as you walked outside.”
“I know. But that doesn’t mean that someone had to set it,” he replied. “Besides, for that to happen, they’d have to know I wasn’t at my post. So you’re saying that someone arranged for the couple to be arguing outside, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to ignore it and that I would go outside to stop it?” He snorted. “Come on Rachel, that’s pretty extreme and you know it.”
“I’m not saying it isn’t. It seems way too crazy to be true. It’s likely that it was just bad timing. But I think you should figure out how the fire started for sure. Ask Andrew, get some answers at least. That way we can eliminate this crazy theory at least. Maybe it was old electrical that finally got overloaded with all the usage. From what I understand talking to locals, that place was abandoned for a long time before you all took it over.”
He nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good likelihood for certain. I’ll have to find out what the fire chief told Andrew.”
“Definitely,” she said, one hand dragging up along his bare chest, through the slight swirls of body hair that he had concentrated toward the center of it.
He shivered in response, loving her touch. “Are you trying to seduce me?” he rumbled into her ear, turning onto his side and sliding his upper leg between hers.
The covers slid down as he did, revealing that she wasn’t wearing any clothing. Hector dimly remembered her going to bed in some sort of shorts and tank top, which meant that at some point she’d divested herself of them all.
“Trying?” she asked innocently.
Hector grinned and roll
ed gently onto his back. Rachel got the hint and came with him, until she was straddling him. They were both naked, and he could feel his cock growing underneath her. Rachel placed both hands on his chest and lifted herself slightly, repositioning her body atop him. When she lowered herself again, he could feel his shaft positioned directly between her legs. Warmth slowly covered him as her hips started to move in a sensual back and forth manner, revealing to him just how aroused she was.
At one point he tucked his hips downward while Rachel came forward, and he slipped out from under her. On her backward stroke she couldn’t stop in time and the tip of him slid directly into her, lining up perfectly. They both gasped at the sudden change in sensation, but neither stopped. Rachel continued to move back and forth, while he lifted his hips to meet her, each time letting a little more of himself slide into her.
In short order she was taking him all, deep inside of her. The hands she’d rested on his chest were now curling up from the sensations she must be feeling, leaving deep welts in his skin. For his part Hector was alternating between caressing and spanking her, encouraging Rachel to move faster and faster against him.
He didn’t have much longer in him, overwhelmed by the physical sensations and the sight of her naked body grinding atop him. It was a beautiful sight: the swell of her stomach and the thickness of her body. The way her lips parted into a little O-shape as she slid backward to take him inside of her, or the way her eyes rolled up into her skull. It all added up to an overwhelming amount of sensory ecstasy that he just couldn’t take.
Moments later he groaned and shook underneath her, emptying himself inside of her with a few short spasms of his hips.
Rachel sighed in delight and licked her lips as she sat back against him while Hector just lay almost spread-eagled on the bed looking up at her.
“Yeah, trying,” he finally managed to say with a wink.
Rachel looked at him, then shifted her hips slightly while looking down at her side, then back at him. “I think I can say that I succeeded.”
He grinned. “I’m not so sure. We might have to do it again. You know, just in case it was an accident.”
