Gingerbear Christmas (Howls Romance Howliday Special)

by Reina Torres

  Satisfied that she was asleep and settled in for at least a little while, he ducked outside and moved the cut lumber to his workroom at the back of the garage. After that, he brought Haley’s bags inside.

  He moved quickly enough that there was only the hint of an idea in the back of his mind to take her bags into his room. His guest room was ready for her.

  Theadora and some of the other ladies in town had done their best to decorate it for her, but it ended up looking a little like a museum to fabric crafts and creations.

  It was part of the reason why the ladies had lobbied for Haley to come and work in Allaway, she was an authority on quilts and quilting and the ladies really did enjoy sewing. Hand stitch or machine quick, the women of Allaway loved decorating their homes and sewing for their loved ones.

  Moving over to the doorway to his guest room, Clancy set down her suitcases just outside the door, and Clancy turned away, determined not to think about how far away she would be from him at night. He knew that the mountain was safe. Anyone who would find their way into town or into the mountains wouldn’t dare go up against him.

  Still, his instinct was to protect her from anything that could happen.

  The need to be there for her was a potent feeling. A driving force.

  How he’d lived this long without her in his life seemed almost impossible to believe.

  A quick look over the back of the couch told him that Haley was still asleep, but her expression had changed. She might wake up in a little while.

  But, before that happened, he had some things to do.

  Haley snuggled deeper into the soft blanket surrounding her. Warmth. True, bone-deep warmth soaked into her body, relieving all of the aches and kinks that she’d picked up driving across three states and into the mountains.

  As she shifted under the blanket, she came awake with a start.

  How did she… Where was she… When did they-

  Haley sat straight up and found herself tangled in the blanket that had been keeping her warm. One awkward tug on an arm almost sent her to the floor in a heap.

  “Hey, careful there.”

  Clancy.

  Kneeling before her on the floor, her host put a steadying hand on her knee and another on her elbow.

  “You almost took a tumble.”

  She nodded, her brain on momentary overload.

  She hadn’t dreamed him.

  For a moment she wondered if she was still fast asleep and dreaming this, but one good look at Clancy pushed those thoughts away.

  He was wearing another long-sleeved shirt. This one a steely gray wool.

  She couldn’t be dreaming. If she was, he wouldn’t be wearing a shirt.

  Her gaze dipped down before she could stop herself. Dark jeans stretched over his muscular thighs. Haley pulled her gaze back up to his face and hoped she wasn’t blushing as much as she thought she was. The heat in her cheeks could probably toast marshmallows!

  “You changed.”

  The words only mortified her even more.

  “Your shirt,” she continued when she should have just stayed quiet. “I mean, you’re wearing one.”

  His answering smile brought a glint to his eyes and for the first time she noticed their color. A shade darker than his shirt, they were mesmerizing. Without another thought, Haley reached out, her hands on his shoulders, skimming her palms over the fine woolen fabric of his shirt and yes… the hard, sculpted muscle beneath.

  It wasn’t a conscious decision to touch him.

  Impulsive?

  No, it was instinct.

  An urge that came from a place deeper than conscious thought.

  Slowly, she smoothed her hands up and over his shoulders. Her fingertips brushing against the short, trimmed hairs at the base of his head.

  She felt the vibration of a growl through her skin and just the deep, guttural sound alone sent answering sensations through the rest of her body.

  Her hands tugged as she tried to move closer to the edge of the cushion and Clancy’s hands helped peel the blanket away from her legs.

  An impatient sigh fell from her lips as she felt his cheek rub against hers. The scent of his skin was delicious, like cloves and cinnamon. And the heat radiating from his body made her melt against him.

  She didn’t know if she moved forward, fitting her hips into his hands or if he’d latched on and pulled her to the edge of the couch, but her thighs were spread, holding his body snug and tight between them.

  Haley dragged in a breath and let the tips of her breasts brush against the rock-hard wall of his chest.

  A sudden surge of passion arced through her body and she pulled away as if she’d been burned.

  Her self-conscious mind wanted to reach for the blanket and pull it up to her shoulders.

  Her rational mind told her it was on the ground and out of reach.

  Deep down inside of her where nature and instinct had been locked away, the only thing that she wanted was to wrap herself around him again.

  Haley didn’t so much fight for control as she fought for some kind of balance.

  Even with her boyfriend, she’d never really been carried away by anything. The decision to date him had been a rational one. Having sex with him had been a curiosity and had never reached the level of passion where she’d been swept away by anything. Even walking away from the relationship had been a conscious decision to stop wasting their time trying to build something permanent.

  But less than a day with Clancy… Likely less than a few hours, and all she wanted to do was feel his lips on her skin. Feel his bare skin against hers. She wanted. She needed.

  She longed to sweep him away the way that he had almost done for her.

  Could someone like her really have that kind of power over a man like him?

  He held out a hand toward her and she looked up into his eyes. “Are you… okay?”

  She wanted to laugh. She was so NOT okay. She was beyond okay and launched into something closer to the stars!

  The steely gray of his eyes was little more than a silvery outline. The rise and fall of his shoulders was slow and heavy.

  And the hard line of his erection that she’d felt pressed so intimately against her was still blatantly visible against the black denim of his jeans.

  It was beyond explanation really. This man. This amazing man wanted her.

  “I should be asking you the same.” She spoke, but her voice was soft, tremulous. “I think I came close to mauling you just a moment ago. I’m lucky you’re not throwing me out into the snow.”

  Another shimmer of silver glowed against the dark centers of his eyes. When he licked his lips, Haley shivered a little.

  “What... what’s that look about?”

  With a lazy shrug that made his shoulders look even more mountainous, he answered her. “Honestly? I had an image of you in the snow.”

  She laughed. “You mean me tripping and falling over a snowdrift, right?”

  He narrowed his eyes and looked at her, and maybe it was just a fanciful idea, but it seemed as if he wasn’t the only one behind his eyes. Crazy? Sure. But that was the turn that her life was taking.

  “You, in the snow,” his voice dropped from his warm baritone to something much deeper, more gravelly, “with me on top... keeping you warm.”

  His smile was almost human. She couldn’t put her finger on why she was so sure of that, but somehow, she knew that Clancy Rhodes was definitely not a normal guy.

  If he was just a guy at all.

  “It’s true, isn’t it?” Her voice was barely a whisper. Not because she was scared of him or worried how he’d react. If anything, she was worried what he would think of her for asking the question.

  Clancy lifted a hand and gently smoothed her hair back from her face. “Ask me the question, Haley.”

  It was harder than it should have been. She’d never been short of questions in the past. But still, most people didn’t even bother to listen to her.

  That was going t
o be different here.

  Clancy was zeroed in on her. Patiently waiting for her to speak.

  The question was on the tip of her tongue, spelled out in just a few words, but she couldn’t quite give them voice. And even when she did manage to speak, it wasn’t a question.

  “You’re a shapeshifter.”

  His eyes went dark, almost midnight black against the pale perfection of his skin and fiery ginger of his lashes. His face, still achingly handsome, held the hint of something hiding beneath it.

  Even the sound of his breathing had changed, deeper and more powerful.

  She drew in her own breath to steady her nerves and smelled the forest and the snow as clear and present as if they were standing outside of his home.

  As his hands cupped her face and his fingers gently grazed over her skin, she saw lakes of clear, pristine water with fish swimming beneath the surface.

  A growl of sound rolled through her body with the force of a river rushing down from the mountain.

  “Bear.” She said the word and didn’t fear the idea at all. How could she? She didn’t fear Clancy.

  No, she ached for him.

  How had her world turned upside down so quickly?

  She leaned into his touch, but kept her eyes on his. “You’re a bear.”

  “Yes.” He nodded, slowly, almost imperceptibly. “Do you know what you are?”

  Haley felt the skin between her brows furrow for a moment. There was something in the way he asked that told her she wouldn’t know the answer. She was okay with that. But she did want to know what he had to say. The secret he had to tell her.

  “What am I?”

  Clancy leaned closer and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. So gentle that she wasn’t even sure that she felt his touch.

  He moved back enough that she could see the look in his eyes, now back to an almost silver-gray.

  “You’re mine.”

  4

  For a few agonizing moments, Clancy was afraid that he’d messed everything up.

  That was until Haley laughed.

  Okay, it was more of a giggle.

  Then, she lifted her hand across her body to her other forearm and pinched herself.

  She winced, but that was the extent of it.

  Until she tried it again and looked around the room before her eyes settled on his face.

  “Okay, so I’m really not dreaming.”

  Oh. He smiled and felt his bear sit back with a sigh. He didn’t understand why Clancy wasn’t pressing for more.

  If anything, her laugh, and the way she’d made light of it said a lot. Most importantly, that she wasn’t sure that he meant what he said.

  It also told him that he was going to have to ease her into the idea. She knew about shifters. That was in his favor. She hadn’t been upset or afraid. Instead, he was fairly sure he heard a curious tone in her voice. Interest, too.

  He could work with that.

  “No, Haley. You’re not dreaming.”

  Her smile softened and the remaining tension in her shoulders slipped away. “It’s all… it’s a lot all at once, you know?”

  “Sure. You didn’t grow up with it like I did.”

  She nodded, but he saw something else in her eyes. “I think it would have been amazing to grow up with it. My life was kind of monotonous, you know? I went to school. I went home. I learned how to take care of myself when I could and went out on my own, probably too young, but it worked for me.

  “But other than a less than ideal childhood, I was just me, you know? Normal. Human. Okay, I was a big girl. Too big to be pretty-”

  His reaction was instinct. He put his hands on her legs, just above her knees and leaned in.

  His sudden movement silenced her words, but he could see the look in her eyes hadn’t changed. “Do you really think that?”

  Her only answer was to lower her gaze off to the side.

  Clancy smoothed his palms over her thighs and back again. Just that simple touch had him shaking with need. “Don’t ever think that.”

  He let his gaze roam over her, taking in every voluptuous inch of her body. His breaths were slower… deeper, drawing in more of her scent. It was a stupid thing to do in hindsight. He’d been managing his need around her but breathing her in only stirred up his bear.

  Claws sank deep into their link, fang too. The bear wanted out if Clancy wasn’t going to do the job.

  The job, he reminded his bear, wasn’t going to be easy. Humans like Haley didn’t understand about their rules, their needs. It was going to take time.

  His bear sent him a few images of what he thought would be a better use of their time and damn, Clancy agreed with the gist of the message.

  But there would be a time and a place to strip Haley down and bury himself inside of her. Just not this moment.

  When his bear started to protest in earnest, someone knocked at the door.

  Clancy was both curious and angry at himself. Had he been so distracted by his need that he’d put Haley in danger?

  The knock sounded again. “Clancy? You in there, brother?”

  He turned to look at Haley and saw the worry written plainly across her features. His gaze followed hers as she looked down at his chest. He heard the soft indrawn breath that she took. Her hands were shaking as she released her hold on his shirt. Clancy felt the fear rolling off of her in waves.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head. “I… I don’t know. Someone knocked on the door and you… I felt how upset you were. I don’t even remember…” Her eyes looked down at her hands.

  He felt her shame, but it was his fault. His reaction, his condemnation had been directed inward, but she’d felt it just the same.

  “It’s not you, Haley. I think you felt what I felt. You don’t have to apologize for it. It’s my fault for worrying you.” He took her hands in his and brought them up to his mouth, pressing kisses across her fingers. “It’s Manny at the door, my best friend.” Lifting his face upward, he drew in another breath. “And his mate… his wife. I wasn’t expecting them to stop by.” He opened his eyes and watched her expression carefully. “I can ask them to come back.”

  She couldn’t feel more like a ninny if she tried. He was worried about her enough to send his best friend away to make her feel better.

  “No… no. Please. They’re your friends.” She tried to give him a confident smile, but she could feel how wobbly it was. “I- I’d like to meet them.”

  It didn’t take a genius to see that he wasn’t all that convinced, but he stood up and offered her his hand.

  Haley took it gratefully. She knew she wouldn’t be all that steady on her feet. After all, a few minutes ago she’d been a few seconds away from trying to climb him like a tree. A tall, gorgeous, built like a god, tree.

  Now, she’d have to face his friends and pretend like she wasn’t just lusting after him.

  Great. Just great.

  Clancy made sure she was steady on her feet and then together they walked to the door.

  Just before he reached out for the knob, a funny smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he tilted his head toward the door.

  Haley knew that shifters had heightened senses, but now she was wondering just how good Clancy’s hearing was. Could he really hear through the door?

  The door swung open and the two outside stopped talking mid-word.

  Clancy gave them both a big grin and drew Haley closer to his side. “I agree with you, Angelina. There might have been a better time to stop by, but there’s no need to threaten your mate’s ability to father more of your children. I’m sure Manny meant… well.”

  Haley looked between them and managed to see at least the side of Clancy’s face. He was still smiling and maybe even hiding a laugh.

  Manny, as Clancy called him, was having a hard time dealing with his wife… mate’s ‘I Told You So’ smile.

  “I told you we should have just dropped it off and called to let him know.”

  �
��Honey, please. You wanted to meet her too.”

  Angelina turned her head and met Haley’s gaze before she nodded and turned back to Manny. “Of course, I do, but maybe they were… getting to know each other.”

  Manny’s upper lip curled a little. “They better have been doing something to keep us standing out in the snow like this.”

  His meaning was clear, and Haley felt her cheeks catch fire. Just remembering how she’d felt just moments ago, the fire that having Clancy near ignited in her, she couldn’t help but feel almost bare before his friends.

  Haley felt Clancy tense up beside her and she gave his hand a squeeze, trying to tell him that everything was okay even though she was afraid that she’d made a fool of herself.

  “Okay, that’s enough.”

  It was Angelina who spoke and both men seemed to relax a little as she stepped inside. She pushed a fabric covered package at Clancy and he had to let go of Haley’s hand to take a firm hold of it.

  Haley didn’t have time to worry.

  Angelina walked up to her and took her hand. “Come on. Let the men posture and pose for each other and show how big and burly they are. We, on the other hand, will sit down and…” Angelina stopped short on their way to the kitchen. “Are these her bags?”

  It took Haley a moment to realize that yes, her bags were there in the room. “I haven’t had a chance to put anything away.” Turning, she smiled at Clancy. “Thanks for bringing them in.”

  Clancy’s smile warmed her from across the room. “You were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”

  Silence fell in the room and it was Manny who broke it. “She was sleeping?” Haley wasn’t sure what was going on.

  “You find your mate? You take her up to your cabin and she sleeps?”

  A warning growl rolled out of Clancy’s throat, but Haley didn’t have time to wonder what she was missing. Angelina interrupted the argument by reaching for one of Haley’s bags.

  “Babe! What are you doing?”

  Manny crossed the room in a heartbeat.

  “You know you can’t carry stuff.”

  Angelina rolled her eyes and settled her gaze on Haley. “Manny thinks that just because I’m pregnant, I’m an invalid of some kind.”