Inextinguishable Love: Firefighter and Interracial Romance

by Kathleen Bunker

  His cabin must have been really close because it took no time at all before she was outside her uncle’s cabin. She barely waited for the truck to stop before opening the door and falling to the ground unsteadily, jarring her ankle.

  “Take it easy on that foot,” he said. “And stay out of the woods, I can’t keep saving you.”

  She glowered at him. That snarky smile was back and it was just as irritating. The man had more layers than the Earth’s crust and she didn’t know if she wanted to get dirty and dig through them or avoid him like the plague.

  “Thank you for the sandwich, Lewis,” she replied and walked very carefully to her front door.

  There was no way she was going to walk in the forest again. It was full of dangerous creatures and he was one of them. She would write him a list of jobs to do around the cabin and she would be civil but she would sit on the porch and leave him to it; she most certainly would not watch his muscles ripple through his shirt as he worked. Not at all.

  With her foot still throbbing she grabbed the books she had brought with her and curled up on the sofa. She propped her foot up on a cushion and picked up the first book. She put it back down; she was not ready to read a romance. She settled on the detective novel but somehow the cute detective with the disturbing past looked an awful lot like her new neighbor in her head.

  *****

  Karen was really starting to get under his skin. One minute she was eying him like she wanted to lick him all over and the next she was ignoring him or sending him dirty looks and not the kind of dirty his mind defaulted to when she was around. He needed to shift and put his human body out of action before it did something stupid like tell her how badly he wanted her.

  He parked the truck and stripped on the porch, leaving his clothes in a messy heap on the floor. He’d marked his scent so heavily around his own cabin that only a dumb-ass human poacher would bother to go anywhere near his property. All the shifters in the area knew him by reputation and most of the bear shifters were relatives. He’d had some trouble with actual bears; they got a little confused during the mating season but they soon got the message when they came closer.

  What bothered him were the new pack of wolves that kept straying into his territory and that close call with Karen the night before had really worried him. He could fight off a lone wolf but if they decided to pack-up and jump him, then he wouldn’t stand a chance, especially if Karen was in the vicinity.

  He didn’t know what her uncle was thinking letting a city girl who couldn’t even make a fire live in the wilderness for several months. He’d tried to persuade him to send her elsewhere, but he’d insisted that it was an emergency, that she needed to be there. He couldn’t argue; her uncle had saved his father’s life a few years back which was why he took care of the cabin.

  He’d been standing on his porch thinking about his neighbor for a full ten minutes, naked. His animal self was restless but his human self was just as bad. He stretched and let the bear take over. After a painful but quick transformation, his bear was standing on four legs scenting the area and his human brain settled into the back seat. He was still the same temperament, but with a little more passion, aggression, and hunger; his bear was always after food.

  He relaxed and the bear took him for a walk through the forest, sniffing at trees, scratching about. As expected, the bear had brought him to Karen’s back yard. Lewis thought his bear might want to check that the wolves hadn’t been back but when a soft sound came out of his snout, he sighed inwardly. The bear liked her; he wanted to see her. That wasn’t about to happen because that was a sure way to send a girl running from him.

  It was his fault, of course. He didn’t go for werebear women. He hadn’t met many, other than the ones that were related to him, but he hadn’t felt a spark of interest. He’d tried to have a relationship with a human female but, as it turned out, human women were not keen on bear shifters. It creeped them out. He didn’t think wolf shifters had this problem; they oozed charm, and that was another reason why he didn’t like wolves. Nobody made movies about sexy bear shifters because bears weren’t sexy.

  He watched her from the shadow of the trees getting ready for the night. She’d obviously found a way to cook some food on the stove because there was steam rising from it. He sniffed the air with his sensitive nose. Nope, that was smoke. He watched as whatever she had placed on the stove erupted into flames. Dashing out from the bushes he remembered just in time that he needed to shift.

  He opened the back door with more force than was needed and grabbed a tea towel. He managed to throw the pot out of the kitchen and into the yard before it set fire to anything else, including him.

  As the smoke cleared Karen appeared in the doorway dripping wet and half covered with a towel. His mouth gaped open; she had breasts that Helen of Troy would have envied.

  “Oh my God!” she gasped and then began to cough.

  He took a step closer, wanting to help with her coughing fit but her being over-exposed had removed all the words from his vocabulary. When she batted him away and stepped into the living area, he followed. She caught where his gaze had rested and she turned and wrapped the towel around said parts.

  “Why are you naked and standing to attention in my cabin?” she yelled.

  He looked down and realized that she was right on both counts. He hadn’t stopped to consider his nudity and then she’d flashed him a pair of bosoms that were made to drown in and he really, really wanted to drown in them. His manhood was in total agreement and he could feel his bear cheering him on.

  “Why did you try to burn the cabin down?” he argued.

  “I didn’t, I was trying to cook and then I had a quick shower,” she said.

  “You had a bath just a few hours ago, why would you need a shower with no hot water?”

  “To get the smell off me,” she said. “You’re still naked and indecent.”

  “Naked and indecent? You were half naked just a few minutes ago so I think we’re even,” he said, wondering what smell she meant.

  “I didn’t have an erection,” she said and waved her hands in that direction.

  “It’s going away,” he muttered. “Do you need help making dinner?” he asked, not wanting to leave her while she looked so frazzled and he definitely didn’t want her to burn down the cabin.

  “I’m not hungry anymore,” she replied.

  “Fine, don’t go out in the woods, don’t go out at night, and don’t burn the cabin down,” he yelled and slammed the back door on his way out.

  He checked that the pot had cooled so it wouldn’t start a freak winter bush fire and then stormed off into the trees. Once he was out of sight he shifted back into his bear form but he didn’t leave the area. He still had concerns over the wolves and decided that he would wait around for a while and rub his scent on every tree in a half-mile radius.

  *****

  Karen flinched when he slammed the door. She was in shock and she would never, ever be able to get the vision of him naked and happy to see her out of her head. Of course, she was slightly mortified that she’d flashed him. It felt like the universe was throwing them together and they were springing back apart as fast as they could.

  She’d lied when she had told him she wasn’t hungry but now her hunger wasn't just for beans on toast, which was what she’d been trying to make. She wanted him so badly and now that she’d seen the entire package, well, what woman wouldn’t go weak at the knees with a man built like him. She wanted to drape her naked body over his; she wanted to lick every plane, mound, and dip on his sculptured body. She needed another cold shower.

  “Girl, will you never learn?” she muttered.

  As the darkness enveloped her cabin her unease grew. She had that tickling sensation at the back of her neck that told her she was being watched and she believed it. She’d closed all the curtains and locked all the doors. She had peered out into the vast expanse of darkness and was barely able to make out the tops of the trees let alone anythin
g nearer like the shed or her car.

  She had settled for another sandwich but with no electricity she was worried that some of her food would spoil. It wasn’t like she could cook it and she wasn’t about to go and ask her naked neighbor for help, even if she was desperate to see him again, clothed or unclothed. She opened a bottle of wine instead; wine solved everything, even if it was just an overnight fix.

  The first glass was gone before she realized and when she poured a second she began wondering why Lewis had been naked. She hadn’t screamed so why was he there at all? There wasn’t a single reason, other than he was a nudist, that she could think of. She didn’t know why he’d been naked as the day he was born but she was so glad he had the body of a Greek god. If he’d been a middle-aged portly fellow she might have run off screaming but he was so pretty in every way.

  As the third glass disappeared with a bag of pretzels, she was feeling in a much better mood. She swapped the damp towel for her comfy pajamas and hooked her iPod up to her little blue-tooth speaker. She danced and sang along to some 1980’s classics before switching to female power ballads.

  She had a voice that could flow loud, clear, and honeyed. She sang along to Etta James, Dinah Washington, and Ella Fitzgerald. A loud bang on the door startled her and she didn’t know whether to run and hide or be brave and look out of the window.

  “Who is it?” she called turning the volume down on the speaker.

  “Lewis,” her caretaker said.

  She sighed. She didn’t want to let him in while she was in her pj’s, and under the influence of over half a bottle of wine. And, what if he was naked again? Holy hell, she might devour him. She could feel that naughty throb between her legs just remembering him standing in the living room arguing with her while Mr. Happy was out and enjoying the air.

  She answered the door but only because he had saved her three times over. He was fully dressed, including boots. He also held out a large platter of steaming food and the smell almost made her fall on him. He stepped in, easing her aside and set the platter on the coffee table, then he sat down on the sofa as if she’d asked him to stay.

  “I thought you might be hungry and I was scared you might try to cook again,” he said unwrapping the platter and releasing a cacophony of delicious smells.

  She shut the door and sat next to him, diving right in. He smiled and watched as she devoured chicken wings, breaded pork strips with some kind of flavor that didn’t register because she ate them too quickly, and some rustic garlic bread loaded with butter. She was in heaven; the only thing that could have made the food better was if it was served on his naked body. She blushed; she didn’t need that imagery in her head.

  “Hungry, eh?” he asked watching her eat while nibbling on a seasoned chicken leg.

  “I was,” she said licking her fingers, knowing that he was watching her every movement.

  “It might have had something to do with the wine or maybe it was the singing that made you so hungry,” he said, laughing, and she saw just how pretty he really was when he wasn’t being annoying.

  “Shut up and let me like you,” she said softly.

  His eyes tracked her lips as she spoke and he leaned over and kissed them. He didn’t do it gently or tentatively like a new lover; he did it like she was food and he was starving. She melted against him a moan escaping from her and it spurred him on. Within seconds her pajama top was over her head and floating away. His head dropped to her chest, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, sliding on top of his jeans, still wishing that he was naked.

  As the kissing and nibbling continued, she removed his shirt and found that his chest was every bit as hard as what she was sitting on. She needed to find a way to remove his jeans and her pajama bottoms, and quickly. Lewis lifted her off him and dropped his jeans, giving her the show of a lifetime at eye-level.

  “Are you sure you want this?” he asked looking down at her from his naked height.

  “Very sure,” she said, nodding.

  *****

  She was sitting in front of him, looking like an angel who had just found out how nice naughty really was. He wanted to capture the moment before she opened her mouth and told him she didn’t want this, that she’d changed her mind.

  Karen stood up and shimmied out of her pajama pants and he knew his mouth had dropped open but there wasn’t anything he could do about it while she was standing in front of him looking like the sexiest creature on Earth. He couldn’t believe she wanted him.

  “I really want this, shall we go to the bedroom,” she said holding out her hand.

  Just as he reached for it a sound registered in the back of his mind and he struggled to place it. Wolves, and lots of them. Their scent hit his nose and he recoiled. Her beautiful open face twisted painfully as she took in his rejection but he didn’t have time to explain. He just needed to keep her safe.

  “Get dressed,” he said and then turned for the back door. “Lock the door after me. I mean it.”

  She didn’t reply but he could hear her pulling on clothes. He opened the door and slipped into the night. His vision was good in the dark but he knew the wolves were better equipped in that department. They also outnumbered him by a long way and he wished he’d called in reinforcements. They had formed a semi-circle in the back yard and were not very patiently waiting.

  The biggest wolf, a black and brown scarred male, stepped forward. There was no way he could take on all the wolves; he needed to know what they wanted and then get them away from his girl. The pack-leader transformed and stood a little shorter and slimmer than him in human form. He had a scruffy look about him and a bad scent.

  “We have a little problem, bear,” the pack-leader said and his voice whistled slightly through a couple of broken teeth. “That woman in there belongs to one of my pack and I saw you were about to get pretty cozy in there and had to step in.”

  “What do you mean? She broke up with her boyfriend, that’s why she’s here,” he said stalling for time.

  He’d heard a brief story from her uncle. Her ex had taken her for everything she had and split. He didn’t see how she would ever want to talk to him again. He looked back at the cabin and saw a shadow by the window; why couldn’t she stay away from trouble?

  “They broke up after a misunderstanding; the girl is still his,” the pack-leader replied.

  Another wolf stepped forward and sat just behind his leader. He was scraggly and nervy; Lewis got the feeling the pack wasn’t up to your usual wolf standard. They looked tough but in an unkempt, unruly kind of way. He was starting to get very nervous because they weren’t reasonable creatures and he didn’t know how to bargain with them.

  “She’s not interested; that’s why she came all the way up here, to get away from him,” he said. “But I can pass on a message for him.”

  “Just a little message, that would be great,” the pack-leader grinned and stepped back.

  “Tell her I want what’s mine,” the ex-boyfriend had transformed into a tall mixed-race man with a large collection of bruises and a deep cut above his eye.

  “What is that exactly?”

  “The necklace,” he hissed before transforming back into his wolf.

  Lewis didn’t know anything about a necklace but if that was all they wanted, then he would advise her to hand it over and free herself from their attention. He didn’t get much of a chance to consider his options because four men grabbed him from behind so the pack-leader could punch him. They obviously were not used to bears, he thought.

  He transformed and raked a powerful claw across the pack-master’s chest before flinging men in all directions. They returned to him in wolf form and he fought them off for as long as he could; then they did some damage with their claws and teeth that he knew he’d feel for the next few weeks. When they finally moved away, he couldn’t move and he didn't have the energy to shift. He just hoped that Karen wasn’t looking out of her window.

  He remained very still and let his body begin the heali
ng process. He could tell one of his ribs was broken and blood was leaking from his temple but they had mostly caused bruising and he was pretty sure he’d given Karen’s ex the same treatment. Did she even know she’d been dating a werewolf? He figured not or she would have suspected something more about him when he kept turning up naked.

  When the first rays of sun neared the horizon, he shifted and it wasn’t long after that he heard the back door open and feet step out towards him. He looked up and saw Karen coming towards him with a glass of water and a blanket. She looked even more angelic with the first rays of sunlight behind her.

  “I don’t know what I saw or what the hell that was about but we need to talk. Do you think you can walk?” she asked.

  “Not far,” he said and drank the water she held out.

  Every muscle ached and every inch of his skin felt damaged. He was a fabulous shade of blue and he would need to shift a few times to speed up the healing or he would be useless for the next few days. She helped him onto the sofa and covered him with a blanket. He wanted to sleep, but she sat there with a look on her face that said she wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Do you have any painkillers?”

  “I’ll get them and then we talk,” she said.

  He sighed and closed his eyes. He couldn’t sleep, he had to find out what to do about the necklace and call in some of his cousins. He really needed to know what she saw and what she was thinking. She couldn’t have seen him as a bear or she wouldn’t have let him in. His eyes remained closed and he felt himself drifting.

  *****

  Karen put the pills on the coffee table with a glass of water. Lewis had crashed out and she was hardly surprised, given the extent of his injuries. She needed to think about what she had seen and heard the night before and it was probably for the best that he was sparko. She also wanted to clean up the wound on his temple because it looked like it had picked up half the dirt in the yard.