Nika nodded. She knew that either of them could easily take apart the car piece by piece using just their bear shifter strength. And since the car crash victim was a fellow shifter, they wouldn't be risking exposure of the secret that every shifter was sworn to keep.
"Once that door is gone, I could do a quick examination, and we could get Mr., uh, Tyler to the hospital."
"It's just Tyler. Call me Mr. Swanson, and I'm gonna think that you're talking to my dad," said the man.
She saw the flash of a flirtatious smile and realized that underneath the broken nose and rapidly blackening eyes was a handsome bear shifter in the Swanson mold of tall, dark-haired, and hazel-eyed. "So, your name is Nika, huh? That's a pretty name for a pretty lady."
"Thank you," Nika said politely.
With effortless strength and the protesting shriek of metal, Ash tore away the driver's side door. A moment later, he had rounded the back of the SUV to remove the passenger-side door, as well.
Nika followed to the passenger side and squeezed herself into the front of the Chevy, shoving aside a dangling chunk of the dashboard to get to Tyler.
Pregnant and bulky as she was, Nika was still able to fit into tight spaces where the tall, broad-shouldered Ash couldn't, especially wearing his thick insulated fireman's coat.
With Ash reaching in from the driver's side to steady Tyler's neck, she fastened the cervical collar around the injured shifter's neck.
She'd done this before as part of her clinical rotation in ER, but doing it in a hospital setting was one thing. Doing it with rapidly numbing fingers while half-kneeling, half-lying inside a badly dented metal box was another thing entirely, and she gained a new respect for EMTs who accomplished these feats on a regular basis.
The backboard followed, she and Ash working as a team to slide the board behind Tyler's back and fasten the nylon-and-Velcro straps securely.
Nika had seen Ash lighthearted, sexy, serious, and angry. Now, in the freezing dark, she saw his determination to help someone in need, and she realized how seriously he took his duties as a volunteer first responder. This was a side to him that she liked. A lot.
One of the things that had initially drawn her to him was the fact that he was the polar opposite of the other male bear shifters she had met. A Medved would only have rushed out to help a stranger in the middle of the night if there was a hefty reward attached.
But not Ash. And from what she knew, none of the other Swansons, either. They were not only loyal to each other but to their entire community. She had seen that community spirit in abundance tonight as well as Ash's raw physical strength.
Everything came together in a rush. Nika felt a jolt of pure electricity run through her as she realized that no matter what kind of risks she might run, she couldn't leave her mate again.
I want to stay in Bearpaw Ridge forever.
It was true. This day had shown Nika that she could be happy living here among people who cared so much about each other.
She bitterly regretted that she'd been forced to drop out of medical school so close to finishing her degree. I'll find a way, somehow, and graduate. I've come too far to give up now.
The realization dizzied her. Seattle had never been her real home, so it had been easy to make the decision to leave everything behind and run as soon as danger threatened. But here, with Ash…she wanted to stay and see if Bearpaw Ridge could feel like home.
But first, she had to draw in her spiraling thoughts and dreams and focus on the problem at hand, which involved a badly injured shifter trapped in a mangled vehicle.
Working with painstaking care, she and Ash managed to pull away enough of the wreckage to free Tyler's legs, which turned out to be broken and pierced in several places.
Then Dane and the others arrived with wail of sirens and flashing fire engines and finished the job of extracting Tyler from the wreckage.
Once the injured shifter was free of the car, Nika concentrated on cutting away Tyler's blood-soaked jeans. She swiftly bandaged a couple of deep cuts before splinting his legs and covering him with the thermal blanket.
The ambulance arrived a few minutes later, pulling up to join the line of pulsing lights already stretched along the snowy shoulder of the highway.
As the EMTs lifted Tyler onto a gurney, he caught her hand.
"Hey, pretty Nika," he said. "Thank you."
She squeezed his hand and smiled down at him, feeling the warm glow of having accomplished something meaningful.
"…can I have your number? I'd like to treat you to dinner once I'm all healed up," Tyler continued.
Nika gaped down at him in shock. Surely he knew that she was not only mated but pregnant!
Before she could formulate a polite refusal, Ash was suddenly there, looming over the gurney. "Are you trying to pick up my mate?"
Ash's tone was mild, but she heard the growl under his words.
"She's mated?" Tyler's eyes, nearly concealed now in rings of puffy flesh, widened a bit. "Dude, I'm sorry! I had no idea—I can't smell anything right now."
That was probably true. Tyler's nose looked a mess.
Ash gave the other shifter a long, level look. "Let me fix that for you."
Before Nika could stop him, he reached down and tugged sharply at Tyler's crooked nose. There was an audible pop and Tyler made a guttural sound of pain.
"Ash!" Nika said, shocked.
"Thanks—I think. I can breathe through my nose again," Tyler said at the same moment.
Nika looked down at her patient and saw fresh blood trickling out of his nostrils. But his off-kilter nose looked straight again.
"That could have waited until he arrived at the hospital," she chided her mate as she hurried to pack gauze into Tyler's nose.
Ash shrugged. "This isn't the first time I've done that for him. He used to get into fights all the time when we were kids."
"But your timing sucks. I swear I didn't know she was your mate!" Tyler protested.
"And now you do." Ash's tone was still mild.
He reached out and took Nika's hand as they watched the EMTs load Tyler into the ambulance, shut the doors, and race away into the night.
"He was always the black sheep of the family. When we were teenagers, he did stuff like spray graffiti on the school walls and steal cars for joyrides." Ash shook his head. "I heard he moved to Portland. I wonder what he's doing back in town."
"I'm just glad he wasn't more badly hurt," Nika said. "His legs should heal up in a week or two."
"Thanks for coming with me," Ash said, drawing her close to his side and putting his arm around her.
Dane approached them. Like Ash, he was wearing his insulated firefighter's jacket.
"Good job, guys. You didn't leave us much to do." He smiled at Nika. "For future reference, we could really use another paramedic in our little fire department, especially since Fred Barker's been making noises about retiring in another year or two."
Nika returned his smile. "I'll think about it," she promised him.
She and Ash were in his pickup, heaters cranked up on high and driving back to his house on the ranch, when Ash asked, "Were you serious about maybe becoming our new paramedic?"
His voice sounded tense. She glanced over at him and saw his jaw muscles working under his beard as he stared straight ahead at the dark ribbon of highway cutting through the snowbanks on either side.
"I want to stay here, in Bearpaw Ridge," Nika said. "With you."
"Really?" Ash asked, sounding wary. "What about your family? What about the death threats and all the other stuff that had you so scared?"
Nika took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about my lack of faith in you. Watching you just now reminded me that you're strong, and smart, and a good person."
His mouth twitched. "Even if I acted like a jealous asshole around Tyler just now?"
"I—kind of liked it," she confessed. "But only because it was you." She reached out and stroked Ash's bearded cheek. "I'm still scared about what Mama
and Papa might to do to us, but I realized today that the Swansons are just as strong as the Medveds, just in a different way. I trust that you—that we—can find a way to protect ourselves and the baby, even if neither of us can shift."
He captured her hand in his and brought it to his lips. She felt the warm pressure of his lips against her palm, and a pleasant shock raced up her arm.
"I won't fail you," he said fervently.
"Good," she said, and traced the outline of his lips with her fingertip. "Because we have some unfinished business when we get back to your house."
Chapter 12 – Reclaimed
When they pulled into his garage, Ash made a beeline for his gun safe.
Nika's beautiful gray eyes widened when he pulled out his shotgun and a box of 12-gauge slugs.
"Loaded for bear," he told her with grim humor. "Maybe I can't shift and fight off your clan's enforcers bear-to-bear if they come for you, but with this, I can still do a lot to discourage them."
Her expression turned sad. "I hope it doesn't come to that. I don't want anyone to get hurt—not you, and not anyone from the Medveds."
"I said I'd protect you, and I will," Ash said, feeling his determination down to his bones. "With this, if your relatives show up, maybe we can deter them long enough to negotiate."
"I hope so," she said, putting a protective hand over the mound of her belly.
She's so damned beautiful, Ash thought, as renewed desire raced through his veins.
All those soft, lovely curves hid a fierce competence and compassion that appealed to him even more that her sweet body. She had really impressed him when she jumped right into the role of EMT to help Tyler.
Tyler. Ash wondered why his black-sheep cousin had returned to Bearpaw Ridge after all these years. When Tyler had left after high school graduation to seek his fortune in the Pacific Northwest, Ash figured that they'd all seen the last of him.
Everyone in Bearpaw Ridge except Ash had breathed a sigh of relief when Tyler was gone. His cousin had riled up a lot of people in their quiet, tight-knit town with his wild ways. Only freshman Ash had seen the smart, lonely teenager under his cousin's tough, rebellious façade, and he'd been Tyler's lone friend during the other's senior year.
After Tyler graduated—barely—and left town, they'd stayed in sporadic touch via email and social media while Ash's gaming company began its explosive trajectory towards success and Tyler worked his way to a degree in construction management followed by his general contractor's license.
But now all thoughts of his cousin's unexpected return to town fled as Nika approached him and her sweet scent hit his nose.
"Now, where were we, before we were so rudely interrupted?" he asked her, feeling a hungry grin stretch his lips.
He shifted his grip on the shotgun and bent to kiss her. He took his time plundering her soft, hot mouth, anticipating the fulfillment of his long-denied hunger for her, and was rewarded by the renewed musky perfume of her arousal.
"In a warmer place with a lot less clothing," Nika said breathlessly, pulling just far enough away that he felt her lips brush his with butterfly strokes at every word.
He felt her hand slip under his firefighter's jacket. An instant later, she pressed her palm firmly against the growing bulge of his erection, and he regretted the loss of sensation through his insulated bunkers.
His personal protective equipment was as thick as armor. While that was usually a good thing, right now it was interfering with his plans for the rest of the evening.
"Let's go inside and get naked," he suggested and was rewarded with a breathy giggle from his mate.
Ash slung the leather strap of his shotgun over his shoulder and scooped her up.
He carried her into his house as she wound her arms around his neck and kissed every part of him that she could reach, the firm bulge of her pregnancy pressing against his middle.
Once inside, she helped him strip out of his bulky firefighting gear, and he returned the favor by divesting her of her down jacket, knitted hat and gloves, and the rest of her clothing down to her bra and panties.
To his disappointment, she stepped back when he reached for her. But his dismay was short-lived.
"Wait, it's your turn, Ash," she said with a seductive smile.
His breath caught as he felt her stroke the stiff length of his cock under his boxers, her fingers cupping and caressing his eager erection through the soft fabric.
Ash swallowed hard. Every frustrated daydream and fantasy he'd had since she left him seemed to be coming true at last.
He felt her hook her fingers under the elastic waistband and pull them down, freeing his rigid cock. It strained hungrily towards her as she sank slowly to her knees, pulling his underwear down to his ankles.
Nika leaned forward, and he felt her hot breath feather over his sensitive skin. He saw the tip of her tongue emerge cat-like from between her deliciously plump lips and swipe delicately over the broad tip of his cock.
A jolt of pure pleasure raced up to his lower spine, and it was all Ash could do to keep from coming on the spot.
He groaned and tried to pull her up.
Her delicate-looking hands clamped around his legs with shifter strength, and she shook her head playfully.
"Oh no, you don't," she cautioned, her eyes dilated with need so that only a thin ring of silvery-gray showed around enormous black pupils. "Not until I'm done with you, Mister Swanson."
Her tongue darted out again, and he felt her slick warmth circle the tip of his cock. He swayed under the wicked caress, battling the urge screaming at him to pull her to her feet and take her hard and deep until she screamed his name.
"You're killing me," he informed her in a low growl.
In reply, she smiled, opened her mouth and engulfed him in hot, wet bliss for the next few minutes. Even after months apart, she still knew exactly what he liked and how to drive him out of his mind with need.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He needed to be inside her. Now.
He pulled her roughly to her feet. Her cheeks were deliciously flushed, and her lips looked swollen.
He tore off her bra with brute force, then paused to kiss his way down her throat to her bare breasts, devouring them as she squirmed with impatience and rising heat.
When he finally yanked her panties off, she smelled of pure, musky arousal.
"Ash," she begged, when he came back up to his feet. "Please. Now."
His bear rose inside him, roused from its torpor at last. "Oh God, yes."
They didn't make it to the bed or even his sofa, only steps away. Ash slid his hands behind her hips and lifted her effortlessly. He took two steps forward and pressed her against the mudroom wall.
"Open your legs," he ordered.
She complied eagerly, wrapping her thighs around his waist. He felt his cock pressing against her slick, hot entrance and prayed fervently that nothing would interrupt them this time.
Then he surrendered to seven months of need and invaded her with one powerful thrust, filling her completely.
"Oh. My. God," she gasped, clutching at him.
He felt her short nails digging into his shoulders and the powerful squeeze of her thighs around his hips, and the bonds of his self-restraint snapped at last.
Mine. My mate. Mine.
He took her fast and hard against the wall of the mudroom, his mouth covering hers, muffling her moans as he pistoned against her, his stiff length caressing her clit with every long, sliding thrust.
He felt his climax gathering inside him like a giant wave.
Every muscle in his body tensed as he came. It started at the base of his spine and rushed out of him like a torrent of molten metal, a river of heat and fire and bright sparks of pleasure that seemed to come from everywhere inside him, right down to his fingertips and toes.
Nika convulsed against him. She cried his name, and he felt her inner muscles ripple and pulse around him, squeezing his cock.
Knowing that he ha
d been able to do this to her made him feel powerful.
Together, they rode out their mutual pleasure, arms wrapped around each other and the precious life they had created cradled safely between them.
When the last pulses of his climax faded away, he shifted his grip and stepped away from the wall, holding her still firmly joined to him.
"Mine," he said as he carried through the house, to the master suite and his bed.
Nika kissed him greedily as they fell on the mattress together.
"Mine," she echoed, and he liked the way it sounded on her lips.
She bit his throat, and his arousal sprang back to life with a roar. He took charge of the encounter and pinned her down, hungrily kissing and nipping every inch of her until she was squirming beneath him and pleading breathlessly with him to fuck her.
Ash's bear liked that. Ash the man liked it too, and he was only too happy to oblige his mate.
He urged her to turn over and get up on her hands and knees while he took her from behind.
Driven by his bear's needs, he moved over her, admiring her sweet round ass as he spread her glistening entrance wide with his thumbs and entered her again.
Their encounter was raw and animalistic this time, his fingers digging into her hips as he plunged in and out of her slick, hot body.
Mine. Mine. Mine. The words echoed inside his head like a mantra as she gasped and writhed and bucked against him, urging him on with low, breathy cries that drove him crazy.
He saw Nika's hands claw into his comforter as she moaned. Then, to his immense satisfaction, she climaxed again, and the sight and sounds of her ecstasy pushed him over the edge too.
They came to rest spooned together on top of his comforter, his hands filled with the soft abundance of her breasts and that sweet ass nestled against his groin. This armful of curvy, willing mate was his idea of paradise, and he didn't want this moment to end.
"I've waited a long time for this," he murmured and nibbled his way around the shell of her ear.
She wriggled against him. "Me, too. And can I just say two words: pregnancy hormones?"
"I'm not complaining…and I'm not done if you aren't," Ash said.
Ash (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 6) Page 12