Ursus Borealis: Book One

by D. L. Lewellyn

  My gaze moved next to the pulse in his neck where more of the tattoo was revealed, a galaxy of stars ending at the curve of his strong jaw, then my eyes landed on his sensual lips.

  And finally, tilting my head way back, I could look into those brilliant eyes as he watched me intently, both of us having become so still I could hear the breeze whisper through the pines at the edge of the highway.

  Just as before, I felt caught as we locked gazes, then I blinked when he rumbled, “Are you hurt?”

  Growing warm under his scrutiny and the timber of his voice, I managed, “Uh…No. Well, maybe only slight bruising,” I said as I rubbed at my arm. “No serious harm done.”

  He raised a brow, “You did quite well, giving Terrance a firm message. He needed that.”

  An undignified snort escaped me, “I had a feeling he was not going to let up, so…yes, I decided to give him my brand of no.”

  His sudden laugh surprised me and, wow, if I thought he was gorgeous before, this seriously weakened my ability to stand as my insides turned molten. But I forced my knees to brace me as I squinted an eye at him, chewing on my lip.

  The heated look he returned nearly took my breath away. And that reaction increased when he reached for my face as if unable to stop himself, and brushed back a strand of my hair, his fingers grazing my skin. We both flinched at the jolt that flared between us.

  At the surprised look on my face, he dropped his hand quickly, then stepped back and asked me in a steady voice, “Where did you learn those moves?”

  Looking away as I thought of Thomas, I had to clear my throat to answer. “I had a fitness hobby when I lived in the city.”

  When I looked back at him, he was peering closely at me. “I see. Well, those were some pretty serious street-fighting moves.” It was obvious he wanted to ask me more about it but refrained.

  “I thought I would come out to make sure you weren’t molested when I saw him follow you. I’m happy I was not needed.”

  It had not escaped my notice that he himself had come to check on me, and that he had let me take care of my own problem without interfering, at least until the end.

  Then his smile faded, and he looked a bit frustrated, raking his hand through his hair. “Do you usually walk home late at night? I would see you home, but I left in the middle of business and need to get back to it.”

  Acting now like the need to see to my welfare was an inconvenience, or maybe it was simply too much contact for his comfort, had me bristling. He certainly did not need to worry about me, not after weeks of studiously avoiding me.

  Just then Kenny came out to head home himself and stopped in surprise when he saw the two of us standing here eyeing each other like we were the only two people in the world.

  Continuing a bit stiffly, I said, “It’s nice of you to be concerned, but I will be fine. I live only a couple blocks away.” And I looped my arm through Kenny’s and said, looking at him expectantly, “And Kenny will walk with me.”

  Kenny did not hesitate for a second, being the good friend he was, and said, “You bet, it’s a perfect night for a walk with a beautiful lady.” And he winked at me as he tucked me into his side.

  Both of us looked at Andras in surprise when we heard a deep rumble coming from his chest. He was frowning at Kenny, who raised an eyebrow at him.

  Kenny’s eyes turned to me burning with curiosity at this tense exchange, but I continued facing Andras needing to make a point. “As you saw, I am capable of taking care of myself. I’ve handled rude moves worse than Terrance’s before, believe me.”

  Strangely, this caused his frown to deepen as he looked at me, then he must have realized he was frowning and flashed that gorgeous smile again. He was so flipping disarming.

  He said with a note of finality, “I’m happy it turned out well then. Good evening to you both.” And he went back inside without a backward glance. Frowning myself now, I watched his broad back disappear. He was one confusing man.

  Kenny got an earful on our lovely walk to my house as I described the incident. He ate it up, especially the part where Terrance had nearly tripped over himself hurrying to leave after a word and a look from Andras.

  “Dude,” he drew out. “I’ve seen that look. I don’t blame Terrance.”

  “Andras really confuses me, Kenny. He obviously came to check on my welfare, but he leaves with only a ‘glad it turned out well’ and doesn’t even look back, incident over and forgotten.” Kenny gave me the side eye and hmphed.

  At my door he said with a wink, “I think everything will work out all right. Sweet dreams.”

  “Good night, Kenny. Thanks.”

  It turned out my dreams were sweet that night and mixed with a heat that made me writhe a bit, as I fell into a deep slumber with visions of a powerfully built honey-blonde male with a killer smile who seemed unable to resist touching me.

  Chapter 5

  Andras

  Terrance had been warned by Sam already about his lack of discretion when he got drunk. It still amazed me that he managed to get into that state as a fox shifter. Shifters had much more tolerance for alcohol normally, but Terrance seemed to find a way to test the limits.

  When I spotted him following Selena, it took me a couple minutes to excuse myself from the guys. For some reason, I did not feel like making it obvious what I was about to do, though I knew they would be on to me eventually. Still, there was no need for me to announce my intentions. Normally, I would have had one of them handle the situation. But this was Selena.

  I started through the door, but then saw something that made me duck back into the shadows to watch, as a smile took over my face.

  After she had offered twice to get the numskull a ride, which he was too stupid to appreciate, he also failed to see the signs that he was not dealing with a victim and dared to grab her, causing me nearly to rip his head off, as I could see it caused her pain, but I forced myself to give her a shot at him first.

  Waiting had been a good decision, because seeing her in action was enjoyable, and what she did caused a longing in me so strong, and so unexpected, that I needed the time to collect myself.

  After giving him plenty of warning, she executed a few well-placed strikes that blasted him back and bloodied his nose. But when he was about to reach for her again, I made my appearance, interested in seeing how she would react more than what Terrance would do, as I knew what his reaction would be.

  However, I found instead I had to control my own reaction to her vivacious humor and the way she looked at me, biting her lip. Gods, she was sexy as hell. Another jolt of desire flared through me just thinking about what her skin had felt like. How the need to touch her had been too strong to resist.

  The compulsion to see to her safety, which had me about to leave the guys high and dry while I took her home myself, caused me the most concern. I headed back into the bar, weighing my rapidly growing desires with my worry about exposing her to more of the Terrances in my world, more of even worse things than Terrance.

  Kenny had saved me from having to follow through on my compulsion, and I convinced myself that she had a friend she could rely on, and the best thing for her was to leave her to her human friends. So why was my gut clenching at the idea that she did not need me? Why could I not control my possessive reaction as I watched her link arms with Kenny?

  Her obvious annoyance with me was justified. I smiled as I heard again her voice sounding lovely even as she had put me in my place.

  “What was that about?” Colin asked me with a knowing grin.

  “Did you see Terrance follow Selena out the door? I did not like the look in his eye, so I went to handle the matter. Turns out I wasn’t needed. When I stepped through the door, I was treated to the rousing view of Selena kicking his ass with well-executed street moves. She was something,” I said bemusedly.

  Colin slapped me on the back. “I’m beginning to really like this girl Andras.”

  I stared over the beer Peter just handed me, and said, “
Me too, my friend, me too.”

  But when he saw the resolve settle over my face, he quit smiling. “So, you have made your decision then?”

  “It has to be this way for her own good.”

  He did not miss my hand rubbing the spot over my chest that had flared with a sharp pain as I made the promise to myself.

  Chapter 6

  Selena

  After the incident with Terrance, Andras no longer nodded as he walked by. He seemed resolutely to ignore me now except on one occasion during this time, when he did not.

  Though we hadn’t been making any real progress, it had at least felt like we had a stepping off point with our casual but intense greetings, like we were perpetually on the verge of something. Now things seemed to have moved inexplicably backwards.

  I was so bothered by this that I had not even been to the Starlight for the last couple days, preferring to stay home and work on my art projects, and I spent the time thinking about all the changes in my life since moving to Quincy, and deciding that despite the conflicted feelings over Andras, it had been a good move.

  Looking for romance had been way down on my list. Romance, like people, had never been my thing. I didn’t avoid it completely and had my share of dates that started out promising only to end on a sour note. I even had one serious relationship that did not end well. Something about me had always scared men off, or probably more accurately, it had been me subconsciously scaring them off.

  But Andras was throwing me for a loop, with the strong pull towards him that went beyond anything I had ever felt before. It was more than a mere physical attraction. I had no explanation for it. Something was telling me that he was a man worth getting to know, and I was frustrated at my desire to do just that, while he seemed to be fighting it.

  Yet, something held me back from approaching him directly to explore what it was about him that drew me. I kept thinking about the reasons he might have for denying his obvious attraction and considered that he was not the type of man who made decisions on a whim, so I should follow his lead and let him be.

  That was harder than I thought it would be, and I started to worry that I would not be able to shake off the attraction and end up doing something stupid as far as he was concerned. So, I hid out at home for a bit to sort it out.

  My thoughts returned to the night of the Terrance incident. Checking personally on my welfare had been significant and was yet another thing that confused me about Andras as I had observed how, with just a nod from him, his men would handle incidents like Terrance.

  My snit about his apparent conflict over seeing me home that night ended pretty quickly, when it occurred to me that the source of his frustration was not seeing to my welfare so much as the compulsion that drove him to it.

  ✽✽✽

  After a morning of losing myself to art, I puttered around, putting away dishes from the drying pad by the sink, straightening up my little living room and fluffing pillows, as I let my mind wander over the last few months.

  Fixing up my little place had been more enjoyable than I had even anticipated, and I was grateful every day that I had managed to extract myself from the meaningless rut my life had become after the loss of my friend and mentor, Thomas Miller.

  My friendship with Thomas filled the void left by my brother, who had been away for so many years, and started when I had wandered into his Krav Maga studio one day out of sheer curiosity.

  He had taken one look at my small frame and timid posture, but recognized the glint in my eye, and accepted the unspoken challenge of helping me change into a better and stronger self. I never looked back.

  I had been a dedicated student, my training a fundamental part of my life and routine, and the years spent with Thomas in his studio made me happy. Then out of nowhere cancer struck, and it was not much longer when I was left bereft of my only real friend. There had been no one to take over the studio and I would not have cared if there were. It would not be the same without him.

  As we fought his cancer together, he had talked to me about the possibility of finding a new life, one where I was free to follow my dreams, find a community. He did not want me to be alone after he was gone. It was not until after he was, that I remembered his wishes for me.

  Years of disciplined budgeting, a small nest egg from a trust left by a grandparent, a cashed-out 401K, and proceeds from selling my condo, allowed me to find a modest place to live a simple life and spend my days doing what gave me purpose.

  I had it budgeted out to the last penny before I needed to start putting more back into my coffers, and hopefully this time it would fit within my dream of living a creative life. I was currently working on a few ideas for that.

  Living in a Craftsman bungalow like this one had always been my dream. I sat down in my wing backed chair and put my feet up on the ottoman, looking around my modest living room.

  Built in 1928 with Douglas fir trim and honey-color fir floors, it flowed in a simple design, with a peaked dormer roof popping up like a sentinel over the wide front porch, framed by thick tapered columns.

  Much of the art deco design elements were original and lovingly preserved by the previous owner and I loved them. It was my own little artist bungalow in the trees.

  The heavy lead paned front door opened directly to the living room and every time I walked through it, my favorite thing about a Craftsman assaulted my senses, which were the prisms of light formed by the stained-glass transoms from the many windows that bathed all the natural wood in a warm glow.

  The wood did not stop at the floors but continued throughout the home with wainscoting, arched doorways, built in bookshelves, and even framing in the tiled fireplace. The entire effect gave it the feeling of my very own Hobbit hole.

  The living room was divided from the kitchen by an island counter and the kitchen had its original deep stone sink topped by a garden window looking out to the woods.

  A dining room was parallel to the living room, separated by French doors and was graced with its original wall-to-wall pine buffet cabinet, also accented with lead paned glass. I had lovingly converted this room to my creative space, utilizing the buffet for art supplies, filling it with baskets of colorful, natural fiber yarn and my collection of books.

  The rest of the space was organized with cubbies, tables, and shelves. A dress form was in a corner with one of my knitted shawls currently in progress draped over it, and various machines had their own workspace, which had been one of my goals, and were covered with handmade dust cozies.

  At the back of the house between the kitchen and my bedroom, with a door opening from each, was a generous mud room with a flagstone floor, a deep garden sink and a stackable washer and dryer surrounded by linen cupboards and storage.

  My bedroom was just the right size for me with a queen bed and my old cherry wood hope chest, handed down to me by my mother, filled with all my baby things, at its foot. Another wingback reading chair and lamp occupied the corner and was one more favorite spot to knit as it was placed in front of the large lead paned window that looked out to the woods.

  This home truly made me happy. My only wish was that Thomas could see it. He had listened to my dream about a place like this often enough. Maybe he was watching over me here from wherever he was, and that thought gave me comfort.

  ✽✽✽

  Thoughts of Andras and his apparent decision to keep his distance returned as I settled deeper into my chair, and my mind turned to Sam. Though Andras himself managed to steer clear of me, his formidable friend with the hood shrouding his features was keeping an eye on me, a rather surprisingly soft-spoken man for all his menacing looks.

  When I had left the night following the incident with Terrance, I noticed Andras give Sam a look and he had followed behind me, ducking his head in a brief greeting, with a quietly spoken, “Ms. Aires,” as he passed me striding to his Harley to check something in his saddlebag.

  When he scanned the area after rummaging in his bag, I caught a flash of an emerald
eye and a strong jaw as he included me in his inspection when I started walking home, and I knew it was not a coincidence that he had followed me out.

  He eventually gave up the pretense of doing something else when he saw me out on those nights that we were both at the Starlight, and now he merely stood on the porch surveying the surroundings as we exchanged a few pleasantries.

  I let my thoughts wander to the one intense encounter with Andras that had occurred during this time, before my frustration had gotten the better of me and kept me at home, and which served only to deepen my curiosity about him, convincing me our attraction was mutual.

  Gemma was doing an afternoon shift and needed the items I had picked up that morning for her at the market. She stood with her last tray for the day as Peter loaded it, and I plunked myself on a stool right near the kitchen, laughing at something Gemma had said.

  I heard a familiar rumble and saw a broad back just on the other side of the kitchen doorway. Andras was talking to Red, and I could barely make out Red’s gravelly voice as he said something odd. “My sources confirmed the crazy gorilla, and his stray dogs entered your neighboring territory. I thought you should know right away.”

  Thanking Red, Andras turned away pulling his phone from his pocket, then stopped short when he noticed me casually leaning on the bar furiously trying to act like I had just been talking to Gemma. Unfortunately, she had to deliver drinks to her tables and had left me to fend for myself.

  He put his phone back in his pocket and moved closer looking down at me, and I stilled at his nearness, feeling the heat from his body. Though I tried to resist, I could not stop my eyes from finding his, and I felt the familiar jolt as our gazes snapped together like magnets.

  The connection seemed to be growing more powerful than ever despite the efforts on both our parts to resist it. His woodsy scent enveloped me, and warmth flooded my body as he rumbled, “Selena.” That would have been enough to give me dreams for nights to come, but he wasn’t finished with me yet.