by Zoe Chant
Lee could only sputter at that. "Useful?"
"I doubt even you could have torn off that door without a little help," Patricia said. "And while I'm sure I wouldn't have died there, I was getting cold and... alone."
"You're not afraid of the bear part of me," Lee said, puzzled by this reveal.
"You're clearly still you as a bear," Patricia said practically. "You were far more interested in helping me get out of the car than you were in, say, eating me."
"But... this morning?" Lee felt thick-headed, like he was missing something critical.
"It was a pretty shocking way to wake up, no doubt," Patricia said. "Is that what you were apologizing for? It's not like I blame you for not telling me earlier. It's a pretty big confession. 'Hi, I'm a bear sometimes.'"
"But you don't mind that I'm a shifter." Lee couldn't wrap his mind around the idea.
Patricia shot him a sheepish smile. "I'm a little envious," she confessed. "It sounds rather wonderful."
Lee chewed on that for a few moments. "Then why did you leave?"
Her stillness radiated unhappiness, and Lee had to force himself to watch the road instead of immediately reaching to comfort her.
He navigated a slippery curve before she finally answered slowly. "It was what you said about soulmates. I... know you still love your wife, that she meant everything to you. I know you'll never feel that way about me, that I can't be that." There was a little hitch to her voice that cut Lee to the bone. "I don't want to be that woman who can't separate sex and love, but I couldn't keep loving you the way I do knowing that what we had was just a pale shadow of what you'd had."
Lee slammed the brakes on, pulling the truck into the snowbank by the side of the road with a curse that had Patricia clinging to the handholds and looking at him with saucer eyes. "You thought I was saying that Angela was my soulmate?"
Patricia blinked at him. "Of course..."
Lee leaned his face on the steering wheel, cursing again. "I am the biggest idiot in the entire Midwest," he said, refraining from ripping the entire steering wheel off and throwing it out the window in frustration. He took a series of deep breaths, and unpeeled his fingers from the wheel. "I loved Angela," he said, then thought that might be a poor place to start, but it was an important detail. He met Patricia's eyes; they were full of tears. "But what I felt for her, it's no less than what I have in my heart for you. I never believed in soulmates before I met you. I thought it was a comfortable fiction, just a fairy tale."
"Like shapeshifters?" Patricia muttered. She rubbed the tears away from one cheek and Lee had to put a hand against her face and rub the other dry with a tender thumb.
"When I saw you, I knew it was all the truth. You were meant for me. Every part of me loves every part of you."
Patricia sobbed, but her face lit up behind the tears. "I never believed in love at first sight," she said in a small voice. "And I thought you couldn't possibly feel that way about me..."
Lee unclipped his seatbelt and fought free of the frigid contraption so he could slide across the benchseat and scoop her into his arms. She escaped her own seatbelt to meet him halfway, and lifted her mouth for his kiss with the same hunger that was coursing through his veins. Cold as he was, he burned for this woman, his perfect mate.
Their kiss was a tangle of tongues and a release of fears and despair, deep and long and lingering. If it hadn't been for the gasp of pain that Patricia gave when she moved her foot wrong, Lee was not sure how long they would have stayed there in the frosting truck cab.
Instead, he pulled back, then began cursing again as something occurred to him.
"What is it?" Patricia asked in alarm.
"Your ring," Lee told her. "It was in my pocket, and must be back with my ruined clothing at your car."
"My... ring?"
"Will you marry me?" It wasn't even close to the way he had planned to ask her. "You're mine, and I want everyone to know it."
The glowing smile she gave him, and the kiss that followed was answer enough.
Chapter Twenty
PATRICIA GAVE LEE HER parka to get into the house; he wrapped it inelegantly around his waist as an attempt at modesty. Both Andrea and Clara seemed more bothered by the way that Patricia was limping than by Lee's state of undress.
Andrea, to Patricia's surprise, was wrapped in Lee's oversized clothing. She looked between them, more puzzled than suspicious. There had been no other vehicle in the drive. "You're a shifter, too?" she guessed.
Andrea grinned. "You always said I had eyes like a hawk."
Patricia groaned. "This explains so much."
"Clara and I are making cookies," Andrea said with a nod towards the stairs. "I think Patricia needs a detailed checkover," she suggested. "Make sure she doesn't have any scrapes she doesn't know about."
Clara thought that was a fine idea, and brought Lee a first aid kit from the downstairs bathroom that he slung over one shoulder.
"You should both take a hot shower, too," Andrea suggest unsubtly. "To warm up, you know. We'll be down here making cookies for a long time. Don't rush, or anything."
Patricia could only sputter helplessly at the suggestion, but Lee seemed to think it was a perfect idea. "I want to check your head for lumps," he said, tightening the parka around his waist.
Then he swept her up into his arms over her protests, and carried her up the stairs.
"Have fun!" Andrea called up after them.
Patricia thought she would be too embarrassed to do anything, aware that Andrea was downstairs knowing exactly what was happening, but when Lee put her gently down on the wide ledge of his bathtub, nothing else seemed to matter.
He shed the parka so that his check-over of her was done entirely nude, and took his duties very seriously, undressing her slowly and looking over every inch of skin as it was exposed. The cuts from glass, all minor, were gently cleaned and antibiotic cream was applied. The bandages Lee had were all princess-themed, and carefully applied over a handful of abrasions. He explored her skull with probing fingers that lingered in her hair more than strictly required. Together they found a few tender spots, but no rising lumps.
"You're going to have a black eye," he informed her, sweeping her hair back from her face.
"I don't have to look at me," Patricia said, aware that her smile must look foolish.
"You'll still look beautiful to me," Lee said with a kiss.
The kiss only delayed their first aid for a moment, then it was time for the part that Patricia was dreading. He pulled her first boot off carefully, and the second even more cautiously. It hurt, but not as badly as Patricia had feared it would. The ankle was angry and swollen, but she could, at his insistence, move it through its entire range. Lee bound it up snugly with a bright pink stretch-bandage, and helped Patricia carefully wriggle out of her jeans to complete their inspection. There would be bruises where the seatbelt had kept her in the seat. "I should probably stay out of swimsuit competitions for a few weeks," she joked, poking at one of the bruises that was already starting to purple.
"You were lucky," Lee said grimly. There was a scowling ferocity to him that Patricia now recognized was driven by his grumpy bear.
"It's passed," she soothed him, caressing his shoulders. "I'll be fine, just forget it."
Lee responded, his nudity making his sudden arousal apparent. "Forget what?" He lifted her up into his arms again, and carried her to the bed. They were both still chilled, and he swept the comforter up over them and dove in. Wrapped in its warmth and darkness, they explored each other's bodies blindly. Lee was surprisingly delicate for his size, taking painstaking care not to jostle her ankle.
It took only moments of delicious discovery to warm up and thrust the blanket off, and Lee gently kissed her from jaw to naval, then straddled her, his erect penis promising unspoken pleasure. When he hesitated, Patricia pulled him down onto her, careful to keep her injured foot out of the way. His entrance claimed her, and her heart sang when she remembered that he f
elt for her as she did him.
Soulmates. Mates.
They were perfect partners, and they fit together like interlocking puzzle pieces, entwining as only two things destined for each other could.
His touch made every square inch of her skin burn for him. He drew her up to heights of pleasure she'd never known or even imagined, then fell with her in the warm afterglow.
Later, in a haze of sated exhaustion, Patricia let Lee tuck her under the comforter with her foot propped up on a pillow. She fell asleep to the smell of cookies and the sound of a shower running.
When she woke a short time later, she found herself alone. There was a glass of water on the bedside table, and a few over-the-counter pain pills that she gratefully took. A package lay on the other side of the bed, wrapped with a paper bag and tied with what appeared to be a sash from one of Clara's dresses. A cane leaned against the side of the bed.
Curious, Patricia unwrapped the crinkly package, and unfolded a length of fuzzy material, printed all over with pink kittens and mittens. A small black box fell out of the folds, and she scooped it up with trembling hands. It opened with a snap and revealed a sparkling ring, with rubies and diamonds flush to an intricate braid of multi-colored gold. She pulled it out of the velvet case and slipped it carefully onto her ring finger, marveling at the fit and sparkle and grinning fit to split her face. For some foolish reason, she wanted to cry, and to distract herself, she turned to inspect the cloth it had been wrapped in. It took her a moment to figure out what it was, and when she did, she burst out laughing.
Andrea laughed as well, when Patricia made her way down to the kitchen wearing both gifts and limping on the cane. "Is that a pair of footed kitty pajamas?"
Lee insisted that Patricia sit down at once, and fussed over elevating her foot. Clara brought her an ice pack from the freezer and carefully perched it onto the ankle, while Andrea brought a plate full of cookies.
"Where on earth did you find these?" Patricia asked Lee. She felt like she was wrapped in downy feathers, the fabric was so soft and fuzzy, and she was deeply cozy and warm. Was this what being a bear felt like?
"It was a special order," Lee said, smiling at her from across his own plate of cookies. "My tailor thought I was nuts, but he put it together anyway."
"I love it," Patricia said, deeply content. Looking around the kitchen, at Clara's eager face, her best friend's laughter in the air and her mate looking at her with love and adoration, she could not imagine a happier ending in any fairy tale ever.
Epilogue
"I'M NOT USED TO HAVING anyone take care of me," Patricia confessed, letting Lee pile pillows under her ankle. "It's not even broken."
Lee scowled at her, a dear, familiar expression. "It's sprained," he said fiercely. "And you aren't staying off of it at preschool!"
"I make Andrea do most of the work," Patricia promised, touched by his care.
"How was it?" Lee asked. "Really, are you careful?"
Patricia put a hand over his, and was caught by the still-unexpected sparkle of gems on her finger. "I really do take it easy," she laughed. "And things are going smoothly. The new car handles great. Harriette is still missing and Trevor's living with his Dad now. That was half my stress!"
She was rewarded by an easing of the lines in his face, and then Clara was scampering into the living room, carrying a tray with a variety of Lincoln Logs on it. "I baked you cookies!" the little girl announced, and she solemnly gave one to each of them, and then took them back, declaring, "They have to cook more now."
She was gone as quickly as she'd come in, and Patricia exchanged an amused look with Lee that faded to alarm as something occurred to her. "Should I be worried about Clara turning into a bear cub some day at preschool?" she demanded. She couldn't imagine explaining that one away at storytime.
Lee shook his head. "Some shifters are born shifting, but my family has always come into it at puberty. It varies."
Patricia raised an eyebrow at him. "As if puberty weren't complicated enough," she said wryly.
"Are you reconsidering?" Lee gave her ring a tap.
Patricia gave him a searching look, trying to decide if he was really worried, or if he was just teasing her. She smiled. "You can't scare me off that easily."
"I'll have to try harder," Lee said with a sigh, and Patricia knew he was needling her.
"I can't imagine you being harder than you were last night," she whispered suggestively.
He grinned back. "I'm sure I can rise to the challenge."
The Tiger Next Door
By Zoe Chant
Copyright Zoe Chant 2018
All Rights Reserved
Chapter 1
“Mr. Powell?”
Shaun rubbed his face and reminded himself that glowering at the intercom was ineffective. “What is it?” he asked shortly.
“It’s Mrs. Powell ... Er, Mrs. ex-Powell... Ah...”
“Harriette.”
“Yes, Mr. Powell.”
Shaun momentarily wished his office had an escape exit. Wasn’t there some sort of requirement for that kind of thing? But they were dozens of floors up, looking out over Minneapolis, and vanishing out the window to scale a fire escape was unlikely to happen. Why couldn’t he have a more useful shifted form, he wondered. Something that could fly.
His inner tiger gave an unamused snort.
“Mr. Powell?”
“Send her in.”
Shaun had been expecting... something. A phone call? A demand for more money?
He hadn’t been expecting Harriette to visit at his office.
And he definitely wasn’t expecting the little boy who was holding her hand.
Trevor.
Whatever regrets he had about his brief and stormy marriage to Harriette, Trevor had never been one of them.
Trevor must be five now, and Shaun had seen him just twice in the past two years: awkward visits on his birthday. Trevor had been understandably shy and confused about him, and Shaun went away wondering if it wasn’t kinder to step back and let him build a healthy relationship with whatever partner Harriette had last found to replace him.
He scowled and returned his gaze to Harriette. She must have some wild demands if she was dragging Trevor in for leverage.
“What can I do for you?” he asked. It must be money.
“I’m not here to ask you for anything,” Harriette said, in that terribly reasonable tone she’d always had. “I’m here to give you what you keep asking for.”
Shaun scrambled to think of anything he’d asked for since the divorce. His lawyer had tried to convince him to fight harder against her ridiculous financial demands, but Shaun had only wanted one thing — and Harriette’s lawyer had been able to get her full custody of their son. His work and hours were ‘incompatible’ with raising a child.
“This is about the house in Green Valley?” Shaun guessed. “I got the foreclosure warning. I’m not sure how you bypassed the fund I set up to pay for that. Did you think it wouldn’t count towards child support this way?”
“Don’t be stupid,” Harriette said. That was the Harriette from the end of their marriage. The cutting one who had already found something better to move on to. “I’m bringing you Trevor.”
Shaun wasn’t sure who to stare at.
Trevor was gazing at the fishtank, ignoring his parents’ conversation. His blond hair was several shades lighter than Shaun’s. Harriette had taken to dyeing her hair the same shade as Trevor’s instead of her natural brunette, which was downright eerie.
Harriette put the papers she was holding down on Shaun’s desk and plucked a pen from his holder. “I had my lawyer draw up the papers. You wanted him, you got him.”
Shaun glanced at Trevor, his heart hurting for the boy. How brutal could it be, hearing Harriette give him away like he was nothing?
Trevor didn’t seem to notice, staring enraptured at the fish.
Shaun stood and drew Harriette as far away from Trevor’s hearing as the office co
uld manage. “You mean you found someone new and he’s an impediment? What happened to the real estate guy who loved kids?”
“That’s none of your business,” Harriette hissed. “Just sign the papers. It’s what you want anyway.”
Shaun stared at her, trying to remember that he’d found her beautiful once. She was so strong-willed and sure-footed, with her perfect make-up and sultry smile. Shaun only now really realized how much of that was an act.
She had never really wanted Shaun, only the successful investment company he was building. And once she’d set her sights on him, Shaun hadn’t stood a chance.
“What about the house in Green Valley?”
Harriette shrugged. “I don’t care. Trevor’s got some stuff left there.”
How had he thought she was sensitive and sweet?
“I go to preschool in Green Valley,” Trevor said shyly, joining them.
Harriette ignored him. “Are you going to sign it or not?”
“Do you like your preschool?” Shaun asked gently.
Trevor seemed to perk up. “Yeah! There’s a rabbit, and Miss Andrea can juggle. Miss Patricia plays piano.”
“It’s great,” Harriette said dismissively. “Papers?”
“I’m not signing anything my lawyer hasn’t looked at,” Shaun said firmly.
Harriette’s eyes narrowed. “Then I’ll take him with me,” she threatened. “I’m leaving the country, and with full custody, I don’t have to clear that with you.”
Shaun’s stomach clenched and his tiger growled.
He looked down at Trevor’s anxious face, remembering the scant armful he had been as a baby, and the fascinating expressions Shaun had spent so much time gazing at. Trevor had been taking his first steps when Shaun’s marriage began to fall apart. After a few months of separation and a divorce that cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars, Harriette had taken their son to the quiet town of Green Valley; in no small part, Shaun knew, because it was just beyond a comfortable commute for visits.
