“I turned into my bear. I ran like a wild thing. I convinced myself I was inhuman and there was no weak part of me that loved you. That could be hurt. But I was wrong.”
“How did you figure it out?” she asked.
“Wyatt,” he said. “Well, for starters. He pointed out that all the things I was feeling fit the definition of love as much as it did the feeling of mates. So it didn’t really matter what I called it.”
“I see,” she said.
“And he pointed out that as much as I don’t want to admit it, I really am human,” he said, shrugging.
She grinned. “Only a little.”
“A lot,” he said. “I like doing human things with you. Talking with you. Learning to let out that side of me.” He looked into her eyes. His were so dark, rimmed with long, lush lashes that gave them depth. “That side of me is safe with you. You make it easier to be human.”
She blinked.
“You make it easier to love you,” he said, pulling her in against him. “I love you, Harmony. I always loved you. Can you forgive me?”
She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. It wasn’t even the grogginess, which had mostly faded while talking to her girlfriends, though the headache remained.
It was just such a shocking turnabout. But it all made sense. The jealousy, the way he cared during sex, the way he opened up during her date.
He trusted her, maybe more than anyone else in the world. And she’d never let that trust be replaced.
“I love you too,” she said. “So much, you silly bear.”
He growled against her and kept her tight. She could feel the emotion running through him, so she just kept her head against his shoulder and breathed out, giving him time to adjust.
They stayed there for a long moment, listening to the sounds of their friends talking outside.
When they pulled apart, he took her hand again and placed it to his lips for a soft kiss. “I hear human women like that,” he said, meeting her eyes.
“Sure,” she said. “But I can think of other things they like too.” She wiggled her eyebrows, and he caught her in a hug, laughing.
“Well, we can have that too, later. When you’re feeling better. Right now, our friends are waiting outside with some dinner, if you’re up for eating.”
“I am,” she said. “Can you help me change?” She was still wearing the clothes from earlier and wanted out of them.
“Sure,” he said. “Got your bag right here.”
He quietly helped her into her clothes, being the perfect gentleman, and all the while, Harmony marveled a how much each little touch, each little graze of his skin made her light on fire.
She stopped him with a hand on his arm and looked into his eyes. “So am I your mate?” she asked. “Or how does that work?”
He nodded. “Yeah, technically it happened when we did it without protection.”
“Oh,” she said, shock running through her. “You scoundrel.”
He scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, well, that’s why I sort of thought we were together, as it were.”
She laughed. “That makes a lot of sense now. Okay. Is that it?”
“Well, and you seeing and accepting my bear.”
“Done,” she said. “He’s always saving my ass, after all.”
“And he always will,” Mav said, leaning in and rubbing his nose to hers.
She chuckled and stood slowly, doing a small stretch because her body felt tight and cramped. When her legs buckled, he was there to catch her, sweeping her up in his arms.
“My Prince Charming,” she said.
“Bear Charming,” he said, adjusting her so he could hold her high against his chest. Then he kissed her forehead. “So we good?”
“We’re good,” she said. “I love you.”
He paused for a second and then grinned. “I love you too.” He took a step toward the door and then stopped when she tugged on his sleeve.
“Hey, Maverick?”
“Yeah?”
“I like this whole civilized thing you’re doing, but um… in bed… can you still be… a little wild?”
He raised a dark eyebrow and then threw back his head and laughed. “Every damn time, babe. Every damn time.”
She snuggled in against his chest in satisfaction. That was good enough for her.
And Maverick, for his part, laughed the whole way to the living room. And when he asked why, he could only raise an eyebrow and say one thing.
“It’s a secret.”
While the others laughed and teased him, Harmony just grinned.
She didn’t care what everyone else thought about Maverick being tamed. In some ways, he was. But to her, when they were alone, he’d still be her bear.
As well as the man she loved the most.
Epilogue
“So, Uncle wild bear Maverick,” Mav said, putting his hands behind his head as he leaned his chair back against the wall. “I like the sound of that.”
“You aren’t that wild anymore,” Ruby said. “But yes, you’ll be an uncle.”
“I’m sure I’ll still be able to teach him all the things he needs to know, as a young bear.”
“I think I can handle that,” Shane said, putting his hand protectively over his wife’s stomach.
Ruby glared at both of them. “Just what makes you both so certain it won’t be a girl?”
Maverick stood straight up out of his chair, abruptly, thumping his hand into his palm. “I hadn’t thought of that,” his gaze narrowed as he looked around the group. “Now what are we going to do?”
He got out from around the table and started to pace in front of it. “First, we’ll have to keep any male bears away for the first twenty years, maybe forever. We’ll have to teach her to be fierce, to not put up with crap. Maybe we’ll just lock her—mphhh—”
He was cut off by Harmony’s hand over his mouth as she looked apologetically over at Shane and Ruby, who looked vaguely disturbed and yet slightly amused.
“I’ll handle this,” she said, slipping a hand through Maverick’s arm and leading him out of the cabin, ignoring his protests.
When they were finally outside in the dark, she put her arm around his waist and he finally calmed down enough to stop ranting and simply walk next to her, enjoying her company and the quiet night outside.
Bonnie and Jessie had already known about Ruby’s pregnancy, so Maverick was the last to know, and only hadn’t been told because he’d been so busy with Harmony.
He’d been pretty calm the past few days, but the prospect of being an uncle, of having another little bear around, seemed to bring out all of the animal instincts in him at once.
“Calm down,” Harmony said, sensing his unease even though he was now silent.
“I know,” he said softly. “It’s just…I want to be for him, or her, everything that my mother wasn’t for me.”
“Shane and Ruby will do that, they’ll be amazing.”
“I know,” he said. “But I want to help. I want them to know I’m here too. And I…” He stopped walking and looked at her, his dark eyes glinting in the darkness, his handsome face still breathtaking to her. “I guess it makes me think about being a father too. I hadn’t thought about it. Not in the way I should have.” He pulled her in tight, hugged her against him as he leaned on a tree, pulling them out of the light, out of sight of everyone.
Then he leaned down and kissed her. Deeply. Hard. His tongue swept inside to entwine with hers, and she moaned softly as she accepted and then returned the kiss.
As they kissed, his hand found her waist, caressing and then moving carefully over her belly, resting there protectively. She smiled against his lips, pulled back, and put a hand over his.
“I’m not pregnant yet, silly.”
“I know,” he said. “But when you are, I promise to protect you and the baby. To do everything for you. To make sure you never want for anything.”
Ruby laughed out loud at that, leaning forward and holding
her stomach, and Maverick raised to his full height and cocked his head down at her in confusion.
“What?” he asked.
“I just…remember that dating profile you wrote for Shane back then? The really ridiculous one?”
He raised one dark, arched brow. “No. I don’t remember any ridiculous profile. I remember a really good one.”
“Will protect young? Will gather much food? Something like that?”
“Oh,” he said, grinning as he put his arms around her and caged her back against the tree with a little growl. “Well, just the bare necessities that a mate should provide, obviously.”
She laughed again, then gasped as he nipped at her ear. “Obviously. Or do you mean the bear necessities?”
“Oh, you’re going to pay for that bear pun,” he said, pinning her hands over her head.
“Get a room!” a voice shouted, and Maverick turned so that Harmony could see Jesse and Bonnie walking together past them in the direction of their cabin.
“I’m a bear!” Maverick yelled back. “The whole forest is my room!”
“In that case, we’re going to get a room so we don’t have to see you,” Bonnie teased, sticking her tongue out as Maverick glared at her.
Then Jesse squeezed her ass, making her giggle as she ran forward in front of him.
But Maverick didn’t see that, he’d already turned his attention back to his mate, and was drawing a finger over her shoulder, making her shudder with anticipation.
No matter what he did, Maverick was an expert at holding her attention.
“Hey, get a room!” another voice called, and Maverick let out a frustrated groan.
“We’ve already heard that joke!” he snapped back at Shane, who was walking by with his arm around Ruby.
“Well, you obviously weren’t listening, since you’re still out there!” Ruby retorted. “And besides my friend deserves more than a romp in the bushes.”
“I’ll have you know my mate likes romps in the bushes!” he yelled back, as they laughed and walked away, waving goodnight.
“Hey,” Harmony said, smacking him on the arm and making him chuckle.
“Well, it’s true,” he said, nuzzling against her as she glared at him and tried to be pissed and failed.
“Well, yeah, but does anyone else need to know that?”
“I guess there’s a little bit of wild bear in you too, right?” he asked.
“Nah, I just think you got me to walk on the wild side,” she answered.
“So what do you think about walking on the wild side and having a cub together?” he asked. “Because I think we should do that ASAP.”
She shrugged. “I’m up for it if you are. Heck, we could have made one already, and wouldn’t even know.”
He cocked his head. “I hadn’t thought of that.” Then without another word, he put an arm behind her knees and hefted her up into his arms and started trudging in the direction of their cabin.
“Maverick! What are you doing?” she asked.
“I just think we should hedge our bets. Just in case,” he replied, giving her a wink. “Make sure we’re doing all we can.”
“Oh, of course,” she said, unable to stop laughing at his logic. “We should probably just not leave the cabin until we’ve achieved it.”
“Hm. You’re right. I hadn’t thought to go that extreme, but…”
She swatted him gently on the back of the head, and he grinned, letting her know that he was mostly just teasing.
“I’m serious,” he said. “But I’m also just happy with the two of us. No matter what happens, I still feel like the luckiest bear in the world.”
“And I’m the luckiest woman,” she said.
“Yeah, I guess that’s probably true,” he said cockily, making her try to swat him again.
“You—”
He ducked. “Hey, don’t worry. I’m not basing it on nothing. I’m about to back it up,” he said as he walked up the front steps with her and opened the cabin door.
He set her down to lock the door and was surprised when she threw her arms around his neck to kiss him, pressing him up against the door.
“All right,” she said. “Prove it.”
He grinned against her lips, and then did just that.
* * *
* * *
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Bear-ever Yours
Leah Maitland looked from the address on her phone to the palace-like building in front of her and stared in shock.
Someone, somewhere, was playing a universal joke on her, and it wasn’t very funny.
“Are you sure?” she asked, turning to the cab driver. But he had already shut her door and was pulling away. She sighed and put a hand over her face, which was sweating in the warm ocean breeze blowing from the beach only a hundred yards away, just on the other side of the expansive hotel.
When she’d received an invite to this little island in the Caymans, she’d been sure it was a scam. She never won things like this, and besides, she couldn’t remember ever having entered the so-called contest she’d won.
She sighed and put her phone in her pocket. Best to just get this over with and hope that whoever planned this wasn’t waiting to just laugh at her.
The hotel was the nicest she’d ever seen. Clean, intricately in-laid tiles greeted her, sparkling in granite in the open, spacious lobby. People sat here and there in plush, circular chairs with cushions in tropical colors. Everyone seemed relaxed and happy, drinking fruity, refreshing looking drinks from tall glasses. She breathed in the air conditioning that mingled with the refreshing island scents and looked out through the windows at the back of the hotel, which overlooked a perfect blue and green ocean.
She took a few steps toward the check-in counter, but before she could reach it, she was greeted by a man with a tray.
“Leah Maitland?” he asked. He was tall, tanned from life on the island, with short blond hair and striking blue eyes. He wore a professional-looking gray suit and had a sharp look to his features.
“Yes,” she said hesitantly, turning to him as he looked her over. She knew what he saw. An woman of average height with short, intensely curly hair in a wild halo around her face, a curvy, some would say generously proportioned body, and deep brown skin. A pretty face with round eyes and a wide, generous mouth.
She used it to smile at him and she swore she saw a blush beneath that deep island tan.
“I’m sorry.” He held out the orange, icy-looking drink from the tray. “Mr. Weston will be right down to take you to your room. Well, your suite, really.”
Her eyes widened. “Suite?”
He waved a hand. “As you know, Mr. Weston made sure it was all taken care of.”
“Because of the contest?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes,” the man said hesitantly. “If you would like to sit for a moment...” He tucked the tray under his arm and gestured to a chair not far from the front desk. It was by a small table and looked out toward the ocean. Leah sighed and walked with he
r drink in one hand and her large suitcase in the other to the chair and slumped in it, setting the drink on the small glass table so she could pull the large tote she was carrying off her shoulder and drop her purse.
So many things.
Her phone beeped and she ignored it. Stupid Ignus (her boss) would be probably bothering her this entire trip, making it everything but fun. But she was tired of spending every second at his every whim. Just these two weeks, she’d have her time all to herself.
The phone beeped again and she muted it and picked up her drink again. She kicked her legs over the arm of the chair and looked over at the back doors. And froze.
They were glass, and through them, she saw a man walking in.
No, that was understating it.
There was a MAN walking in. Slow motion, ginormous pecs bouncing, tanned six-pack glistening, long legs muscled, taut and large. Dripping wet, wearing only a low-slung swimsuit and sandals on his gloriously nearly naked body. Gorgeous blond hair shimmering with water and sunlight.
She sucked harder on her straw to prevent an immediate drool fest. She then realized there were others with him. Women, mostly. One stopped to talk to him and Leah nearly fell in love with him as she watched him explain something while pointing to a piece of equipment the woman had handed him.
Then she frowned. She recognized that. A snorkel. And then she noticed he had something in his other hand. A black vest, attached to a heavy metal tank. Her heart sunk.
A scuba instructor.
Just great, she thought, sitting back in her chair with a sigh. The first man to make her heart beat double time in over ten years, and he had to be someone who spent 90 percent of his time in one of the places she had little to no experience with. The water.
She kept her eyes on the captivating man-creature walking further into the lobby, flexing those amazing muscles as he carried all of that equipment. He stopped at a desk near the back and started handing equipment over it. She bit her full lower lip and worried it slightly, imagining those huge, capable, tanned, strong-looking hands running over her curves.
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