Jack walked to his car and got in. There were only two vehicles parked in front of the restaurant. The small pickup truck that was parked parallel to his Range Rover probably belonged to Rose and Nan.
Jack kept his eyes on the door of the restaurant. He couldn't trust himself to go back into the restaurant. He could barely keep his beast under control as it was. But he needed to know that Rose and Nan were safe. He would wait out here until they came out. Then he would make sure they got home safe.
Jack didn't know how long he sat in his car, watching and waiting. Finally, the door opened and Rose and Nan appeared. Rose was carrying a covered basket while Nan held a pot in both hands. Rose locked the door and checked it twice before guiding Nan towards the pickup truck.
As Nan walked past, she mouthed to Jack, You coming?
Jack gave a quick nod and Nan grinned. Rose held his gaze for a beat then turned away with an unreadable expression. She got in the driver's seat and started the engine.
The little pickup truck pulled away and Jack followed them at a safe distance. Rose drove carefully down the quiet street and Jack saw that there were hardly any shops and businesses open at night in this small town. Perhaps a pub or two remained open but that was it.
Jack narrowed his eyes as he realized that Rose and Nan drove down this badly lit, terribly deserted road every day after the close of business. It was full dark by the time they cleaned up the place and locked up. It was dangerous for the two women to be driving alone like this.
He needed to protect them, but—how long could he stay in Redcape Grove?
Forever, his bear growled.
Rose turned into a small lane, and drove up a badly paved driveway. She killed the engine and cut the headlights.
Jack got out of the car and went to help Nan with the heavy pot.
It was filled with soup.
“Thank you, dear,” she smiled. “Now let's go in and have some supper. I brought the leftover soup. It's good stuff.”
“It sure is,” Jack agreed. “But I think I'll just help you in and I'll leave….”
“Nonsense! You come in and you stay,” Nan snapped. She looked around furtively and whispered, “What if that big bad wolf comes back?”
With that, Nan won the argument.
CHAPTER NINE
“Put the pot on the stove,” Nan instructed Jack. “I'll warm it up and we can all sit down and have supper.”
As Jack came out of the kitchen, he heard Rose mutter, “I'll just go and have a quick shower before supper.” He watched her dart into her room and close the door.
“Don't just stand there,” Nan tut-tutted. “Sit with me.” She patted the chair beside her at the dining table.
“There aren't many other houses around here,” Jack observed. “Your nearest neighbor is a mile down the road.”
Nan nodded. “This used to be all forest.”
When his eyes widened, she chuckled and went on, “Yep, my husband built our house at the edge of the forest. It was quiet and peaceful, and being near nature is always good for the soul. Well, the forest is gone now, but I'm still here.”
She glanced towards Rose's bedroom door and said quietly, “Do you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood?”
“Yes,” Jack said, surprised. “I used to read it to my son.”
“Ah. You would have read him the fairytale version, the one where Red was untouched by the wolf, and the grandmother was rescued from the belly of the beast by a valiant woodcutter.”
Jack stared at Nan, his eyes slowly narrowing. “You said this is the fairytale version. I take it that you know another version of the story?”
“I know the true story,” Nan answered.
Jack studied her intently. “Little Red Riding Hood...”
“...was my granddaughter. I am the grandmother in the story,” Nan said.
Jack read the swirling emotions in Nan's deep, gray eyes. “So Rose is...”
“Yes, Rose is the daughter of Little Red Riding Hood.”
Jack understood at once. “Rose is half wolf.”
“You catch on fast,” Nan said. She sighed deeply and went on, “Rhonda was Rose's mother, and she did meet a wolf. And she did come to me, her grandmother. But things didn't happen like they did in the story.”
Nan leaned back and began, “Let me tell you a story, Jack. Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful, red-haired girl named Rhonda Redwood. She was sweet, kind and vivacious, and she would always stop to help anyone in need. One day, she stopped to help a wolf shifter. And he repaid her by attacking her and raping her.”
Nan stopped and closed her eyes to compose herself. “Rhonda was only eighteen and she found herself pregnant. She was scared and ashamed and she didn't know what to do. Her parents turned their backs on her when they found out that she was carrying a half-wolf abomination.”
Nan gritted her teeth and spat, “My husband was a good man, but too bad my son doesn't have the same courage and strength. He listened to his silly, narrow-minded wife and cast his own daughter out of his house. Rhonda had nowhere else to go. She came to me. I took her in and she gave birth to Rose in this house. Rose never knew her mother. Rhonda used her last breath to give Rose her name.”
Nan blinked away her tears and gestured around the house. “This is the house in the fairy tale, but Red didn't come here with a basket full of treats. She came to me with a belly full of arms and legs, and a heart that was filled with pain and sorrow. I wished that the wolf had come for me instead. If only the wolf had devoured me and left my granddaughter alone,” Nan said bitterly.
Jack reached out to hold Nan's shaking hand. “You did your best by your granddaughter and your great-granddaughter. Does Rose know…?””
“I've never hidden the truth from Rose. She knows everything,” Nan said, dabbing at her eyes.
“She is strong, like you.”
Nan shook her head and laughed softly. “She is headstrong and stubborn. And she has built a wall around her heart. She doesn't trust easily, but I can tell that she trusts you.”
“I will never hurt her,” Jack promised.
“I know. You stayed in the restaurant to protect her. You're a good man, Jack. And I know a good man when I see one,” Nan said firmly even before he could open his mouth. “I saw the way you looked at Rose. It's the same way my old man used to look at me. Like I was the most beautiful, precious thing in the whole, wide world.”
“You are beautiful,” Jack said sincerely.
Nan rapped his knuckles sharply as she got up to check on the soup. “Don't be glib,” she scolded.
Jack put up his hands in surrender when Nan whirled round and warned, “And don't try to flirt with me, young man.”
With a loud huff, she ambled off. But just before she went into the kitchen, Nan stopped and said quietly over her shoulder, “You lost your son, didn't you?”
When Jack nodded, Nan said, “Losing a child is painful. You feel as though a part of you has died as well. But it is only by living and loving fully that you keep the memory of your loved ones alive. Remember, Jack, love never dies. Never.”
CHAPTER TEN
Rose eased back from her bedroom door. She'd overheard the entire conversation between Nan and Jack.
Swallowing hard, Rose put a trembling hand on the door knob. She felt both apprehensive and relieved. She was relieved that Jack knew the truth, but at the same time, she wondered what he was thinking right now.
Squaring her shoulders, Rose took a deep breath and opened the door.
Jack was sitting alone at the dining table, deep in thought. He turned at her step and jumped up.
“Hi,” Rose said, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Her hair was damp from her shower and she was wearing a loose, red nightdress.
“Hey,” Jack said gently. “Nan said she's going to have her soup in front of the TV in her room. She said for us to finish everything in the pot.”
“Oh. Ok
ay. I...I'll go get the bowls.”
“I'll help you.”
Jack followed her to the kitchen, and Rose almost dropped the bowl when Jack's hand brushed against hers. “Here, I'll do it,” Jack said. “Let me serve you. You've been serving me in the restaurant the whole day. I'm a very good waiter. Don't look so skeptical. I used to wait tables when I was younger.”
He took the ladle from her and nudged her away.
Rose went to the dining table and smiled when Jack came out with a tray held high above his shoulder. He set the steaming bowl down in front of her and bowed, “Enjoy your meal, M'am.”
“Would you care to join me, kind sir?” she asked coquettishly.
“It'd be my pleasure.”
They ate in silence for a while. Finally, Rose looked up and said, “Why did you come to Redcape Grove, Jack?”
“I didn't intend to come here,” he answered. “It just happened. It's true I guess. Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”
“What plans were you making?”
Jack put down his spoon and sighed. “I was planning to leave everything behind. My old life, my memories, my pain.” He paused and said, “My son, Alex, died six months ago. It was an accident, but I blamed myself. He was my world, my darling little boy. I didn't take time to mourn and grieve properly, because grieving would mean acknowledging that my boy was really gone forever. So I just drifted through the days in a state of denial and suppressed anger. I was uncommunicative, and I lashed out at my brothers and my staff. I tried to drown myself in work and drink, and I began to despise and hate myself. I woke up one morning and I knew that Alex would be so ashamed of me if he saw me like this. I had become a stranger to myself and to everyone around me. I needed a break. So I left. I promised my brothers I wouldn't disappear, and I would return when I was ready.”
Rose nodded and said, “You need time to heal. And time is a great healer.”
Jack touched her chin with a finger and smiled. “How did you get to be so wise?”
“I have Nan,” she answered immediately.
“Yes you do. And she is an amazing woman.”
Rose bit her lip and said, “You...know about...the fairy tale, right?”
“Yes,” Jack replied grimly. “But it's not a fairy tale, is it?”
“So you know I'm...”
“Half wolf,” he finished for her.
Rose winced. “I don't want to be like...that wolf.” She couldn't even bring herself to say, my father. “He's a vile, base, cruel animal!”
Jack paused before saying, “I am a bear shifter, Rose.”
When her eyes rounded, he went on calmly, “I have an animal in me, but that doesn't make me an animal. I control my bear, and I control my urges. I will never use the strength and power of my beast to make anyone do anything against his or her will. I will never lose control of my beast and hurt someone.”
Rose stared at him, then hunched her shoulders to curl in on herself. “I think I might be losing control,” she whispered at last. “Of whatever is inside me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I...I have never been with a man before, but lately, I've been having dreams...about a man. I can't see his face in my dream, but I can see him doing things to my body. And...I liked it.” She buried her face in her hands. “I'm not a slut, Jack. Yet, this urge...is getting stronger. I'm scared...”
“Don't be scared. What you're going through is natural,” Jack said.
“Natural?” she sputtered. “How can it be natural?”
He frowned a little, as if considering how best to explain it to her. “What you're experiencing is your first mating heat,” he said at last. “Every shifter, and half shifter, goes through this. The first time is the most intense. It will pass. What you have to remember is that you are in control, Rose. Other shifter males will scent that you are in heat but no one can force you to do anything you don't want to do,” Jack said vehemently. “You can say no.”
Rose gulped, feeling her skin heat up. She could feel that tormenting ache between her legs again. She finally understood that this mating heat, this maddening urge was a bodily need, a hunger she needed to satisfy. She didn't want to wake up writhing and panting every night, with every inch of her sweat-drenched body throbbing and thrumming with unsated desire. It was sheer, crippling torture.
Nan had always told her, “When you are hungry, eat. When you are tired, sleep.” It was the secret to a happy, healthy life, only it was no secret at all. It was plain common sense.
If her body was crying out for something, she had to satisfy it. It was stupid to prolong her agony when it was in her power to do something about it.
No point denying what she was and depriving herself of what she so obviously needed and wanted.
Rose jerked her face up and said, “But I don't want to say no. I don't want to deny myself.”
Jack inhaled sharply. “Rose, do you know what you're saying?” he growled.
“Yes. I want to do it, Jack,” she whispered. “I want to experience what I've only experienced in my dreams. And I want to experience it with you.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Jack stopped breathing and simply stared at Rose. She kicked her chin up and folded her arms across her chest, which had the unfortunate effect of pushing up her delicious, creamy bosom.
Jack shook his head at her. “You don't want to do this.”
Rose narrowed her eyes and growled back, “I want to. Who are you to tell me what I want or do not what?”
Jack looked away but Rose stepped forward and captured his face in her hands. She stared deeply into his eyes and whispered, “Do you want me, Jack? Do you feel anything for me at all? I trust you won't take advantage of me, but don't play games with me, Jack.”
“I won't ever toy with you, Rose. You are not a game to me,” he said hoarsely.
Her eyes shone. “Then you do feel something for me,” she breathed.
Jack bent his head to press his forehead against hers. “I do. I feel very strongly for you, Rose. I know that I'm just a stranger to you, but my bear knows that you...are mine. Yet I've been fighting it and trying to deny the pull.”
“You are not a stranger, Jack. You are the man in my dreams,” she whispered. She ducked her head to hide her blush and mumbled, “It is you, Jack. I know it's you.”
Jack tilted her face up with a finger under her chin and gazed into her luminous gray eyes.
He leaned in slowly, giving her enough time to come to her senses and pull away. But she simply blinked as her lips parted in anticipation.
Jack kissed her tenderly, molding his lips to hers and gently stroking his tongue over her lips until she moaned and quivered in his arms. Gradually deepening the kiss, he pressed her to him and moved his mouth slowly against hers, guiding her, coaxing her, tasting her.
Rose whimpered softly when he pulled away at last. She swayed against him and touched her plump, red lips with trembling fingers.
“You are the one,” she whispered. “I knew it.”
Jack could scent her arousal and hunger. It was the fierce, unrelenting hunger of a mate. Rose was half wolf, and the wolf in her recognized him as her mate.
She fisted his t-shirt and pulled him towards her as she backed into her bedroom.
“Ease me,” she hissed. “Pleasure me. Take me.” She pushed her hand under his t-shirt to feel his thundering heart. “Make me yours.”
Jack could feel the heat rolling off her lush body in waves. She was almost feverish with need, and he knew that she would be driven mad by her own hunger if he didn't ease her now. The thought that her mindless lust might drive her into the arms of another male was just unbearable.
“Rose,” he growled, tugging at the sash of her nightdress.
Breathing hard, she turned to lock the door of her bedroom. With a soft growl, she came to him and kissed him hungrily.
They tumbled onto the bed, sheddi
ng their clothes as they rolled and wrestled on the mattress. Rose was a virgin but she was a passionate and sensual woman. She knew how to give and take pleasure, and she wasn't shy or inhibited with him.
Jack explored and pleasured every inch of her beautiful, luscious body with his hands and mouth. He loved the way she moaned when he suckled her, and how she arched her back to beg for more. He laved his tongue down her soft, sweet skin and kissed and licked her hard, glistening nipples until she cried out in ecstasy.
Spreading her legs, he kissed the inside of her thighs and licked gently at her pussy. Rose gasped and thrashed her head as he circled her clit with his tongue.
He licked her until her pussy was dripping with her own juices. She was so wet and ready. “Please...” she begged.
Jack pushed a finger into her and felt her walls spasm immediately. He slid languidly in and out of her, getting her used to the sensation and the rhythm before pushing another finger into her.
Rose groaned and pushed herself up on her elbows to watch him pump his fingers in and out of her. The sight of him fucking her with his fingers turned her on and made her even wetter.
“Jack,” she rasped. “I need you inside me. Please...”
Jack flipped her onto her stomach and pulled her hips up. Kneeling between her legs, he pushed slowly into her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Rose wriggled her hips as Jack fed his rock hard, pulsating cock into her hot, clenching pussy. He was huge, and she sucked in a sharp breath as he stretched her walls.
Jack took her slowly, sliding into her inch by inch. “More,” she panted.
Jack grabbed her hips and in one thrust, he was fully inside her. Jack was completely still and he ran his fingers down her back to soothe her. “You okay?” he gritted out.
She gave a jerky nod. Leaning forward, Jack kissed her on the neck and shoulders. He cupped her heavy breasts and fondled them, thumbing her nipples until she writhed and rocked her hips.
Red And The Bear (Grimm Bears 1) Page 3
