“Isaiah…”
When he reached the front window, he pulled the blinds back and peered into the darkness. “I need to go outside and talk to them. They’re pressuring me.” His change of subject was not overlooked.
She approached slowly. “That makes me nervous.”
“Not half as nervous as it makes me.” He turned around. “Will you sit on the couch and not move while I talk to them? I don’t want you to get involved, and I don’t want you to come outside, no matter what.”
She nodded. “Of course.” She trusted him. Perhaps it was unfounded, but she knew in her soul he would do everything in his power to make sure justice was served on her behalf. She rounded the couch, took a seat in the corner, and curled her feet under her, surrounding herself with the blanket even though she wasn’t cold.
She was shocked to find him making his way toward the front door without clothes. “Isaiah, it’s freezing out there. You’re wearing boxers.”
He smiled wanly back at her. “I’ll be wearing fur in a second.” Without another word, he opened the door, stepped outside, and shut it behind him.
How long did it take him to shift? She would have liked to see him make that change. She’d only seen Joselyn do it so far, unless she counted herself. Most of that time she’d had her eyes closed in confusion.
What did he look like? She had to force herself to remain seated and not go peek out the window at what she assumed would be a group of enormous grizzlies angled toward each other in a standoff.
Time ticked by. She closed her eyes, jerking them back open when she was slammed with emotions. Isaiah’s, not hers. She concentrated on him, opening herself up to a new sort of sensation she never would have expected to feel in her entire life. It wasn’t that she heard his words, but she felt his tension. He was stressed.
And the other creatures out there were angry. Their frustration leaked into her head, also. For the first time since she’d been scratched she felt the weight of all this implied. She truly was in danger. From what? The unknown.
Restlessness made her jump up from the couch and head for the bedroom. She raced toward her suitcase with an urgency that was indescribable. She needed clothes on. That was as far as she could think. She grabbed jeans and a thick sweater and then hopped on one foot to tug the denim over her legs, not bothering with panties.
The sweater was jerked over her head seconds later. Socks. Shoes. She didn’t breathe well until she had those items on her body. At least now she could face humans. Or shifters. It seemed urgent. Why hadn’t she felt this urgency until now?
When the front door opened, she spun around, wringing her hands.
Isaiah’s voice bellowed through the house. “Heather?” He raced down the hall until he rounded the door to the bedroom. He was out of breath and held on to the doorframe with both hands. “Jesus, you scared me. Why didn’t you stay on the couch?”
She straightened to her full height, which left her incredibly dwarfed facing him. “I was naked, Isaiah. Chill. I could feel the tension outside. It scared the fuck out of me. I needed clothes.”
He frowned at her, not saying another word. Finally, he sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair.
She didn’t give him a chance to speak again about her movement from the couch. If he admonished her, she might slap him. She wasn’t a child. His frustration was palpable, however. Whether or not he was pissed at her, the Arcadians, or the situation in general was up in the air. She didn’t want to hear the answer.
“What did they say?” she asked to divert his attention.
“They want you to go with them.” His words were raw, deep, troubled.
“Where?” She swallowed. Would these men force her to go with them against her will? “You said north. How far north?”
“Damn far north, baby. Too fucking far.”
“I see.” She trembled. This couldn’t be happening. There was too much to take in all at once. She slid down the wall to sit on the floor because her legs suddenly felt too weak to hold her upright. Her hair fell out of its messy bun in rivulets, so she reached up with one hand to tug the now useless band out and let her hair fall all around her shoulders.
Isaiah groaned, making her flinch. He took three quick strides to reach her and kneeled in front of her. “We’ll figure this out.”
She nodded, though she didn’t believe him. “I could feel your stress, and theirs. I got scared,” she murmured.
He didn’t respond, but he did reach for a lock of her hair and held it in his palm. “So beautiful.”
The world was about to end, and he was thinking about her damn hair?
As if sensing her aggravation, he dropped the curls and took her hand, tugging her to standing. “Come on. Let’s go back to the living room. Wyatt’s going to come over.”
“And you’re mad I got dressed?” she asked as she watch him rush around the room, tugging on jeans and then a black T-shirt.
He gave her a wry grin. “No. I’m not mad. I was scared. There’s a difference.”
She shuddered. It was suddenly obvious he wasn’t being a dick, he was genuinely concerned for her welfare. He’d expected to find her on the couch and freaked out when she wasn’t there. She needed to be more cognizant of his feelings.
He needed to be more lenient.
“I get that you were worried, Isaiah, but I’m a grown woman. The situation changed. I freaked. I needed clothes.”
When they made it to the couch, he took both her hands in his and lifted them to his lips to kiss her knuckles. “I know. Stick with me as I get the hang of this. It’s new to me.”
“What’s new to you? I’m the one who found out about another species and became a damn bear shifter in a matter of hours. What the hell are you trying to acclimate to?”
“Caring about another being more than anything in the world.”
She felt the stab to her chest as he spoke those words without releasing her gaze. He was serious as hell.
He squeezed her hands in his and set her knuckles against his lips again, holding them there. Not kissing them, just keeping them close.
She wasn’t able to communicate with Isaiah in the way he suggested bear shifters could, but she was fully in tune with his emotions. And he wasn’t lying. He was totally into her. Did he realize the feeling was mutual? Or that it scared her to death?
The front door whipped open, letting in a burst of cold air and making Heather nearly jump out of her skin.
“Sorry. I keep forgetting you aren’t aware of someone’s approach,” Isaiah apologized.
Wyatt shut the door behind him and came more fully into the room. He held out a hand to take hers. “Welcome to the family.”
She forced a smile.
“She’s not really a member of any family yet, Wyatt,” Isaiah stated.
Wyatt nodded. “Semantics.”
“If you don’t mind, I’ll hang on to my free will for a while longer, guys.” She released Wyatt and lowered unto the couch, grateful for the jeans and sweater she’d rushed to put on.
Isaiah gave her no space, taking a seat alongside her and setting his arm on the back of the couch behind her. “You’ll keep your free will for life, babe. Please don’t misunderstand.”
“Oh, I think I understand perfectly. You need me to let you bind us permanently together for eternity so that four bears out front don’t force me to go to God only knows where with them. Except you don’t know if it will even work, and those men might take me with them anyway. I don’t see how I have any free will at all in this matter. It seems to have shattered the moment your rival scratched my arm with his claws.”
She was barely holding it together now.
“So, let’s not talk about free will, shall we?” She rubbed her hands on her thighs, glancing from Isaiah to his brother, who had taken a seat in an armchair and was rubbing his chin with two fingers, a smirk on his face.
For a second she considered lurching out of her spot and slapping his smug look off, and
then he spoke. “Isaiah, you have met your match.”
She simmered slightly at those words, knowing he meant to taunt his brother instead of making fun of her.
“Don’t I know it.” He tucked his hand around her shoulders and set his face in her hair. “Baby, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” His words were soft, whispered. Sincere.
When he released her he spoke louder. “This isn’t easy for anyone. There are no great options.”
She twisted in her spot, dislodging his hand so she could draw one knee up and face him fully. “See, I don’t have any real options. I woke up human, and now I’m being told I have to either move in with a man I met this morning for the rest of my life or get into a car with four strangers and take my chances that they don’t incarcerate or kill me outright.”
Wyatt groaned. “She has a point.”
Isaiah rolled his eyes toward his brother. “I thought you came over to help.”
Wyatt lifted both hands in defeat. “I’m trying. But I get where she’s coming from.”
She took the opportunity to continue. “I came here for a job. I start in two weeks. They aren’t going to hold the job for me indefinitely while I’m in some sort of shifter jail at the North Pole.”
Wyatt chuckled. “It’s not quite that far north.”
She shot him a glare.
He sobered. “You’re right.”
Isaiah inhaled long and deep. His eyes closed as though he was thinking, though she suspected he was communicating with someone else, and felt more confident about that when he winced.
She didn’t like this telepathic ability already. Especially not if it included everyone but her.
Isaiah’s face evened out.
“What?” she asked.
“Dad says they caught Jack.”
“Good. Right?”
“Not for you. Nothing can take back what he did to you. What I let him do to you.”
“Jesus, Isaiah. This again?” she asked.
Wyatt jerked, leaning forward. “Dude, you have to let that go.”
Isaiah shook his head. “I wanted her. How can you be sure I didn’t fuck things up to make sure I got what I wanted?”
“Because I know you. You would never do something like that. And I was there. Remember? I was standing right next to you. You did everything in your power to talk him down. And although he stood on his hind legs challenging you, there was no way to know he was about to pounce forward and go after Heather.”
“I should have caught the vibe. I should have heard his intent.”
Heather hated that Isaiah was taking so much blame on himself. She knew he wasn’t to blame for any of this. If anything, she was to blame for hiking alone and getting herself trapped.
“I was there too, Isaiah. I didn’t realize he was even interested in Heather. I thought he was furious that we crossed onto his family’s land.”
Good point. Maybe Wyatt would talk some sense into Isaiah.
Isaiah toyed idly with a lock of her hair again. She doubted he was aware he was doing it. “Maybe,” he said, his body relaxing marginally beside her as he leaned his head on the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling. “I’m clouded with anger.”
“I get that,” Wyatt said. “I would be too. In fact, I am. Jack will be brought to justice. You know that.”
“It won’t change anything for Heather.”
She touched his face. “It will keep someone else from getting attacked.”
He lowered his face to stare at her. “It humbles me that you hold no grudge against me for what happened. You have to know I was compromised this morning. I was compromised from the moment I caught your scent before I started searching for you.
“I should have asked someone to help me instead of tearing up the mountain hell-bent on finding you.”
She interrupted. “And if you had stopped to call for help and wasted even a half a minute doing so, what would have happened to me? Huh?” Her voice rose. “That Jack guy could have done much worse. He could have made me a member of his pack or even bound me to him as his mate.”
Isaiah blinked. Finally, she had him on one point. Nevertheless, he kept it up. “I didn’t pay close enough attention to my surroundings when I found you. I should have sensed Jack in the area. I should have stopped him. There’s no excuse. I was blinded by irrational lust I don’t even believe in.”
Heather flinched. “You’re talking about Fate again?”
“Or whatever.”
She sighed. “Look, you bears haven’t coined the market on falling in love, you know. Humans do it too. Are you so isolated that you don’t know that?”
“Sure they do. But not in a day and certainly not before they meet.” Isaiah eyed her with a narrowed gaze.
She swatted his leg. “Dude, stop it. Stop brooding. It’s getting old. Okay, so you’re right, we don’t usually fall in love before we meet, but there are definitely humans who connect from the moment they set eyes on each other. It’s not unheard of for people to get married in days. It happens. Even in my species.”
“Which, thanks to me, you’re no longer a member of,” he added.
“Isaiah, stop it,” she shouted. She shoved off the couch and stood. “It’s over. Done. We have more important things to worry about than how or why or when it happened. That jerk jumped out of the trees and scratched me, knowing full well what the implications were.”
“I don’t think you two need me here. Seems like it’s under control.” Wyatt rose behind her and inched across the room toward the door. She didn’t have his strange powers, but she felt that much. “I’ll just go,” he continued. “Good luck.” The door opened and closed behind her.
Isaiah winced. He hung his head again.
“Get over yourself before you piss me off. I need you to help me figure out what to do next instead of dwelling on what has already been done.” She stood rigid in the middle of the room, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him. If he didn’t stop sulking, she would walk out the door and take her chances on the other side.
He jerked his head up, apparently having heard that thought loud and clear. His eyes went wide. “Baby, please.”
“You know I have to make a choice. And you can hate it all you want, but it won’t change the fact that I have to make it.” She poked her chest with a finger. “Me. I have to make it. Soon. So, you can feel guilty about it some other day. You can discuss the merits of it next week. Right now I kinda need you to stop playing hot and cold and help me out here.”
He swallowed, nodding. “You’re right. What can I do?”
“Stop acting all chivalrous for one thing and make love to me. It’s our connection. I don’t care that we already had sex earlier. That was before I switched species and the universe tipped on its axis. Now I’m apparently a bear. A horny one. You want me to choose between you and taking my chances with the universe outside,” she pointed toward the front door, “take your clothes off and make your case.”
She had no idea what possessed her to act to absurdly brazen. Lust? Perhaps. All she knew was she needed to connect with him again. It would calm her and straighten out her head in some strange way.
One second he stood in front of her, frozen in his spot. The next second, he stepped over the coffee table and grabbed her by the biceps to haul her in for a kiss.
Chapter Eleven
Isaiah had no idea if he was doing the right thing or not. He was leading with his dick. But he could no longer deny the woman filling his home with her pheromones. It was a miracle he’d held out as long as he had.
She rose onto her tiptoes and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck, deepening the kiss in a bold way he was certain she’d never experienced before.
Whereas before she’d been timid, now she was climbing up his body, wrapping her leg around his thighs to get closer.
He bent his knees and swung her up in his arms without breaking the kiss. On memory, he easily found his way down the hall and into his bedroom. He kicked th
e door shut, not bothering with the lights, and eased her back to her feet next to the bed.
She was panting when he tucked his hands under her sweater and then whipped it over her head, separating their lips for the half second it took to get the material out of the way.
And then his fingers were on her jeans, unbuttoning them, lowering the zipper, tugging the denim down her legs. “Jesus,” he muttered into her mouth when he realized she was naked under both articles of clothing.
She fought to kick off her shoes and step out of the jeans without releasing his mouth.
His cock ached when her small hands roamed down his chest, swept under his T-shirt, and pushed it up his pecs.
He reached an arm over his head to haul the cotton out of the way. And then his hands were on his own jeans, disposing of them as quickly as possible. It seemed like the world would end if he didn’t have her right that second.
Her arousal filled the room. She didn’t need preparation. But no way was he going to fuck her without seeing to her first.
She moaned and grabbed at his arms as he lifted her and set her ass on the side of the bed. Without breaking the kiss, he leaned her backward, nudging her knees apart so he could nestle between them. When her head hit the mattress, he lifted his face.
Her lips were swollen and wet. Her eyes were glazed over with lust.
“You’re the sexiest creature I’ve ever seen. I thought so the moment I saw you. I knew it this morning when I made you come. I was more certain of it when we had sex earlier. But now… Baby, there’s no comparison to how I feel about you now that you’ve transitioned…”
She bit her lower lip and then released it and tipped her head back, elongating her neck. “Jesus, Isaiah, stop talking and fuck me. I’m burning up.” She squirmed forward, her ass hanging off the side of the bed to increase the contact with his cock.
Her moisture rubbed over his length. So wet. Damn, she was amazing.
He stared at her, memorizing this moment for later—the first time he took her as a shifter. She would be stronger. Her nails were digging into his biceps and she was undoubtedly unaware. He didn’t care if she scored his entire body.
Grizzly Mountain (Arcadian Bears Book 1) Page 12