by Olivia Harp
“Well... we’re here,” Enzo said. Zoe was lost in thought and didn’t realize they were at the door.
“Thank you for everything Enzo, you were right, I do feel much better now,” she said, shaking hands with him.
“Told you, it’s science,” he said.
“Science...” she teased.
“Well you know, science does the trick, but if a shifter can channel nature and help it a little bit, well... you know he’s going to.”
She gave him a friendly hug, “It was great meeting you.”
“You too! I should go back now, talk to you later!” And with that, the awkward, strong, tall bear shifter walked back to the headquarters.
It wasn’t so late yet, there were some hours left before Damien was back, she bit her lower lip. She already missed him —just a little bit, though.
“Just little bit”, she said out loud, “nothing to worry about, Zoe Fox, nothing to worry about.”
Chapter 8
Afternoon came, Damien had taken his time regarding his clan’s security matters. He had traveled far south, deep in the heart of the woods, passing through untamed lands, places that hadn’t been touched by man since the dawn of time.
He had not come in contact with either the sight, smell or the gut feeling of the Rot. He hadn’t found trouble, and his crew members hadn’t either. It was a good day.
His bear form let him move much faster without tiring. He could cover many more miles than any human ever could in a week. Especially in this terrain. His senses were heightened too, he could catch the rotten stench of a Shadowlands puncture for many miles around.
His mind was focused, his bear not giving him any distraction. But here and there, when he was sure he could take a rest for a second, he would think of Zoe.
He couldn’t stop thinking of her, he wanted to think the previous night was not as important as his bear’s behavior implied. It had been a marvelous evening shared between two people who really really liked each other. Only that.
After he was done, he couldn’t stop his mind from going back to her. It was a bad idea, getting attached to her knowing that she would leave, but at least he knew that he belonged in this world, that he wasn’t forsaken to the very idea of having a mate. It gave him peace to know that even if it wasn’t possible to carry on with his desires, there had been someone for him after all.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to make her happy for the few hours they’d be together. He was going to make her forget the horrible experience she’d been through.
The sun was still a few hours away from setting when he reached his cabin.
“Zoe?” he called, then he picked a faint hum coming from the backyard.
He smiled, left his tools on the entrance hall and walked straight there. She was watering some plants with her back to him, looking damn hot in a white summer dress with red flowers on it. She finished watering a pot on the outer edge of his garden, turned around and gasped.
“Damien! How long have you been there?” she said, taking off her small headphones.
“I just got here,” he replied, “I see you’re busy.”
“Well... yes, very busy, some of the plants here needed watering, you see?”
She pointed at a pot to his side, up on the deck. It did look yellowish, about to dry out.
“Thanks, sometimes I forget to do the work here. I don’t really know how often I should water them. Trees and shrubs usually take care of themselves, I’m not the one doing the hard work myself.”
“I see, and this is serious, serious hard work!” she teased him, “but you’re right, it must be hard to remember to take care of delicate flowers when you’re used to, I don’t know, fighting monsters?”
He laughed and walked to her.
“We don’t fight monsters, most of the time.”
“You know I’m just teasing, right? I really admire what you do, keeping watch over the White Paw's forest. Hiking around these parts is hard for me without having to think about an evil rotting place trying to sneak into the world.”
“We’re shifters. It comes with the territory, but it’s much more than that,” he said, touching her hand, “you’re ready for dinner?”
“Yes, sure, you must be starving.”
“I am, but I was thinking on showing you something...”
She narrowed her eyes, “Oh really? I wonder what that could be...”
Damien laughed, “No, I mean, for real, I want to take you somewhere away from here, somewhere no one else gets to see.”
“A picnic?” she said clapping her hands.
“If it doesn’t bother you—”
“I’d love to go on a picnic! The sun’s down and the weather is magnificent!”
“My truck is parked outside, let me go get the food and the cooler.”
“Should I change? Are we hiking?”
“No, you’re good, just don’t bring your bear spray, we don’t want any accidents with that.”
“I don’t know sir, maybe I’ll just bring it in case I have to use it on a certain bear...”
He laughed and spanked her
“You see? You see? Don’t give me any more reasons to use it!” she said laughing.
Seeing her laugh like that made Damien feel like the Grinch at the end of the story: his heart growing many times its size. He’d say he hated it if he didn’t love it.
***
It took Damien around ten minutes to get everything he needed, Zoe told him to bring simple dinner stuff, so they wouldn’t have to worry about preparing anything and could just enjoy themselves.
His pickup truck was a white on blue Ford that looked like a small tank, covered in mud. She had seen it parked with some other ones near the headquarters, but couldn’t say which one belonged to whom.
He put the cooler on the bed, opened the passenger’s door and helped her inside.
They went up and down a small trail, north of the camp. The dirt road had some over growth here and there, a sign that it wasn’t frequently used. After a while, she could see the edge of the forest getting closer and closer to the dirt path, until they reached a small clearing where Damien parked his truck.
She had her hiking boots on, she was sure they looked real silly contrasting with her flowery dress, but she wasn’t going to put on sandals and risk looking good but being unable to walk or do anything useful.
“Here we are,” Damien said, “Come, you’re gonna like this.”
He got out of the truck and put the heavy cooler on his shoulder. He had brought ham, bread, cheese, beers and even a bottle of wine.
“Maverick gave it to me, he told me you might prefer something more refined,” he told her back home. She wasn’t picky at all, but it was a nice gesture, so she only said “sure, thanks”.
The thing was super heavy, she couldn’t lift it at all, but to Damien it seemed to weightless.
They went into the forest, Damien found a small trail beneath the trees. It was a tunnel-like path, the canopy tight above them, sunlight broken in a multitude of rays falling through the branches, its beams coloring the place like a fairy tale.
“Follow me,” Damien said, turning his head to her, a smile on his lips, “you’re gonna love this.”
“This place is incredible already,” she said as they passed beneath two great rocks, leaning on each other. She could hear water, a stream apparently.
Then her jaw dropped.
She saw not a stream, but a waterfall dropping into a lake, surrounded by pines, oaks and a thousand different kinds of trees. Their green, yellow and red leaves reflected on the water’s surface.
The forest danced a serene tune, moving like tall guardians of that secret place. It was indeed magical, like the stories her grandmother used to read to her when she was little.
To her left, the lake gave way to another, smaller waterfall, which turned into a small stream that continued through the mountain into the valley in the distance. Her eyes welled, she never saw such bea
uty, she never thought she would.
“Oh my God,” she finally said, Damien on her side, the sun an hour or two away from fading in the horizon.
“Let’s go,” he said and walked to the edge of the lake, placing the cooler on the ground. He unfolded a picnic blanket, dropped two pillows on it, sat down and took a slow, deep breath.
Zoe was still standing, admiring the place, then looked at him.
“This is the best gift someone has ever given me.”
“What is?”
“Bringing me here, it’s something out of a dream.”
“You are something out of a dream, Zoe,” he replied.
***
Damien made sandwiches, using all kinds of ingredients: whole wheat bread, mayo, mustard, avocados, several slices of ham, white cheese, cheddar cheese, tomatoes and a host of other things. By the time he finished, they looked like advertisements on fast food commercials, only these ones were real.
He wrapped them in a big napkin and gave Zoe hers. She grinned, looking at him.
“What, I missed something?” Damien said.
“No, it’s just that, you really are a romantic, Mr. Black.”
“I know I said romantic dinner but heating up some other food would have been—”
“No dummy! I mean it, I love this, all of it. This is the most romantic date I’ve ever been on, thank you.”
“Really, you like it?”
“I don’t know how anything could be better.”
“I do,” he said, leaned in and kissed her softly on her lips. She closed her eyes, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering wildly. His lips parted from hers and they both stared at each other in silence and started eating.
“How did you find this place?” she finally said.
He looked around, obviously proud of it.
“We’re trail blazers, one of our jobs is to find what’s out here, carve paths so travel is easy.”
“But there are no hikers around.”
“You need paths for all kinds of things. For romantic dinners, for example.”
“Good example,” she giggled.
“And emergencies, in case of a forest fire or just to make sure you have your territory well mapped. We do it, the government needs it, so it’s a win-win situation.”
“I see.”
“You’re the first human to see this place.”
She felt goose bumps.
“None of the other guys have brought—?”
“Nope, it’s just a place we come from time to time, just ours, you know. None of us had ever felt the need to bring anyone here. Not that we bring anyone to the base camp anyway.”
“I’m flattered.”
“Don’t be,” he said smiling, “this place is nothing compared to you. You are the most beautiful, toughest person I’ve ever met, thank you for coming up here with me, I’m the one who’s flattered.”
She couldn’t resist kissing him again, and they held in each other’s arms for a while, kissing and breathing the summer afternoon air.
“Is it cold?” she said in the middle of a kiss.
“Is what cold?”
She looked at him, “the water, we should get in, is it very cold?”
He grinned, she was wild.
“Only one way to find out.”
“That’s it then! Let’s go swimming!” she said standing up.
“Wait, let’s go up there,” he said pointing to the crest of the waterfall.
“You are in-sane! It’s too far!”
“We could watch the sunset from there, best place in all the mountain, it’s not really that far.”
“You told me we wouldn’t be hiking! I’m wearing a dress!”
“I told you, little miss, that you wouldn’t be hiking” he said smugly, “I didn’t say anything about myself.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“What’s the last time you hopped on a bears back to see the sunset?”
She opened her mouth, not believing what she heard.
“Are you saying...?”
He stood up, stripped naked, a sight she was much too happy to see, and instantly turned into the huge grizzly she had seen before.
She hadn’t been as close as she was now. The fur, the smell, the eyes. It was a wild animal, Damien was. His bear was a perfect fit for him, or maybe it was the other way around. The man was a perfect reflection of the bear. It was an astounding sight.
She caressed his fur, held his head in her arms and a ragged breath came from Damien. She understood.
She hopped on top of him, Damien walking slow at first, giving her enough time to settle into the motion, then started going faster and faster until he was running full speed. She had to grab his fur so hard she was afraid she might hurt him. Then she remembered how he could take that Shadow Cat and not get hurt and felt a little better.
Damien went uphill, through a path only he knew. She laid low on his back, not wanting a tree branch hitting her and ruining the date. Before she knew it they were on top of the cliff, the waterfall just a hundred yards ahead.
She got off of him, the whole valley below looking completely different than she imagined. She could see for miles, the twists and turns of the road lost in the forest canopy.
“I told you it was closer than you thought,” she heard Damien say. He had already shifted back without her noticing.
He stood right next to her, completely naked. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have met him. A big, tall, muscle bound, dark haired, blue eyed Adonis. With a rock hard erection, but she tried to play it cool.
She savored every memory that brought her, bit her lip, and tried to focus on the moment, hiding the fact that her thighs were already getting wet.
“Sunset,” he said.
The day was ending, the horizon slowly swallowing an orange sun, a million miles away. The sound of the waterfall was a mellow tune, played just for the both of them.
He stepped close, putting his arm around her, both looking at the picturesque sky.
“Not fair,” she said, “you get to be naked, I get to be naked too.”
He smiled, and she took her dress off, dropping it to the ground. There was nothing beneath it, a little surprise for him.
“Now you’re torturing me,” he said, his hungry eyes looking at her.
“Am I? Oh, I’m really sorry! I didn’t realize...” she said, her teasing smile giving away her feigned innocence.
He lifted her from the ground, kissing her deeply, their mouths open and their tongues wrestling, fondling. Damien’s warm lips took her somewhere else.
She couldn’t wait any longer. Her legs held him at the waist, her body giving away a subtle motion that told everything she wanted. His hands caressing her upper legs, his mouth dancing, tasting her earlobe, her neck, her breast, bringing her higher and higher. Going down to her breast, softly kissing it, biting it, licking it. It was a flood of heat, she was dripping already, the sun finally setting, the full moon shining bright up above, bathing them in its light.
He had this indescribable, mischievous look, and smiled. She couldn’t help but laugh, “What?” she finally said.
“Are you afraid of heights?”
Her eyes widened, her head shaking.
“No, you’re not thinking...”
“Yes.”
“Damien, we could die!”
“No we couldn’t, it’s safe, it’s not that high and the water is deep. Any human could do it, you know it.”
She did, it really wasn’t impossibly high. She only had to keep her feet straight when entering the water.
“Besides, there’s one more thing I want to show you.”
She hesitated, “I don’t know.”
“Okay, if you don’t want to do it, just say so and we’ll go back the same way we came here. I know it can be scary.”
She nodded. He kissed her again softly. He was really okay with it, he didn’t think less of her because of her fear. He didn’t question it or
made any demands, he accepted her. She had to be strong for him. She had to do it right now or she never would. He turned to see her, about to shift back to a bear, then she grabbed her clothes and ran to the edge, his eyes widening in surprise.
“YOLO!” she screamed all the way down until she splashed into the water.
Damien ran to the edge and saw her swimming, looking up at him.
“Zoe!” he yelled, “What gives?”
He was still shocked.
“I’m waiting for you Mister valiant grizzly bear!” she yelled from down below.
And he came out after, diving next her, splashing her in the pure, clean water. She was laughing hard, not able to remember the last time she had this much fun. He came up and swam to her, they embraced and kissed.
“That was amazing,” Damien said
“I had to do it or I was never going to do it.”
He laughed, “oh and by the way... ‘YOLO?’ Really?”
“It’s that phrase girl’s use—”
“Oh I know what it is, it was just so ridiculously bad I had to say it again.”
They kissed again, the light finally dying, her dress soaked in her hand.
“Come,” he said, swimming towards the waterfall, “I have one other thing you have to see.”
Chapter 9
Damien looked back and saw her, completely drenched, hair a mess, her makeup gone. She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. He smiled and swam ahead, passing below the waterfall.
“Damien, where are you—?” he heard Zoe ask.
He was at the edge of the lake, just beneath some rocks. He pushed himself out of the water and entered a small cave. Great, everything was just as he’d left it a few months ago.
“What is this place?” Zoe asked, her head peeking above the rocks, her eyes wide, absorbing everything.
“It’s a little secret,” Damien smiled, “I use this place to get away from everything, or just have a few beers... no one else has seen it.”
She grabbed a small rock, the water pouring down behind her. Damien held her hand and helped her up. In here, the sound of the water hitting the pool filled the air, it was a relaxing white-noise, reverberating in the cave.