Bear-ly Valentine's

by M. L. Briers

  He’d never felt his bear like that before. He had to wonder if the beast would have rolled over on its back and let her stroke its stomach … let her curl up on him and go to sleep…

  It felt strange to have such a docile bear. Soothed by her.

  Every now and again the beast would raise its head and stake its claim … just in case Jack had forgotten or something … but then it would go right back to waiting for what came next.

  The bear wasn’t a patient beast – he knew that – and yet the animal was doing a damn fine impression of it right then.

  “It won’t hurt you …” Jack said quickly. “I … I wouldn’t hurt you,” he added.

  “Yeah, I’m kind of getting a sense of that.” She shrugged her shoulders again. “I mean, you guys stayed hidden for so long – if you went around eating people I’m sure someone would have noticed you before then, right?”

  “Sure…” he nodded, “but then there are always missing humans that just disappear one day.”

  Lorelai immediately stopped what she was doing and turned her head slowly to look at him in disbelief. She stared and Jack frowned.

  “Because that’s a comforting thought.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ~

  “Oh, what …? Wait … that’s not…” Jack was shaking his head fast, too fast. She thought he might make himself dizzy, she’d be damned dizzy if she did that.

  “Relax … I’ll blame the vampires.” Lorelai chuckled and after a second or two he looked relieved.

  “You like to push the boundaries, right?” He asked with just one quirked eyebrow.

  “If it’s not broke don’t fix it,” she offered back, placing the last of the washing up on the side and yanking out the plug before she turned towards him with dripping hands and eyed the towel that he was holding in his hands.

  He placed the dried bowl down on the side and offered her the towel … there was a brush of fingers as she took it from him.

  At first she thought she’d got an electric shock from him, and she yanked back her hands, but there was a tingle that ran from her hands, up her arms, and across her body…

  That definitely didn’t feel painful.

  “You felt that.” He gave her a little crooked smile.

  “What was that?” She asked, resisting the urge to rub her hands together against the little aftermath of the feeling that resided there.

  “Here, I’ll show you,” he said and held out one really big hand towards her.

  Lorelai’s eyes snapped down to it as if he’d offered her an outstretched viper. She frowned, just a little, but he caught it.

  “I don’t bite.” He leaned in a little and whispered, and her eyes flicked up to his. His body jolted inside, and he knew that he could get lost in her eyes. Lost, and never want to be found again.

  “Sure you do,” she grinned.

  “Yeah, ok, well you’ve got me there. But, I don’t bite without good reason,” he offered back, looking sexier than hell as his eyebrows did a little jig over his eyes.

  “And an axe murderer has a good reason…?”

  “Can you just put your hand in mine?” he grumbled.

  “Just don’t squeeze, broken fingers can be annoying,” she lifted her hand and he held his breath.

  He knew what she was going to feel, he’d feel it too, and the anticipation of feeling that again … a longer, more powerful version … made his length twitch and his muscles lock a little with excitement.

  The feel of her soft skin as it brushed against his palm was thrilling. The tingles that ran up and over his body were erotic, and he watched her face the whole time as she experienced it too.

  Lorelai giggled like a schoolgirl. It felt good … so good that she wanted it never to end, and yet she wanted to snatch back her hand too.

  That sensation chased over her body and she was momentarily lost in it. That and his eyes – they were darkening, clouding over right there in front of her.

  “Does that happen every time?” She wondered out loud.

  “In a way,” he said.

  Those dark eyebrows were dancing again. For a big mountain man with a bear inside he looked damn cute when he did that, and sexy.

  Sexy cute – strange.

  “What way?”

  Jack wanted to tell her. Hell, it was right there on the tip of his tongue to just blurt it out…

  Mine…

  “Some people just connect,” he said, growling inwardly at his own cowardice.

  He’d never been one to hold his tongue. Speaking his mind had always been the rocky road to trouble for him, but now it felt too important to just blurt it out, to screw it up.

  One wrong word. One misunderstanding and she could be out of the door and running – literally and emotionally.

  What human wanted a shifter mate?

  Groupies … but even then, it was more about the thrill of a good one night stand, of what they could get out of it. Long term probably didn’t figure in their minds.

  “Connect?”

  Lorelai mulled that thought over, and the moment that something pinged within her brain, her eyes snapped down to her hand and she snatched it back from his…

  Jack tried to close his fingers around her hand before he lost that touch, the connection, but she’d taken him by surprise and his reaction time was lagging because his damn little brain was overriding the one in his head…

  “Lorelai,” he started, and noted the small step back that she took in the confines of the little kitchenette.

  “W-when you say connect…” her eyes snapped back up to his and she searched his face.

  Handsome, yes, but that wasn’t the point – although her brain still kicked her womb into jumping a little, clenching…

  Connecting … oh, don’t let that mean what I think that might, could, possibly, maybe … mean…

  Let it just be a turn of phrase … like, the earth moved … the sky fell … life as we know it would never be the same again …

  Maybe not any of those…

  That would be potentially … bad.

  Very bad.

  So bad in fact that I don’t know what to do with myself bad…

  Do I …? Crawl under a rock and make it my permanent home…?

  Throw myself under a bus…? Not that there are buses … or much of anything else up here…

  I’m rambling… I’m … done for…

  I have to keep moving… moving on down the road… did I just sing that?

  God, it’s worse than I thought. I’m losing my mind.

  Why is he staring at me like that?

  Am I talking out loud?

  No…

  Can he read my mind?

  Oh God, how bad would that be? How many times did I look at his backside … ogle it while he was lighting that fire and think…

  Don’t think!

  No… wait… vampires read minds, shifters just… shift. Into animals… bears in his case… a big … bear…

  That’s not so bad… well, it would be if he did it now…

  What if his bear is hungry when he…?

  No, he’s not going to be a bear…

  Stop it!

  Calm the hell down!

  Get – a – grip.

  “Sometimes we find people who…” he paused, narrowed his eyes on her and watched as a million emotions went across her face…

  Don’t say mate…

  Don’t say mate…

  Don’t say … say something, damn it!

  “Mate!” It was out of her mouth before she’d put her brain into gear.

  “Love too,” he shot back on a smile that went from sexy to hold onto your panties.

  “What?” She had a little panic in her voice and that sound slapped him upside the head.

  “Shifter humour,” he rushed out.

  “That’s … funny.”

  It was her turn for her eyebrows to dance. She wasn’t sure what the hell was going on there between them … those moments … the ma
gic moment when her hand was in his … but it felt like she had a little guy tapping with a really small hammer in the back of her mind…

  “Maybe we should go to bed…” he reasoned. Wanting out of the conversation for now.

  “Excuse me?” There was that rush to panic again, and yet her eyes flared with interest and her cheeks took on a red hue … desire … He knew that look, even if her words and tone didn’t match the reality of what her body was telling her.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ~

  “Not …” he shrugged, “like that.” Jack shook his head.

  Although, his body, his bear wanted full steam ahead with that idea.

  “Like what?”

  “Like…” his eyebrows danced, his brain was shooting too many X-rated images through it … and his eyes darted around as he tried to think. “Sleeping.” He growled a little.

  “Not like sleeping?” she shot back.

  “No…! Like sleeping.”

  “I like sleeping,” she rushed back.

  “Me too,” he frowned, then scowled. He shook his head. “Wait, this is just…”

  “Confusing?”

  “Kind of, yeah,” he frowned harder. “You wanna sleep?”

  “As opposed to the alternative of…?”

  “S-t-a-y-i-n-g awake…” he ground out slowly. “You look tired.”

  “Gee … thanks” she frowned back.

  She was fidgety on her feet. He wasn’t sure if she was entertaining the idea of running for the door.

  Jack made a mental note to hide the keys to his truck and stay awake all night to make sure that didn’t happen.

  “Not … like …” He bit down on his annoyance. He wasn’t saying or doing the right things to keep her calm, to explain himself. “You fell asleep in the car. I assumed…” he lifted a hand between them and her eyes snapped down to it.

  Don’t touch it! She cautioned herself.

  There be magic there … tingles and … stuff.

  “Still not going to hurt you,” he shot out when he caught her looking at his hand as if he was standing there holding an axe.

  Her axe murderer that she seemed to be so fond of.

  “Maybe not, but…” she pressed her lips together and brought her eyes back up to his. “Finish telling me about people that connect.”

  “Umm, well…” he shuffled on his feet and his eyes roamed, looking for answers in those moments when her heart was thumping within her ears, and she wanted to tell him to hurry up, spit it out, get to it… and yet she stayed silent as he did nothing at all.

  “Very informative.” She’d given up waiting.

  Jack took in a long breath and his chest expanded even further. She couldn’t help but look as his shirt hugged the muscles of his broad chest…

  Lorelai swallowed down a rush of adrenalin mixed with excitement.

  What’s not to like?

  Nobody walked by those statues of the Greek Gods covering their eyes and refusing to take in their muscles…

  You looked … it was natural…

  Natural to be curious. Natural to want to see a toned body … and boy is his toned.

  I wonder what it looks like without the shirt…

  She heard her own dirty little giggle within her mind and snapped to attention, wondering if that sound had gotten by her lips when she wasn’t paying attention.

  Lorelai snapped her eyes up to his and there he was, eyeing her like he wasn’t sure if she’d just farted.

  He bit down on frustrated annoyance.

  It should be easy to say it. He berated himself for his lack of action.

  It’s something that’s natural, but illusive…

  A mate.

  My mate.

  You are my mate!

  Why can’t I say the words?

  What the hell is holding me back?

  Is it because she’s human?

  Is it because it’s like running her over with a damn steamroller and then reversing back over her again?

  A human mate. Damn.

  Say the words … what’s the worst that can happen?

  Screaming. Screaming would be bad.

  Running would be worse.

  Screaming and running together … Whoa. That … hmm.

  Maybe if she was a witch it would be better … not a witch so that’s not even a…

  Damn.

  Pull it together.

  She’s looking at you like you just farted while she was eating … Never a good look on a woman … Never a good thing to do to a woman…

  Farting when she’s eating … ha!

  Get it together. He growled at himself.

  Concentrate on her … this is about her.

  She’s your mate, so say it…

  Mine … his beast growled.

  Yeah, not you. Me. I have to say it. You’ve been saying it like a broken damn record. He berated his bear, and the beast grunted.

  Go ahead, say it, say the words, what are you waiting for?

  There’s never going to be a good moment – because she’s always going to be human and you’re always going to be … dumb.

  “Mine,” he growled out and watched her eyebrows pull downwards into a scowl.

  “Your what?” She looked back in confusion.

  Damn, you couldn’t even get that right.

  You’re better with your fists than with your words that’s for sure.

  Do something … say something … say …

  Jack closed the distance between them. It was only small to begin with but it had felt symbolic, felt like he was taking a giant step into the next part of his life. The best part…

  He reached out and wrapped one arm around her waist and hauled her against his body. Hard muscles met soft curves and he growled inwardly at the feel of her there.

  Her head snapped back on her neck and she stared up at him, questioning his sanity…

  “You’re mine,” he growled.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ~

  “If you try to kiss me now, so help me God, I will find a way to break you.” Lorelai scowled up at him on the rushed warning that came from her lips, even if her body furiously disowned that statement.

  Jack held in place and stared back into her eyes.

  She half meant it. He could see that her mind and body were torn.

  The mating pull – fate’s little kick in the pants to mates – was working its magic, and yet – she was trying to comprehend it. She was dragging her heels when instinct said full speed ahead.

  He got that.

  A human would be confused. Some would be reluctant. Hell, in a way, he was reluctant.

  What did he know about women aside from the obvious?

  Most of them smelled nice, had great curves, and were soft. She was all three.

  Some were needy, some were clingy, and some were as nutty as a fruitcake. He’d reserve judgement on all of those things with her until he knew her better.

  He’d never had to sweet talk a woman because they normally came to him. That made life easier, but those woman were never going to be in his bed for longer than one night.

  This one was his mate. A lifelong commitment, and the only thing he’d ever committed to before was the bar, and even then, he wasn’t a hands on owner.

  He’d been bare knuckle fighter since he was a teen. He found that putting his fist into a willing opponents face kept his bear on a reasonably even keel. That was a good thing.

  He’d never been soft of heart or head – romance was for other people. Hell, he didn’t even like watching all that relationship stuff on TV.

  Valentine’s Day was coming and he’d heard his human staff droning on about it … ironically, with his name came expectation … luckily, he didn’t have to live up to that lofty goal because he didn’t have a woman.

  Now he did, sort of … and she was human ... so he guessed he had to up his game like those saps in the bar. After all, he still needed to woo her.

  “Define mine,” she bit out,
giving him the evil eye once more.

  His bear growled at that one word – mine – it might not have been said the way that he needed to hear it, but it had been said nonetheless.

  “Mate.” Jack offered back, blinking only once because he didn’t want to miss a single second of her reaction.

  She looked a little worried, a little confused, and a lot sceptical.

  Her eyes flared, and so did her nostrils, like she was trying to get enough air inside of her lungs but couldn’t seem to manage it. Her cheeks were practically glowing bright red, and her breasts were rising and falling like a storm surge at sea.

  “Define mate,” she breathed out, but he could see the understanding in her eyes.

  “I think you know,” Jack offered back on a rumble of a growl within his chest that couldn’t be denied.

  “I think I know too, but a little bit of clarity goes a long way in me not killing you,” she scowled again, and he didn’t like it.

  Jack slowly raised his eyebrows high on his forehead and stared back into her eyes. He was mesmerised by her – that close … so damn close that he was sure he could see right into her soul … she felt like his, and yet, he still hadn’t wooed her.

  Maybe he’d never woo her.

  Maybe she’d leave and he’d go crazy bear…

  There was a slow to burn smile that took his lips and she watched it grow. It backlit those dark eyes of his and made him look as sexy as hell.

  She felt the racing of her heart, even heard it in her ears – if she didn’t have high blood pressure before, she was certain that she had it then.

  She felt hot, internally hot, and his body heat wasn’t helping her cool down.

  Neither was his level of damn sexiness.

  Mate… that’s not good – that’s like ownership, and I’m not having a stamp on my butt with his name on it.

  Maybe it’s just a line that he puts out there to dupe stupid human females … well, I guess I qualify for that … alone in the middle of nowhere with a strange man...

  “Soulmate – one true mate – a pairing that can’t be denied…”

  “Okay, define can’t,” she shot back.