by Layla Nash
Kira wiped her cheeks and wished she'd gotten at least a few hours of sleep in the last week. She hadn't rested at all, staring at Ethan as he slept. "Really?"
"Yes." Simon held up a small bag, a smile softening his expression. "And when Tate went out with the park rangers to deal with the mining equipment and gather evidence against the miners, he stopped by and grabbed the third camera. He didn't know how to get the photos off it, so he just took the whole thing. So you should have everything you need to finish up your research, and more than enough to justify additional research."
She almost couldn't breathe. Kira's hands shook as she took the bag from him, digging through it just to make sure everything was there. "You didn't have to do that."
"There's one more thing," he said. Simon's eyes twinkled, and he held up a rock the size of an egg. "This is yours."
When he tossed it to her, Kira almost dropped it. She frowned at the heavy thing, turning it over in her hands. "What is it?"
"Gold." Simon leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "It was on the miner who tried to kill you. We thought you deserved to keep it, after everything that happened. I can sell it for you, if you'd like. There's a trustworthy buyer here in town."
Kira stared at it as the gold warmed in her hand. "You're joking. This is just fool's gold. It can't be real."
"It is." Simon smiled, easing to his feet. "Think about it. I'll bring dinner by in a bit, and Zoe sent fresh clothes and everything. You should clean up. You'll feel better. Then we can talk about what you'll do next."
Kira blinked, still struck dumb by the size of the gold nugget in her hands. It had to be worth thousands, easily. Maybe tens of thousands. She looked up to thank him, but Simon had already retreated, and the door closed quietly behind him. She stared at Ethan once more, hoping he would wake up and be fine and tell her to go finish her work. Her heart ached as she weighed the camera equipment against the gold, and debated what to do. All she wanted was to stay with Ethan, to take care of him until he felt better, and stay there at the Lodge with all of them. Even if the walls made her claustrophobic as hell.
She rested her head on her arms on the mattress, watching Ethan's face as he breathed. She stroked the back of his hand, careful of the IVs, and whispered, "What am I going to do?"
He didn't answer. And when Simon and Zoe came back with dinner a few hours later, Kira didn't have an answer, either.
Ethan
It took almost a month before Ethan started to feel close to normal. He left the hospital after two weeks, and Simon brought him and Cooper back to the Lodge to recuperate in peace and quiet. Except Ethan felt anything but peaceful. Kira left. He woke up one day and she wasn't there. Simon said she went back to the university to finish her research, and he didn't know when she'd be back. If she'd be back.
Ethan wanted to put his fist through the wall just thinking about it. He would have convinced her to stay. Or gone back with her. He could live in a town; he could work at a university. He just needed to be with her, to hear her laugh. He missed her so much it made his bones ache, even more than getting crushed by a pile of rocks.
He got tired quickly, so Simon kept him in the Lodge preparing meals for the guests. Ethan hated every minute of it, but he pasted a smile on his face and tried to be cheerful when the guests were around. His bear hated it, too. The grizzly knew they'd defeated a mountain to save Kira, and yet she wasn't there. His mate wasn't there.
Ethan watched Cooper limp through the living room with a pile of sheets for the laundry, and guilt made him lurch over to help. Coop shouldn't have paid the price he did for helping Ethan. The younger man hadn't bounced back as quickly as Ethan, and still had a walking cast on one leg. Ethan took the sheets from him, despite Cooper's protests, and hauled them to the laundry room and the washer. Ethan hated the guilt, but he hated seeing Cooper struggle even more.
He was only halfway done with the laundry and dinner by the time Simon lumbered into the kitchen, looking around with dark eyes. Simon folded his arms over his chest. "You feel like driving into town? We have one more guest coming up tonight, but they got lost. Car broke down. Can you go pick her up?"
Ethan sighed, rubbing his shoulder as it ached. It still hurt from being crushed, and he wondered if it would ever really heal. It felt like rain was moving in, and he could almost time the storm by how much his shoulders hurt. "You sure Finn or Tate can't go?"
"They're both still out with the fishermen." Simon shook his head. "I wouldn't ask you if there was anyone else, man. You can stay overnight in town if it's too late or the storm kicks up. I already called Rosie, and she booked a room at the motel for you. Drive down there, have a good dinner, meet up with the guest, and then sleep in. You'll feel better."
Ethan scowled. "You say that an awful lot, Simon, but I rarely feel better."
"You will this time." Simon tossed him the keys to the nice Range Rover, the one that still had good shocks so the pitted roads into town wouldn't shake Ethan's skeleton apart. "Take the good truck, take your time. Call me if there are any problems, okay?"
Ethan grumbled as he grabbed his jacket and wallet and headed for the truck. Since the run-in with the miners, they all carried cell phones, radios, and satellite phones wherever they went. So his jacket rattled and weighed down as he climbed into the truck and adjusted the seat so he didn't knock his head on the ceiling.
The drive into town was pleasant enough, even as the storm blew in and rain slashed at his windshield, but it left Ethan alone with his thoughts. Maybe he'd take a leave of absence from the company and drive out to Kira's university. Surprise her there. See if she wanted to come back with him, or if he could stay there with her. He could find a job. He'd do anything. The bear grumbled and growled, uneasy with the change in weather and dropping temperature. It reminded him of the storm that caught him and Kira in the forest. The first night they slept together. The only time.
Ethan pushed away the thought. There would be other times. There had to be. Kira was his mate, and he would find a way to be with her. He'd follow her to the ends of the earth, do whatever research she wanted in whatever place she wanted. She was his world. She was all that mattered.
The Range Rover slid a little on the rain-slicked pavement outside Rosie's bar in town, adjacent to the motel with only four rooms, and Ethan braced himself to run into the bar through the rain. He'd be soaked in the few feet it would take to reach the door, and again in the mad dash to the hotel room. He took a deep breath and jumped out of the truck, almost slamming the door on his jacket as he tried to keep the car's interior dry, and raced to the door of the bar. He shouldered it open and practically fell into the bar.
Rosie, a bottle-blonde cougar, leaned on the bar and gave him a sideways look. "Well, look at you, Ethan. Looking like a sad little teddy bear. You need a drink, sug?"
"Yeah," he said, grumbling as he peeled off the soaked jacket and hung it up near the door. "Thanks. Simon said we have a guest I'm supposed to drive up to the Lodge tonight?"
"Stay 'til tomorrow, honey," Rosie said, sliding him a tall frosty glass of beer across the bar. "She's right over there," and the bartender nodded toward a table near the fireplace.
Since there was no one else in the bar, Ethan couldn't have missed her. And when he took a good look at her, his heart stopped. Her green eyes cut right through the dim lights and her scent curled around his brain, even with the stink of stale cigarette smoke. Honeysuckle. Kira.
He couldn't move, staring at her and afraid he'd wake up and it would be a dream. She had to be a dream. She looked beautiful, well-rested and content, and her hair cut shorter than he remembered. Ethan cleared his throat and managed to take a step closer, the beer forgotten behind him. "Hi."
Kira smiled and it almost broke his heart. She wobbled to her feet and closed the distance between them. She took a deep breath, about to speak, but Ethan couldn't take it. He lurched forward and hugged her, wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the floor. He didn't ever want to
let her go. He took a deep breath from her hair, the clean delicate scent intoxicating, and closed his eyes.
She cleared her throat and laughed, though she sounded a little teary. "I'm glad to see you, too. How are you? How are you feeling?"
"Better now that you're here," he managed to say, keeping his eyes shut. "Why are you here?"
Kira laughed again and pulled away, wiping the tears from her cheeks, and went to retrieve his beer from the bar so he could sit at her table. "I thought Simon told you?"
"He told me to pick up a guest," Ethan said, taking the seat right next to her so he could hold her hand. He wanted to drag her into his lap, but Rosie still watched from the bar, grinning and wiping the same spot on the smooth wood. Ethan shook his head, still disbelieving. "That's it."
Kira smiled, scooting her chair closer so she could lean against his side. "I went back to the university to finish my project. Dr. Reston had a couple more grants to apply for, but he didn't have any students willing to live out here in the mountains. So I got them. I've got a lot of research to do, but we're working with the park service and helping out with some of their projects. It'll take a while. Years, maybe."
Ethan took a deep breath. "So you're staying?"
"That was my plan, if you don't mind." Kira played with the ends of her hair, looking uncertain for the first time that he could remember. "I thought I could stay here, and you and I could... Well. Date, I guess."
"I want more than dating," he said, capturing her face in his hands. He kissed her, drinking her in, and almost lost his mind when she relaxed and kissed him back, warm and welcoming. Ready. Ethan broke the kiss, his breathing ragged. "I want forever. Stay with me, Kira. Be my mate."
"Of course," she whispered, sliding her arms around his neck. She held on to him, and kissed him again.
Ethan groaned, wanting to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder, drag her back to his den. Make love all night and the next day and the next. Never stop, maybe. He picked her up, kissing her until Kira wrapped her legs around his waist, and made a hungry sound. He was lost. Completely lost in her.
Before he could pin Kira up against the wall, Rosie cleared her throat loudly from the bar. "Take it outside, kids. Room two is waiting for you both; I don't want any broken furniture in here."
Ethan growled as he strode back to the bar, grabbing his jacket and the room key without putting Kira down, and kicked open the door to the bar. Rosie shouted something after him, something about not breaking her damn door, but the wind tore away her words and Ethan focused everything on the flimsy motel room door. Kira giggled and squealed as the rain lashed against them, and all of their clothes were soaked through by the time he got the key in the lock and opened the door.
Ethan strode into the room and locked the door behind them, flipping on one of the lights before he dropped Kira on the king-size bed. He stood over her, rain dripping from his beard, and just wanted to watch her. Wanted to look at her and listen to her breathe forever. But Kira arched an eyebrow and sat up, holding out her hands. "Let's get you out of those clothes, hmm?"
His cock hardened immediately at the look on her face, and he stepped closer so she could grab his belt buckle. Kira watched him with those dark green eyes as she undid his belt and the button on his jeans. Ethan groaned, dragging off his shirt and throwing it aside, reaching for hers as well, but Kira brushed his hands away. She pulled off her own shirt, then focused on unzipping his jeans and pushing them down until he could step out of them. He touched her cheek as she teased him through the briefs, and his voice came out rougher than he intended. "I missed you. Thought about you every day."
"I worked as fast as I could," she said, then her soft hands gripped his cock and stroked, and Ethan groaned, his head falling back. Kira laughed, a soft breathy sound. "I missed you so much."
He wanted to keep talking but she kissed the tip of his cock and all words fled. All sense left him, until the world was just the soft warmth of her mouth encircling him, and the smooth pull of her hands on his length. Ethan tangled his hands in her hair, gently encouraging her to take him deeper, and Kira responded with enthusiasm. She licked and sucked him, working his entire length, until Ethan knew he wouldn't last a second longer. He tried to pull away, to force back the orgasm that approached like a fucking freight train, but Kira looked up at him with those dark green eyes as she swallowed his cock, and Ethan was lost. The muscles in his back tightened and he groaned, hips thrusting to meet her as she moved and he lost control. Lost all control until the room blurred around him and his vision went dark and he couldn't have stopped for anything in the world.
And then he staggered, falling on the bed next to her as Kira dabbed delicately at the corners of her mouth. Ethan closed his eyes, stroking her thigh. "I missed you. You're amazing."
She laughed, bouncing to her feet, and gave him that wicked look again as she played with the button of her jeans and slowly kicked off her shoes. "You have no idea."
And he laughed, for the first time in weeks, and pushed up on his elbows to watch as she slowly stripped. He almost lost his mind when her bra slid down her arms and she threw it right in his face. Thunder cracked overhead and he couldn't suppress his grin. A motel room was a hell of a lot more comfortable than a cave in the middle of the woods, but he'd take time with Kira wherever she was. Ethan smiled and watched her spin around to bend over and show off her gorgeous ass as she slipped the jeans over her hips, and he couldn't resist. He grabbed her and carried her down to the mattress, looming over her as he kissed her again.
"You shouldn't tease the bear," he murmured, and kissed his way down her body. Kira shivered and sighed, watching him, and Ethan figured they could spend a few days in town. They might need it to get all the sex out of their systems, because the walls in the Lodge weren't soundproof and he didn't want to keep the guests up all night. He chuckled and placed a kiss right under her belly button and right above the cute little bow on the waist of her panties.
It would definitely take more than a couple of days. He could never get enough of her.
Kira
Kira's stomach fluttered with nerves as Ethan loomed over her and kissed her stomach. He looked so intense, so focused, that all of her skin prickled. His giant hands pressed into the mattress next to her, then squeezed her waist and slowly drifted down her sides until he stroked her thighs. She tried to breathe normally but her breath came faster in anticipation as Ethan nudged her thighs apart and lay down between her knees.
She'd dreamed of being with him, of sleeping with him and reliving the night in the cave over and over, but always woke up alone and empty. And now that it was real, she felt like she would fly apart any moment.
His beard tickled against her skin and Kira jumped. Ethan's smile grew as he breathed on her, and Kira gripped handfuls of the sheets to keep herself anchored as he kissed her slit. She squeezed her eyes shut as he teased, his tongue dipping and stroking in her depths until Kira felt like she might explode. Her hips lifted to meet him, rocking gently, and Ethan chuckled. He retreated and so did the ecstasy, until Kira lifted her head to look at him and worked her fingers into his hair to keep him close.
Ethan grumbled, a hungry bear noise, and Kira's cheeks heated. She felt unbelievably exposed and vulnerable, but she didn't mind. Not with him. She trusted him. Ethan would never hurt her.
He teased her entrance with his finger, still gently sucking on her clit, and let her feel his teeth just a little. Kira moaned, raising her hips as her thighs tried to close on his ears, and Ethan chuckled. He squeezed her ass, spreading her cheeks and tilting her up so he could work his finger deeper into her channel. Her muscles clenched as ecstasy boiled up through her, overwhelming her as Ethan took his time. He dragged her to the edge of the cliff and then retreated, over and over, until Kira shook and begged. She gripped his hair until she almost tore it out of his head, and pleaded with him for release.
Ethan growled and the sound vibrated through her and knocked Kira over t
he edge. She cried out as her body seized up, as she clamped down on where his fingers still stroked inside her, and stars filled her vision. She couldn't see or think. She panted, unable to catch her breath, and Ethan eased back, kneeling between her legs.
He stroked her thigh, looking unbelievably pleased with himself, and surveyed the results of his efforts. Kira managed to smile, stretching her arms over her head, and sighed. "Good job."
Ethan chuckled, stroking his cock as it hardened again, and leaned down to kiss her and whisper, "We're just getting started."
Kira squirmed, locking her arms around his neck so he couldn't escape, but Ethan flopped onto his back and dragged her on top of him. She braced her hands on his shoulders, looking at him with a little surprise, and Ethan laughed. "I'm still not a hundred percent, babe. You might have to do a little of the work."
"I don't mind at all." Kira kissed him, stretched out full-length on him, and trapped his cock between them. She rocked her hips until the friction ignited shivers all through her, and she sat back on his thighs.
Kira touched her stomach, loving the way his expression tightened and his hands gripped her butt, trying to make her move faster. Instead, she squeezed her breasts, letting her head fall back. Ethan cursed and groaned at the same time, trying to lift her up so he could slide inside her, but Kira held back. She wanted to torment him just a little.
She rubbed herself against his hard length, lost in the pleasure of his heated skin, and played with her breasts until Ethan snarled and his hips punched up, almost throwing her off. Kira laughed, biting her lip as Ethan's fingers bit into her hips and lifted her. Kira stroked him and rubbed the blunt head against her center, teasing him more until Ethan cursed and reached out for her. Kira wanted to laugh but she couldn't take much more of it herself. She sank down on him and Ethan filled her to the core, his girth stretching her until ecstasy overwhelmed her again and she could only balance there, holding on to his shoulders as her body seized and shook.