The Bear Shifter's Nanny

by Jasmine Wylder

  Seph shrugged. “Possibly. But that’s not your fault. He made that decision on his own.”

  “But I put the idea into his head,” Crystal insisted. She groaned in dismay. “I never wanted him to give up his art! That would kill him! And I would never expect him to get a job that he hated!” She brought her hands down over her face. “Oh, shit. What have I done?”

  Before Seph could assure her – again – that she was not to blame, Crystal had pushed her chair back, gotten up, and began to gather her things. “Where are you going?” he asked, surprised.

  “I have to see Alex,” she replied bluntly. Shrugging into her coat, she looped her scarf around her long neck. Her hat fell on the floor and she bent to retrieve it. Looking at Seph, she shook her head. “I’m sorry about this, I really am. I know we were supposed to hook up, but you’re right – about everything. I am still in love with Alex. I’ve been trying to deny it for months, and yet I know once a bond is formed with a Dragon…that’s it.” She pulled her purse around and fished inside until she produced a wallet. “I need to make things right with him. He can’t give up his painting. He’s a brilliant artist; that’s one of the things I loved about him the instant I met him. I never wanted that for him, and no matter what you or anyone else says, I feel like this is my fault.”

  “What are you going to do?” Seph asked.

  “I’m going to talk to him.” Crystal smiled and rolled her shoulders. “Who knows? Things are different, now. Maybe we can find a way to make it all work out.”

  Seph held up his hand to stop her from putting down money for her drink. “I’ve got this,” he said, and treated her to a gentle smile. Rising from his seat again, he faced her. “You go find Alex. He’s the one you were meant to be with, not me. Go to him, and be happy.”

  “You’re so sweet,” Crystal said. “And I’m so sorry. I’m sure this was not what you were expecting when you came out here, today.”

  “First of all, don’t be sorry,” Seph told her. “Second, I’m glad I was able to help nudge you in the direction you always knew in your heart that you needed to go, but were just too afraid and uncertain to do it.”

  “Thank you,” Crystal said. She reached over and touched his cheek. “You’re going to find your mate. Any woman would be lucky to have someone as understanding as you.”

  Seph let out a wry laugh. “I’ll take your word for it,” he said. “It was nice meeting you, Crystal.”

  “Nice meeting you, too, Seph.” Waving, she hurried out of the coffee shop.

  Seph watched her through the window as she flagged down a taxi, climbed in, and rode away. Strike one, he told himself. When he would rate this date, he would say that he liked Crystal but that it had been clear to him that she would be much better off with someone in the arts. He sighed. Meanwhile, it’s back to a different kind of drawing board, for me.

  Chapter Four

  Seph looked up when he heard Asha call his name. Putting aside the magazine he had been thumbing through, he smiled and stood, following her back to her private office. He noted how her white, scoop-neck cashmere sweater made her décolletage look like a rich, dark chocolate dessert wrapped in fluffy whipped cream. The wine-colored pencil skirt left little to the imagination, too, as Seph’s gaze drifted down to watch her large, rounded bottom sway as she walked. “I guess you want a report on how my first date went,” he said, as she closed the door behind them and motioned for him to take a seat on the couch.

  “Actually,” Asha said, sitting in one of the chairs adjacent to the sofa, “I was hoping you might be able to explain to me why the woman I chose for you showed up here this morning to ask for the contact information of another client – a gentleman I had paired her with over a year ago, but she had decided to drop because she said it wasn’t working. She had me call him and tell him to come over immediately so she could talk to him.” Asha crossed her legs at the knee, her black and white peep-toe pumps giving the tiniest glimpse of polish the same shade of gold as the paint on her fingernails. “The moment they saw each other, it was like they had never been apart. They were all over each other, kissing and touching, and saying they were sorry about before and wanted to be together, now.”

  Seph raised his eyebrows. “Wow,” he said, genuinely amazed.

  “Yeah,” Asha agreed. “That’s what I said.” She stared at him. “So, what I want to know is what you said to her on your date to make her go running back to someone she swore would never make a good mate for her?”

  “Nothing, really,” Seph said, lacing his fingers together over his lap, his elbow hitched up onto the sofa’s arm. “I just asked her about what happened with that relationship and why it failed, and after she started talking about it I was able to put it into a new perspective for her. I suppose by seeing it from a different angle, she was able to figure out what went wrong and that there was a very simple way to fix it so they could both be happy. I got the impression just from listening to her talk about the guy for a few minutes, that she was still very much in love with him, and had already bonded with him on a very intimate level. In short, they were meant to be together – trying to be with anyone else just wouldn’t have worked.”

  “I appreciate what you did for them,” Asha said, relaxing with a smile. “And you’re right, once that bond is established it’s crazy to try and put either of them with another prospective mate.” She snorted a dry laugh and arched an eyebrow at him. “You wouldn’t happen to be looking for a second job, would you? Because I could use someone like you on my staff.”

  He grinned. “I think I should just stick to the original reason why I came to you,” he said. “That was just the first date; I still have a few other ladies to meet.”

  “Well,” Asha said, “let’s just hope the next one works out for you.”

  “That would be nice,” Seph agreed.

  On his way back to his practice, Seph called up the Wings of Love app and checked his list of prospects. He decided to try his luck with Yume, a lovely young woman in her early twenties and of Japanese-American heritage. Petite, with black hair in a pixie cut, she had a very gamin quality to her and an infectious smile. Seph sent her text message, introducing himself and asking if she was free for dinner anytime soon. She responded right away, telling him yes, next week, and asked him to pick her up at the house where she lived with her parents.

  On the night of their date, Seph showed up dressed in a tailored black suit over a dark gray shirt. He had opted to go without a tie and left the collar unbuttoned. He walked up to the front door and rang the bell.

  A moment later, an older couple answered the door. “You must be Seph,” the man said, smiling. “I am Yume’s father, Toshiro, and this,” he indicated the diminutive woman at his side, “is my wife and Yume’s mother, Hari.”

  Seph bowed to them respectfully. “It is an honor to meet you,” he said.

  They returned the bow. “The honor is ours,” Hari said. She stepped back and motioned for Seph to enter. “Please, come in. Yume is still getting ready. She will be down in a few minutes.”

  “That’s fine,” Seph said. He made his way into the house and took a seat in their living room. Looking around at the décor, he saw many framed photos lining shelves among books, vases, and small statues of dragons.

  “We cannot tell you how pleased we were to find out our daughter was Dragon-compatible,” Toshiro said with a proud smile. He gestured to a gorgeous hand-painted silk kimono hanging on the wall. A serpentine Dragon of what Seph recognized as a member of the Tatsu Clan wound around a woman in traditional Japanese wedding garb. “That is my wife’s great-grandmother, the last to be chosen as a Dragon Bride. Her grandmother came to this country from Nagasaki just before World War II. She was the only member of her family to survive.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Seph said, his sympathy genuine. While many members of his race had a history as being fierce warriors, he knew that their dwindling numbers forced them to avoid combat in order for their kind to survive.
He had also heard of many Dragon men who had been subdued and subjected to unspeakable forms of ‘study’ by the Nazi regime. “It was a very dark time in our history, to be sure.”

  “Yes,” Toshiro said in solemn agreement. He gestured to his wife. “Had my Hari found she carried the gene, we would not be together today.”

  “I thought my family’s line had ended,” Hari said. “Two generations and no Dragons, or Dragon-compatible women… We were, as you must understand, very distressed.” She smiled. “But then we were blessed, when our Yume tested positive. She is the hope we had thought lost.”

  The conversation ended as Yume walked into the room, resplendent in a dark green A-line dress and delicate pearl earrings dripping from her earlobes. Seph stood, smiling in appreciation. “You look even more beautiful in person,” he told her, as he moved forward to greet her with a peck on the cheek. He breathed in the scent of her jasmine perfume as he pulled away. Feminine and delicate, like a flower, he thought. Just like Mother had been. Father would approve.

  They took their leave of Yume’s parents. Seph escorted Yume to his car and opened the passenger door for her. As he walked around to the driver’s side, he thought he could feel something tickling at the edge of his empathy, a sense of sadness. It grew stronger as he sat beside Yume, driving to the five-star restaurant he had chosen for their first date after finding out she loved French cuisine. Seph frowned, concerned, and glanced over at her. Yume sat quietly, staring out the window. Carefully, Seph lowered his mental barriers only to raise them quickly to protect himself from the waves of grief washing across from Yume’s side of the car. “Yume? Is everything all right?”

  She looked at him, but her smile did not reach her dark eyes. “I’m fine,” she said.

  Seph could hear the lie in her voice. This is why you’re a good counselor, he told himself. It’s why Drew is a good lawyer, and how Mal knows how to please a crowd at a concert, and how Vann knows which women are eager to be seduced. But by that same token, it also told Seph that he could not proceed with this date until he got to the bottom of this unspoken problem. Sighing, he pulled off the highway, found a place to park on a side street, and turned off the engine.

  Yume looked around. “Where are we?” she asked, confused.

  “We need to talk,” Seph said, cutting right to the chase. He shifted in the seat and looked at Yume. “I know something’s troubling you, Yume. I can sense that you’re sad and even scared. To me, that’s not a good way to start any relationship. I want you to feel safe with me – safe enough to be honest and tell me what’s on your mind.” He offered a smile. “Now. Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on? Why are you unhappy? Is it me? Are you disappointed to find that you were matched with someone ten years older than you? Had you hoped for a Dragon of Eastern descent?”

  “No, no!” Yume hastened to say, shaking her head. “Age and race mean nothing to me; it’s not that.” She smiled. “In fact, I thought you were very handsome the moment I saw your picture. You were my first choice of the matches I was given.”

  “Well, thank you,” Seph said. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” He reached over and touched her shoulder. “But there is something bothering you. I can feel it. What is it? Tell me. Maybe I can help.”

  She looked down at her hands in her lap, pale hands wrapped around her clutch purse. Finally, she said, “I’m not ready.”

  “For what?” Seph asked.

  “For this,” Yume replied, motioning between them. “I wanted to go to college, but my parents wanted me to find a mate. All my life, they have never let me forget that I am ‘the promise for the future,’ that I will ‘bring honor and Dragons back to the family.’” She grimaced and looked down again. “I don’t have a problem with having a Dragon husband. I had just always hoped I would find someone on my own. Not through a dating service…and not until I was ready.”

  Where have I heard that, before? Seph wondered dryly. He and his brothers had been given a deadline to find wives; they could not take their time and meet someone naturally, but instead had to grab the first possible mate to come along. Why should I force this woman into a relationship when I’m just as opposed to the idea as she is? “You want to marry for love, not to please your parents,” Seph said. He nodded. “I understand. More than you know.”

  She sniffled and wiped at her cheeks with her fingertips; Seph could see tears before she whisked them away. “So, what do we do?” Yume asked. “I don’t want to disappoint you. You seemed so kind in your video.”

  Seph smiled. “Thank you,” he said. He draped a wrist over the top of the steering wheel. “As for what we should do?” Reaching for the key, he turned it and started the engine again. “I think we should go out to dinner as planned, and just enjoy each other’s company. It’s not every day I get to take a beautiful lady out to eat.”

  Yume responded with a soft laugh. “Okay,” she said. “That would be nice.”

  “Great.” Feeling better for having found out the reason for Yume’s apprehension, Seph became determined to show her a good time – not as a date, but as a friend. They continued to the restaurant where he had made reservations. They shared warm conversation over good food and fine wine. Seph checked his watch. “The night’s still young,” he said. “Would you like me to take you home, or would you like to go somewhere else?”

  “What did you have in mind?” she asked, running her fingertip around the lip of her now empty glass.

  Seph shrugged. “Well, it’s a little cold outside or I’d suggest a walk in the park along the riverfront,” he said. He raised an eyebrow at her while lifting his own glass to his lips to drain the last of his wine. “Is there anything you would like to do?”

  “There’s an art exhibit at a small gallery,” Yume said. “I know it’s open until midnight. Is that something you would be interested in seeing?”

  “I am always interested in art,” Seph replied, smiling. He signaled the waiter to bring the check and pulled out his wallet. Leaving enough to cover the bill and a generous tip, he stood and offered his hand to Yume. “Shall we?”

  The gallery was located in the Old Town district, nestled in amongst boutiques and trendy bars. Seph and Yume took their time wandering around, looking at the work on display. At one point, she stood close to him. He could feel the heat of her body and smell her scent – not just the jasmine but something else, a unique aroma that only Dragons could detect. He had caught a hint of it earlier when they first met but now it seemed stronger. It could be the wine, or maybe the fact that she had grown more relaxed over the course of the evening as they talked and laughed and got better acquainted. We were matched up for a reason, he thought, and slipped his arm around her. His hand drifted across the back of her neck, his thumb stroking the silky black hair at the base of her skull. She leaned into his side. When she looked up at him, he saw his own growing need reflected in her eyes.

  The next thing Seph knew, they were in his car in the parking lot behind the gallery, locked in a passionate kiss. His hand roamed over her small breasts through her dress. He worked her panties down before hauling her over to straddle his lap in the bucket seat. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, her mouth opened in a big ‘O’ as she sank down onto his cock. Tight and wet, she still managed to take his entire Dragon prick deep into her. Seph wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face in the crook of her neck as she rode him. Her little gasping cries filled the car. Yume slapped a palm against the ceiling and rocked her hips in frantic jerks. She didn’t want a mate – she wanted to mate. Seph had no problem with that, all too happy to fulfill their physical needs.

  He managed to hold back his own release, even as he felt her contract around him. Seph gave her a chance to let her orgasm pass before lifting her off him and setting her in the passenger seat. He took himself in hand to finish only to find Yume bowing her head over him. He felt her fingers stroking his length and her mouth sealing around the tip. Seph groaned. He carded through her sho
rt hair and rubbed her back as she sucked him to completion.

  She sat up and kissed him afterward. They fixed their clothes, trading coy smiles. They both knew that nothing more would come of this. As good as it had been, and as much as he respected her right to have sex without commitment, he would not push her into a long-term relationship simply because they had compatibility, and certainly not because of pressure from either of their parents.

  As they pulled up in front of her house, Yume turned to Seph. “I had a good time,” she said. She reached up to cup his cheek. “Thank you so much for understanding. I feel you and I could be good friends.”

  “That would be nice.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm, then held onto her fingers as he smiled at her. “Don’t let yourself be pushed into something you don’t want. Get your education. Find someone to love. There’s plenty of time.” He felt like a hypocrite for saying it, knowing he could not follow his own advice, but he still felt that Yume needed to hear it.

  “I will,” she said. Opening the door, she got out. “Good night, Seph.”

  “Good night, Yume.”

  Seph waited until she had gone inside the house before putting the car into gear and driving away. Two prospects down. Well, they say three’s a charm. As he made his way home to his apartment, he thought about what Asha had said to him. Maybe I should take her up on that offer to work for her. He smiled to himself. I might like having an attractive woman like her, bossing me around. That thought surprised him. Yes, he had noticed her curvaceous beauty, and the times he had met with her he found he liked her personality.

  Perhaps what he needed was a woman like Asha.