"For how long?" she asked. "What happens when someone else comes along? Evan, this has been great. It really has. But if I stay any longer, you're going to break my heart. I'm just trying to limit the damage."
Oh God, he thought. She really didn't understand what had happened between them. He needed to make her understand.
"There won't be anyone else. Ever," he told her fiercely. "You're my mate now! My bear fell for you first, but it didn't take long for me to follow."
"I don't know what being your mate means," she said, and he could hear the anguish in her voice. "Please, for both our sakes—let's just end this. If I leave now, it'll hurt like hell, but I'll get over it eventually. If I stay, it's going kill me to see you hook up with someone else when you get tired of me."
"And I'll never get over it if you leave now," he said. "Mating is forever when you're a shifter. You're the one, Steffi. You’ve been the only one for me since the first time we made love, but I've been too afraid to tell you because I didn't want to scare you off." He drew a ragged breath. "Marry me. Please."
She put the ring on the counter. And he could see that she was gearing up to refuse him.
Stubborn woman!
Luckily for him, he was a Swanson, and he could out-stubborn anyone.
He stopped her by grabbing her shoulders and bending to kiss her.
Steffi made a surprised noise, and then he felt her tug at the elastic holding his ponytail. Her hands buried themselves in his loosened hair. She pulled him closer as he tried wordlessly to convince her of his sincerity, using his lips and tongue.
The perfume of her arousal rose like an intoxicating cloud around him.
He stopped kissing her long enough to strip off her top and bra with fumbling haste, then kissed his way down her throat to her bare breasts, paying loving attention to each generous curve as she squirmed with rising heat.
He enjoyed the taste and scent of her and loved how taking one of her large nipples in his mouth and applying suction was driving her crazy with need.
She pushed him away and unbuttoned his shirt with desperate haste, pushing it off his shoulders and down his arms before tossing it onto the floor.
He liked the way that she couldn't help running her hands over his chest and abs before she got down to business and unbuckled his belt.
He loved that he could do that to her, that she wanted him every time he kissed or touched her.
She could make his cock spring to attention with even an innocent touch and make him so hard it ached, when she set her mind to it.
Like now, as she pushed down his jeans and traced the long ridge of his erection through the fabric of his underwear.
When she finally pulled his jeans and underwear all the way off, she was so turned on by the sight of him that she tried to climb him.
"Wait," he said, laughing with the sheer joy of making love to her. "My turn."
He wasted no time in sliding her jeans down her luscious legs and yanking her panties down to her ankles.
She rose to stand on tiptoes and wrapped one leg around him, drawing him closer to press her slick, heated folds shamelessly against his rampant cock.
"Evan, please," she begged, caressing him with a slow, sensual slide of her hips. "Please. Now."
Roaring silently, his bear rose up within him, and he knew that his eyes had turned gold. His cock was throbbing with the need to bury itself in her tight, welcoming flesh.
"Oh God, yes." He knew that he had the upper hand now and should make her wait until she promised to stay, but he couldn't think above the roar of lust that drove him.
They didn't make it to the bed. Unable to wait an instant longer, Evan put his hands on her under her sweet, soft ass, lifted her, and pressed her up against the closest wall.
Her thighs clamped around his hips as his eager cock pushed against her moist, hot entrance.
He impaled her with one powerful thrust, driving himself to the hilt inside her.
A growl rumbled out of him at the exquisite feeling of being surrounded and embraced by her tight passage. He buried his face in her hair as every nerve in his body seemed to catch fire.
Then he took her fast and hard against the wall, his lips covering hers, his tongue ravishing her mouth and muffling her moans as he moved against her with every powerful thrust.
Steffi wound her arms around his neck and frantically returned his kiss, nipping at his lips and invading tongue.
He felt the moment that her climax took her, starting deep inside her with powerful pulses that caressed the entire length of his cock. She clung to him, writhing and making the most delightful noises into his mouth.
The ripples along her passage continued to caress him without dying away as they normally did.
She was still climaxing as Evan felt his own release approaching. He increased the speed of his thrusts. Every muscle in his body tensed as he came hard, his thrusts faltering and losing their rhythm as his knees went weak with the rush of intense pleasure. He buried himself deep inside her and shuddered with the spasms of sheer sensation.
When he was done, he stepped away from the wall, holding her still firmly joined to him.
"You're mine," he said, panting a little as he carried her over to the bed.
She kissed him hard as they fell on the mattress together, but didn't say anything.
He proceeded to make fervent love to her until she was thoroughly sated with sex and curled in his arms.
"Well, have I convinced you?" he asked, stroking her hair. "Will you stay with me?"
Steffi remained silent. She didn't say anything, just cuddled against him.
Desperate, he blurted, "Damn it, I'm in love with you, Steffi Tristan. Please don't leave me. Marry me like you said you would."
He felt her sigh, and her scent suddenly changed from distressed to the one he associated with happiness.
"I love you, too," she confessed. "And ever since we got together, it's been killing me to know that this was just going to be a short fling. I thought maybe it wouldn't hurt so much if I just ripped the Band-Aid off quickly and left before I got too emotionally involved with you."
"Did it work?" he asked, tracing the curve of her ear with his fingertip and watching her shiver in response.
She laughed, and he heard joy in the sound. "Hell no. I felt sick and empty at the thought of going home to my condo and sleeping alone again. I wanted to stay with you, Evan, but not if this was just a short term hookup for you. I wanted the real thing."
Feeling giddy with relief, Evan got out of bed and padded to the kitchen. He picked up the ring from the counter and returned to her.
He took her left hand and lifted it to his lips, tenderly kissing each finger before he slipped the ring back on where it belonged. "It's the real thing. I'm yours, forever. Let's talk about wedding dates tomorrow."
Chapter 20
"I cannot believe you're going to marry a guy you've known for, what, a week," Jessica said as she pushed Olivia's stroller along the riverside hiking/biking path.
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and Royce was trotting happily at Steffi's side, his leash held loosely in her grip.
Evan and Patrick were back at the apartment, cooking up a storm for a special celebratory dinner. They had shooed Jessica and Steffi away with a suggestion that they take a long walk and enjoy the glorious weather.
"I mean, he's pretty good-looking and he has a decent job," Jessica continued, "but Margaret told me that he's never been in a serious relationship before, and he's got a reputation for loving and leaving."
Yay, Margaret. Always trying to be helpful, Steffi thought.
"It's true," Jodie Swanson chimed in. She was pushing Matthew in a second stroller and was keeping pace with Jessica on the wide path. "Evan goes through women faster than he goes through clean underwear." She paused and looked over her shoulder at Steffi. "And you should know that Elle's been complaining about getting another Ordinary daughter-in-law."
Annabeth's bak
ery was open on the weekends, and Jodie had been sitting in the café section with Matthew when they passed. She had hopped up and asked to join them for the walk. She had suggested walking down to the river because the path there was shaded with large cottonwood trees.
"Thank you both so very much for your support and encouragement," Steffi said sarcastically from her place behind Jessica and Jodie. "In any case, his womanizing days are over. He says that his bear mated me on our first date, which I understand means committed monogamy for a shifter. Besides, if I try to get out of the wedding by going back to California, he'll just follow me."
Jessica tossed her newly highlighted and styled blonde hair, and turned to look at Steffi. "So you're telling me that your new fiancé is a stalker?" Her tone was teasing now.
"It's not stalking if I want him to pursue me, is it?" Steffi wasn't sure if that was actually the legal definition, but it worked for her.
She didn't mention that Evan's open possessiveness gave her a secret thrill. He had begged to marry her. He was proud to be seen with her. And he was a good person, with a generous heart and a great sense of humor, and he was a fantastic cook.
All of those things made him a "keeper," as far as she was concerned. She still couldn't believe her luck.
Jodie laughed at her remark.
But Jessica sighed loudly. "I only hope you know what you're doing. Mom's worried about you, you know. And I am, too. We think you've fallen for the first guy to give you any real attention, and we don't want you to get hurt."
And Steffi was abruptly reminded about why she was glad that Jessica lived in Alaska. Whenever Jessica said something like this, she thought she was just speaking the truth, not trying to be mean about Steffi's weight and looks.
"Yeah, and thanks a lot for letting me know—yet again—how pathetic you think I am," Steffi snapped.
Jessica came to a dead halt in the middle of the path. "Steffi, you know I didn't mean it that way—" she began, her tone apologetic.
And that was when Dr. Elizabeth Pearce, clad in a blue business suit that looked utterly out of place here, stepped out from behind a tree. She leveled a gun at Jessica.
All three of them—Jodie, Jessica, and Steffi—froze. Royce pulled at his leash and growled.
"Dr. Tristan," she said to Jessica. "I'm not going to hurt your daughter. But I need you to hand her over. Now."
Steffi heard something behind her and turned to see a man with a buzz cut, also armed. He gave her a cold smile, and his gun moved to center on Royce. "Don't try anything this time, or I'm going to kill your stupid dog."
She wondered if this was the same man whose leg Royce had bitten last Friday.
"No," Jessica said, backing away from Pearce. "I won't give you my little girl to experiment on!"
Steffi remembered that shifters had super-hearing…and that Jodie Swanson was likely one.
Jodie, she said beneath her breath. Take the babies and get out of here. Please.
From the back, Jodie gave no sign that she'd heard anything.
Royce ripped the leash out of Steffi's hand with a powerful lunge. The armed man shouted, and his gun went off. Royce yelped and went down.
Pearce shrieked, "Roger, stop it!"
And Jodie took advantage of the distraction. She moved with preternatural speed, and all Steffi saw was a blur of motion heading for the trees.
Then Jodie was gone.
And the two strollers were empty.
"What happened? Where did that girl go? Where is that baby?" Dr. Pearce demanded.
Steffi rushed to Royce's side and fell to her knees. His sides were heaving, and she saw dark red blood along his flank gleaming in the sun.
'"Oh, God, Royce, you stupid brave dog," she said, her eyes stinging as she stroked his head. "I'll never yell at you for counter-surfing again!"
"How touching," Pearce said coldly. "Get up."
Steffi looked up to see the woman's gun trained on her. "What kind of person shoots a dog?" she snarled. "Or tries to kidnap a baby?"
"Why do you want Olivia?" Jessica demanded.
"Can you imagine the benefit to trauma patients if we were able to unlock the secret of shapeshifting?" Pearce asked.
"By experimenting on a baby?" Jessica asked with contempt. "I'm guessing you flunked all of your ethics classes."
"Enough talk, let's move. If you make any trouble, Dr. Tristan," Pearce said to Jessica, "I'll shoot your sister. She's expendable. And so are you, if your husband doesn't cooperate." She gestured sharply at Steffi. "Get up, Ms. Tristan. You're both coming with me."
As Steffi reluctantly climbed to her feet, Pearce's gaze went to the man standing behind Steffi. "Roger, get the car ready."
* * *
When the apartment door flew open, Patrick was in the middle of rolling out the puff pastry for the Beef Wellington.
Evan was manning the food processor, blending together butter, cooked chicken liver, and spices for the pâté that would be layered on top of the filets inside their pastry shells.
Startled by the intrusion, both men looked up to see Jodie framed in the doorway, clutching Olivia and Matt. Both babies were wailing loudly. "That woman—Elizabeth Pearce—she showed up and tried to take Olivia!"
"Where's Jessica?" Patrick demanded, dropping the rolling pin and rushing forward to take his daughter.
Cold fear gripped Evan. "And where's Steffi?"
Jodie shook her head. Her face was dead white under her freckles. "I don't know. We were on the river path when they just came out of the trees."
"They?" asked Evan. "How many were there?"
"Two of them. They had guns. Steffi told me to take the babies and run, so that's what I did!"
"And it was the right thing," Evan assured her, proud of Steffi's quick thinking. "You saved Olivia and Matt."
They have my mate! If they've hurt her, I'll kill them all.
Evan's phone rang. He saw that the Caller ID was blocked and hit Answer.
"This is Evan Swanson," he said.
A woman's voice said, "Stephanie Tristan told me I could reach Patrick Swanson at this number. I need to speak to him."
"He's right here," Evan said, his heart pounding at the mention of Steffi's name.
"Good. Tell him that if he wants to see his wife alive again, he'll come to the airport in an hour and bring the baby with him."
"What about Steffi?" Evan demanded. "I know you have her, too!"
Silence. Then the woman said, "She's alive. We'll free her along with Dr. Tristan once Olivia and Patrick Swanson are in our custody."
"If you think he's is going to give you his daughter—" Evan began.
Patrick snarled his agreement.
"No harm will come to little Olivia. Or to Patrick, for that matter, despite what he did to our people and our plane. We just need to take a few samples and observe the process of shapeshifting." Her tone turned persuasive. "Tell him it's for the greater good. We'll use the data to develop new gene therapies. We might even enable people with spinal injuries to walk again!"
"Bullshit," Patrick spat. He had overheard everything.
The woman snorted. "Well, I don't care if he believes me or not, but I am deadly serious. The airport, in one hour. And don't even think about contacting the police, or we'll kill Stephanie Tristan on the spot. She's not worth much to us."
The line went dead.
Evan looked at Patrick, whose eyes were blazing with primal rage over the head of his crying daughter. He knew exactly how his cousin felt. Steffi!
"I'm going to call Sheriff Jacobsen and tell him what's happened." He turned to his cousin, who had regained some of her color. "Jodie, you've been a hero today. Can you stay here and guard Olivia and Matt for a while, until Dane can get here?"
She nodded.
"Okay," Evan said to Patrick. "Let's go get our mates back."
* * *
Patrick drove. As they sped down Main Street towards the river, Evan made his first call to Dane at the ranch, infor
ming him what had happened and asking him to help Jodie.
"They pulled a gun on my kid?" growled Dane. "And they took your mate? Those assholes need to die. I'm on my way."
Evan's next call was to Sheriff Jacobsen, who swore loudly when he heard what had happened. The sheriff agreed to round up his officers and head for the airport. They would be dressed in civilian clothes and driving their own cars instead of police cruisers.
When they arrived in the parking lot of the city park, where the river trail began, Kayla was waiting for them.
"Dane called me," the young bear shifter said simply. "I want to help."
Together, the three of them tracked Steffi and Jessica's scents down the path.
After a few hundred yards, Kayla sniffed deeply. "I smell blood."
Evan and Patrick smelled it too.
Together, they ran around a bend and found Royce lying in the middle of the trail, blood pooled around him.
Kayla dropped to her knees and quickly examined him. "He's been shot," she said angrily. "But he's still alive."
Evan went cold. If they had shot his mate's dog, then Steffi might be next.
As if to confirm Kayla's words, Evan saw Royce's tail thump weakly against the asphalt.
"I'll take him to Dr. Lee," Kayla said, lifting Royce in her arms.
Dr. Lee was the town's small animal veterinarian, and a very good one. If anyone could save Royce, he could.
"Do it," Evan said. "Tell Dr. Lee that I'll pay whatever it costs."
Kayla ran back toward the parking lot, carrying the big dog as if he weighed nothing.
Patrick had been casting around in the meanwhile. He emerged from behind the trunk of a big cottonwood tree and said, "Jessica's trail ends over there. It looks like they had a car and used it to take our mates away."
"Shit," said Evan. "That means we need to get to the airport on the double."
He and Patrick had been hoping to intercept the kidnappers before they were able to leave the vicinity.
Not caring who saw the two of them using their shifter speed, they sprinted back the way they'd come.
* * *
"Do you really think this will work?" Evan asked from his hiding place in the hangar.
Ignite: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 3) Page 19