At that thought he finally pulled back. It took her a second to come around. Her eyes were heavy with desire, and her head dropped down to her chest. Tye ran his fingers through her hair and then down over her back. He was desperately trying to calm himself, but his bear was sick of waiting to make things final between him and his mate.
“Tye, I, um, I really can’t do this.” Her voice was breathy. She slowly crawled off of him, and sat back on the couch. She looked as shaken as he was.
“Melanie, it seems to me like we can’t not do this.”
He watched as she ran her fingers through her hair. She started laughing. It was a rich throaty laugh that washed over him, and had his bear prancing like a fool. The sound warmed his soul. He didn’t know why she was laughing, but he couldn’t help but start laughing himself.
“I’m sorry.” She stuttered out between breaths.
When she quit laughing, and pulled herself together Tye felt like they had reached a turning point.
“Tye, my whole life I have avoided men. I didn’t want a relationship to distract me from my schooling. I also didn’t want to end up with someone like my father that felt like my place was in the home. I’m so close to my dream I can taste it, and here you are. You’re my biggest fear.”
“Melanie, I’m not here to waylay your dreams. I love that you want to be a doctor, and that you have stuck by your dream through all the adversary. The only place I require you to be is by my side whenever possible. I want to love you and add depth to your life not hinder you.”
“We barely know each other. How can you feel so strongly? How do I feel so strongly?”
“It’s the mate bond. You’re my mate.”
Chapter Ten
Melanie
Melanie woke up, and stretched. She had been at her parents’ house for two days now. The hospital had decided to allow the interns a small break for Thanksgiving. She had spent most of those two days catching up on sleep. When she wasn’t sleeping she was thinking of Tye. Hell even during her sleep she was dreaming of him. Dreaming of how it felt when he kissed her, the way his hands felt when he gripped her hips.
“Damn.” She shook herself out of the memory and pulled herself up in her childhood bed. Today was actually Thanksgiving Day, and she could already smell her mom’s hard work in the kitchen. Melanie may not have wanted to spend her time in the house cooking like her mom, but her mom excelled at it.
Melanie stole a glance at her phone while she was getting ready. She hadn’t heard from Tye since she left town. After his confession that she was his mate she had fled. Aside from the work they had to do together at the hospital she had stayed away from him. He had also taken pains to respect her need for distance. He no longer found ways to touch her or be close to her. He never asked her to come over and study any more either.
Her mind was blurry from all of her different emotions. She was relieved at not having the constant pressure of figuring out how she felt about him. At the same time, she missed him, and her heart was screaming that she did in fact know how she felt about him. It was all such a mess. She wished she knew what he was thinking, but that would require speaking to him. Could Shifters and humans be together? This whole mate thing sounded like it should just be a Shifter thing.
She looked at her phone again. Still nothing. She knew it would stay that way too. He was leaving it in her hands to move the relationship forward. She threw the phone across her room. Stupid bear.
“Melanie. Honey? Are you okay I just heard a loud noise?”
Melanie threw her door open for her mom. Her mom had her hair pulled up in a ponytail, and she was already covered in flour. She looked happy though. Melanie wondered if her mom had ever regretted her decision to be a homemaker.
“I’m fine mom. Just knocked some stuff off my dresser. How’s the cooking going?”
“Great. The turkey’s been in the oven since three in the morning. I’m working on the desserts now. Dinner will still be around five. Your father invited some of his associates over.”
Melanie didn’t like the sound of that.
“Who?”
Her mom looked down and started brushing flour off of her shirt. Melanie knew she was trying to delay answering the question. She didn’t know why she asked. She knew exactly who her dad had invited over, and why. She was already dreading the dinner ahead.
“Never mind. Do you need any help?” Her mom laughed at her question. She blushed a little. She wasn’t much of a cook, but she could certainly follow instructions.
“I can chop, mix or maybe even taste test if you don’t trust me to do the hard parts.”
“That sounds wonderful honey. Come on I’ll show you how to make your grandma’s secret no bake cookie recipe.”
Melanie followed her mom down to the kitchen. It looked like a tornado had torn through the place. Her mom handed her a recipe card with very specific instructions for making the no bake cookies. She read through it twice, and then decided it was best to just dive in. Once she got all the ingredients gathered she went to work boiling, and whisking.
Her mom and her worked well together. The meal was pretty well done, or at least shoved in one of the four ovens her mom had in the giant kitchen. There were still a few hours until dinner would be served. Her mom and her talked and laughed. She couldn’t remember a time when they had such a great time together.
Her dad walked in then, he had been camped out in his man cave watching football all day.
“Smells wonderful Lucy. You outdo yourself every year. Melanie, I see you’re learning some tricks from the best.”
“Mom may have divulged a few family secrets.” She laughed as she dipped her hand in the cookie jar.
“I’m glad to see you showing interest in some more domestic traits. Have you caught up on all your sleep yet?”
Her dad was making a dig at her, and she knew it. She decided to ignore it though. She knew her mom hated their fighting, and she didn’t want to ruin their good day with silly bantering.
“I feel much better today. Mom said you invited over some friends this year.”
“Yes, I invited the Carr’s over for dinner. Ethan is excited to see you. I trust that you will be welcoming.”
Welcoming. That was her dad’s way of saying you better play nice in front of his guests. No way in hell was she playing this game with her today. She was so sick of the game. The thought of sitting through an even of playing nice with Ethan, while he tried his best to pick her up made her stomach curl. There was only one man she wanted touching her. She smiled now thinking of Tye, and the way he touched her.
“Of course.”
“Very good. Well I’ll leave you ladies to it then.” Her dad leaned over and gave her mom a kiss on the forehead. Her mom smiled softly, and then went back to chopping onions for her dressing. Melanie hoped her mom was truly as happy as she seemed. Maybe it was time her dad got a taste of his own medicine. Melanie excused herself and ran upstairs.
u
Chapter Eleven
Tye
Tye’s palms were sweating when he hung up his phone. He hadn’t been expecting that call. He went downstairs to find his mom.
“Mom!” He yelled through the house, even though he wouldn’t really have to do that. She would hear him regardless.
“I’m in the kitchen Tye.”
“Hey. I’m sorry to do this, but something just came up. I won’t be here for dinner.”
“Tye. Are you serious? Do you know how much food it takes to prepare Thanksgiving for a family of bears? I even made that special honey butter with your honey, and extra rolls just for you.”
“I know mom. I’m really sorry. If it wasn’t an emergency, you know I wouldn’t bail like this.”
His mom studied him. He knew she’d be able to tell he wasn’t telling her the whole story just based on his elevated heart rate. He just hoped she’d be cool enough to let it slide.
“Fine. Here, where you’re going would you maybe like to take some of yo
ur honey butter and rolls?”
How the hell did she know that?
“Yes, please.”
As she set about packing him up a basket, he took off back upstairs to get ready. It was just about an hour drive where he was headed, and he didn’t want to be late.
“Hello, I’m a friend of Melanie’s.” He extended his hand to very domineering man who opened the door. He could only assume this was her father. He tried to keep his anxiety in check, but he really wanted to take off. There was no way in hell he would make it through this day without royally embarrassing himself.
“Melanie didn’t mention any friends stopping by.” He still had yet to invite Tye inside. Tye finally dropped his hand to his side, and held the old man’s stare.
“My name’s Tye, I am doing the internship at the hospital with her. We’re partners. My folks don’t live to far from here, and she invited me over. I hope that’s okay.” He saw now where Melanie got her tenacity. Her father wasn’t the least bit deterred by his golden eyes as he continued to hold his eye contact. Most humans would have already dropped their eyes, Tye’s family wasn’t the head of their clan, but they were very dominant.
“Tye! I’m so glad you made it. I see you met my father.” Melanie threw the door wider, and gestured for Tye to come inside. He stepped around her dad, and circled her up for a hug. Then he handed her the basket of goodies his mom sent with him.
“We were just getting acquainted. Tye, my name is Victor Gloss.”
“Nice to meet you Dr. Gloss, Melanie has told me so much about you. I bet you’re proud of her, following in your footsteps. She’s already at the top of the internship.” Tye knew damn well the old man didn’t give a rat’s ass how well she was doing, but he couldn’t help himself. He was proud of her, and he wanted her dad to know that even if he didn’t appreciate her, others would.
“Of course. Her mother and I are both very proud. We’re hoping she’ll come settle down nearby soon though. We’re both looking forward to grandkids.”
Tye looked at Melanie who looked like she wanted to kick her dad. Apparently her last minute call for help had something to do with her settling down.
“My parents feel the same about grandkids. All in good time though. There’s so much to see and learn at the hospital were interning at, it’s hard to imagine a life outside of doctoring. I’m sure you understand having been through the same.”
“Yes, the medical world is always changing. Make sure you take time to yourselves though.”
“Tye, let me show you around the rest of the house. You have to try my cookies I baked today. It’s an old family recipe.” The smile she shot his way is enough to make him stutter step, and just about face plant. She turns around to laugh as Tye adjusts himself. Hopefully her dad didn’t notice the clumsiness, but Tye didn’t bother turning around to check.
“Your dad seems pleasant.”
Melanie busted out laughing. He loved seeing her so carefree.
“He didn’t hate you. He would have just simply asked you to leave if that was the case. He’s probably too concerned that you’ll one day cross paths in business one day. Appearances are everything.”
“I see. So you wanna tell me why you called me last minute begging me to come to your rescue.” He knew he would strike a nerve with his comment. The way her eyes narrowed at him for a second told him he had been successful.
“I didn’t beg. I simply asked, and you jumped at the opportunity.” Her eyes twinkled with delight at their banter.
“I see.” He backed her up to the kitchen counter, and rested his hands on either side of her hips. Her eyes immediately went heavy with desire. It was like an electric current charging between the two of them. It was getting stronger. Tye was pretty sure that without realizing it, Melanie had allowed herself to start connecting to him through their bond. It wouldn’t be long, and they would both spontaneously combust from the chemistry.
“So you said something about cookies?” He pulled back from her. He didn’t trust himself to touch her. He may not be able to control himself.
“Yes. I, um, made my grandma’s no bake cookies.” She cleared her throat, and adjusted herself. Tye never took his eyes off of her. When she called he had hoped that she was finally ready to drop the pretenses, and be his. She handed him a cookie from a porcelain cookie jar shaped like a Santa. It seemed so out of place. The house was a mansion furnished with all the best furniture, and decorations. The Santa cookie jar looked old, and worn amongst the rest of the beautiful china.
Tye’s family didn’t have fancy china, or much of anything porcelain. Bears weren’t the most graceful of creatures with their giant size; let alone a Kodiak bear. Tye and Jake had gone through their change only a couple years apart, so the house was a war zone for a while. How his mom survived with a house full of Shifter men he’d never know.
“You can lie and tell me if you hate them.”
“Oh man, no way these are the best! I’m an expert too. We bears love our sweets.” Tye was genuinely impressed with the cookies. He had never known no bake cookies to be so good. It was almost as good as his honey straight off the comb.
“For real?” Her eyes were back to sparkling with delight. Tye didn’t know how much more torture he could stand. Not sure if he could speak clearly, he grabbed three more and proceeded to gobble them all down.
“I’m glad you’re here Tye. Thank you for coming.”
“I’m glad you called me, Melanie.”
Tye’s bear perked up then. He pushed Melanie back behind him, and let out a low growl.
“Hello Melanie.” Ethan’s voice seemed to fill the kitchen.
“Tye, what’s wrong with you.” She poked him in the back, and tried to move around him.
“I wondered why you were never weary around me. Why didn’t you tell me you knew other Shifters?”
“Because I don’t, you’re the first one I’ve met.”
“No, he is.” Tye said pointing to Ethan.
Chapter Twelve
Melanie
Melanie looked back and forth from Tye to Ethan. Surely if Ethan was a Shifter her and her family would have known. She had known him and his family her whole life. He didn’t even have the golden eyes.
“Tye, I think the cookies are going to your head. I’ve known Ethan my whole life. He’s definitely not a Shifter.” Tye still hadn’t let her walk around him. He also never broke Ethan’s eye contact. They were having some weird power struggle, and Tye was winning. Ethan was starting to shake all over.
“Melanie you may want to back up. I think Ethan’s about to show you his jaguar.”
“What? This doesn’t make any sense.” Melanie had a hold of the back of Tye’s shirt, and didn’t have any plans to go anywhere without him. Other than his stance being a bit rigid, he seemed completely unaffected otherwise.
“Ethan, just calm down. I don’t want to fight you. I will, but I don’t want to make a bad impression on Melanie’s family by wrecking her mom’s Thanksgiving dinner.”
“You’re bonded?” It was the first words Ethan had spoken in a while. It looked like he was in extreme pain.
“Not yet. She’s my mate though.”
Kenny (Shifter Football League Book 2) Page 96