Amber slipped nonchalantly toward the few intact ones and cautiously kicked them aside into the snow. Disaster averted.
“You make a good team,” Kaylee said as the bell rang to signal the end of the contest.
“I had no idea what was going on until Kaylee told me.” James wore a slight smirk as he cuddled his mate close. “Too bad all of them got broken.”
“James.” Kaylee sounded shocked.
Amber twisted her face downward to hide her burning cheeks, but she grinned as well. There had been something more than amusement in Cooper’s eyes. There’d been desire.
Desire for her.
Yes, as the afternoon progressed and she shared time with the Borealis family, Amber felt a strange sense of contentment fall over her. It wasn’t going to be simple, but she knew enough to make her move at the right time.
And the right time was going to be when Cooper most needed her to be there for him.
Whether he put it in his Very Important Plans list, or not.
5
The dull itch at the back of his neck was growing stronger by the day.
Cooper had ignored the sensation for nearly a week before acknowledging what it was. The mating fever was close to arriving, and he was running out of time.
His desk chair was angled perfectly so that with his office door open, a mirrorlike reflection appeared in the inset glass. Every time Amber walked from the filing cabinet and back to her desk, Cooper got an unhindered view of the journey. She’d move decisively, disappear for a moment, then return and sit.
Then she’d cross her legs and, a few moments later, uncross them—
One day the uncrossing was going to kill him.
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. Both the part where he was ogling an employee and the fact that mere legs shouldn’t send his orderly, controlled world into chaos.
I bet she’s got cute toes.
You’re not helping matters, Cooper told his bear bluntly.
You’re moving too slow, and you’re useless when you’re this distracted, the beast retorted. Perhaps you need to do a little more thinking about her toes and the rest of her. Naked toes. Naked her.
Do you mind? Cooper snapped, hideously disappointed with himself as a vivid image of Amber sans clothing appeared in his brain. We’ve gone over why the logical reason is to wait for at least another year.
Yada, yada, yada. His bear snarled the words. Logic, schmogic.
Thank goodness Cooper had a huge distraction waiting for him at the end of the day. Amber had taken off before he was done. He closed down the office then headed straight over to his grandparents’ home.
He left his car at the side of the driveway and slipped into the cool comfort of the massive log building. Polished wooden floors were warm underfoot, and the air carried the sound of voices along with delicate music and the scent of his grandmother’s cooking. A homey, comfortable sensation to stave off all the other conflicting emotions.
“Good to see you, bro.” James offered him a firm pat on the back followed quickly by a hefty glass of scotch. He eyed Cooper. “Good thing it’s nearly the holidays. You’re looking a little tired.”
“Year-end is always busy,” Cooper offered as an excuse. He slipped over to where his grandmother was stirring something at the stove and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Your invitation to dinner was unexpected, but as usual, it smells like a million dollars in here.”
“I don’t think I can get quite that much for my gravy, but thanks, sweetheart.” Grandmother Laureen adjusted her position so she could press her hand against his cheek. “You’re working too hard. You should plan a bit of a getaway soon. Give yourself a chance to refresh and get your feet under you.”
Considering the warning signs were there for the arrival of mating fever, having her offer an excuse to make himself scarce in the coming days was exactly what he was looking for. “I think I might just do that. But I’ll definitely be around for the family holiday events.”
Kaylee and Lara dodged past to grab plates and set the table for dinner.
Grandmother waved a hand at him. “Of course I want to see you all here for Christmas, but only if it works out. Sometimes the best laid plans have to be put aside when something else comes up.”
He eyed her closely. The comment about plans hit a little too close to home, but she wasn’t even looking at him. Instead she gave a final stir to whatever was in the pot before tossing orders at his brothers and sisters-in-law. They each came to claim a heavily laden bowl to set on the table.
Grandmother Laureen whirled on Alex, pointing to a platter heaped high with steaks. “Those to the table, please. I’ll bring the buns, and that will be everything. Oh, and Cooper, please be a darling and track down your grandfather. I have no idea where he’s gotten to.”
Cooper headed out in search of the family patriarch. The old man wasn’t that hard to find, his deep chuckle echoing from near the front door.
“Grandfather. It’s time for dinner—”
Cooper rounded the corner and stumbled to a stop. Grandfather was helping Amber out of her coat.
She twisted toward him and offered a shy smile.
Oh baby, his bear rumbled happily.
Stop that. You’re so annoying.
She looks delicious.
What part of stop don’t you understand?
The part where I think you want to lick her from the bottom of her toes to the tip of her—
His grandfather interrupted his childish mental chatter, an impossibly serious expression on his face as he motioned to Cooper. “She’s such a delight. Why, I just barely mentioned to Amber I hoped I could read over those year-end reports, and look. She’s here with them. I think she should join us for dinner.”
“Oh no.” Amber blinked then stuttered briefly. “I mean, yes, I did bring the reports, but I thought I had been invited…”
She trailed off, obviously embarrassed.
Cooper stepped forward quickly to reassure her. “Grandfather’s right. You should stay. There’s plenty from what I just saw—Grandmother cooks enough for an army of bears, and I know the girls would love to visit with you.”
She blinked before lifting her gaze to meet his firmly. “Thank you. It’s very kind of you all to welcome me.”
Grandfather had vanished—probably hightailing it out of sight before Cooper could give him the evil eye.
It wasn’t the best timing, not with the fever so close, but there was no way he wanted Amber to feel awkward when soon enough she would be a part of this family. Soon being a relative term.
Cooper wasn’t going to allow his grandfather’s misguided, cheery “you’re part of the gang” attitude to interfere with the eventual wooing of said maiden.
As expected, the rest of the family was thrilled when Cooper and Amber entered the room.
“Amber. Come sit beside me,” Kaylee ordered, hurrying to the kitchen to grab another place setting. She bounced down one chair from where she’d been, opening up a space for her friend. Which meant Amber settled across from Lara with Cooper on her other side.
“Thanks for letting me interrupt your family time,” Amber said as Cooper pushed in her chair.
Grandmother waved off the comment. “It’s not an official family meal. I had a bunch of recipes that needed to be tested, and the next thing I knew, Kaylee and I had cooked enough to feed an army. And my favourite portable army is on speed dial.”
Conversation passed around the table with the heaping platters of food. Comfortable. Easy.
“Hey, Amber. Needed to tell you. One of the pack who’s out on an extended trip said he heard rumours about your brother’s whereabouts. It’s in a village that’s not satellite accessible, so we can’t call them to find out. He’s double-checking before he sends anyone on a wild goose chase.” Lara’s voice was filled with excitement. “But he told me he was pretty sure it was Mason they were talking about.”
“I thought you weren’t going to say anything until you we
re positive.” Alex’s words were soft but still chiding.
Beside Cooper, Amber snapped upright.
“I need to know, and I want to know, even if it’s not one hundred percent sure. Just hearing a little bit gives me hope,” she insisted, staring Alex down intently as if his shifter form weren’t a predator more than twice her size.
His lips twitched, then he tilted his head toward his mate. “You’ve got a fierce protector there, sugar. Nice to know the human in the room has your back.”
“One of the humans in the room,” his grandmother noted in passing before smiling at Amber approvingly. “And this human agrees. It’s worth hearing all the threads in the hopes one of them can be tugged to find the right trail.”
“I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as I hear more,” Lara promised. She glanced around the table and shared with a grin, “Other than that, the pack is wild these days while they wait for Christmas. You’d think we had a dozen or more kids in the pack house from the carrying on.”
“What will you do once you have kids?” Amber asked before slapping a hand over her mouth. “Oops. Rude human question. I’m sorry. I wasn’t asking about you and Alex having kids, because that’s totally up to you when you have them. Or if you have them. I don’t want to presume…” Her face scrunched up before she offered a wan smile. “If I open my mouth wider, I might be able to fit both feet in there.”
Lara laughed. “I know what you were asking in the first place. The logistics of wolf-pack living arrangements are entertaining. The pack house is for adults, and anyone living there who has kids usually moves into a single-family dwelling nearby. Only as Alphas, Alex and I will stay at the house. We’ll add more rooms to our apartment based on how many kids we end up with.”
James glanced at Kaylee, who smiled as he spoke up. “We want kids, but down the road a bit.”
Alex was nodding his agreement, going shell-shocked when Lara said, “Oh, I’d like them as soon as possible.”
“Kids? Right away?” Alex swallowed then smiled, his expression a little shaky around the edges. “Really?”
“Definitely. If we’re going to have a nice, big family, we’d better get started on it soon. You’ve got three kids in your family, I’ve got five…maybe we should split the difference.”
James grinned evilly as Alex struggled to stay on an even keel. “Or you could go for a record. Six. Or seven would be cool.”
“Seven?” Alex choked on the word, but he forced his lips into a tormented smile. “We can discuss this later, sugar.”
“Of course, sweetie.” Lara winked at Amber then grabbed the bowl in front of her and passed it to one side.
The conversation shifted to other topics as plates were refilled and glasses topped up. Cooper found sitting next to Amber a form of sweet torture. Their legs brushed every now and then, and in spite of the turkey and braised brussels sprouts and roast salmon and everything else at the table, the scent of her was the strongest thing in the room.
Still, it wasn’t until he noticed the wine seemed off that he excused himself from the table. Standing in the bathroom, Cooper flipped quickly through his notes. Sure enough, on the Signs Of Impending Mating Fever page was the kicker: liquor tastes bad.
It was time to take measures.
Cooper opened the booking for the remote wilderness cabin reservation he’d begun a few weeks earlier. He clicked the confirmation then returned to the table with a sense of peace.
Everything was under control.
Or at least it was until he got ready to leave the house and discovered he and Amber were the only ones left. His brothers had been eager to get alone with their mates, and his grandfather had vanished off somewhere.
But there Amber was, pulling on her coat as his grandmother spoke with her.
Grandmother Laureen reached out and patted Amber’s hand. “Thanks for staying and explaining that to me, dear. Cooper will walk you to your car.”
“I’m okay on my own, Mrs. Borealis.”
“Nonsense.” His grandmother’s eyes flashed brightly. “What’s the use of having fine, strapping grandsons if I can’t commandeer them to do my bidding every now and then?”
She closed the door behind them, and silence fell. It had begun to snow, and the teeny crystals tumbled around them like icing sugar.
“Come on.” Cooper offered his arm and waited until Amber wrapped her gloved hand around his bicep. The distance to her vehicle was both too short and far too long considering his bear spent the duration all but screaming at him to pick her up and go find a cave.
They’d just stopped by her car when she turned decisively, took a deep breath, and spoke. “Come to my place for drink. It’s early still, and I’d love to spend some time with you outside the office.”
From the look in her eyes to the way she stood, it was crystal clear Amber was offering him every green light he’d ever dreamed of. It was unexpected—he’d hoped she’d be amiable to his courting in a few years, but this was out of the blue and Not On The Agenda.
And then she caught him even more off guard. She slid a hand up and around his neck, tugging him toward her. Close enough that when she lifted her face, it was her lips and his lips, with no space between them.
A kiss out of time. It wasn’t supposed to happen, but it was happening, and as her lips ghosted over his, he would have sworn that a million light bulbs went on around them and lit the darkness with a neon glow.
Cooper pulled back slightly. He was towering over her, but the look in her eyes said she was meeting him straight on. Equal to equal, not just in desire but in decision. God, he wanted that to be true, but there were still multiple items on his list that needed to be dealt with before they could do anything permanent.
So do something temporary, his bear suggested.
Busy, Cooper warned the beast.
Doesn’t look like it to me, his inner animal complained.
“Cooper?” Amber slid her hand along his jawline, then up to his hair, where she brushed it back, fingers tugging slightly. Her touch sizzled, wrapping around his body like a great big Christmas bow and tying him up firmly. Need raced upward, boiling and bubbling.
Her fingers tightened and she pulled him toward her again, and damn it if he wasn’t moving with her.
Now it wasn’t her encouragement that made him change position, but his need to possess and take and touch. He kissed her willing lips, drinking deeply from the sweetness of her mouth, and the thrill of brightness accompanying the contact made it all too clear how perfect things were going to be—when it was time.
Which wasn’t now, damn it all.
He pushed away all of the annoying thoughts about time and place and having to wait, and instead focused on what he had to enjoy right now. Her mouth on his, her hands clutching his shoulders as she leaned toward him. Thick layers of coat separated them, and yet he could feel her arching hard to press them closer.
Her tongue slipped along his, and a noise of pleasure rumbled from his chest to mix with her purr of need.
When he finally managed to break the kiss, her lips were swollen, her eyes bright. She breathed hard, cheeks flushed with excitement.
Then he did the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. He let go, peeling his fingers off her hips and forcing his feet backward until the separation between them was a good two feet—three feet—four feet and increasing.
He exhaled hard but met her eyes. “I’ll see you in a few days. We’ll talk then.”
“But Cooper—”
He ignored the longing in her voice, turned on his heel, and walked away. He was either the smartest bear in the world or he’d just thrown away everything he needed for his future happiness.
Following through on his This Needs To Be Done Right Now list sucked.
6
It took a moment for the initial shock to fade.
He’d kissed her, damn it. That hadn’t simply been her pushing herself on him. Although he hadn’t expected it, Cooper had been 100 percent
on board with the intimate contact.
How could he walk away?
Amber cursed a few times, but there was a cold wind whipping around her, so she slipped into her car and slammed the door shut. Getting frostbite wasn’t going to help her whoop Cooper’s ass.
His ass totally needed whooping.
She closed her eyes as she pressed back against the headrest, hoping the solid connection would stop the spinning. Fever-pitch desire burned, and she wasn’t sure what was going on.
She hadn’t meant to kiss him. Asking him to come over had been a bold move on her part, egged on slightly by how well she thought things had gone during dinner and a few chance comments during her talk with Laureen Borealis.
The woman had said something about living without regrets and seizing the moment, and there’d been a fire in the words that had fanned the coals inside Amber and pushed her to act.
And he’d kissed her back, dammit.
So why…?
She drove the short distance home so she wasn’t sitting outside the Borealis homestead. The last thing she needed was for Giles or Laureen to spot her sitting there in a daze and come out to see what was wrong.
As she made her way up the stairs to her apartment, Amber’s phone buzzed. She checked it without thinking, mindlessly staring at the calendar update that had arrived.
Booking confirmation: Cabin In The Woods motel. 1 occupant, 7 nights. Special instructions followed and in place. Please let us know if you need anything else during your stay.
Amber blinked, read it again, then opened it to see if there was any more information because she truly was confused. When she realized the alert was from the work calendar linked between her and Cooper, and he had booked himself into a remote retreat house for a week starting the next day, everything became clear in a rush.
He hadn’t walked away from her because he didn’t want her. Cooper was trying to protect her.
The Bear’s Forever Mate: Borealis Bears: Book 3 Page 4