“And here I am. I thought I could make it, but it was not to be.”
“That’s why we came. Either we can help you free your rig, or we can use snowmobiles to ferry the goods up to the town. Without those supplies, we are going to go short. This snow came early and without much warning.”
“And I’m late,” said Trent.
“I wasn’t going to mention that. But since you did … we were expecting you early yesterday. Or at least we were expecting Taylor.”
“Nature called. Or should I say fate,” Trent said, shaking his head.
Marv laughed. “Well, whatever next. A young cub like Taylor finding his special mate when an old bear like you is still all alone.” Marv’s eyes slid past Trent to the truck. “Or is there something you need to tell me?”
Trent unconsciously pulled his shoulders back, making Marvin grin. How the hell had the old cougar known? “Nothing to tell yet, Marv.”
“Ah, so is this why the delivery was delayed?”
“Not exactly, but might have been a contributing factor. No one told me these things can make you act out of character.”
“Oh, things are only just getting started, my friend. Do you know how many women are going to be crying into their pillows tonight? They were hoping you would be stranded up here in Cougar country for a few days.”
“I might well be, but I’m a one-woman man now,” Trent said, casting a look at his truck. “Anyway. Let’s see what we can do. Help me scrape the snow away. Will your guys help too?” He glanced at the four big cats flanking their leader.
“Sure will. We reckon you have a good supply of vodka in the back of your rig. That’s what we need to chase the winter chill away.” The other cougars transformed and headed toward the truck. “That and a good woman in your bed,” Marv added with a wink.
“Funny, Marv. Funny.” Trent turned back to the truck, feeling the invisible thread between him and Willow pulling him back to her. It sure was easier to go to her than it was to leave her. Would that ever change? Would he live his whole life feeling as if he had a part of him missing when she wasn’t near?
Chapter Eight – Willow
Voices outside. For a long moment, she was scared, not just for her own safety but that of Trent. What if Ollie had found her? Yet when the voices drew nearer, she heard the friendly tones and knew they were friends of Trent’s. She began to relax.
At last, in these few minutes alone, she had time to evaluate her feelings. Lying back and staring at the ceiling, she let her mind wander. What were these feelings she had for Trent? They were out of the blue. Love at first sight had never been a thing she believed in, but he did. What did he call it? A bond.
Along with that, she also had the intense feeling that he knew what she was. Or at least knew there was another part of her. A part she didn’t understand. But he did. Was that what he meant about fate bringing them together? No. Look at the guy, he was the kind of man who women fell into bed with, and he was just trying to get some kind of payback from her for her stowing away in his truck. He had spun her a line to make her feel something for him. Something that wasn’t real.
That was the decision she came to. Whatever it was between them wasn’t real. Each of them had their own reason for wanting the other. Hers was one that revolved around wanting to feel safe, to feel secure. His was just about a bit of entertainment on a cold night.
Her heart lurched suddenly. The door of the cab flung open and in climbed Trent. The shock of him being near left her breathless once more. But despite the way he affected her body and mind, she stuck to her conclusion. Nothing good could come from this. Nothing good at all.
“Right. We’ve cleared some of the snow from the tires. I think if I take it real slow, we might get up to town. It’s not as deep as I thought. If this doesn’t work then they will send down some snowmobiles. Or maybe the snow plough, but Marv isn’t sure if the thing even starts up anymore.”
“He doesn’t know?” she asked, surprised. In such a remote place as this, she thought they would be more prepared for winter.
“No. They haven’t had to clear the road for years. Usually they are stocked up with enough food and other supplies to wait the snow out.”
“And why isn’t that the case this time?”
“Snow came early, we came late,” he answered matter-of-factly. He quickly pulled the shades back, allowing the bright light to fill the cab. She had to squint and half cover her eyes as the sun reflected off the snow. Around them, the day was warming and a thaw was setting in, which threatened a different set of problems. If they didn’t move the truck now, when the sun went down later, the melting snow would freeze, leaving them stranded again. Trent turned the key in the ignition. Despite a slight complaint from the cold engine, it sparked into life. Trent grinned and she found herself retuning his smile.
“Now you have to see if we can move?” she asked.
“Yep, or else you will be going for a ride on the back of one of their snowmobiles.”
“I thought I was supposed to stay out of sight.”
“You can’t stay in here, you’ll freeze. Anyway Marv and the other guys know you are here.”
“You told them?” she asked, shocked that he would give her away so easily.
“Didn’t have to. They knew.”
“How?”
“Sixth sense.” He looked at her, really looked, deep into her eyes. “If you open yourself up to it, you’ll see that you have a sixth sense, or at least an enhanced sense, too.”
Before she could reply, although she had no idea what he was talking about, he put the truck in gear and they began the slow ascent to Cougar Ridge. The truck struggled to get a purchase on the road; for a moment she thought they were going to slip back down the mountain, but then with a jolt, they moved forward.
Trent used his full concentration, something she enjoyed watching, memorising every furrow on his brow as he frowned. His large hands gripped the wheel, easing them over the lip of the slope and then guiding them down the other side. He carefully kept the truck slow, never allowing the momentum to take hold of the truck and send them spinning out of control. Then they began to climb, slowly and steadily, heading up the mountain to their destination.
Every so often, in the trees beside her, she caught occasional glimpses of light brown fur. At least she thought it was fur. Whatever it was, flitted in and out of the trees, leaving only hints of what moved there.
“Trent,” she said quietly, afraid what was out there would hear. He looked over to her, seeing her worried face.
“Yes?” he asked, shifting his eyes straight back to the road, but his voice held concern.
“There is some kind of pack of animals in the trees.”
He looked at her, this time shifting his gaze out of the window. “Cougars. So?”
“What about your friends who came to help you. Are they safe? What if these animals are hungry and hunt them down?”
The edges of his mouth curled up, but he didn’t embarrass her by laughing out loud. “Don’t worry. My friends are safe.”
“Are they in the back of the truck?” That had to be a reasonable assumption, but his mouth twitched again.
“No, they took a short cut,” he said, and then added, “They will be quite safe.”
She didn’t ask any further questions. His lack of concern, coupled with the way he almost found her suggestion that the men were in danger funny, made her suspicious. But of what? The path of her thoughts led her down the route to madness. Maybe that was what was wrong with her, she wasn’t really a panther in the same way those cougars weren’t really men.
“What are they?” she asked, her voice putting words to her thoughts, before she could stop them. “I mean, what are those animals out there?”
They were making the last steep ascent to the town; she could see the smoke coming from chimneys. The last stretch of road into town had been cleared and they moved quicker. Still the cougars flanked the truck, getting far too close to t
he settlement for wild animals.
“You know. You might not want to admit it. But you know. They are the same as you. Well, similar; I haven’t quite worked out what your other side is, but I know it’s there as sure as winter follows fall.”
“What do you want from me?” she asked. If the snow hadn’t been on the ground and they had been closer to civilisation, she would have opened the door of his truck and run. When he said he knew what she was, she believed him. And although she wanted to trust the stranger who was connected to her, she didn’t know how to do that. This secret of hers was too big, too impossible.
“Nothing,” he said, his face searching hers. “And everything.”
“Thank goodness you’re here, Trent,” a voice said, and a man appeared close to Trent’s window, he must have been standing on the step of the cab. He had the looks of a Native American, tanned skin and dark hair, long and thick. He grinned at Willow. “So you found yourself a little cat all of your own.”
Trent looked at Willow, but didn’t question her further. “She found me.”
Willow paled, her reaction giving her away. But Trent tried to set her at ease. “Don’t worry. You are amongst friends here.” And with that, he parked the truck, giving her a quick wink before he opened the door, letting in an icy blast of air, and then stepped down into a throng of people.
Trent sure could win a popularity contest without even trying. He had an easiness about him, one that attracted the opposite sex. As proof, there were now many women gathering around him, women who acted far too familiar with him. Willow felt a stab of jealousy. She hated any woman touching Trent, or even smiling at him in anything that might be mistaken for a come-on. He was hers.
She gasped at that thought. If he felt the same way about her, if he could sense that she was different, then maybe he was as different as her. Maybe he changed into an animal. That was how he knew, and why he was so open about her secret here. His words rung in her ears. She had to allow her animal side to come forward; she had to learn to use the enhanced senses that he had spoken of. Her sixth sense.
But to do so would leave her vulnerable. She struggled to know just how much of a free rein she could give her panther without it completely taking over her body and mind. And that was where Trent, so self-assured and confident, might be able to help her. He could teach her to control her other side. He could also teach her a lot more.
Willow pushed that thought away. Too complicated. She didn’t need a lover; she just wanted a teacher, if she could just drag him away from his fan club. There was only one way to find out.
Chapter Nine – Trent
“Thank you for the invitation, Carol, but I will not be in need of your company tonight.”
“Come on, Trent,” said Carol. She was a pretty young woman with hair as dark as Willow’s, but Carol didn’t have the same green eyes. And Willow’s eyes were the only ones he wanted to spend his life looking into. Shame, because Carol’s eyes offered such promises of pleasure, but it was only lust, a little company for the night. Whereas one day, Willow would look at him with eyes filled with love and longing.
At least, that was what he hoped. Right now, though, she was climbing out of the cab with a face that promised him intense pain and anguish if he didn’t extricate himself from this little welcoming committee.
Still, he reassured himself, it was a start. Some emotion was better than none. Wasn’t it?
“Excuse me, ladies, I have to get to work.”
“You know where to find me, Trent,” Carol said as she walked off back to the bar.
“I do.” He walked toward Willow. “They mean nothing to me.”
“Really? Because it sure looks as if you have made very intimate friends with many of them.”
His face was deathly serious when he answered, “All in the past, Willow. I promise you.”
“None of my business,” she said, and her words cut him, because the way she spoke made him believe that. Yet when her green eyes flashed, he knew she was trying to hide her jealousy.
“Perhaps tonight I could show you why they want me so much.”
She laughed, a beautiful sound in his ears. “You really are something.”
“So I have been told many times,” he whispered, putting his lips right next to her ear and sensing the thrill it gave her when his warm breath caressed her cool skin.
“Actually, there is something you can show me tonight.”
“Anything,” he said, walking to the back of his truck and opening it up. She followed him, watching while he began to work at distributing cases to the people who had come to claim their merchandise. “That’s yours, Tony. I hope none of it broke.”
“Looks good, Trent,” Tony answered. “I guess the bar won’t run dry after all.”
“Not tonight anyway,” Trent laughed.
“It was an early storm. Usually we have another month to make sure our stocks will last the winter.” Tony’s voice betrayed his concern.
Trent looked up at the sky. “I think this storm will pass. You should be good for another delivery. Maybe you should arrange it for next week. Make sure you have everything you need. I think this might be a harsh one this year.”
“We don’t have the cash to take another delivery so soon.”
Trent pulled out a large crate of what looked like baby food. “I’ll drop it up to you. Pay me when you have it.”
“I couldn’t, Trent.”
“Yes, you could. I know you are good for it, Tony. I wouldn’t sleep at night knowing that you might run out of food, or God forbid, vodka, this winter.”
“I’ll give it some thought.”
“You do that. And that reminds me, do you have any rooms free?”
“Always rooms free here,” Tony said. “I’ll give you the penthouse.”
Trent laughed. “Perfect. We are travelling light. So we’ll follow you now.”
Willow stood looking at him. “I can’t afford a room.”
“I know. My treat.” He smiled and couldn’t resist adding, “Or perhaps I should keep the cost down by insisting you share with me.”
Her cheeks flushed, and he knew she was thinking about being with him. She couldn’t not. Whether she liked it or not, they were bonded, and at some point, she would have to succumb to that desire. He only hoped it was soon. The tightness in his pants was starting to drive him crazy.
Chapter Ten – Willow
“Thank you,” she said again as he opened the door of the room he had paid for.
“No problem.” He watched her walk in; it didn’t take much to know he longed for her to invite him in. But she couldn’t. Not yet. “There is a way you could pay me back.”
Her body stiffened. Was he actually expecting her to sleep with him in return for a lousy room? If so, she would go and sleep in the trees. And freeze. Better than sleeping with Trent for the price of a room. She put her pack back on her shoulder and headed back to the door.
“I’ll find somewhere else to sleep.”
“Hey,” he said, his arm going across her path to stop her. “Would it really be that bad to have dinner with me?”
She took a step back from him, feeling completely stupid. “Dinner?” Her stomach rumbled audibly in response.
“Dinner. Nothing more.” His eyes added the word, yet.
Could he hear the beat of her rapid heart as her body betrayed her? She longed to know what else he wanted from her. And that scared her—she worried that if he as much as lifted his finger and beckoned to her, she would follow wherever he led.
Brushing those thoughts away, she said, “Dinner would be great.”
“Good,” he said, smiling and then adding sexily, “I am going to have a nice long soak in the tub first. I might suggest you do the same.”
“You’re not going to offer to scrub my back?” she asked caustically.
“Oh, no. I could never stop at just your back. But I don’t think you are quite ready for that.” He grinned, walking away and down the hall to
the room next to hers. Before he went inside, he called. “You know where I am if you need anything else rubbed.”
She watched him go, unable to pull herself away until he had disappeared from view. Her panther was begging her to follow him and make their bond stronger, unbreakable. “I am not having sex with a man I have only just met.”
But as she went to the bathroom and ran her bath, her panther was still trying to persuade her that it didn’t matter. They were meant to spend the rest of their lives together and nothing was ever going to get in the way of that. Willow decided that just sharing dinner with him was going to be tough. Perhaps she should take a rain check and say she was too tired. Yet she wanted to get all the information she could from him.
He held the key to her being able to understand exactly what she was. Now, more than ever, the answers to her questions lay in reach. If she was ever going to live a normal life, not just running from people her misfortune exposed herself to, she had to learn what she was. How did these people live without letting everyone know what they were?
The water caressed and soothed her body as she slid down into it. Yet it took no time at all for her poor body to start to imagine the water touching her skin was his hands. As if he had crept into the room with her and now stroked her skin, his hands caressing her breasts and then moving lower. In a half-awake state, she imagined him touching her, sliding his fingers inside her and moving them in and out.
Her breathing became ragged, he would bring her to a shuddering climax, his expert fingers putting just the right amount of pressure on her inner walls to make her come around him. His thumb would rub her clit while his mouth sucked on her breasts, the sensations combining until she lost control in an unending orgasm.
“Huh!” She sat up. Someone was knocking on the door. Hurriedly she wrapped a towel around her body, grabbing a robe as she went to see who it was. But she couldn’t bring herself to open the door, or even ask what they wanted. Could Ollie have tracked her here? Would reception have shared that kind of information?
Stranded With Her Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Bluff Clan Book 3) Page 3