“Yeah?” Eric muttered. “So what? Just sex.”
“I doubt that,” Connor said. “If it was just sex you’d be in a much better mood. Cody said he told you to talk to her. Have you talked to her?”
“I was a dick and I apologized. One thing led to another…”
“That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it,” Connor said. He tossed seeds into his mouth, cracking them with his teeth and looking sort of funny as he separated the meat from the husk while he squinted at Eric. “You need to really talk. Clear the air. Find out exactly where you stand. I remember how you were when she left. You were a mess. Don’t wait till she leaves again.”
“I don’t want to hear whatever she’s going to say,” Eric mumbled.
“Ugh.” Connor punched him in the shoulder and because it was Connor, it actually hurt a little. “Man up.”
“Oh, c’mon! It’s not about that-”
“Talk to her or I’ll talk to her for you.” He gave Eric a wink and said, “That’s an order from your alpha.”
It was rare for Connor to actually pull rank. It always had to be something very important for Connor to insist. Eric nodded, “Alright, alright.”
“Good.”
23
James
James had decided he was both in love with and absolutely terrified of Michelle the first time he saw her blow out a light with a shot of magic. It had been in a bar and the light had been a cheap chandelier. She did it because she had been given the wrong drink by a bartender.
James had already been watching her from across the bar because she was beautiful. That she was a powerful witch on top of being a fellow shifter had been even more impressive (and rare). James had attached himself to her immediately. He considered himself incredibly lucky that she wasted time on him, even if he was devastatingly handsome by his own standards.
Life with Michelle was equal parts terrifying and exciting. If she really managed to take the Strauss brothers for all they were worth, that would just be a whole other level of exciting.
He liked when she gave him something to do and he always tried his hardest to do it well. He wanted her to think he was important.
There was also the fact that if he failed one too many times she would definitely kill him slowly and painfully. He had seen her kill men before. She’d disemboweled a guy with a spell once, before stealing the contents of his safe. And she’d only ended up getting a few thousand dollars out of it. Then she’d said she wished she’d done worse than disembowel him.
James didn’t want to know what was worse than a disemboweling.
Michelle was the most evil and powerful creature he’d ever met, much less heard of.
If nothing else, he wanted to see if she ever ended up taking over the world. And if she did, he damn sure wanted to be there.
So when she told him to keep an eye on Eric Strauss and his new girly, well, he wanted to do the best he could.
It was fun anyway.
He wore a dark suit and sunglasses and felt like a superspy hanging around the lobby as if waiting for someone to meet him. Eric was in absentia for a while and James broke away a couple times to grab a drink in the lounge. But in the late afternoon Eric showed up again, looking ruffled and smelling like sex.
Aha!
James was inordinately excited when he deduced that Eric Strauss had just had sex. He felt like a brilliant detective...even though it was all incredibly obvious when you were a shifter who could smell sex on other shifters. A lot of the guests smelled like sex. It was a strange thing to be able to sense about a stranger, but shifters were generally used to it.
James wished he had a hat because spies, he thought, should have hats. He also felt as if he should have a newspaper to hide behind instead of his phone, but it gave him something to look at while he listened to Eric talk to his brother after helping a bunch of annoying customers.
The more Eric and Connor talked, the more James found himself smirking down at his phone. The conversation was incredibly revealing. He had to think Michelle would be pleased by it. Yes, Eric had some girl who had replaced Michelle but things weren’t going well there either. And she’d left him at some point. Surely, Michelle could exploit something juicy like that.
Once the conversation ended, James got to his feet. He had been sitting in a nice leather chair, far enough from the front desk that he certainly didn’t look like a man who would be eavesdropping.
But he still made a point of clucking his tongue and shaking his head as he looked down at his phone. He was definitely someone who had been about to meet someone and had been stood up instead. He was definitely not Michelle’s actual lover who was staying in her suite, off the books.
He felt like a stealthy genius as he made his way back to their room.
“Michelle!” He clapped his hands and laughed, tossing his shades on a side table. The bathroom light was on and he heard soft music. He found Michelle in the jacuzzi tub under a heap of bubbles, her hair piled up on her head as she sipped wine. “Have I got some news for you. This is good. This is very good.”
“Well?” Michelle snapped. “What is it? Get to the point.”
He was almost impressed at how impatient she could be even while sipping wine in a bubble bath.
“The girl Eric Strauss is seeing is named Lydia,” James reported. He sat on the edge of the tub and grabbed the still half-full bottle of wine, taking a swallow. “But it’s already imploding. His brother wanted Eric to talk to her. Sounds like some old bad blood. They definitely had sex but it didn’t end well. You totally have an in!”
“Hmm…” Michelle tilted her head, appearing to think it over. “That is interesting.”
“Hell yeah, it’s interesting,” James said, feeling especially smug. “She left him once! A long ass time ago.”
“Old flame…” Michelle pursed her lips. “He could be really hung up on her. Which means if she breaks his heart again, he’ll be especially weak. That’s good.”
“It’s great!” James insisted. “You should go to his suite tonight and seduce the hell out of him! Sounded like he was going to talk to her again. You gotta snap him up before he gets away!”
“No, no, no.” She squinted and stared out the window at the snowy peaks beyond. He could practically hear the click of the wheels turning in her head. She was scheming. It was the only time she wasn’t volatile. “No, he’s not broken down yet. I have to wait until they talk and see if he collapses. Things aren’t going well but they’re not dead yet. Gotta let it die. Or kill it. I’ll definitely kill it myself, if I have to.”
“Are you sure-”
Michelle gave no warning before her hands were around his throat. Her strength was a little unnatural, she was using magic to enhance. This occurred to James dimly and then he couldn’t think of anything at all because he couldn’t breathe. She was grimacing at him, her eyes wide with delight as she choked him, pulling him over the side of the tub so that he half fell into the bath with her.
“I’m...s-sorry....” James croaked, his eyes bulging out.
He’d fucked up somehow. She was finally going to kill him. His heart pounded with fear and the edges of his vision began to grow black. Michelle grinned in that crazy way of hers and her grip tightened, her fingernails breaking the skin.
“Don’t contradict me,” Michelle whispered in his ear.
Just as James was sure his life was about to be snuffed out like an old candle, Michelle let go and he fell back into the tub with a splash. She kicked him and he wheezed, coughing as he climbed out of the water and caught his breath, his throat throbbing.
“Sorry,” he rasped. “Okay, you’re right.”
He sat on the edge of the tub and felt both petrified and also very fortunate not to be dead as he composed himself.
“Um...anyway,” James said. “Uh, yeah. K-kill it.”
“Kill it,” Michelle said, nodding. She looked completely calm again. That was as unsettling as anything else.
> “Or kill her, I guess,” James said, cringing and wondering if that was contrary enough for her to nearly kill him again. But she only sat back in the tub instead.
“If I have to,” Michelle said, taking another sip of wine. “Or, even if I don’t.”
24
Lydia
It was just sex; it was just sex; I need to get out of here. I need to shift and run...
Lydia sighed heavily and sank further into the bubbly hot water of the jacuzzi tub.
It was difficult not to feel a little pathetic. She’d come all the way down to Black Bear Lake just for Eric, who was seemingly perfectly fine. He wasn’t in any danger, that was for sure. After hearing about what his brother had been through finding his mate and fighting off some notorious gangster shifter from Utah, she was starting to think it was only that situation which she’d dreamed about. It was likely that the danger had already come and passed.
That meant she really had no further reason to hang around Black Bear Lake, except that Eric was letting her and it was difficult to resist.
There was also the unavoidable fact that if Eric came to her door again, she would let him into her bed. Even if it was just sex.
Besides all that, what did she have to go back to? She had left her awful sleuth a long, long time ago. She had no real ties in Washington and she’d brought everything important with her. The thought of being lonely in Washington was a lot more dismal than the thought of being lonely, even with Eric just across the lodge from her.
Lydia climbed out of the bath and dressed in the yoga pants and sweater she’d bought with one of Eric’s gift cards. She was considering ordering food when the knock came at the door and she tensed, expecting Eric. Except, it didn’t smell like him.
When she opened the door to Cody Strauss, she sighed in relief. “Hey, Cody.” She grinned genuinely. She had not had a chance to catch up with all the Strauss brothers, though she had only ever been dimly aware of them as Eric’s intimidating older brothers when she was younger. But Cody laughed and gave her a big hug, clapping her on the back. He was holding a covered platter and he held it carefully aside as he hugged her. “How are you?”
“Me?” Cody raised an eyebrow. “I’m just fine. I’m more interested in how you are. Judging by the pouty expression on my brother’s face, I’m guessing not great.”
“Really?” Lydia shut the door behind Cody and padded over to the mini-bar. If they were going to be talking about Eric, she at least wanted to be buzzed. “He seemed pretty happy with himself the last time I saw him. I’ll get you a drink.”
He’d looked perfectly happy to her mind, tossing their time together off as hot sex and nothing more. It hadn’t been only that to her. Not when they’d seemed to connect on every level.
“He wasn’t,” Cody said firmly. She tossed him a mini bottle of Grey Goose and he caught it neatly, throwing it back all in one swallow. “But we Strauss brothers aren’t always great at talking about our…” Cody sighed dramatically and waved a hand around as if batting away insects, “feelings.”
“Wow.” Lydia couldn’t help but laugh. “You really aren’t.”
“My feelings are usually that I’m kinda pissed and everything else is a dull roar,” Cody cracked.
Lydia cackled at that and she sat down at the dining table. Cody set that mysterious platter of his on the table. “I brought you dinner, by the way. Shrimp scampi, creamed spinach, potatoes au gratin, tiramisu for dessert…”
“Oooh.” Lydia’s mouth watered. She was more in the mood to go on a hunt and get her paws dirty, but she was hardly about to turn down shrimp. “That looks delicious. Thank you! I must have been a fool to fall for the concierge and not the chef.”
“Fall for?” Cody’s eyebrows shot up.
Shit.
“I’m just… I don’t mean…”
“I won’t say anything.” Cody shook his head and Lydia blushed, digging into her shrimp scampi. On second thought, it was much better than a hunt would be. Though she still wanted to go on a run in the snowy woods to stretch her legs. “It’s your business. But I think it’s stupid.”
“I left and he never got over it,” she said quietly. “I was doing it for his own good.”
“You might have given him the choice, you know.”
“I was young. Didn’t always think things through.”
“Right.” Cody shrugged. “Well, I hope it works out. If it makes any difference, my brothers and I have been trying to knock some sense into him.”
“If he’s sensible, he’ll tell me to go,” Lydia said. It sounded morose, she supposed. And pitiful.
“Hey, now.” He squeezed her shoulder. “I never got to know you too well, but I always liked you a lot better than any other girl Eric ever knew. Not that there was anything wrong with them. You just always felt like one of us.”
Lydia smiled sadly, poking at her shrimp. “I was never one of you though. That was the problem.”
“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say Eric’s madly in love you,” Cody said. “So that shouldn’t matter. You belong because you love each other. If you can work it out.”
“Maybe.” She only felt marginally better. But there had been too many years of being alone to let Lydia feel optimistic or believe that love conquers all. “We’ll see.”
The next day, Lydia was just picking up her phone to call Eric when his text came through. She liked to think that was part of their occasional telepathic connection, and even if it was probably a coincidence, it still made her smile.
Can we talk?
Lydia had to laugh. At this point it seemed as if they were repeating a pattern of promising to talk then resolutely not talking. It was a dangerous business. If things started up between them again, she couldn’t promise herself she had the will power to turn down Eric Strauss.
But she only texted back: Sure. Your suite?
Eric texted back a thumbs up. She answered that she’d be there in fifteen minutes as she finished up the meal Cody had cooked for her before sorting through the things she’d bought on the shopping promenade. Even if it was just a conversation, she wanted to show up in something better than yoga pants.
“I’m gonna miss this fancy stuff,” she muttered, sighing.
There was a big, dark void waiting for her. She should have been used to it, she supposed. But even this state of uncertainty with Eric sometimes made her think things could be better. Yet that wasn’t reality. The best thing she could hope for was that they resolved their old messy issues and parted as friends.
Lydia settled on jeggings and a tunic sweater in an icy blue that was soft and snug around her curves. She brushed her hair out and put on some lip gloss before heading across the lodge to Eric’s residence, taking her time to memorize everything about the place. She thought it must be strange to live in a resort that other people could only visit for short periods. But it looked like a lot of fun to her. She wondered what it would be like to raise children in such a place.
“Hey.” Eric smiled sheepishly.
He looked casual for once. He was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and there was some beard bristle dusting his chin. He looked more like his younger self. His hair didn’t even have product on it and it looked like it would be soft and silky between Lydia’s fingers.
“Hi.” Things felt excruciatingly awkward immediately and Lydia’s heart pounded in her chest as Eric shut the door behind her. “Do you actually want to talk or-”
“I actually want to talk,” Eric said quickly. “If that’s okay.”
“Yeah.” They should have properly talked days ago. They’d ‘talked’ for hours about this and that, but had carefully skirted the giant elephant in the room that had been standing there between them for so long. “So go ahead.” She crossed her arms and nodded at him. “Talk then.”
“It was not just sex,” Eric said quickly. His eyes were blazing as he looked at Lydia who already felt a little heated under that intense gaze. “I’m sorry I made that crack that m
ade it sound like that’s all it was. It was bullshit. Of course, it wasn’t just hot sex, although, holy shit, was that some hot sex-”
“The sex was amazing,” Lydia said wryly. “That’s not in dispute.”
“Definitely not.” Eric sighed, never looking away. “But it wasn’t just about that. There was...I felt… I mean didn’t you?”
“It got telepathetic,” Lydia said quietly.
“Exactly.” He grinned, throwing up his hands. “I can’t pretend it didn’t mean anything when we obviously formed that connection. It was… I’ve never felt that before.”
There had been a few times when they were kids when they could read each other’s minds. But that total merging of two souls...that was new.
Lydia had heard of mates who could read minds. It was rare, but it did happen. As kids, they’d tossed it off as some magic fluke. But she’d read some lore. Mates who could read minds could do other things like transfer strength to each other in times of crisis or enhance magic ability - though Lydia had never learned to use magic. It made her feel special that they had that potential with each other.
“Me either!” Lydia said. She was starting to get her hopes up. And that was dangerous. “You think that happens for me everyday?”
“I’m glad, if it doesn’t.”
“Of course, it doesn’t!”
The quick back and forth made them both laugh and Lydia felt a little more relaxed.
Eric hovered near the door and then said, “I’m going to make some coffee. Okay?”
“Oh, I didn’t find any coffee in my-”
“Of course, there’s coffee,” Eric said with a snort. “I gave you the deluxe fridge. There’s packets of gourmet stuff in there behind the booze.”
Eric strode with purpose over to the mini fridge and knelt, rooting around.
“Aha!” Eric shook a bag of fancy looking coffee grounds. He whistled as he filled the coffee maker carafe with water.
Billionaire Bear Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset Page 18