by Bianca D’Arc
It was a big man, who bristled with power. Helen could feel his presence from across the room. Maybe this was the Alpha bear?
“Your timing could be better, John,” Jim told the other man, who just laughed as he walked farther into the room.
“If I hadn’t interrupted, Sven’s monitors would’ve exploded. She’s still hooked up, you know.” The man nodded toward the wires that protruded from Helen’s hospital gown.
She blushed, realizing that her response to Jim’s proposal had been visible in the elevated respiration, the speeding heartbeat and the rising pulse rate reported to the monitors in the room, and likely outside, as well. Helen swatted at Jim’s arm to get him to move over so she could meet the Alpha bear with as much dignity as she could muster, under the circumstances.
“Helen Richards, this is John Marshall, Alpha bear of this town, as well as mayor. Most folks call him Big John.” Jim made the introductions.
“Thank you for your assistance, Mayor Marshall,” Helen said politely. “I’ve heard quite a bit about your town.”
John smiled broadly as he stood at the foot of her bed. “You’re welcome to stay until you’re better. Sven’s taken a liking to you, and for some reason, more than a few of my men seem to like this crazy wolf.” John put his hand on Jim’s shoulder. Jim just smiled. “In fact, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like, and we don’t usually extend that invitation to just anyone.” John tried to look grave but failed. Helen liked this bear who didn’t take himself too seriously. “My mate, in particular,” he went on, “wants a chance to talk to you about magical stuff. Her heritage is Italian witchcraft, and she’s really curious about Germanic-origin craft, as she calls it.”
“I’d be happy to meet her,” Helen said, meaning it. She didn’t often get to talk to practitioners of other styles of magic. This would be interesting.
Another man entered the room and moved to stand next to the Alpha. “Sorry to barge in, but I wanted to see how you were doing, ma’am. I’m Ezra Tate. That mission Jim—and you—were on was for my employer, SeaLife Enterprises. The owners wanted me to come down and see how you were. They would’ve come themselves, but Sven doesn’t like a crowd to gather in his clinic, so I was deputized. I’m glad to see you’re finally awake.”
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Tate,” she said. “Thank you, and your employers, for checking on me. I’m feeling better all the time.” She smiled, feeling the truth in her words. “I hope the records Jim liberated will be of some use to you all.”
“Oh, they’ll keep us busy for months,” Ezra assured her, his expression growing serious. “Maybe even years. There are lots of leads to track down.” He cleared his throat and looked at Jim. “In fact, I wanted to make it clear, before too much more time had passed, that there’s a job here for you, Jim, if you want it. You’ve already proven you’ve got the right stuff for doing this kind of work, and Trevor and Beth wanted me to extend the invitation to join SeaLife full-time, if that’s what you want.”
Jim seemed surprised and pleased, if Helen was any judge of his expressions. He ducked his head, looked at her for a moment and then shifted his attention back to Ezra. “I’m flattered by the offer, and I’ll have an answer for you as soon as I figure out a few other things.”
“No rush,” Ezra assured him. “We all just wanted to make sure you knew you had a job here, if you wanted it.”
“Thanks,” Jim said. “Really. I’ll definitely have an answer for you within the next couple of days, if that’s all right.”
“Any time, is fine. Just think it over and let me know.” With that, Ezra took his leave and exited the room. These bears really did have big presences on the magical plane. If Helen was going to be around them more, she’d have to get used to that.
“There’s a hotel in town, and we’ve got a room reserved for you,” the Alpha said, taking charge of the conversation once more, speaking directly to Helen. “Once Sven gives the medical clearance, you can go rest up in private. We have a few more days of debriefing with Jim planned, but I think we’d like to hear your perspective on what you’ve just been through, as well, once you’re up to sharing it.”
“I’m at your disposal, Alpha,” she told him. “And I definitely want to get out of this hospital bed, nice as it is, and get back to normal as soon as possible. I want to be with my new mate.” She tugged on Jim’s hand and smiled up at him.
“What’s this? You’ve accepted him?” John asked, a wide smile on his face. “Here, we were taking bets on how long you two would take to finally get together. We all knew, from the moment we saw Jim, that he was a goner. I’m glad you didn’t keep him in suspense too long.” John patted Jim on the back, shaking his balance, but Jim recovered nicely. “Congratulations to you both. When you’re feeling up to it, we’ll have a party.”
Jim felt like a million bucks, knowing Helen had agreed to be his mate. He couldn’t wait to take her out of the clinic and go someplace private, but he also wanted to be certain she was well before they left the care of the town’s only doctor. She’d scared him so badly when she’d collapsed. He’d thought she would die, but timely intervention had saved her life—and his, too.
After Ezra’s surprising offer, Jim felt like, finally, everything was falling into place. He had the promise of a real job. Stability. Something to offer Helen as a mate. He’d gladly give up his nomadic existence, if that’s what she wanted. He wasn’t sure where she’d want to live, and that was one of the things they had to discuss before he could give Ezra an answer, but wherever she wanted to go, he’d find a way to make things work.
She was now his number one priority in life. His mate. His happiness. His joy.
“Can we get out of here, yet?” Helen asked Jim after Big John had taken his leave.
“I don’t know. It’s up to Sven, really,” Jim told her, brushing her hair back from her eyes. “Do you want me to go check?”
Helen nodded. “I know I’ll heal a million times faster if we can just be together. Remember the way our power feeds off each other?”
Jim hadn’t thought of that, but she did have a valid point. He left her side with a quick kiss and went out to track down the polar bear doctor.
An hour later, Jim carried Helen into the hotel room that had been reserved for them. It was a nice room, with a view of the cove and new sturdy furniture in calming shades of ocean-y blue. The whole hotel looked to be very recent construction, as did most of the town. Grizzly Cove was up-and-coming, that was for certain. A guy could make a place for himself and his mate in a town like this.
The hotel was at one end of what could be considered the strip in Grizzly Cove, where the vast majority of the businesses were located. It was the Main Street that followed the contour of the cove at its apex, for a ways, then meandered its way back out of town, eventually meeting up with the main coastal highway. The town was definitely a detour from the main drag but well worth the visit.
From what little Jim had seen of it, so far, there were many small art galleries featuring all sorts of art. A few restaurants were also located on that main road. Everything from a relatively fancy Cajun place to a bakery that also served sandwiches and light meals, including delicious-smelling breads and pastries.
Jim had made a note to call in an order once they got to the room, so they wouldn’t have to go out again, but when he looked around after setting Helen down on a chair, he found a note beside a large bakery box. It let them know that the small fridge in the room had been stocked just an hour before with fresh sandwiches from the bakery as a gift from the Alpha to welcome them to the town. Jim whistled through his teeth as he read the note then handed it to Helen when she held out her hand.
“Wow,” she said after reading the note, “they must really like you.”
“Maybe,” Jim allowed, bending down to nuzzle her cheek. “Or, maybe, it’s you they like.” He moved to kiss her gently. Thoroughly. He loved the heavy-lidded look of desire on her face when he broke the kiss. “I know I
do,” he said, brushing another kiss across her lips in a feather-light caress.
“I’d like to test my theory now,” she told him with a teasing light in her eyes.
“Yeah?” He continued to place lingering kisses along her jaw. “What theory is that?”
“The one where I’ll heal ultra-fast if we make love,” she told him breathlessly.
He growled, liking the sound of that.
While it was true that Helen felt a little grungy with all the bandages, she wanted to heal first, then take a long, hot shower. Preferably with Jim there to wash her back…and other things. The doctor had tended the wounds, cleansing them and applying antibiotics and sterile dressings, but the deep lacerations were still there, hurting when she didn’t remember to dampen the pain.
“I can’t do much of the energetic stuff right now,” she told Jim. “But I do love you, and I want you to make love to me. I think, given a bit of the mutual energy flow that always seems to evolve between us, the injuries will heal, and I’ll be able to…um…participate a bit more.” She raised the arm that hurt the least and cupped his jaw. “Think of it as an experiment.”
“An experiment where I get to do things to you while you lay back and enjoy it?” he mused. “I think I like the sound of that.”
He surprised her by lifting her into his arms again, and carrying her over to the large bed. He lay her down as gently as a feather then proceeded to kiss her clothing off her body. She wasn’t wearing all that much. Just a cotton sundress she’d bought in Texas with nothing underneath. Putting on a bra and panties had been beyond her with the painful wounds she still had, and she knew she wasn’t going far.
The wide-cut, soft cotton of the dress would work just as well as a nightgown, and she figured if she had to, she could sleep in it. Though, to be honest, with Jim in the same room, she preferred to sleep in nothing at all. Sleep itself was optional, at best, when Jim was near. She’d rather be skin-to-skin with him anytime, than wearing any sort of fabric that could get between them.
As Jim made love to her, she felt the pain slough off as if it had never been. When he gave her the first orgasm of many, her hips lifted off the bed, his mouth and hands following as he gave her the most intimate of kisses. She began to move with no pain and suspected the bandages weren’t necessary anymore.
When he lifted the dress higher to expose her breasts, she lifted her shoulders off the bed and demanded he remove it completely. He complied, something dangerous in his eyes lighting as her movements became more fluid.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked, pausing to remove his shirt by ripping it off over his head and throwing it after her dress, across the room to land on the chair.
She sat up and checked the bandage on her arm, peeking beneath. She saw pink skin, not the raw red that had been there before. Biting her lip, she removed the bandage completely and was amazed—though she’d expected this would happen—at the complete lack of a wound. There was just a pink slash of newly healed skin where before there had been an angry red slash of an open wound.
“See what you do to me?” she said, holding up her arm as he shucked his pants and got completely naked.
“That is pretty awesome,” he allowed, turning back to her and lifting her arm to his lips. He kissed the healing pink line gently.
“I take this as more proof that we were meant to be together. Something this miraculous has to be a gift from the Divine, don’t you think?”
He nodded, kissing his way up her arm until he reached her lips. Then, he took her back down to the bed, covering her body with his.
He slid into her, and all was right with her world. Their energy was unbelievable, and she was sure that any remaining injuries on her body would not survive this delectable experience. He was as gentle with her as he had ever been, probably in deference to her healing body, but she wasn’t going to sit idly by. No, she wrapped her legs around his hips and urged him on with her heels against the backs of his thighs.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice nearly a growl as he held himself above her. The rigidity of his muscles made her mouth water.
“Absolutely. Do it, Jim. Do it, now.” She panted as he increased the pace, powering into her and building the inferno between them to majestic heights.
She clung to his shoulders and did her best to move with him as they strained together. Something so perfect had to be truly blessed. She knew for certain that she had found her destiny with this man, and no matter where they ended up living, all would be well, as long as they were together.
When the crisis came, they faced it together, going over the edge of oblivion, secure in each other’s arms. Jim growled as Helen moaned, joined in bliss, together in ecstasy.
Chapter Twenty-One
A long time later, Jim carried Helen into the attached bathroom. She didn’t need to be carried due to injuries. No, her injuries were long gone, she was sure. He carried her because she was boneless from his lovemaking, and she liked this evidence of his incredible strength.
He sat her on the counter, a towel beneath her bottom to prevent her from feeling the chill of the stone countertop. Then, he filled a truly massive bathtub with steamy water and a small dollop of herbal-scented bubbles. It wasn’t a strong scent. Helen surmised that shifters didn’t like overpowering scents in their toiletries, but it was lovely. Fresh and green and wild.
He spent a few moments taking off the remaining bandages that had made it through their lovemaking, discovering healed skin with not even a scar beneath each one. The pink line on her arm was gone, too.
“That really is some amazing stuff,” he observed as he looked closely at her arm. “If I hadn’t seen you fall beneath those mage bolts, and the aftermath, I would never know you’d been hurt at all.”
“Only rarely can I achieve this kind of complete healing with my power,” she told him. “Usually, there’s some kind of mark left behind.”
“More proof that we are magical dynamite when we’re together,” he said with a grin as he lifted her and placed her into the half-filled, sudsy tub.
A moment later, he joined her, and they took turns washing each other and just enjoying being together. When they inevitably made love, again, it was a bit of a miracle that they didn’t flood the bathroom, but they managed to keep all the water in the tub, where it belonged.
They ate the sandwiches and the delicious pastries in the box then made love again, all through the night. When the next day dawned, Helen playfully demanded to see a bit of the town, and they took a walk down the beach in the early morning. Helen thought she saw a mermaid’s tail glistening in the early morning sun, but when she blinked, it was gone.
They breakfasted at the bakery, meeting Nell, one of the sisters who owned the place, and her mate, the sheriff of the town, a fellow named Brody. He and Jim were already acquainted, of course, but everything was new to Helen, and she enjoyed meeting new people. She particularly liked the way they seemed to respect Jim, and their genuine friendliness would be hard to fake.
“Thank you for sending all that food to the hotel for us,” Helen told Nell as the men discussed meeting times for Jim to attend the Town Council.
“Glad to help. I’m actually surprised to see you up and around. The news from the clinic was pretty bad that first day.” Nell’s expression invited an explanation, and Helen figured, why not?
“It was pretty bad, but there’s some kind of amplification effect when Jim and I are together.” She looked at him fondly as she tried to find the words to explain. “I’m a healer. I’m used to healing other people with my energy, but there’s usually only so much power to go around without draining me too low that I start to falter. But, with Jim… It’s all so different. It’s like we feed each other’s magic, and we both grow stronger as a result. Just spending time with him healed me completely. It’s miraculous, even to me, and I’ve been healing others pretty much my whole life.”
“I’m not magical at all,” Nell said, her expression com
pletely open, “but I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff since coming to this town, and my mate has explained a bit more. What you’ve got is something special with Jim. I’m glad you found each other.”
Helen smiled. “Me too.”
*
They walked along the Main Street, arm-in-arm, window shopping and getting to know the town a bit better. Often, people would stop to say hello to Jim and be introduced formally to Helen. Many of them had taken part in her rescue from the road outside of town, and she found herself thanking them for their help. One and all, they were gracious and kind, if a bit overwhelming. Bears, she was learning, were quite different than wolves.
They were friendly and outgoing, for the most part. The town wasn’t exactly a bustling metropolis, but there were enough people moving around to indicate a thriving community. Helen liked the feel of the place, and the vibe of the art all around made her feel good right down to her soul. There were so many beautiful things to be seen. From the impressive art in all those gallery windows to the majestic beauty of the cove itself. This was an enchanted place, and she felt blessed to be able to see it.
Something about this town just felt so right to her. Big Wolf had been nice, but Grizzly Cove felt…like home. The revelation hit her, and she stopped walking. They were in front of another gallery, so Jim paused beside her and looked in the window. Helen looked too, finding a blonde woman on the other side of the glass, behind the window display, looking back at her with wide eyes.
As Helen watched, the blonde woman called to a man in the backroom of the small gallery, and he walked out, his pose attentive. He was a big man and shaggy like some of the other bear shifters she’d seen so far in this town. The woman, though, she was more petite. Lean and tall, kind of like Jim. Was this a male bear and female wolf couple? Helen didn’t know why she thought that, but it felt right.
The woman smiled and picked something up then headed out the door with it. Helen looked up at the sign at the top of the two-story structure. It read Spirit Bear House, but the sign above the display window said White Wolf Gallery. She looked at the front of the building again, and realized that there was more than one gallery inside, and each had its own name.