by Dianna Love
How could she stretch in a tub?
She curled her fingers into the soft linen beneath her and realized she was no longer in the bathroom.
Opening her eyes, she allowed them to adjust to the dark room. With the bathroom door left ajar, the night-light inside gave off a soft glow. Enough light slipped through the crack in the door for her to see clearly with her bear shifter eyes.
Directly across from her in the bed closest to the door, Justin lay on his back wearing only a pair of shorts. He had an arm draped across his face.
Beautiful male creation even from the side.
His whole form was a work of art, carved exactly how she would create a man’s body. Long legs wrapped with cords of muscle. On each exhale, she got a nice view of more across his stomach.
Six pack. That’s what she’d heard an American woman call the hard ripple of muscles.
Elianna counted. Justin had eight, not six.
She had almost ruined her chance at five days of exploration by going for the walk. Her bear had better not give her any more grief after that. She felt her animal sleeping, but once the bear stirred it was like an active child wanting to do everything Elianna couldn’t allow.
Her shoulder still ached, but had healed enough for her to use her arm. Her bear wanted to shift so she would heal faster. Elianna would like that too, but it could not happen.
Her bear did not understand her life.
Just a little patience and she’d free her bear, but not until these five days were over. She mentally counted from today, which was Saturday to Wednesday.
She could do this. She would not show Justin what her bear looked like. It bothered her that she should care what he thought, but ... he had agreed to the five days.
He had been nice. She had been angry.
Five days close together would be bad. Very bad.
Because she liked the way he looked at her even if it could go nowhere.
If she shifted to her bear, Justin would be polite, but things would change between them as it had between her and a polar bear she’d met two winters back.
She’d taken a three-day break and went up into the mountains after weeks of being unable to shift and free her bear. She’d met a man four years older than she was, who followed her the entire first day as she hunted a spot to spend the night.
He hadn’t been threatening, just curious.
That night she called out in the dark and invited him into her camp. He was nice and said he’d been traveling alone for months. He sounded as lonely as she felt. She could not date humans and she was not welcome at the clan back home, which left few choices for companionship.
That night, she soothed years of feeling rejected in the arms of a generous lover who made her laugh and tremble with need. She awoke the next morning to his happy face.
They decide to shift and hunt breakfast together.
She started believing she could have someone in this world who did not judge her as inferior.
But as soon as she shifted, her bear sensed something was wrong. This man’s beautiful white polar bear shied away from her bear, choosing to hunt for fish downstream.
Her bear didn’t like him either.
Once they’d shifted back to human form and dressed, her sweet lover came to her with disappointment in his eyes. He said, “My bear and I are one soul. I would like to find out if we could be more, but without his approval it isn’t possible.”
She’d choked back tears and nodded. “I see.”
He had hugged her and kissed her, thanking her for the wonderful night and apologizing again for not being able to stay.
Not even a stranger bear shifter would accept her.
Justin was just as close to his bear. She could tell.
Over on the other bed, Justin made a deep inhale. He didn’t move his arm, but he said, “Mornin’,” in a sleep-roughened voice.
How had he known she was awake? “Yes, morning.”
Lowering his arm, he rolled toward her and bent his other arm to prop his head.
She got a full shot of his chest and ... there were no words. She knew what powerful male shifters looked like with few clothes, but other than that fleeting night with the polar bear shifter, no others had ever raised a hair of interest from her.
To be honest, the polar bear shifter could not compare to Justin.
Licking her lips, she realized her mouth was dry.
Justin groaned and yanked a pillow from behind him that he placed over the front of his shorts.
She looked from that to his face where his mouth twitched with a smile. How could a smile cause her body to heat and her breasts to ache?
His eyes darkened and her heart skipped a beat.
Where the polar bear shifter had been teasing and enthusiastic, the look buried in Justin’s dark gaze warned he had far more than teasing on his mind.
“Stop worrying, Eli. I’m not going to do anything, but I can’t control a natural reaction to waking up across from you.”
She struggled to come up with a reply.
She should be correcting him about calling her Eli. That was not her name, but it sounded so nice when he said it. She wanted to wrap his words around her and hold them close.
Her polar bear shifter had been nice, but the words he’d spoken had been used so often for other women that Elianna could hear the worn edges when he teased.
“Cat got your tongue, Eli?”
“No.”
He sighed. “You’re gonna need a bigger vocabulary for me to spend five days with you.”
There was that twisted humor of his, but she was still stuck on I can’t control a natural reaction to waking up across from you.
Had he meant that as a compliment or just a statement of his situation?
She chose to call it compliment. There had been so few in her life she would not give this one up.
Justin’s words were unpolished and gruff, but he said what he meant. She liked that in a person and had met few men who possessed that trait. Her ship captain friend had been one.
The reason she thought this might be true of Justin was the way he hadn’t tried to gain her cooperation last night. Instead, he said what he had on his mind, which irritated her beyond belief.
In fact, he’d behaved like a grumpy bear as opposed to a normal man, especially a shifter, who would have tried to manipulate her.
In hindsight, she wanted to chuckle at the memory.
But where she came from, people did not laugh at such foolishness. Her people were a serious breed who faced the hardships of life with a stern face and iron determination.
She would bet Justin laughed as much as he breathed, and she envied his lightheartedness.
“What’s going on in that head of yours, Eli? You plotting my death the minute we drive away so you can shove me in a ditch and take the car?”
See? He said the most outrageous things. “Would not hurt you.”
He rolled his eyes up and back down. “Chill. I was joking.”
“You are strange man.”
“I’ve been called worse.” Then his grin appeared again when he added, “But not by a prettier woman.”
Her heart flipped around in her chest again. He was giving it more work than when her bear ran through the mountains.
Speaking of which, her bear was fully awake and said, See bear.
Her bear wanted to see Justin’s? Why?
The only thing Elianna and her bear had been in agreement on since moving to PK was that neither of them had ever been interested in any grizzly bear shifter.
What was Justin doing to her bear that it wanted to meet his?
“How’s your shoulder, Eli?”
“All fine.”
“You’re sure?”
Why did he question her? She could not make the wound heal faster.
Not true. Not true. I heal us, her bear chimed in.
Elianna silently told her bear, No. Be quiet.
Not nice.
Yes, yes, yes.
How many times had her bear said that, even though Elianna would work day and night to get ahead so she could get a half day off to climb into the mountains at home and let her bear run?
Her bear made a soft growl and let it go.
Elianna searched for something to say because Justin watched her as if he waited for a reply.
What had he last said? That she would kill him and take the car. He had no worries.
She told him, “You and car safe. No drive in Kamchatka. No driver in ditch.”
His eyebrows lifted at that, but then he asked, “Wait. You don’t drive? Why not?”
“No place to drive.”
“You live in one of the largest countries in the world. I’m sure it’s a long distance between major cities on the east coast of Russia, but being a bear shifter I’d think you’d like to roam some.”
Her bear said, Yes. Run now.
Elianna silently said, No. Do not interfere. Busy day. Be good if you want run and swim soon.
Swim with bear.
Ignoring that, Elianna said to Justin, “I walk much.” She could see no clock, but figured she should get dressed so she would not make him late to leave.
“Why five days?” he asked in a soft voice. “Why did they agree to that?”
She considered all the things she could say and dismissed them. Justin was being nice, but men were the reason she was in this bad spot in life.
With nothing better to say, she shrugged. “First time in this country. I want see much before stuck at clan.”
From the solemn look on his face, he weighed her answer.
Would it come up short?
He asked, “How much has your shoulder healed?”
She moved it a little and felt the twinge of healing. “Is fine. Shirt will cover.”
“You can have the bathroom first, and take your time.”
She growled at that before she could stop herself.
His eyes widened. “What did I say now?”
“Nothing.”
“Did you make a big word out of no? That’s new.”
Aggravating bear! She had slept in her clothes, which were wrinkled badly, but no worse than the rest of her things in her suitcase so she slid out of bed.
Her gaze went to her open—and empty—suitcase. “Where are clothes?”
“Calm down. Your clothes are hanging in the closet and the rest of your stuff is sitting on a shelf next to them.”
She could not understand this man. “Why would you hang clothes?”
“They were wrinkled. Would you prefer them that way? If so, give me a minute and I’ll wad them up,” he countered in a calm voice with that little smile at the corner of his mouth.
“No wrinkles.” Crazy man, she silently added.
“Then we’re all happy, right?” He gave her a big smile.
“Yes, okay.” She found a button up shirt and jeans in the closet, admitting to herself that he had done her a favor. Too many years of being shunned and the butt of jokes had destroyed her ability to accept anything at face value.
She would have to show her appreciation today. She didn’t know how, but with many miles in front of them she would find a chance.
For now, she turned to him, holding her clothes. “Thank you.”
He said, “You’re welcome ... Eli.”
She took her time in spite of being annoyed at once again being told to not rush through dressing. Not that it should matter, but she did take a long, hot shower and a few extra minutes to comb her shoulder-length locks to a shine. She pulled her hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, hissing at having to raise her arm so high.
When she finished, she gave herself an honest assessment and decided she did look better than when she stepped off the boat yesterday.
She would not scare people. Justin might have been right.
Still, it seemed rude to point out she could use improvement.
When she stepped out of the bathroom, Justin had on a green long-sleeved pullover and worn jeans. He stood just a bit taller in his boots and his short hair glistened with water.
She asked, “You shower?”
“Yep. All set. I’m ready to eat.”
“Where?”
“In your old room.”
Her mouth dropped open and he put a finger under her chin, lifting gently.
That stalled whatever she had been about to say.
Stepping back, he said, “Hungry?”
Now she remembered what had been on her mind. “Room was closed?”
“I had a key, but I actually used the door connecting both rooms.”
“You called to close ... ”
“Oh, I called back and got the room again.”
She crossed her arms and paid for it with a sharp pain in her shoulder. “You lied.”
“No, I didn’t. I did cancel the room, but I called back after you decided to sleep in the bathroom and said I needed the key to remain active until eight this morning since the room had already been paid for.”
How could she argue with that?
She wanted to, but she didn’t. Instead, she made a mental note not to trust anything he said from here on. Just another man who rearranged the truth to suit his own needs.
The same man who must have carried her from the bathroom to the bed. Why did he have to be so confusing?
She would not go off on her own again while they were in the cities, but neither would she live under his thumb.
These five days were hers.
She paid for them with her freedom.
“We eat and shop,” she declared, letting Justin know he was not in charge of her.
“I can’t wait.” His grin widened.
Why was he so happy about that? What was he not telling her? “What?”
“Why am I excited?”
“Yes, that.”
He stepped close, causing her brain to quit working again. Probably because all the blood ran away to her bottom half. He whispered, “Because I’m going to give you exactly what you want.”
What did he think she wanted?
CHAPTER 13
Clan Boudreaux, Louisiana
“Is it done, wolf?” T-Bone asked, gripping his mobile phone in a tight fist. He knew the answer to that question, but he was always willing to give someone a chance to prove him wrong. This wouldn’t be the first time he’d been disappointed, but it would be the last time this Black River pack managed it if this wolf screwed his plan.
“No, T-Bone. In fact, I’m seriously considering giving this contract back after you lied to me,” Mateo said, not sounding as if he bluffed.
T-Bone paced his upstairs home office and kept his voice low. He shouldn’t have to worry about someone hearing, but you could never be too careful in the Boudreaux Clan. He’d soundproofed the walls in his two-story house against any shifter listening in on his conversation from outside. He’d tested it with his hearing and television turned up gradually to know what worked.
That’s why he took calls above the ground floor, but he still worried about someone who might have found a way to listen near the windows on this level. He couldn’t remove the windows to replace with better soundproofing without alerting others.
No precaution was too much.
He couldn’t be connected to the Black River pack in any way once this wolf did manage to finish the job for which T-Bone had already paid a sizeable deposit.
Torn between wanting to tell this jerk, Mateo, to piss off and worrying that the wolf might not be bluffing, T-Bone asked, “Why? Is one female bear shifter that hard for your people to take down?”
“She won’t be a problem, but her bodyguard killed my wolf. You said she was being escorted by humans.”
Ah, shit. What had happened? “Hey, man, that’s what I was told.”
Who had T-Bone’s alpha sent to collect Elianna in San Francisco?
His alpha said he was calling a friend who was not connected to any shifter clans or packs, to ensure she would arrive safely. His
alpha couldn’t send a bear shifter from their clan due to bad blood between him and the wolf pack alpha who ran San Francisco, or T-Bone might have been sent to pick up the Russian princess.
He’d dodged a titanium bullet there.
In the past, his alpha had tapped humans he’d known for many years to do the occasional side job. He’d been doing that long before one of their own had revealed the existence of shifters to humans eight years ago.
Shit got acquainted with spinning fan blades.
A damn jackal shifter had sold them all out. Humans didn’t deal with that well. They considered shifters to be on the same level as animals.
That wasn’t true.
Humans liked their domestic animals but would run a shifter down in a minute.
Mateo broke into T-Bone’s thoughts. “What do you intend to do about my wolf?”
Here we go. Everything came down to money. “You want me to pay for a wolf that got his ass kicked by a bodyguard? What kind of people are you hiring, wolf?”
“I expect to be compensated for losing a very capable operative from our Black River pack, who trusted me not to send him in blind. The shifter protecting her is stronger than most shifters.”
T-Bone paused in his stomping around. “Hey, I’m a bear shifter. Don’t go lumping me into that weak mix.”
“Really? Can you pick up a wolf shifter that weighs over two-fifty in human form, and toss him thirty yards through the air?”
Exaggerate much? “Not unless I grew another three feet taller. Are you trying to tell me someone tossed your wolf into the San Francisco Bay?”
“Yes.”
No joking or hedging, just a straightforward answer that had T-Bone fidgeting more. Could that be true? He walked to the window, searching outside.
Nothing there.
Could a person die from an overload of paranoia?
T-Bone took no one’s word on something that sounded like a rumor. “How do you know this bodyguard did that?”
“I had backup close by, but not close enough to reach my first wolf before the bear shifter jerked him up and hoisted him out into the bay.”
“Your wolf couldn’t swim to the bank?”
“Not with a snapped neck.”
That sucked. Hold everything. “Did you say the bodyguard is a bear shifter?”