by Zoe Chant
He stripped her one item of clothing at a time, kissing his way along each newly bared bit of skin. He nipped at her collarbone, kissed his way across the soft curve of her belly, licked at her dark brown nipples. He could smell her growing arousal, and hear it in the soft noises she made, especially when he buried his face in the curls between her legs and tasted her salt.
When he finally entered her, she was hot and ready. She rose to meet him, wrapping her legs around him, meeting each of his thrusts with an eager surge of her hips.
He felt her shudder into the first throes of her climax, and that sent him over the edge, filling her with his heat until they sank down together, spent and pleasantly relaxed.
"I'm going to sleep well tonight, I think," Gaby murmured.
"Same." He wasn't worried about needing to stand watch. The cabin door was locked, and he knew his bear would rouse him at the first hint of trouble. But he really didn't think they'd been followed. For a little while, at least, they could relax.
And he really felt like he could relax. There was none of the tension that usually heralded a night full of bad dreams. Just a lazy, pleasant lassitude, and comfort in the presence of his mate.
After a moment he became aware of Gaby squirming, leaning off the bed and feeling for something on the floor. He made a questioning noise.
"Just trying to find my underwear. Ah. Here it is." She sat up and swung her legs off the bed to put it on. "I'd prefer not to sleep naked. If it was just the two of us, sure, but ..."
"Yeah, I get it." He sat up and hunted around for his briefs.
"I don't suppose you've got a spare T-shirt I can sleep in, do you?"
"I don't, but I bet Keegan does." He found a couple of clean T-shirts in the closet, one with a gym logo, the other with the name of a truck stop on it, and held them up. "Take your pick."
"Oh ... that one, I guess." She pointed to the truck stop one. "Poor Keegan. I feel like a bizarre modern version of Goldilocks. Sleeping in his bed ..." She pulled the T-shirt over her head. It was tight over her breasts and much too large everywhere else. "Wearing his clothes ..."
"It's okay. We'll just tidy up before we leave. Ready to sleep?"
Gaby nodded. Derek flicked off the light, plunging the room into the true darkness that you never got in the city. There was always some light, even with the blinds closed.
He didn't really need darkness to sleep. He'd gotten used to being able to fall asleep anytime, anywhere. But there was something peaceful and comforting, very soothing to his bear, about this complete darkness with no sign of artificial light anywhere.
Yeah. He knew why Keegan liked it up here.
He made his way back to the bed by feel and curled up against Gaby, burying his nose in her neck and inhaling the scent of woman and sex and mate.
Tomorrow he might have to fight, but tonight he was truly and utterly content.
He sank into sleep, and didn't dream once.
Chapter Ten: Gaby
Gaby woke to sunlight spilling across her pillow.
She almost never got to sleep in. I overslept, she thought dazedly. My morning shift—I'm going to be late—
Then she registered that, first of all, this wasn't her bed. Second, she was alone in the bed, which she hadn't been when she'd fallen asleep, and she could hear voices and laughter coming from downstairs.
Gaby sat up and yawned, her hair falling messily in her face. She pushed a handful out of the way so she could see, and sat up. She was wearing nothing except yesterday's underwear and an oversized T-shirt that belonged to Keegan.
I should've had Derek take us back to the apartment so we could get a change of clothes. Then she remembered her last sight of her apartment building and shivered. If the apartment is even still there ...
But she thought Derek was right that her apartment probably hadn't been harmed. All they'd have to do was clean up a congealed casserole dish when they got home, at the end of all of this.
Please, for all our sakes, let this be over soon.
Another burst of high-pitched childish giggling came from downstairs, and Gaby decided it was time to figure out what was going on down there. Also, she could smell coffee and the delicious smell of something frying, which made her realize that she was starving. Dinner at the hotel had been a long time ago.
She climbed into yesterday's clothes. A hairbrush, apparently, was yet another thing she hadn't packed, so she combed her hair with her fingers, and then stepped out to the railing of the loft, looking down in the cabin's living room.
Everyone else was already up. Luisa was on the couch with a cup of coffee. Derek and Sandy were in the kitchen; she had to lean out farther to see them. There was a griddle on the stove, a bowl of batter beside it, and a plate with a stack of odd-shaped pancakes on it.
Derek, making pancakes. Her head swam at the mental incongruity.
"What do you want this one to look like?" Derek asked Sandy, dribbling batter onto the griddle.
"Ummm ... a puppy!"
"The last one was a puppy. How about something different this time?"
"Ummmm," Sandy said, bouncing on his toes.
"How about an elephant?" Derek suggested.
"Can you make a pancake ephelant?" Sandy sounded incredulous.
"Sure you can." Derek began carefully pouring batter from a cup. "See, here's the body ... it's got to be bigger than the other pancakes, of course ... and we can do the trunk like this ... would you like to make the legs?"
"Sure!" Sandy crowed, holding his arms up in the air.
Derek handed him the cup of batter and then picked him up. Gaby had to force herself to squash a surge of parental warnings, such as Don't hold him too close to the hot grease! and He's going to drip! You have to guide his hand!
But they seemed to be doing just fine. Against all odds, Derek Ruger, badass and professional bodyguard, appeared to be good with kids.
Gaby padded quietly down the stairs, not wanting to disturb them. Her mother noticed her and held out an arm. Gaby came over to receive a good-morning hug and kissed her mother on top of the head. Despite the lack of amenities, Luisa had somehow managed to get her hair brushed perfectly smooth and pinned up with the combs she'd been wearing yesterday.
"There's food here?"
"Some," Luisa said, smiling. "We found pancake mix and a sealed bottle of syrup in one of the cabinets. Derek says that his friend would not mind."
"Well, he did say we could use the cabin. I guess he wouldn't expect us to starve here." She made a mental note to do something nice for Derek's friend Keegan. Send him a thank-you card at the very least. She also filed away the mental note that apparently her mother and Derek were on a first-name basis now.
Derek looked around and saw her, and broke into a beaming smile that sent a pleasant shiver through her middle. "Hey, look who's up. Sandy, it's your momma."
"Mom!" Sandy cried happily. "Look, I'm making pancakes!"
In his excitement, he waved his arms and nearly poured batter down Derek's collar. Gaby hurried to rescue the batter cup before it spilled.
"Uh, thanks." Derek grinned ruefully. "We're doing pretty well at not getting it everywhere. Only a few drops so far."
"You should see what the kitchen looks like after a pancake breakfast at home. Trust me, you're doing great."
"I made an ephelant!" Sandy said.
"It's the best elephant I've ever seen. And I have seen a few elephants in my time," she said, winking at Derek.
"When?" Sandy asked, round-eyed.
"Well, last year at the zoo, for one. Do you remember that?"
"Ummmm."
"With the flamingos?" He'd been very impressed by the flamingos, she recalled.
"Oooh." His small brow cleared. "Oh, yeah."
"Anyone ready to eat?" Derek asked, setting a plate of pancakes onto the table with a flourish.
For a little while, the only sounds were those of four people industriously eating, with an occasional "Please pass the syrup"
or "May I have some more?" Gaby tucked away three pancakes single-handedly, but that was nothing compared to the stack that Derek inhaled.
"A man who is a good eater is also a good provider," Luisa declared approvingly.
Gaby stifled her semi-instinctive urge to sigh, and leaned over to Sandy. "Regardless of what your grandma says, a grown-up lady doesn't need a man to buy her things."
"Perhaps not," Luisa said, "but it is a very nice thing to have."
"Mama ... please ..."
After breakfast, Luisa insisted on doing the cleanup, with Sandy "helping." Derek and Gaby went out on the porch. The morning was crisp and clean, with the sun peeking through scattered clouds, just enough to knock the edge off the heat and make the day pleasant.
"I took a walk around this morning, before everyone else was up," Derek said quietly. "Scouted around the cabin and walked a little way down the driveway. Absolutely no sign of anyone coming to bother us. We're all alone up here."
"I really appreciate that. I just wish I knew how long this was going to keep up."
"You want my advice?" Derek asked, tweaking a dark strand of hair off her shoulder.
"I'll take any advice you want to give."
"Relax. Enjoy it. When was the last time you had a vacation?"
"This isn't a vacation, though. This is hiding out in the middle of nowhere, while a killer stalks me."
He put his arms around her and slowly rocked her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Look around you. I won't lie, you've been through some rough stuff, but this looks like paradise on Earth to me."
Gradually, a little at a time, Gaby let herself relax into the gentle swaying. It was utterly quiet here, the quietest place she'd ever been. She kept expecting to hear traffic noises, but the only traffic was an occasional distant car on the highway, so faint she had to strain to hear it. She could hear individual birds singing in the woods, and a gentle rushing sound that might have been wind or water.
"There's a spring behind the house," Derek said, speaking as if in response to her thoughts—she couldn't get over the way he could do that. "It's not deep enough to be dangerous. Your son might enjoy playing in the water a little later."
"You can't read my mind, can you?"
"What?"
"You're all but finishing my sentences already. Even Mama and I can hardly do that."
"Oh. That." He rocked her slowly in silence before speaking again. "It's not telepathy, not exactly. It's just that, as mates, we're very in tune with each other. I could see that you were listening, so I thought you might want me to explain what you were hearing." He cocked his head. "That's a robin singing, by the way."
"You promise you're not using actual telepathy? You'd tell me if you were?"
Derek laughed. "I promise. The only thing I can do is turn into a bear."
She tipped back her head to smile up into his face. "I'd love to see that."
"Me as a bear?"
"Yes, you as a bear. Why, don't you want to?"
Derek hesitated and glanced at the house. Then he smiled. "Sure. Why not."
They walked away from the porch and around the corner of the cabin, hand in hand. Behind the cabin, the grass sloped down to a steep little bank and, as Derek had said, a small, rushing stream. He was right; it wasn't more than a few inches deep, just enough to add a picturesque element to the yard.
There was a trail along the edge of the spring, narrow enough that they had to go single file as they walked into the woods.
"I don't want to go too far," Gaby said, glancing back anxiously.
"I know. Me neither. This should be far enough. I just want to make sure we aren't seen from the house."
He was wearing a new T-shirt today, probably another of Keegan's. He stripped it off with only a hint of stiffness this time, and Gaby couldn't help staring at the puckered pink skin where his shoulder looked like it had been healing for a week instead of less than a day.
"You weren't kidding about the fast healing."
"Nope." He took off his holster and started to put it on top of the folded T-shirt, then stopped. "Do you know how to use a gun?"
Gaby shook her head.
"You'd better learn the basics, then."
As he drew the gun from its holster, she shook her head more vigorously. "I don't want to know how. There's no reason why I need to know, not with you here."
"What if something happens to me? You have to be able to protect your son and your mother, if you need to." He expertly disconnected the bullet-filled clip, dropping it into his hand, and stuck it in his pocket. Then he held the gun pointed at the ground, finger off the trigger. "You might've heard people talk about taking off the safety on a gun before you shoot. However, this is a Glock, which means that it has no safety. If there's a bullet in the chamber, it's ready to fire. I don't normally carry it with a bullet chambered for safety reasons. However, you should never, ever assume that it's not. Checking for a chambered bullet is called clearing the weapon, and it's always the first thing you should do if anyone hands you a gun. To do that, you pull back the slide—this part here—and look down the barrel. Do it a couple of times to be sure." He demonstrated. "Now you do it."
Gaby reluctantly accepted the gun as he pressed it into her hands. It felt cold to the touch and heavier than she was expecting. "But what if I—break something, or, I don't know ...?"
"You won't hurt it, and I took the clip out, so it can't hurt you. There are no bullets in it now. Clear the weapon like I showed you."
She did it reluctantly. The slide—the spring-loaded top of the gun—was stiffer than she was expecting, and snapped back into place when she let go.
"Now if there was a clip in the gun, the part with the bullets, you would've just chambered one, and it'd be ready to fire." His big hands closed over hers, and he turned her around, so she was held between his arms with her back against his bare chest. "Go ahead and hold it like you're going to shoot. Important piece of safety information: no matter what you see people on TV doing, never put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to fire." He tapped his finger against the side of the barrel. "Just rest it above the trigger so you can move it down when you're ready."
His hands, big and sure, guided hers into position, and he helped her raise the gun. Her heart beat fast. She could feel the strength in his arms, carefully controlled—a force of nature, guided and aimed, the way he was guiding her hands.
"When you're ready," he murmured into her ear, sending a shiver through her, "go ahead and dry-fire the gun a couple of times. It's not good on it to do that a lot, but a couple times won't hurt, and that'll give you a feel for it. Squeeze the trigger gently; don't tug on it."
She carefully squeezed the trigger. With no bullet in the gun, she wasn't expecting it to do anything, but it made a sharp snap like the pop of a spring-loaded toy, and she jumped.
"Just like that." She could hear the smile in Derek's voice. "Except maybe without the jumping. You'll need to pull the slide back again or else the trigger won't work. If there were bullets in the gun, it'd reset automatically and you could keep firing without having to do that."
She did it twice more, and Derek kissed her ear. "Good. Now you know how to fire a gun. I'd have you do some actual target practice, but we didn't warn anyone back at the house, and all I've got with me is one more spare clip in the car's glove box."
He showed her how to put the clip back into the gun, then holstered it and laid the holster on the T-shirt. Gaby felt jittery from a head rush, partly from having the gun in her hands, and partly from being pressed against his naked chest.
She felt ... powerful.
It's an illusion, she reminded herself. Okay, so she knew how to shoot a gun now—sort of. Still, that little gun wasn't going to be able to do much against a full-grown polar bear.
But the one thing that could take down a giant polar bear was standing right in front of her, stripping off the rest of his clothes until he was gloriously naked in the morning sun.<
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She had admired Derek's gorgeous physique every time she'd seen him, but this was transcendental. He belonged here, with the sun gilding the curling hair on his chest and leaf shadows flickering over his shoulders when the wind stirred the tree branches. Here in the woods, he was like a primal force of nature, like a young forest god, almost seeming to glow in the sun.
When he met her eyes, though, it was one hundred percent Derek looking back at her, smiling gently. "Ready?"
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
There wasn't anything spectacular. No lights or sparks or Hollywood-like special effects. He just flowed, from one shape to the other, bending over with fluid grace. It was a man's hands that reached for the forest floor, and a bear's paws that landed there.
Derek was a grizzly bear, his fur a medium brown, lighter on the hump of his shoulders and his spine. In the sunlight, he seemed to glow.
He was huge, but she felt not the slightest trace of fear. Nothing about Derek in either of his shapes could ever frighten her.
"May I?" she asked softly, holding out a hand.
Derek came to her with a slow, measured stride, keeping his head low and his body language as nonthreatening as a huge grizzly was capable of. Gaby pushed her hands deep into the thick, coarse fur around his face. Sensing what he might like, without knowing quite how she knew, she scratched him as she might have scratched a large, furry dog. His eyes half closed in bliss.
Then he shifted back, and suddenly she was cupping his face in her hands, with her fingertips pressed to his morning stubble and his naked body nearly touching hers. Gaby let out a small gasp.
"Sorry," he said, grinning down at her. He didn't look sorry in the slightest.
"Flirt," she murmured, and savored a long, gentle kiss.
In his naked state, the stirrings of interest against her hip were all too obvious. Derek broke the kiss to grin at her ruefully. "You know, under other circumstances I'd want to lay you down right here by the spring, in the sunshine, but today ..."
"We should be getting back to the cabin," she sighed.
"Afraid so. We've been gone long enough."