“Did that lion speak with you, Betty?” asked Crystal with a shudder. “How can you dare to talk to a lion? Aren’t you afraid to let them get that close to you? He could have torn your throat out any time he liked.”
“I have no inclination towards fear myself, though until you’ve learned more you probably should, Crystal. Though I noticed that you fought quite well.”
“I did,” she agreed proudly. “But you haven’t answered my question.”
“Yes, we did have a conversation,” said Betty speculatively. “I must speak to Allie about this right away.”
Having said so, she turned and headed toward the front of the building again. Allie met her halfway there, casting her a curious gaze. “Was this your doing somehow?” she wanted to know. “How were you able to make the lions leave us alone?”
“I’m not exactly sure,” Betty admitted. “I'm beginning to think the objective tonight was never to take the compound, and they weren’t actively looking for the Raven either.”
“Not after the Raven?” Allie scoffed. “What makes you say that?”
“They have a new commander,” Betty explained. “He is a born shifter—and based on all of my knowledge concerning such things I suspect he may be the son of their king. It sounds like the real agenda was to try to make me talk. Perhaps he believes taking me would get them closer to obtaining the statue once and for all.”
“And yet, here you stand,” Allie smirked.
“It would have been foolish in the extreme to attempt to abduct me here today,” Betty scoffed. “He never would have made it out of here alive.”
“That at least is true,” Allie agreed. “Nobody would be foolish enough to let the lions take my second-in-command.”
“The only trouble is, I’m wondering how this lion knew that I was your second-in-command,” Betty commented speculatively. “I wish I knew who he really was. He almost seemed familiar to me somehow. But that really doesn’t make sense, does it? I think I would remember if I’d had dealings with him before.”
“I wonder if you should even go into town tomorrow at all with those lions out on the prowl,” Allie said with concern.
Betty’s heart stuttered momentarily when she heard her say that. She had been looking forward to going to town tomorrow very much. She didn’t want some stupid lion raid to keep her from spending time at the waterfront with the handsome man she’d met earlier today. And she was fairly certain that if she didn’t go into town Ted would be pretty disappointed as well. Maybe even disappointed enough not to come back again.
If she had stopped to examine that feeling, she probably would have to admit that despite all the people she protected every single day—fed them, clothed them, helped them and taught them everything they needed to know—in reality Betty was feeling lonely.
She wanted the comfort of a man’s arms, and within the Raven Clan men seemed to be in short supply. At least, confident, handsome, sexy men seemed to be. There was not one guy at home that had ever caught her eye, not really. She didn’t want to say that they weren’t strong in their own ways, but most of them were not strong enough to withstand a lion’s attack, which meant any alliance she might make would probably be short-lived.
But Ted was much different than any of them. He was witty, and charming, and he seemed to have a zest for life that made him all the more attractive. Plus, he wasn’t involved in any part of this war. She didn’t have to worry that he was going to get himself killed in it. After watching so much loss, that was a prospect that really appealed to Betty.
Realizing that Allie was still waiting for a response, she said, “Oh, no, I’m sure I can handle myself. There’s some folks who only get to eat because I’m at the restaurant, and I’d hate to let them starve. If the lions had really wanted me that badly, they would have made their attempts tonight. I should be fairly safe to go.”
“You’re a very brave young woman,” Allie told her, and pride shone in her eyes. “Besides, unless they send their entire number to take you, I have no worries that they would succeed. You’re way too fast and furious for them.”
“I do whatever I need to do,” Betty said with a shrug. “Nothing more, and nothing less.”
And so, on the following morning Betty woke up, assembled her sled, and went back to Barrow just as though it was the same as any other day. Even though it wasn’t. Because today she felt an excited thrum racing through her system, like she was a guitar string that had been pulled too tight. She waited all day with building excitement, and Ted finally showed up around three in the afternoon.
“I’m not too early am I?” he asked with that winning smile of his.
“Nobody’s here today anyway,” said Betty, smiling back. “I can just close now so we can go, and come back for the dogs later on.”
“Good plan,” he agreed, and that’s exactly what they did.
Chapter 3
To say that it was cold outside would be a vast understatement. Being a polar bear shifter had its advantages in that regard, of course, since Betty’s body was quite capable of withstanding the temperature even while in her human form. She did her level best to hide this fact from Ted, of course. She had no intention of revealing her true nature to him this early in the game.
All bundled up in their warmest parkas, Betty and Ted got onto his snowmobile. He drove them out near the frozen water that lined the dark shore. He had brought them out by Point Barrow, so they were about as far north as America would let them go.
“Well, we’re here,” said Betty with a chatter of her teeth—done more to look human than for the cold. “Now what?”
“I don’t know, you’ll probably think this sounds dumb,” Ted smirked.
“What sounds dumb?” asked Betty, trying not to giggle as he got out off the snowmobile and then pulled her up to join him.
“I want to walk under the whale bone arches,” he smirked, pointing at the monument in question. “It’s my first time seeing it, so why not, right?”
“Well, believe me, if you’re here for any length of time, you’ll get used to them,” Betty chuckled. “Anyway, come on then. We might as well commemorate the occasion.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” he smirked.
They stepped through the arcing whale bones and came out the other side, then grinned at each other wryly.
“Well, that’s done then,” said Betty with a shrug, but then she looked up at the sky with concern. “That snow storm I heard about on the news this morning was due to hit in another hour, but it looks like it may be much sooner. I don’t want to get stuck out on the ice trying to wait it out. We should probably get inside now.”
“Really?” he said, sounding sublimely disappointed. “Then where do you think we should go? There’s not a whole lot around here.”
“We just need somewhere to lay low and wait out the weather,” she told him. “Somewhere we can eat, drink, and be chilly.”
“I know where we could do all three of those things,” Ted smirked. “Just because you’ve closed it doesn’t mean we couldn’t eat, drink, and be chilly in the restaurant.”
“You may have a point there,” Betty agreed. “But, more to the point, I doubt I would be able to get back out to the compound before that storm hits either way. Allie’s might be our best bet to ride it out. And have you noticed the drop in temperature? I think we should get back sooner rather than later.”
“You would know,” he agreed.
They got onto his snowmobile and headed back to the restaurant, parking his vehicle inside the little hut along with the dogs. Betty fed them all some slump and added fuel to the fire in the little stove for them, and then she and Ted stepped through a little door that led into a small sitting room before taking one more door to go into the restaurant.
“Oh, you’ve got a little home in here too, that’s nice,” said Ted, looking around. “Maybe we should sit in here instead. We might be a bit warmer that way.”
; “Sure, Ted,” she agreed. “You stay in here while I go make us some dinner, okay?”
“Awesome,” he said with a grin.
As soon as Betty was gone, he got up and started looking around the room, opening the closet door and feeling along the walls in search of a hidden passage. “I guess not,” he grumbled. Then he surreptitiously lifted up the small area rug to see what was there instead. A small trap door met his eyes, making him smile. “Bingo!”
Then he laid the carpet neatly down again and took a seat on the wide, comfy sofa to wait. Soon Betty came back in with a hearty meal and a large decanter of whiskey.
“What is this?” Ted chuckled, taking the bottle out from under her arm.
“We can’t very well drink if we don’t have anything worthy of the task,” she shrugged. “It’s a great way to keep warm, too.”
“I suppose that’s true,” he smirked. “So, are we going to eat at the table, or curl up together over here?”
Betty smiled shyly when he asked her that. For all that she wanted to have a man, she hadn’t gotten to do it just yet, and she was worried Ted might think this was all about getting laid rather than getting to know each other. But she sure as hell wasn’t going to say that out loud, either! Maybe she should make him eat at the table and strike up a conversation while they were there. It might get the hint across that he was moving too fast.
“I—I’m not sure I’m quite ready to curl up on the sofa just yet,” she managed to say. “Maybe we could sit and talk while we eat this first, and then decide what to do next.”
“Not so bold when you’re on your own,” Ted muttered softly.
“What was that?” she asked, not sure she’d heard him correctly.
“Nothing,” he laughed, coming to sit in one of the chairs. “You don’t need to feel shy around me, Betty, okay? I’m not trying to ravish you right this minute or anything. I promise.”
Relieved that he’d read her loud and clear, Betty chuckled. “Thanks for that, then. You may not have guessed, but there aren’t too many guys around here worth inviting for a drink. In fact, you’re the first.”
“You never invited another guy for a drink?” he asked.
“I never invited another guy,” she shrugged.
“Oh, I see,” he nodded, catching the full implication of what she was trying to say. “Good to know. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Feeling awkward now, Betty started to eat her fish and chips, and Ted followed her example and did the same. They were sitting on either side of a small table, so their eyes met frequently as they finished off the meal in a companionable silence.
Abruptly, Ted asked, “So, you’re a pretty perceptive girl, aren’t you?”
“What d’you mean?” she asked uncertainly.
“Well, when you look at me, for example, what do you see?” he asked. “Nice guy, total jerk, no idea?”
“You seem decent enough,” she said with an amused shrug. “But there’s no such thing as a completely nice guy, any more than there’s really someone who is completely evil. There’s way too many nuances for that to happen, don’t you think?”
“Sure, I agree,” he laughed. “But we were talking about your perception of me in particular. No turning the tables in mid-getting-to-knowness.”
“Okay, then, you’re fairly confident, maybe even cocky,” she said with a smirk. “You even have a bit of a sadistic side when the situation warrants it. You’re very loyal, and the fact that you quit your job just to come be with your father suggests that family is extremely important to you. Am I right so far?”
“You’re totally right, and you know it,” he smiled. “Now, ask me what I think of you.”
“Okay, so what about me?” Betty laughed as she pulled out two cups and filled each of them with some of the whiskey, sliding one cup across the table to Ted’s waiting hand.
Ted smirked. “All right. You think you need to be all things to all people. You mainly just want to be of help, but in a way what you really want is recognition for being helpful. You’d rather make sure everyone else was fed, watered and comfortable than make sure you were yourself. You’re far too loyal for your own good—and you’ve never, never ever taken a man to your bed because it sounds selfish. And the last thing you want to be is selfish—”
“What could I possibly have done to make you get this impression of me?” Betty asked curiously. He was very right, but she had no idea how he could possibly know these things on such a short acquaintance.
“It’s in your eyes, I suppose,” he shrugged, sipping at his drink. “Even when we hadn’t talked yet, you were concerned about me, wanted to make sure I had a place to go and all. And you told me that you live with a very large group of people, and that you needed to hurry back home last night. Hurry so much that you didn’t even have time to talk.”
“We had—plans last night,” Betty said carefully. “Plans in which I played a very big part.”
“That’s all right,” he said, casting her an enigmatic glance that made her toes curl. “I had plans last night as well. And they didn’t go off without a hitch, either. Although it didn’t really matter since I’m such a patient man. Things will all turn out as I want them to in the end, I’m sure.”
“Why do you seem so familiar to me somehow?” Betty said, looking him over uncertainly. “The way you said that just now—it reminded me of something, but I can’t put a finger on what it could be. But I will get it eventually. I always do.”
“Maybe we’ve met in another lifetime or something,” Ted teased. “Do we really have to sit at this table to drink the whiskey too?”
“No, I guess not,” said Betty with a smile of her own. “It’s not like you’re going to bite me or anything, right?”
“Not this time, anyway,” he said as he helped her to her feet.
“Oh, I don’t know what to think of that statement,” Betty laughed as he led her over to the small couch and brought her down next to him. Even though there was plenty of room for them to sit apart, he’d made a point of placing her leg directly against his own, and then claimed it with his hand, giving her a little squeeze.
“There we are, all comfy,” he said in her ear.
“Except that we need to start a fire in here,” she told him. “Unless you were trying to take ‘chilly’ literally. I’ll do it now and then we could play cards or something.”
“Hmm, how about poker?” Ted chuckled as she got up and sat by the little potbelly stove, feeding chunks of paper and other kindling into it. “Is that the town newspaper you’re stuffing in there, by the way?”
“Mostly,” she agreed. “There’s not a whole lot of wood to be had up here, you know. We don’t grow trees or anything, so we have to get our wood shipped here from down south. Usually we would be okay with just using fossil-fuel furnaces, but if it gets too cold outside the gas doesn’t want to work right, and there’d be ice formed on the vents, which would cool the air down as well. The vents can get cold pretty easily when your house is on stilts, so they’re wrapped in some really heavy insulation to help prevent it.”
“Interesting,” he nodded. “Wainwright is a cold place to live too, but not nearly as cold as it gets up here. This must have been a really weird place to grow up.”
“Not really,” said Betty, and the fire crackled to life, adding a golden glow to everything around them. She turned and came back to the couch, but as she reached it she felt too shy to sit back down where he’d had her before. At the same time, she didn’t want to move away either. Instead, she grabbed the whiskey bottle and refilled both of their cups, needed or not, just to hide her bout of awkwardness from his discerning eyes.
Not to be denied, this time Ted pulled Betty right down onto his knee, making her squeal and then giggle. She tried to get up again, move over or reposition herself, but he wickedly chuckled as he wrapped her into his arms.
“You’re not trying very hard to escape me, are you?” he asked in he
r ear.
Betty felt her heart skip a beat at the words. But he wasn’t wrong, was he? She hadn’t put up much of a struggle at all, and now they were sitting there together, staring into each other’s eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest as he brought their two foreheads together. That sensation of familiarity came back with a vengeance, and she had to catch her breath.
Ted brought his lips to hers, and then stayed there, ever so close to taking the kiss he wanted, but leaving it to Betty to close the remaining one-inch gap. Breathlessly, she did so, and their bodies shuddered at the contact. He parted her lips with his tongue, and Betty gasped, moving so he could have better access as the kiss became deeper still.
“You taste better than the whiskey,” she whispered, making him laugh.
“I like to think so,” he agreed. “And you taste—good enough to eat.”
Betty grinned wryly. “You’re not a vampire are you?”
“Of course not,” he chuckled.
“Yeah, because you got that funny Italian name, the dark good looks, and the mysteriously unreadable aura thing going on really well. Just thought I would make sure.”
“But if I was a vampire, it’d already be too late,” he grinned wickedly.
“What d’you mean?” she asked.
“You already let me inside your home,” he smirked.
“Well, maybe you were cute enough to let the mysteriously unreadable aura thing slide,” Betty conceded. “Anything is possible.”
“So that means now I have to decide when to bite you,” he pointed out.
Betty giggled. “Why is it I don’t think your bite would be so bad?”
“Maybe I’ve mesmerized you,” he teased. Then he nipped playfully at her neck, making her squeal. Laughing merrily, he did it again. “You’re still squealing? Maybe I haven’t gotten you drunk enough yet.”
“Oh, is that your master plan then?”
“Maybe,” he said, smirking as their eyes met and held. “Or maybe I just want to hold a beautiful woman in my arms all night while we wait out this storm.”
Unbreak My Heart_BWWM Romance Page 15