Bear Guards: A Paranormal Romance

by J. S. Striker

  Perhaps not everyone in town would condemn her for what she’d done.

  She passed by a box, one hidden just below the stairs and covered by a black cloth. Normally she’d spend some time with it, especially when the energy inside called to her, but now she just didn’t care. Her mind was preoccupied as she entered her bedroom and slid in the shower, and her mind was still preoccupied as she stepped out in fresh clothes and tried to decide what to have for dinner.

  Perhaps that was why it took her a while to realize that there was another source of energy in her house—this one coming from her living room…where Nikolai was sitting on the couch. There was an array of food on her coffee table, and he was eyeing her as if expecting her to lash out.

  Shock slid through her at the sight of him. Then she was hurrying over and trying to find the right words as she stared at him.

  “I picked your lock and bypassed your force field, the same way I did when I first visited. It’s easier the second time around. The energy’s returned there, and your house is still safe. And I’m staying here for the night.”

  It was information overload, and her brain tried to rack what to latch on to first.

  “I’m not hungry,” she blurted out. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled, and the pointed look he gave her had her flushing. Reluctantly, she sat down on the couch, giving ample space between them and eyeing the chicken nuggets and the fries.

  “Sorry, it was the best I could do on short notice.”

  And he really did sound sorry. Something in her softened a bit at the effort, and she found herself reaching out for a nugget and nibbling on it. A few minutes later, they were eating to their heart’s content, and she let the food fill her hunger first before going over her next point.

  “You’re not staying here. There’s no space.”

  “The couch is pretty big.”

  “Nikolai…”

  “You’d better get used to calling me Nik, because we’re friends now.”

  “You’re not going to stop me from using my magic to help people.”

  “I know. I’m not. I’m sorry for being an ass earlier. I’m here now. I’m supporting you. And that means staying in your house.”

  Well, that was a fast development. “Why?”

  “Because it’s the least I can do to protect you. I have to protect you, Irene, after what you’re planning to sacrifice—your freedom, your magic. Let me do this one thing.”

  She felt every sincere word in her bones, and it slid inside her, warm and firm. Irene’s shoulders slumped as whatever fight she wanted to fight left her immediately.

  What was she supposed to say to that?

  It was another act of kindness, and she wasn’t ready for it.

  “Fine. Okay.”

  “Good.”

  “I’ll have blankets ready for you. It gets cold here at night.”

  “No need. I’m a shifter. I can provide my own heat.”

  They stared at each other, taking that in. She didn’t know how her mind jumped from appreciating the gesture of friendship he was offering to…imagining him with all that heat in his body, but it did, and the image had her chest tightening. She cleared her throat.

  She broke the eye contact and stood up.

  “Well…make yourself comfortable, then.”

  He smiled in amusement, and it looked so good on him that she realized his looks were starting to get to her, too. The man really was too handsome for his own good. His hand reached out for a candy bar, and he toyed with it for a bit. “So you like candies, huh? Is it part of the witch-with-the-candy house reputation?”

  She smiled in return, unable to help it. “No. Sweets get the energy back up when I’ve overused my magic. So I always need to have it around just in case, or else I’ll faint.”

  “Ah. That sounds cuter.”

  “Right. Eat all you want. I’ve got plenty more stashed around.”

  He opened the candy bar and proceeded to eat, and she watched his throat as he swallowed. Something hot settled in her belly at the sight, and she scolded herself. Irene turned around and told herself to walk away now while she still had her dignity, and she started taking that first step.

  Energy burst out from somewhere in the room—the box under her stairs. She froze.

  Nikolai froze, too. “What was that?”

  “Nothing,” she blurted out quickly—too quickly.

  Chocolate eyes darkened, then narrowed. His gaze then zoned in on where the energy came from, and he was already standing up. Irene made a move to block his way—but as if anticipating it, he sidestepped quickly and left her in the dust, scrambling to get over her shock as she hurried after him.

  “Wait, I can explain—”

  But it was too late. Nikolai’s gaze took in the box, and his hand had already reached out before hers could. It only took one pull to remove the black cloth and for the box to be fully exposed. Well, not really a box, but more like a cage.

  And it only took a second for him to recognize the demon inside it.

  “What the hell is this?”

  Chapter 9

  The demon looked the same since Nikolai last saw demons in Orville—shaped like a grotesque lizard, with scales, spikes and boils covering its body. It had a tail spiked as a weapon, and a head that was round with hollow sockets for eyes. A mouth filled with sharp, serrated teeth opened, gritting.

  The moment the black cloth was removed, the demon turned its head in their direction, despite the fact that it could not see them. Claws slid on metal bars, trying to crumple them, and a black tongue came out to lick the floor. Irene looked at it with relative calm, as if the idea of a demon in her home wasn’t something that fazed her.

  Maybe it didn’t.

  “It’s a demon,” she muttered. “Don’t worry; you can talk. And your energy’s safe. It will only respond to large bouts of energy.”

  “Well, obviously it’s a demon,” he muttered back, shooting her a look. “But what the hell is it doing here?”

  She shrugged. “It tried to get inside my home. I imprisoned it instead of killing it. I’ve been trying to experiment on it for months now.”

  “Experiment?”

  “Yes. Now I know a lot more about demons than I used to.”

  “And, pray tell, what do you know now?” he asked dryly.

  This time, it was Irene who shot him a look as she folded her arms defiantly. “Let’s see. It can’t see, but it can hear and can sense your energy. It feeds on blood that has the most energy, like dragon shifters and powerful witches. It has natural weapons all over its body but can be killed by cutting off its head. It can last months without feeding, and it can be pretty loud when it’s pissed off. Or hungry. But the dark cloth helps. It’s infused with my magic and blocks out all sound and energy from the cage. The most important thing is that it can’t communicate with its fellow demons, even while it’s hissing like mad.”

  That was a lot, and grudging admiration slid inside him at her words. The black tongue came near his foot, long and sticky, and Irene made a sound before she pulled him back.

  “Don’t let it touch you,” she warned. “It will cling and won’t let go.”

  “Hmm. What are you planning to do with it?”

  Surprise filled her eyes before she nodded her head. “Nothing. I’ve been trying to alter it and get it to follow what I want it to do, and every day I come close until it breaks my control. I’m close. I’m really close, and if I’m successful, then I can hypnotize them until everyone’s ready to fight them. Well…some of them.” Quietly, she reached out for a nearby candy bar and opened it, eating right in front of him. She threw the rest to the demon, who licked it only once before ignoring it completely.

  “This is pretty brilliant,” he said after a while.

  “Thank you,” she said, her tone shocked.

  “It’s also pretty dangerous and stupid, if not done right,” he added. When she looked like she was about to protest, he continued, “But you’ve done right,
so I can’t complain. I guess we were so busy killing them that we never really thought we could contain them.”

  “Well, there’s no actual containing them, considering how violent they are. It’s more of a delay than anything,” she pointed out.

  “It’s still a big help in the long run, I suppose.” He waited for her gaze to meet his again. They locked. “Another reason to stay in tonight, then. I want to be here.”

  Once again, she broke the gaze and looked down. “You’re different from what I expected.”

  “What did you expect?”

  “Protests. Arguments. Stubbornness, which is what bear shifters are all about. The rumors were right about you, after all.”

  “What rumors?”

  “That you’re just and fair and a great sheriff. And…”

  She picked up the black cloth and covered the cage again, navigating around expertly to avoid the tongue and the claws. There was some hissing inside for a few seconds before it settled down, the cloth’s magic taking effect. The action told Nikolai that she wouldn’t be doing any experiments on the creature tonight, probably because she was already drained. But it also told him one thing—that she was stalling, and that had him narrowing his eyes.

  “Irene?”

  “Hmm?”

  “And what?”

  With the cage hidden and safe, she had no more excuse. Her lips flattened as she turned to him. “That you’re the love-them-and-leave-them type of guy.”

  “I guess they have me pegged,” he said steadily. It hadn’t bothered him before, that definition, because he knew it was true. But it bothered him that she knew, and it…bothered him. Without thinking, Nikolai took a step closer. “And you? What do you think of me?”

  She sidestepped him, a move that he didn’t miss. But there was no place she could go that he wouldn’t follow her, and they both knew it. She backed a step away, distracted. “Well, you’re a great sheriff, obviously. You’ll put the safety of the townspeople above everything, and you seem to get along with everyone. They respect you…maybe even your old lovers.” Her mouth flattened again.

  He tilted his head. “I bet you didn’t mean to blurt that out, but you just can’t stop thinking about it. Do you think about my lovers often?”

  Her head snapped up as expected, and her eyes clashed with his. Aquamarine darkened, and her hair vibrated along with her body as she grew defiant right before his eyes. It was a cute sight, and he supposed it should have scared him, considering she was a witch who could blast him in a snap.

  Instead, he found something else sliding in his system—a hot, heavy feeling that settled in his belly and throbbed.

  She was wearing nothing alluring—just a loose tank top and cotton shorts. Yet look what she was doing to him.

  “I don’t think about your lovers often,” she blurted out, her tone full of defense. Indignation. “And I don’t think of you often.”

  “Then what do you think about, Irene?”

  “I think about problems. And demons. And all this trouble I got myself into because I was swayed by mere kindness when I shouldn’t be.”

  “Kindness is important.”

  “I’m a big, bad witch who everyone should fear.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  Her eyes flared at that. He took a step forward, and she kept backing away until her back hit the nearest wall. “I am. You should be very afraid of me.”

  “I’m not afraid of you, Irene. And you’re not a big, bad witch. You’re a big softie with powers beyond anyone’s imagination. I don’t know what your hang-ups are, but I’m going to find out.”

  “Stop calling me by my name,” she scolded.

  He took another step forward. “And start calling me by mine. Nikolai. Nik. Because you’re going to be using it…a lot.”

  Her eyes widened at the implication, and her mouth dropped open. His gaze strayed there, the plump, pink lips making him want to lick them so badly.

  The air changed quickly between them as awareness slid in, even while she frantically tried to deny it.

  “I’m not gonna be using it. I’m not gonna be using anything. And you’d better stay away before I do something really bad.”

  “Like what?” he asked, deliberately taking another step closer—this time, until he was inches away from her body. “What are you going to do…Irene?”

  Her chin tilted up. “I’m going to…I’m…” Her lips breathed against his, and he felt its warmth. She felt it, too.

  “Tell me, Irene.”

  “Damn you, Nikolai.”

  That was not what he expected, but the effect was instantaneous. Nikolai leaned his head down and captured her mouth with his, unable to take it any longer. A gasp came out of her throat—then her mouth was opening up for him, oh-so-ready, and the hunger he felt between them had him staggering as he took hold of her hips for balance. Then his hands were sliding up to frame her face, angling the kiss deeper until it was consuming him. Whatever heat had been in his stomach intensified, blasting him with a lust so raw that it threatened to make him lose control.

  Her tank strap slid down, and his fingers touched her shoulder before sliding down to stay at the hem below. It slid inside and felt her stomach contract, followed by her silky skin that made him want to put his mouth right there…

  She stood on tiptoe and her body pressed against his as she kissed him back. Her tongue tangled with his, and a helpless, needy sound rushed out of her. He fought the urge to tear off her clothes and touch her everywhere, even when that was all he wanted to do all day. All night. Now.

  A hand settled on his shoulder, and her mouth sucked on his lower lip and had his eyes crossing.

  Then she was pushing him off with the use of her magic, and the jolt had Nikolai blinking as he slid to the other end…straight down the couch.

  He shot up immediately, breath heaving. He watched the panic snapping in her eyes.

  “We can’t do this,” she said.

  “Why not?”

  The next words out of her mouth had him stilling.

  “Because I might end up killing you.”

  Chapter 10

  “What are you talking about?”

  The genuine confusion in his tone was what got to her—and before Irene knew it, she was blurting out things she wasn’t supposed to say, the words pouring out of her like a dam before she could stop herself.

  “I had a lover. Three lovers. Two were from this town, and the other was from outside.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because those three died!” she yelled out, the frustration leaving her and lashing out at him. “I killed them, okay?”

  The memories flashed, sinking into her and choking her like it always did. Suddenly she was unable to breathe as it bombarded her with guilt. Unable to stand it any longer, she turned around, intending to enter her bedroom and slam it shut—to shut him off and all the questions and hide herself from the world.

  A hand clamped on her wrist and dragged her back, effectively snapping the memories out of her as she was turned around. Her mouth was already making protests, and shock filled her when she found herself thrown down to sit on the couch.

  “I think you’d better explain because I work better with facts,” he muttered, eyes steady on hers. “And I’m a cop, so whatever you need to get off your chest would be kept confidential.”

  “I don’t need a cop telling me what to do,” she shot back.

  “Fine. I’m not a cop right now. I’m a friend, and I’m worried about you. Tell me, Irene. What happened?”

  The cop didn’t get to her, but the friend did. It softened her up. She shook her head, but his thumb was there on her cheek, caressing. She shot up and scrambled away from his touch, putting a safe distance between them.

  “You really need to stop doing that,” she warned. When Nikolai kept looking at her, she took a deep breath and forced herself to be calm.

  Then she let it out.

  “Yes, my three lover
s were killed by me…or to be more specific, by my magic. You say I’m a powerful witch, and I am—so powerful that my magic lashes out at the people I try to get in contact with.”

  “Contact?”

  “Physical contact,” she clarified, meeting his shocked gaze. “Every single time. The first time, I was a teenager. He was, too. We were crazy about each other. He wasn’t scared of what I was, and he brought me to his home. We made out in his bed. Then he started to slide into me…and my energy just grabbed at him. I can’t control it, because it’s part of my emotions.”

  “Ah.”

  “It electrified him. I thought it was a one-time thing because I was still young. I practiced wielding my magic. I sharpened my skills and my spells, put all my effort into shaping myself. I met someone here—a civilian. A human. We hit it off. He took me to his place, and we were starting to have sex, and…”

  “Your magic burned him.”

  He knew. He probably saw the reports of the burned body, of how they deduced that as an attack from her. She’d never corrected them.

  “Yes, it did.” Shame took over her now as she remembered that exact scenario in her head. “The third lover…he was older. A shifter. He kept coming on to me, and it made me feel things. Made me ache. I got drunk with him, and I gave in…and the same thing happened.”

  “His home,” he murmured.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “You see now? I can’t be with you. If you’re looking for a good time, go find one of your women. They’re safer. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  There was no response from his end, and that gave Irene the leeway to leave and slide into her bedroom. She kept the bedroom half-open, knowing he wasn’t going to enter anymore. She sat on the edge of the bed, her back towards the door as she stared at her hands.

  So much power and she was just going to keep hurting others.

  A sob rose from her chest, but she stifled it and bit her lower lip. Her emotions rose up and grabbed her by the throat, and she wanted to lash out so badly. She was so tired of keeping it in, but she had to because she had no one and she had people to save and—