“I usually like to term it thinking on my feet,” he said.
“Come on, I’ll hold your hand, if only because it gives me some confidence too,” she said, and she slipped her hand in his. In the couple of days since they’d met, she’d reminded him of a blossoming flower, and he wanted her to show off her radiant self. The woman she was becoming, warm, funny and confident, was the woman he wanted to hang on to, because she was a woman capable of changing other people’s lives.
“Matt, Grace, good of you to come. Listen, help yourself to a beer, and then we’re all going inside. Dylan is due any minute. He thinks he’s coming here to celebrate my sister, Ginny’s, graduation with us. She has finished college, but that’s not why we’re here.”
“Why are we here?” Grace asked, following Jed inside. He led them to the kitchen, which was warm and inviting, with the large well-scrubbed table filled with food. There were sandwiches, small pies, and sweet treats that made her mouth water. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble.
“My sister, Tilly, has an announcement.” Jed pointed to a nervous-looking redheaded woman by the stove. She looked pale, but the man next to her had his arm around her, whispering in her ear, he must be her mate. The look of love and concern on his face was too intense for them to be anything else. Whatever he said made her nod and smile, although she didn’t relax; she was wound up like a coil, her eyes darting around the room as if looking for an escape.
“Dylan’s coming up the driveway,” said a young man, who he guessed was Jed’s brother. The similar features were unmistakable.
“Tilly,” Jed said, and the pale woman, came forward, with her mate at her side. “Are you OK?”
“I feel sick,” Tilly said, her hand going to her stomach, she had a small baby bump. Part of Matt, the primal side of him, wanted to reach out and shield her from whatever fears she had. Being around Grace had changed him too: his protective instincts had gone into overdrive.
But they were waiting for Dylan, and no one could need protecting from him. Then Matt remembered he had a history too, he’d been to juvie for accidentally killing another person. The details were hazy, but the name Tilly sounded familiar, she’d been there, at the scene of the crime.
“He’s here,” Jed said, and everyone stopped talking and waited, the anticipation making the air charged. One spark, and it would ignite.
As Matt looked around the small kitchen crammed with people from the construction yard, he watched their faces and knew they had no idea why they were gathered here either. His interest was truly piqued.
As Dylan walked through the door, Matt placed his hand on the small of Grace’s back. They were about to be witnesses to something, and if it was some weird, back of the beyond voodoo-type thing, he wanted to be ready to protect her.
Yep. Primal overdrive. He’d never be that mild-mannered businessman again when Grace was around.
“Hey, everyone’s already here,” Dylan said. “It’s not like me to be late to a party.” He looked around. “What’s going on? I thought we were here for Ginny.”
“Here I am,” a young woman said. “But that’s not why we’re here.”
“What’s going on?” Dylan asked, looking confused. Behind him, his wife, Steph, whom Matt had met earlier in the day, moved closer, as if ready to stand with him against anything that might come their way.
“Jed,” Steph said, “why are we here?” Steph’s eyes glanced at Tilly, and Matt sensed some hostility there.
“Jed asked you over because of me,” Tilly said quietly. Her mate placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them encouragingly. “I have something for you.” She took an envelope from her purse and handed it to Dylan. “You have Declan to thank too. He’s the one who made it happen.”
Dylan took the envelope and opened it, pulling out a piece of paper. “What’s this?” he whispered, his face pale as he read it. “No, Tilly, you didn’t have to.”
“I did,” Tilly said, tears streaming down her face. “I should have done it years ago.”
“It’s the past, it doesn’t matter. You have kids, I…”
“It’s because I have children that I had to. I didn’t want them to live with the lies we’ve lived with. That I’ve made you live with.” She placed her hand on her mate’s shoulder, and nodded.
“As we all know,” her mate said, his voice cracking with emotion. “My brother died when he was seventeen. Hit by a motorbike. Only it wasn’t Dylan who killed him. It was Tilly. My brother…” The man coughed and composed himself. “My brother tried to hurt Tilly. When she tried to get away, she ran into him on his bike. Dylan took the blame for it. For whatever reasons he had, he went to juvie instead of my wife.”
The room was silent, apart from the sobbing of an older woman, who reached for a tissue. Tilly’s mom, would be Matt’s guess. After she’d blown her nose, Tilly’s mom got up and said, “I think we know why you did it, Dylan, and we will always be grateful. But the past needed to be set straight. And we wanted you all here to bear witness. I also want to thank Declan,” she said, holding her hand out towards another man, wearing a sheriff’s uniform, who nodded. “For helping us find a way to set it straight.”
“You won’t have to go to prison?” Dylan asked Tilly. “Tell me they won’t take you away from your children, because clearing my name would mean nothing if that happened. I served the time, I did it willingly, and would do it again.”
“I know.” Tilly went to him and put her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Dylan. And no, no prison. Declan made sure it went in front of the right judge.”
A shifter judge, Matt assumed. Few and far between, but Declan would know one, if there was one to be found.
“Right,” a man in a wheelchair said. “This is supposed to be a celebration, so let’s get celebrating.”
Only now did Matt become aware of how tense Grace was, and as everyone started talking at once, she slipped out of the back door and into the fresh air. Matt followed, needing to know what was wrong.
Chapter Thirteen – Grace
“Hey, Grace, are you OK?” Matt asked, catching her up.
“Yeah. I just need some air,” she said, and walked away from him. But he wasn’t letting her go. Catching hold of her arm, he spun her around to face him.
“Don’t shut me out,” he said.
“I’m not.” She stood still, but couldn’t meet his eyes.
“Speak to me, don’t keep it all inside.” He brushed the hair back from her face, and then hooked his finger under her chin, tilting it up so she had to meet his eyes. “I thought you’d be happy for Dylan.”
“I am. I really am.” Grace wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m being stupid and selfish.”
“Tell me. Whatever it is, let me help you get through it.”
She shook her head. “Really, I can’t tell you, you’ll think I’m a terrible person.”
“Never going to happen,” he said, dropping a kiss on her lips. “Never.”
“You can’t say that. We might be bonded, but that doesn’t mean you get to accept and like everything I do. And certainly not everything I think.”
“Try me,” he said.
“I can’t.”
“Grace, please.” His voice was gentle, but firm, as if he were talking to a child. Was that how she was behaving?
Yes, like a child who’d just found out the tooth fairy wasn’t real.
“When I came here, to Bear Bluff, and began working for Dylan, one of the things that inspired me was that he’d done things, gone to juvie, and still made something of his life. Now, it turns out it was a lie; he never killed anyone.” She put her hand to her forehead. “That sounds so pathetic now that it’s come out of my mouth.”
“What you mean is, you looked up to him as a person who had done bad things and had changed his life around. Now you find he never did the bad things in the first place,” Matt said.
“That just about covers it.” She shook her head, fighting back tears. “I should be
pleased for him, pleased he doesn’t have a record anymore. Instead, I’m thinking of how it affects me.”
“He’s your hero, your role model. Now the goalposts have moved.”
“Do you have to be so understanding?” she spat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that either.”
“I know.” He put his arms around her and she rested her head on his chest. “Dylan might not have done the crime, but he did do the time. He still came out of juvie, and did the best he could. You can do the same. Hell, you’ve already done the same. You came to this town, you let people help you, and you work hard. Look at how you insisted on not being late this morning.”
“I’m never going to get a pardon,” she said mournfully.
“I know.” He stroked her back soothingly, just like her mom used to. She thought back over those first few years of her life, they were so dim and distant now, as if they happened to another child. But the effect still reverberated through her life, and always would. “Make something new with me, Grace. Work with me, let’s build something you can be proud of. And it doesn’t matter how big it is, if you can change even one person’s life by sharing your experience, then that has to be an incredible achievement.”
“What if Tessa tries to ruin it? She saw us, it wouldn’t take much for her to find out about my past.”
“Then let her tell the world. Or even better, let’s tell the world ourselves.”
“I don’t know if I’m ready for that,” she said.
“You will be.” He pulled back from her, and looked across to the house, where the sounds of laughter could be heard. “I don’t think they’d miss us.”
“You want to leave?” she asked.
“We don’t have to. But I’d like some alone time with you. I struggled to get through the day today, all I could think about was you … and last night.” He ran his hands down her back, coming to rest on her bottom, and pressing her against him. “I want you. I’ll always want you.”
“And you are used to getting what you want,” she said.
“I try. Like today: I didn’t tell you, but Dylan and I agreed to work together to provide more places of employment, both within his construction firm and in the wider area. We’re hoping to make Bear Bluff the center for work placements, somewhere shifters can come and find a new start.”
“Just like me.”
“Just like you.” He kissed her and then whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her neck, sending thrills through her body. “Your choice. Stay or go.”
“Take me home,” she said.
He pulled back, and took her hand, leading her towards the car. “That is our next decision. We have to find a home, somewhere we can raise a family.”
“Those are the things that both scare the hell out of me, and make me feel hopeful for the future all in one go.” They were also the two things she hadn’t had since she was seven years old, when she’d stood, her suitcase packed, while what she’d thought of as her new family waved her off with happy smiles. Her foster mom looked so happy, holding the baby they had adopted in her arms. They never realized how much that hurt, never knew how they’d probably destroyed a young girl’s trust in people; their behavior had crushed her even more than her own mother’s betrayal.
“You don’t think they scare me too?” he asked, opening the passenger door and holding it while she got in.
“I didn’t think anything scared you, I thought you were a meet-it-head-on kind of guy.” Grace buckled up her seatbelt and looked up at him. “So what is your family like?”
He chuckled, and as he closed the car door, he said, “They are hard to explain. Unconventional.”
“Of course they are,” she mumbled. How could a man like Matt be from any other kind of family?
He slid in next to her, and after buckling his seatbelt, he started the engine. “I come from a family who can trace their pure ancestors back so far, I think they know which amoeba they evolved from.”
“Wow, they’re going to love me. I’m definitely going to put a wrinkle in your family tree,” she said, tilting her head back, imagining their first meeting, when his parents looked at her as if she was something that needed scraping off their shoe.
“On the contrary. You are a bear shifter, that’s all that matters. My cousin, he’s holed up with a lion, they’ve practically disowned him.” He looked at Grace and grinned. “They’re not that bad. I don’t think my parents would have disowned me, but they are thrilled I’ve met you.”
“You’ve told them?” Why wouldn’t he? Because she was bad news.
“Yes. The first day we met.” He drove out onto the road heading back to town, and his hotel room. Grace tried to focus on that, rather than the prospect of being part of such a long family tree. “It’s not as if there was any chance we would break up.”
“You were that confident I’d find you irresistible?” she asked. “Since if I remember correctly, I gave you the brush-off.”
“I always win. At business, anyway, so I decided to go the same route, don’t accept no for an answer.” He shrugged. “I’d have found a way. Even if I had to beg.”
“So this family of yours?” Grace prompted.
“They taught me the strength and duty of family. They taught me to prosper at work—that’s also something they don’t accept failure in, and they taught me to look outside of myself.”
“And that’s why you are starting up this program?” Grace pondered what he’d said.
“Yes. Being from a line of pure bear shifters, it means I value us. Shifters. Rightly or wrongly, I’ve had it drummed into me how special we are. In subtle ways. And while I have nothing against humans, isn’t it time there was someone out there trying to make things better for all shifters? There are programs to help every minority group, so why not one for us? That doesn’t mean if a human needed help, we’d turn them away. I believe in us all working together.”
“Wouldn’t things be so much easier if everyone in the world knew about shifters?” Grace asked.
“Maybe.” He parked his car in the parking lot of the hotel. “But right now, I’m more interested in continuing my family line.”
“So that’s all you want me for?” she asked.
“Oh, the pleasure in making that family is what’s on my mind right now,” he said, leaning over and undoing her seatbelt, kissing her on the cheek and leaving a mark that burned.
Grace turned her head, and he kissed her lips. She slid closer to him, as close as the car allowed. “I’ll do whatever it takes, too. To make your program successful. If I’m part of your family, I want to play my part.”
“There’s no if. You were part of my family, from the moment we met.”
“I like the thought of that.”
Matt kissed her lips, and then said, “I’ll race you to my room, first one there gets to be on top.” He got out of the car, and with a giggle, she did the same. But he didn’t run off, instead he grabbed her hand and pulled her along. “I’m not letting you go, ever.”
They crashed into the hotel reception area, not seeing who was there, and instead of waiting for the elevator, he guided them to the stairs. Breathless by the time they reach the second floor, where his room was situated, Grace was also filled with an intense feeling of anticipation. Not just of their lovemaking, but of the life she was going to forge with Matt. A life that, until she’d met him, would have seemed too far-fetched for her to believe.
Matt opened the door, and once they were both inside, slammed it shut behind them. With her hand still in his, they made it to the bed, and collapsed on to it. All the humor in his eyes had gone; they no longer danced with laughter. That emotion was replaced by a deep longing, a desire that spoke of his need for her.
Sobered, she pressed her hand to his cheek, her thumb brushing his lips, which he kissed. “I’m in love with you,” she admitted, honestly. She took his hand and placed it on her heart. “It’s like an ache, right here. At least I think that’s what it is.” Her mouth twitched in a
smile. “It could just be the thought of marrying into such a rich and distinguished family.”
“Don’t try to cover your feelings,” he said. “I know you love me. Just as I love you.”
“Oh, do you?” she asked. “How conceited of you.”
The humor flashed across his eyes once more as he said, “I was here with you last night, I heard your cries of passion, I heard the words you said.”
“That’s not fair, you were….”
“I was what?” he asked, his hand cupping her breast, his thumb centering on the taut bud of her nipple and rubbing over it.
“Doing things…” She leaned forward and kissed him. “Maybe you need to do them again. Just to remind me.”
“I think I can manage that, for the sake of my family line.” He slid off the bed and stripped his clothes off, standing, looking magnificent, all bronze-skinned and dark-haired, with eyes the deepest, darkest pools of longing she’d ever seen.
He came back to her, and began to undo the buttons of her dress, kissing her pale skin, while her hands explored the contours of his body. When she was naked, he slid between her thighs, and entered her slowly, taking his time. Kisses, caresses, fingers stroking and probing, they explored each other until he came inside her. His thrusts became harder, stronger, as their passion took them away from their pasts and their futures. Only this moment, this now, mattered.
When they were both spent, he held her in his arms, and she knew she belonged, to him, to this life, and to something bigger. Bear Bluff, his family, they were all connected, and she could no longer live outside of it. As she slipped under the veil of sleep, Grace let go of her past self and stepped into her future.
Chapter Fourteen – Matt
“I have to go back to my office for the day,” Matt said. He was up early, showered and eating breakfast from the cart room service had brought in while Grace was in the shower.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were leaving Bear Bluff,” she said, coming out of the bathroom, her dark hair piled up under a towel, revealing her pale shoulders that he wanted to kiss, and…
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