by Anya Nowlan
This rugged, wild looking man with adventure in his eyes made her want to share her thoughts with him, and she liked the feeling. It was so different from what she had felt with Taylor, whom she always seemed to be hiding things from to avoid making him mad or pouty.
“Well, I guess I want it all. I want a community I could contribute to. I want a home. Not just a house, but a home, you know? Someone to share it with. Someone to come home to and someone to wait to come home. Someone to miss. And I want kids. At least two – a boy and a girl, but more is fine. When I lived in the city, I never thought about children. It felt so wrong to bring new life into the dust and the smoke and the noise, but here, I can’t imagine a better place to raise kids to be the kind of people I want them to be. Good, kind, strong people who respect themselves, others and the world around them.
And I want to be married. To someone who’s better than me, or at least someone who always makes me want to be better, to improve myself – not because I have to, but because I can. I want to love him with all my heart and I want him to love me back just as much. I don’t want to have to worry or wonder if I’m doing or saying something wrong, because he would tell me if I was and we would work it out. I want someone to bring me up, not put me down. And I want adventure!”
Rush cocked his head to the side, nodding mildly with a smile on his lips.
“That sounds like a tall order. Are you sure just one man can do all that for you?” he asked, that teasing note in his voice again.
She grinned, shrugging. “I guess I’ll have to find out.”
That answer seemed to please him. They talked until it was getting a bit too dark for comfort. Expertly, Rush maneuvered them to a clearing, but before beginning their descent, he turned towards her. His gaze burned on her and that easy comfort she had fallen into was gone in a second, replaced by that familiar heat she felt blazing through her every time she saw him.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he announced calmly.
She couldn’t say a word. Not because he wouldn’t let her, but because they just wouldn’t come out of her throat. And really, it would have been a tiny bit silly to scream her agreement over the serene Idaho countryside.
He pulled her against him and she gave into it easily. Danni just about mewled with excitement as his hands ensnared her and she pressed her palms against his wide chest. She knew he was leaving a pause between the words and actions to give her a chance to say no if she wanted to, but she didn’t need that courtesy, not even a bit.
Rush’s lips met hers and she moaned softly as his tongue dipped into her mouth. He tasted just like she thought he would – sort of wild and rugged. Kissing this rock of a man while floating over her new home, the first place in a long time that had made her feel wanted, felt a little bit like a fairytale.
The heat built up in her easily and her core throbbed with need. She wasn’t far from asking him to just undress then and there, just so she could see more of that absolutely delicious body of his. Each muscle was hard under her fingertips, bulging against his clothes, taunting her with what was beneath.
Danni had been so sure that she couldn’t be interested in another man again. After all, how could she, after she’d been so thoroughly humiliated by the last person she thought she harbored deep feelings for? But Rush gave her hope. If she wanted him as badly as she did at that very moment, Taylor would soon be an unfortunate footnote in her timeline, right?
When Rush finally pulled away from the kiss, Danni clung to him for a moment longer, staring into his devilish blue gaze. Her hands were gripping his shirt like it was a life raft and she was moments from drowning. She let go of him with a start, blushing a little.
Instead of letting her turn away, Rush tightened his grip on her waist and dipped her head upwards to meet his eyes again.
“Don’t do that,” he said, his voice almost stern.
“Don’t do what?” Danni asked, a little bit breathless.
“Feel bad about what you want. You’re entitled to everything you need and desire, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
She stared at him quietly, tears threatening to brim in her big ocean blue eyes. How different two men could be – one who respected the woman he was with, and one who couldn’t give a shit as long as he himself was happy. Danni was glad she was now in the company of the former, not the latter.
Even more, she was bursting with curiosity about where it would all lead.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Danni
GoneWithTheBear: I don’t believe it.
HoneysuckleStyle: What don’t you believe?
GoneWithTheBear: That women like you exist. I thought I was completely alone in my fascination for last century German literature. Not to mention cross-country skiing (really, who watches that as a pastime?)
Danni, curled up nice and tight on her one and only recliner, grinned to herself. Her home was still rather sparsely decorated because of all the money she’d spent on the salon. But there was enough in the house to feel comfortable, and she didn’t need much more than a decent kitchen with a good stove, a soft bed to sleep in and a comfy chair to read books in.
It was her one day off, the day she begrudgingly took for herself after all the women in Shifter Grove made a pact to not visit the salon on Sundays. Danni had protested about not needing the break, but the local ladies knew how important it was to keep work and play in balance. The only problem was, Danni didn’t have much to do in the name of fun. Most Sundays, she still spent fixing something up in the salon or cleaning her tiny home.
This time, though, the day had managed to creep into the late afternoon without Danni achieving anything other than sending hundreds of messages back and forth with her favorite SassyDate werebear.
After the date with Rush, she’d been hesitant to continue their conversation, but this guy kept her laughing and thinking and so engaged that time slipped away from her as if on its own volition. Though there was heat in their messages almost all the time, it didn’t come off as improper. Danni tried to reason with herself that she was just being friendly and that it meant nothing… And even if it did mean something, she wasn’t even dating Rush yet – even though after that kiss she was very open to the idea.
But in the end, none of it mattered – she loved talking to him and it would have been foolish to deny the mutual attraction.
HoneysuckleStyle: Well, they hide us in the middle of the Idaho woods to make life a little harder for you.
She grinned. Rarely was she the one to tease, but she liked the fact that she felt comfortable enough to do it with him.
GoneWithTheBear: Well, how about we fix that? Let’s meet up. I don’t want to come off creepy, but I am in Idaho too, and I think I am close. Would you be willing to meet face to face, Scarlett?
He’d taken to calling her Scarlett after they’d been talking about Gone With the Wind far too much. She liked it, even though she didn’t have the auburn hair or the tiny waist that were Miss O’Hara’s staple characteristics.
The question made her balk for a moment. Okay, she had enjoyed his company, but meeting him? Some guy she just started talking to on an app?
Don’t play coy. You met Taylor the same way!
The phone buzzed again and Danni contorted her face in annoyance as she saw another message from Taylor. He’d been relentless, repeatedly threatening to come see her. She cursed herself for letting it slip that she was in Shifter Grove. Though, on the other hand – that also meant that she could possibly meet the hot werebear that had caught her eye.
Could I go meet him?
TheREALLionKing: Send me a pic, baby. I want to see that booty of yours.
Danni huffed, irritation coming to a boil. Hell yeah she could go and meet GoneWithTheBear. If for no other reason than to give her back hope that online dating could mean meeting guys who weren’t complete sleazy bastards.
She closed Taylor’s chat window decisively and opened up GoneWithTheBear’s instead.
&n
bsp; HoneysuckleStyle: Where?
***
As usual, Danni was feeling a bit self-conscious. She was standing in front of Teresa’s Cub Cove, the local kindergarten, just at the edge of town. She’d worn low heels and a knee-length, floral-patterned dress and a simple white cardigan that made her look demure but, at least in her mind, classically sexy and sophisticated. She thought a guy like GoneWithTheBear would appreciate that.
God, I don’t even know his name. What are you doing, Danni? Two dates in two days with two guys?! Your mother would have a fit.
That made her smile. Her mother having a fit might just have made the whole thing worth it.
She was debating leaving and sparing herself any additional headache over whether or not what she was doing was proper, and then she saw him. It had to be him, there was no doubt about it.
He was tall, like Rush, and had broad shoulders and a tapered waist that told her that he was built for strength and speed. Just looking at him made it very obvious that this was the kind of man who got what he wanted and would rarely take anything but yes for an answer. And oh, she could easily see herself saying yes to him. Yes, yes, yes!
She shook her head a little, returning the smile he greeted her with. He wore light slacks and a matching shirt, making him look at ease but put together. A blue jacket was slung over one shoulder, dangling on his finger. It was an art looking so casual and so in control at the same time. He had the most gorgeous blue eyes that reminded her of someone else’s and a strong chin. Danni was just thinking how perfectly kissable his lips were, when he reached her and unceremoniously pulled her into a warm embrace.
She gasped in surprise but giggled at the bout of closeness as she hugged him back. Being in his arms felt good. It was becoming a theme lately, feeling good around all these big, muscled men showering her with attention!
When he pulled back and presented her with a small bouquet of wildflowers, she couldn’t stop smiling. God, these men were too much. Had she known that this wonderful world full of real men was out there, she would have dumped Taylor’s sorry ass ages ago!
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey yourself. I’m Daniela. Or Danni. I prefer Danni.”
“Rhett,” he said, a mild smirk playing on his lips.
She giggled. Of course he was named Rhett. What else could it be? There was a fire burning in his eyes that confused her a little, an intensity that was both endearing and surprising. It was as if he already knew her, recognized her from somewhere and made her all the more valuable to him. She felt a little bit awkward under all that intense attention, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. If anything, she appreciated being so thoroughly admired by a man as damnably hot as he was.
And that was another thing. How the hell were they all so delicious? She’s been preparing herself for a life of dating mediocre men – even though Taylor had been a lazy big cat, he’d still been an impressive shifter. But Rush and Rhett? They were so much better than anything she could have dreamed of.
“Shall we take a walk?” he asked, offering his arm.
She put her hand through the crook of his arm and fell into step with him, Rhett taking a leisurely pace towards a small path in the woods. It was a lovely early summer evening and the air was thick with birds singing and bugs buzzing about, settling in for the night that was soon to come. Danni always loved those late evening walks, and it was even better being in the company of a man who made her squirm just standing still.
She kept sneaking glances at him, struck by his similarity to Rush, but thinking it was just her vivid imagination. Maybe it was a werebear thing? Though Deacon or Warren didn’t bare much resemblance to them… Oh well. She’d have plenty of time to figure it all out later.
“So, tell me what’d you do,” Rhett started, picking up where an earlier conversation had left off. “How would you make Shifter Grove better?”
Danni liked that. He skipped over all that first date weirdness that would usually be there – Just like Rush did, she added in her mind – and jumped right into a topic that interested them both.
“Well. I haven’t been here very long, but if I had all the money in the world,” she started, spreading one arm and sweeping in across the surrounding forest, the pretty blue wildflowers making a lovely pop of color, “I would start by getting a fire station here. I think we’re lucky that Warren, worrying about his lumber mill, has set up a volunteer thing, but this is Idaho – there’s far too much forest area here to not have a properly manned fire team.”
Rhett nodded, that playful smile still on his lips.
“A sensible woman. I like that.”
“Maybe I just want to see hot firefighters. Have you thought of that?” she teased, surprised by how easily joking around with him came to her.
Rhett shook his head. “No, you wouldn’t. I’d get you all the hot bodies you want to look at.”
“Bodies? Are there several of you?” she asked, cocking a brow.
He smirked, giving her a knowing look but no explanation.
“Okay, a fire station. What else?”
“Well, there’s no grocer here. Slate picks up boxes of necessities and everybody gives him their order once a week. I think there must be an easier way to do it, especially since there’s so many of us that soon he won’t be able to bring all of it in one trip! But I think we could use a spa. Like a real, done up to the nines kind of spa.”
“Why so?” Rhett asked, sounding intrigued.
“I might be selfish saying that, but I think if we could make Shifter Grove into a little bit of a shifter-human haven, where they can come and enjoy themselves for a while amongst like-minded, salt-of-the-earth kind of people, it would benefit both Shifter Grove and other people like us as well.”
Danni smiled wistfully. It sounded nice to her. By the look on Rhett’s face, it also sounded appealing to him.
They came to a small clearing, and he led her to a river that she didn’t even know ran through the forest. They took a seat on a fallen log and she was conscious of the fact that she was sitting very close to him with their legs touching. One of his hands was leant against the wood behind her and she had to fight the urge to press herself against him.
“You know, I’ve never asked someone I met online out before,” Rhett admitted.
Danni glanced at him, wondering if he was regretting the decision.
“If I had known I’d meet you, I think I would have started ages ago,” he said, his words completely earnest.
Danni didn’t know what to say to that. As they so often did, her words betrayed her. He put his hand on hers and squeezed it lightly, searching out her gaze. Her hands played with the stems of the little bouquet nervously, feeling the smooth stalks under her fingertips. Like Rush, this man was just as intense, just as present. Like he was there just for her, only interested in what she had to say and like nothing else could have mattered to him. It was so different from what she was used to with Taylor or the other men she had dated before, who seemed to treat her more as an afterthought rather than the original object of their interest.
“I’m glad you started now, at least,” Danni admitted.
It was so easy being honest with him. Though her mind wanted to compare him to Rush, she stopped herself every time. They were so similar in some ways, yet so entirely different as well. Like two halves of the same fantastic whole – though it seemed odd to her that she would come to that thought at all.
“So how come are you here, in Shifter Grove? Should I be worried about being stalked?” Danni asked after a momentary pause in the conversation, breaking them from the longing gaze they’d got trapped in.
Rhett chuckled, shaking his head. He removed his hand from on top of Danni’s and pulled it through his hair, and Danni felt a twinge of regret that their contact was cut short. When he put his hand back like it was the most natural thing, she couldn’t help but smile a little. A tingle of warmth and excitement wafted through her and she was coming to really enjoy that sensation of
bated expectation that these sexy bears could make her feel.
“I’m thankfully not quite as adept at making myself available. I think this might be one of those rare cases where fate intervenes when it sees that two people should meet, you know? I thought you were in Ohio, and I was cursing my bad luck that I would find a woman who truly interested me and she’d be hidden away somewhere. And here you are, as if made to order! I’m here on some family matters.”
“Happy or sad?”
“Both… Neither. It’s complicated.”
Danni grinned. She knew how that went. She was still sort of expecting her mother to storm into Shifter Grove and tell her that she was being a fool saying no to a financially stable but emotionally manipulative mange of a man. On the one hand, she’d be glad to have her mother take such interest in her life, but on the other… Who needs that noise, really?
“Well, I’ll try to make things less complicated for you whenever I can,” she promised with a wink.
“Oh, quite the opposite. I think you should be striving towards more complications as soon as possible! After all, what if everything started going well and making sense? What kind of life would that be?” Rhett asked, laughing.
He had her there. Who wanted a boring life?
Similar to her date with Rush, this one just seemed to flow seamlessly into the late hours. They stayed sitting and talking, listening to the happy bubbling of the river, until it was getting far too late and a chill was falling over the early summer evening. Rhett, ever the gentleman, put his jacket around her, extending their conversation by another half-hour.
Danni kept finding herself becoming more and more surprised at how easily their conversation flowed. They talked about philanthropy, giving back to the community as they could, and she had to admit that they had much the same thoughts and expectations in that regard. He had a kind heart, and as compelling as he was physically, she liked his mind even more. Her original thought of just having a no strings attached kind of flirting session with her two werebears was quickly turning into something a lot more complicated. Neither Rhett nor Rush felt like a man she’d just want to string along and use for fun.