Captivating the Bear

by Jane Godman

  And no matter how hard it is, I have to find a way to reach that...

  “Okay. Although Callistoya is situated here in the mortal realm, in the place known as Siberia, it is not visible to humans. Only shifters can cross its borders, and its permanent citizens are all bear shifters.” He could feel Lidi urging him on, and he focused on her sustaining presence, using her to ground him as he searched for the right words. “I am the rightful king of Callistoya...and my name is Gerald Tavisha.”

  Andrei’s brows snapped together. “The same as my name?”

  “Yes.” Ged waited, giving him time to process that information.

  Andrei turned to Sasha. “I wonder if our parents knew my name had royal links?”

  She shook her head. “They would have told you if they had any information about your background.”

  Interesting. Ged flicked a glance in Lidi’s direction and saw she was leaning forward, her eyes shining and her hands clasped. Clearly she had also registered the revelation that Andrei’s past was mysterious.

  “My father, King Ivan of Callistoya, was murdered, together with most of my family, in a coup on the night of my engagement party thirteen years ago. The rebels also killed my fiancée and wiped out my father’s government. The following day, my stepbrother, Vasily Petrov, claimed the throne.”

  Andrei looked bemused. “I don’t understand. You said you are the rightful king. Clearly you survived. Why did you let your brother take over instead of you?”

  They were getting closer to the hardest part of this conversation. Ged kept his gaze on Andrei’s, on the eyes that were so like his own. “Only three members of my family who were present in the royal palace on the night of the killings survived the murders. Queen Zoya, my stepmother, lived through the massacre, and for some reason, my younger brother and I were spared. I have no memory of what happened that night. All I can remember is waking up here in the mortal realm. I was beaten and a spell was cast on me, then I was transported here before the killing began.”

  “It’s quite a story.” Andrei shook his head. “I can see why you’d want to know if the similarities between my paintings and your homeland indicate whether I have any information about what happened. I’m sorry I can’t help you.”

  “That’s not why we’re here.” Ged leaned forward. “For the last thirteen years, I’ve been banished from the country I am supposed to rule. But I’ve also been searching for the younger brother who was exiled at the same time.” He saw a glimmer of understanding begin to dawn in Andrei’s eyes. “How long have you been in a wheelchair?”

  Sasha gasped. “What an insensitive question. And it’s none of your—”

  Andrei held up a hand. “It’s okay.” There was a glimmer of tears in his eyes as he looked at Ged. “Thirteen years. That’s how long I’ve been in this chair, but I don’t remember what caused my injuries. I don’t remember anything that happened before my parents—the amazing people who adopted both me and Sasha—found me here in the forest.” He started to laugh, but the sound grew muddled and ended on a hoarse sob. “I suppose it’s irrelevant to ask the name of your younger brother?”

  * * *

  It had been a long, hard, emotionally draining few hours, fueled by tears, reminiscences on Ged’s part and, eventually, some powerful German Weinbrand. It turned out that the Tavisha brothers shared a taste for brandy. As night fell, Lidi took Bruno for a walk in the woods and Sasha accompanied her.

  “Let me get this straight.” Lidi turned up the collar of her coat against a wind so icy it reminded her of home. “Even though your parents were human, they were happy to adopt a pair of bear shifters and raise them as their own children? And they found you at different times?”

  “They were a remarkable couple. Our father was human, but our mother was a sorceress,” Sasha explained. “Sorcery is the highest magical rank and its practitioners are immortal and all-powerful. Our mother used her ability for good, looking after the creatures of this forest. When my father found Andrei, he was close to death and she nursed him back to health. She knew, of course, that he was a bear shifter, but that didn’t stop her from caring for him as if he was her son.”

  “Did she know what caused his injuries?” Lidi asked.

  “He had been attacked. My parents always believed he had been in a fight with other bear shifters. Andrei can’t remember, of course.” Sasha watched in surprise as Bruno ran around a tree, almost strangling himself when he reached the limit of his leash. “I don’t know much about dogs, but are they meant to do that?”

  “I don’t know much about them either, but craziness is pretty normal for him.” Lidi laughed as she freed the overexcited canine. “What about your story? How did you join the family?”

  Sasha looked embarrassed. “I grew up here in Germany. I was a few years from maturity when a trafficking ring came for me. The men who ran it kidnapped shifters and other beings to fulfill orders from their customers. If a client wanted a teenage female bear shifter, the traffickers would provide one. They killed my parents and tried to abduct me, but I escaped. I didn’t know what to do, or where to go. I thought that if I returned to civilization, the men who wanted me would find me. I lived wild in these woods for a few months, until Andrei’s father found me.”

  “Was this after he found Andrei?” Lidi wanted to be sure she had the time line straight in her mind.

  “A month or two later, ja. We became their adopted family at around the same time.” Sasha smiled sadly. “We were both not quite children, not yet adults.”

  Lidi paused to extract Bruno from a tangle of twigs. “What happened to your parents?”

  Lidi was an immortal herself. She knew everlasting life wasn’t the same as invincibility. Nevertheless, it would take something very powerful to overcome a sorceress.

  “My father became ill.” Sasha’s mouth turned down at the corners. “My mother once told me it was the hardest part of loving a human. She knew she would have to watch him age, and even with her magic powers there was nothing she could do about it. I suspected they might have some sort of pact because she started to ask me questions about Andrei. Would I take care of him? Would I always be there for him? One day we found them, wrapped in each other’s arms. My father’s illness had killed him. My mother had drunk poison.”

  Lidi stared up at the velvet sky with its diamanté scattering of stars. The sad story felt like a punch in her gut, triggering sharp tears at the back of her eyelids. Romantic love had never featured in her life. She hadn’t witnessed it, heard about it or read of it. It wasn’t something she expected to experience. So why did the love Sasha’s parents had shared hurt her? How could she possibly understand a love so strong that they couldn’t survive without each other?

  She didn’t want to probe her comprehension because she feared where it might lead her. Pull too hard on that thought and it could untangle a whole complex thread that would send her running all the way back to the cottage. Throwing herself into Ged’s arms while spilling her thoughts and feelings was not part of their unspoken pact.

  Keep it light. That was Ged’s philosophy. She would do well to remember that while also making it her own.

  She retrieved Bruno from the center of a small bush. “We should head back. Ged and I still need to find somewhere to stay tonight.”

  “We have a spare room.” Sasha looked embarrassed. “I mean... I wasn’t sure...” She trailed off, clearly seeking the right words. “I didn’t know if you were a couple.”

  “We’re not.” At least, I don’t think we are. Not in any permanent sense, even though the fates seem determined to tell us otherwise. “But we don’t mind sharing a room.”

  They were close to the cottage when she caught a flash of movement at the edge of the clearing. Bruno gave a low growl that Lidi, tuning into his mood, interpreted as a warning. She didn’t need it. As soon as she saw the figure darting through the trees, her
whole body had gone into high alert. Although the woman she had seen was already a speck in the distance, the moonlight glinted on her long, silver-blond hair as it streamed out behind her.

  Allie! She had found them again. Here in the heart of a remote German forest...

  “Have you ever seen that woman before?” She drew Sasha’s attention to the fleeing figure by pointing in Allie’s direction.

  “What woman?” Sasha appeared bemused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I can’t see anyone.”

  Chapter 13

  It was amazing how rapidly Ged’s crushing weariness vanished as soon as he was alone with Lidi. It was like someone had flipped a switch, reversing all his symptoms and sending a signal to every part of his body. It was primal, urgent and impossible to ignore.

  Need her. Want her. Now.

  The spare bedroom was tiny but comfortable, with a log fire and a bed that occupied most of the space. Ged had already ensured that Bruno was safely established in a box under the kitchen table. Sasha had found an old blanket, and the dog had curled up with a sigh of pleasure. Even Lidi could find no fault with the arrangement.

  Now Ged closed the bedroom door behind him with a sigh of relief. “Feels like I can’t remember the last time I slept.”

  “It’s been quite a day.” Her gaze scanned his face, concern in their depths. “How does it feel to have found Andrei at last?”

  He sat on the end of the bed. When Lidi joined him, sitting right up close so their bodies were touching, the world felt a whole lot better. “It feels good. Of course it does.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “But the circumstances...”

  She wrapped her arms around him, resting her cheek against his bicep. “You couldn’t help him. You didn’t know where he was.”

  He lifted a hand to trace the curve of her neck, tucking a silken strand of hair behind her ear. When he touched her, he melted. Like butter on toast, every part of him gave way to a warmth that radiated outward.

  “Lidi, I am an alpha-male bear shifter. One of the greatest alphas of them all, the heir to the Crown of Callistoya. My prime function is to defend and protect.” He gave a hollow laugh. “A fine protector I turned out to be. Everyone I love has died or been maimed, while I have been unable to save them.”

  She answered him by placing a hand each side of his face and gazing into his eyes. “You have to stop torturing yourself with this. It’s not possible to protect someone when you have been purposely separated from them.”

  Without further hesitation, he pressed his lips to hers, capturing them in a deep, searing kiss. There was no awkwardness or embarrassment in the action, only perfect clarity. This was meant to be. It had been that way from the moment they met. He felt it in the awareness of his own body, heard it in Lidi’s tiny murmur of appreciation.

  Time stopped for them. His tongue danced with hers. As Lidi changed position, her soft curves molded to fit his body and Ged smoothed his hands over the contours of her back. Each touch left him wanting, aching, longing for more.

  “Remember what I said?” Lidi whispered the words against his lips. “I won’t break.”

  He laughed softly, taking her hand and holding it against his racing heart. “No, but I might.”

  She tilted her head back, looking at him from beneath smiling eyelids. “Only you can decide if it’s worth the risk.”

  Sliding a hand beneath the fabric of her T-shirt, he followed the angle of her waist, delighting in the smoothness of her skin. Moving upward to her breasts, he massaged them gently through the lace of her bra as his lips returned to claim another kiss.

  Pushing her down onto the bed, he nibbled lightly along her jawline, neck and earlobes until Lidi was sighing and writhing with pleasure.

  She looped her arms around his neck, pressing a kiss below his ear and setting his flesh on fire. A wild thought intruded into the euphoria that was seeping through his nerve endings. Everything that had gone before was worth it because it had led him here. Without the pain of loss and the years of loneliness, he would never have been able to fully appreciate this perfect closeness.

  He couldn’t tell Lidi how he felt. Not yet. The sensation wasn’t ready to be put into words. All he could do was hold her in an embrace that lingered into eternity. For the first time, he knew how it felt to be whole. A missing part of his soul had been found. Even as that thought registered, he remembered all he had lost and fear struck him.

  Not Lidi. Not this. His arms tightened around her.

  “Um.” Her voice was husky. “I’m quite fond of breathing.”

  “Sorry.” He relaxed his hold slightly.

  She smiled contentedly and brushed her lips against his. “I like it. Just maybe not quite so tight.” She lay on her side with her leg draped over his. Curling her fingers in the neck of his T-shirt, she pulled him closer.

  “Lidi...” He needed to speak while he still could. “We have to talk about this.”

  She pressed a finger to his lips. “You can’t offer me forever and I’m not asking for promises. This is fine.”

  He caught hold of her hand, kissing her fingertips. “That’s not what I was going to say. I want to be sure you are okay with this.”

  Her adorable blush colored her cheeks. “You mean because I haven’t...?”

  “Yes, but I think you may be laboring under a misapprehension if you believe I have extensive experience.”

  Lidi frowned, raising herself on one elbow so she could look at his face. “Are you trying to tell me you are a virgin, as well?”

  “Alyona and I became engaged as soon as we reached maturity, but we never had sex. We were good friends and we were able to talk about it without embarrassment. We agreed to wait until we were married.” He cupped her cheek with his hand, running his thumb along the length of her jaw. “When I first came here to the mortal realm, I was hardly in a frame of mind to start seeking a partner.” He kissed her again, feeling the delicious fingers of fire trailing over his skin. “After a few years, I realized I was missing something in my life. As you know, shifters can have sex without commitment in human form, but that was a problem for me.”

  “What do you mean?” Lidi curled her fingers into his hair as she spoke.

  “It wasn’t enough. I couldn’t do the whole meaningless-sex thing that the other guys in the band enjoyed so much.” He managed a shaky laugh. “I tried. Twice. So I can’t tell you I’m a virgin. Not exactly. But experienced? No, I don’t think I’d call myself that.”

  Lidi was quiet for a moment or two. Then she sat up abruptly. “We should get rid of these clothes.” Her smile became mischievous. “And this time I don’t need an apron to cover me. I want to be naked with you.”

  She tugged her T-shirt over her head and unfastened her bra. Ged helped her pull the straps down her arms, his throat tightening as his feelings spiked almost out of control. He kissed the curve between her neck and shoulder before moving his hands over the soft mounds of her breasts. Lidi showed no shyness as he touched her. Her eyes sparkled as his thumbs stroked lightly across the pink nipples that hardened at his touch.

  Ged leaned forward, unable to control his desire, covering one taut peak with his mouth. Lidi shivered, and a matching tremor ran through his own body. He moved to the other breast, tasting it as his heart began to race. It had been too long, and it had never been like this. Those twin thoughts were fleeting but certain.

  “You’re beautiful.” He swirled a fingertip around one nipple and she gasped. “Roses and pearls.”

  “Being poetic is all very well—” Her voice was shaky, but the smile in her eyes warmed his heart. It wasn’t the smile of someone who was unsure of what she was doing. “But it’s your turn to undress.”

  The rest of their garments tumbled to the floor and he moved to kiss her lips again. Lidi’s hands traveled over his back, her thigh moved between his and she press
ed closer. Ged’s erection throbbed, hot and hard against the softness of her belly, but he wanted to take it slow. They would only have one first time; he wanted to prolong this moment.

  “We don’t need to worry about protection.” He kissed her earlobe between the words. “You are a bear shifter, so you are only fertile during the mating season. And I joined the band in their regular medical check-ups. I’m clean...hardly surprising given my limited experience.”

  Lidi bit her lip as she looked down his body. Cautiously, she wrapped her fingers around his straining cock before bending to lightly kiss his crown. Ged’s whole body jerked as though he’d been scalded. When she raised her head, her cheeks were flushed, her hair tumbling wildly about her face. “I think we should do something about that lack of experience you keep talking about, don’t you?”

  Their lips met again as Ged moved his hands over her body, wanting to claim every part of her. Taking his hand, Lidi moved it between her legs and he used his fingertips to gently explore her soft folds. Lightly, he ran a finger along her slit, feeling for her entrance. Lidi opened her legs wider and he slipped a finger into the warmest and most inviting embrace.

  “You feel like paradise.” He was mesmerized by the perfection of her body as he took the time to enjoy her. Lidi moaned as he explored her with his finger. Ged loved being the cause of that tiny sound. He wanted to hear it again. Her hand tightened around his hardness, and his hips jerked in response.

  “Please, Ged.” She lifted her hips from the bed. “I want...”

  As she looked into his eyes, he knew he couldn’t last much longer. When he positioned himself between her legs and felt her delicious heat, his anticipation went off the scale. Lidi kept her hand on his erection, guiding him to her.

  He pressed forward slowly and the first touch of perfection enveloped his shaft. Lidi gasped and threw back her head.

  Ged paused, staring down at her in concern. “We can stop...”