by Sky Winters
Laughing a little, he fell against her. “Wow,” he said. “It’s a wonder what relief can do to a person.”
She kissed Luke, running her fingers through his slightly damp hair. “I hope relieved sex is something we keep having.”
“Well, I think completely relaxed sex is better,” he replied, giving her a wink.
Once he had regained his composure, Luke got off the bed and went into the bathroom to shower. Maggie understood why he did that now. Sex made him sweaty. …And she loved it.
She got out of bed and put her panties and bra back on. Not wanting to dirty her pretty new dress, she placed that in the washing machine and just put on some lavender sweatpants and a tank top that was also new.
It said Chicago Bears. Perhaps she was a bit lame, but it amused her anyway.
When Luke came out of the shower, he went back into the bedroom and got dressed. Maggie was on the couch, filling in the crossword puzzle. He came back out of the bedroom wearing dark jeans and a red T-shirt. He smiled when he saw her there, reclining and no longer tense with worry.
“I’m going to go to the store and get some things for a nursery,” he informed her. “Don’t worry; I’ll avoid blue or pink. I don’t really like those colors anyway.”
She looked up from the newspaper in her lap. “Want me to come with you?”
He shook his head. “Nah, you should stay here and relax. You’ve had an eventful day already. There’s frozen pizza in the fridge if you get hungry. I shouldn’t be gone more than an hour or two.”
“When should I worry?”
Luke thought about that. “If you don’t hear from me in two hours, call my cell.”
She smiled at him. “’Kay.”
He went over to her and gave her a kiss, mussing her short hair a little. He left his house, closing the door and locking it behind him. Maybe he would get more than just nursery things. He was thinking that it might be worthwhile to get some security cameras installed, at least outside of the house where a certain person might be lurking.
It turned out that there was no reason for Maggie to worry. Luke came back from the store about an hour later, carrying several bags. She smiled at him from her place at the breakfast bar, where she was eating a whole frozen pizza by herself. Hey. If I have to gain weight anyway, I might as well enjoy myself.
“That didn’t take long,” she said when her mouth wasn’t full.
He set the bags down and walked over to her, picking up the last slice of pizza and taking a bite.
Maggie cackled a bit. “Rude!” She looked down at the bags. It looked like he’d bought something from every section of the store. “Are you completely building a new room, or…?”
“My spare rooms are pretty sparse,” Luke answered. “I’ve only really inhabited the main floor of this place, but there are three bedrooms upstairs, including another master bedroom.”
She stared at him, surprised but also not really. She knew that his house was way bigger than one man needed. “Why did you build yourself such a big house?”
“I didn’t,” he replied. “My dad did. He wanted me to have a family, so he built me a house made for one. It’s a shame he did not live long enough to see me actually fill it with kids.”
“Aww, I’m sorry,” Maggie said, gently rubbing his arm. “But at least you are—wait, who said anything about kids plural?”
He smiled at her. “I won’t rush you.”
She picked up the pizza slice that he already bit a chunk out of. “You better not,” she said, eating it.
Chuckling, Luke picked up the bags again and headed up the stairs to work on organizing one of the spare rooms for the nursery. He wondered if it would be better for them to sleep upstairs close by, but then realized that they would probably sleep better if they were not directly next to the crying baby.
Maggie looked over at the clock and realized numbly that it was already ten o’clock. “Hey, don’t start hammering and sawing things now,” she called up to him. “We should go to bed if you have work tomorrow.”
He came back down the stairs a few moments later, smirking at her. “I just moved some stuff out of the room. I won’t paint or anything until tomorrow. And I don’t need to hammer or saw anything; the room is perfect.”
“I’ll take your word for it for now,” she said, finishing up the pizza and then standing to put the plate in the dishwasher and clean up the counters. “So should I start work tomorrow or do you expect me to just stay put every day until this baby is out of me?”
She said it jokingly, but she did worry about going stir crazy while Luke was at work. She had worked so hard to be an independent person, and now she had to let him do things for her.
Luke looked at Maggie, considering his options. “You can spend time with Trish if you want. Just make sure you both stay far away from her apartment. She might want to just go ahead and rent a new one.”
Maggie sighed a little. “I wish that I’d never gotten her involved. I should’ve just stayed at my old apartment. I kicked my ex out anyway…” She sighed again. As much as she had wanted to get away from Tony, she would’ve much preferred his continual presence in her life versus Keith’s. At least her ex was annoying and lazy; he would not physically bring harm to her or her friend.
“But I guess if I had stayed there, I might not have found you.” She gazed into Luke’s eyes. Coming over to him, she moved against him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “I’m better off having you in my life. I know that.”
He brought his lips down to hers and they kissed.
It was too late to think about what might and what might not have happened had they never met. It was too late to regret spending a night with Trish. God, had it only been one night? Maggie supposed that all it took was one night before a whole life could change. Look at what was going on in her belly now. That was the real proof.
“Come on,” Luke said. “Let’s go to sleep now.”
He led her to the bedroom and she put on one of his large, button-up shirts. Even though Luke had taken her out shopping, Maggie was not keen to rush into buying a whole bunch of new outfits. Being pregnant meant that her body would be growing and changing. She did not want Luke to buy a bunch of clothes that she would not end up wearing. Sweatpants and tank tops would be the majority of her wardrobe for the time being… and his button-ups to sleep in.
As much as she liked the dress he got her, it had been a frivolous purchase. She decided that she would wear it as often as possible without feeling like a crazy person for doing so. After all, the baby was growing so quickly that Maggie doubted she would have the figure for such a dress for much longer.
Eyes closed and drifting off to sleep, she suddenly was entertained by a thought. Am I going to keep having normal cravings, or am I going to start craving salmon and honey soon?
CHAPTER SIX
Strange Cravings
Trish was all for hanging out with Maggie the following day, while Luke was at work. Despite his wanting them to just stay at his house together, the two friends met up and went into the city. Trish seemed as excited to get out of the house for a while as Maggie was.
“You need to tell me all about everything,” Trish said as soon as Maggie got into the car and shut the door. “How you came to be with this bear guy, who the fuck this dangerous dude is, and how the hell you’re pregnant.”
Maggie laughed. It was all such a long story.
“Also, where do you want to go?” Trish asked. “I just put gas in this puppy, so we can go anywhere as long as it’s fairly local.”
“Let’s do lunch,” Maggie said, making sure to say it in the poshest way possible. “Anywhere. It’s your choice, because I owe you.”
Trish smiled at that and hit the gas, heading north on the highway.
“When you went to work the other day – god, it really was only a few days ago… Anyway, you went to work and I downloaded this stupid dating app for shifters. Tony always hated shifters. And I can�
�t say I whole-heartedly blame him now. When I met up with the werewolf guy, I knew pretty quickly that I’d made a mistake.”
“Was he hot?”
Maggie rolled her eyes slightly. “Yeah, that’s part of the problem. I thought he was hot and it would be fun, but it turned out that he was threatening almost from the get-go. Anyway, when I refused to go home with him, he got really mad and was probably about to start hitting me when Luke stepped in.”
“I need to meet this Luke guy. He sounds like a saint.”
Smiling, Maggie nodded a little. “He is, kind of. He took me to his place in order to keep me safe. He gave me snacks and helped me feel better. And, you know… One thing led to another. He is handsome and gentle. You’d never know that he is a werebear, except that he is massive. I think he might be a grizzly bear.”
Trish’s eyes flashed mischievously. “Now I definitely have to meet him.”
“I never knew you had a thing for bears,” Maggie laughed.
“I didn’t either!”
It felt good to joke around again. Maggie was so tired of worrying and being scared. She wanted to be able to have fun and live again, like a normal person.
Well, a normal person who was dating a man who could turn into a bear.
They arrived at a little diner place that Maggie had never seen before, let alone eaten in. She was impressed with Trish. Her stomach was starting to growl. As she looked down at herself, she noticed that her stomach was really starting to show now. At least the side effects of pregnancy would not last as long, but they were likely to hit her all at once instead of little by little.
“I am craving everything,” Maggie said as she sat down and looked over the menu.
Trish smirked at her. “I can’t blame you. That little bear that you’re carrying must be starving.”
Maggie stuck her tongue out at her, but she was not wrong. At the rate the baby was growing, it was no wonder that she felt hungry just about all of the time now.
They watched the people pass by as they sat at the table on the diner’s sidewalk patio, waiting on their food. “I’m so sorry for getting you involved in all of this,” Maggie said. “I have to tell you, when you did not answer your phone, I was so afraid I had lost you.”
Shaking her head, Trish smiled at her. “Don’t be sorry. And don’t be so dramatic.”
All in all, it felt good to spend some time together. Maggie got Trish caught up with everything and Trish told her how she was doing at her parents’ place. Apparently, they appreciated any excuse to have her stay with them, which both annoyed Trish and made her happy. It was good to have that option.
Suddenly, while they were chatting over their paninis, a motorcycle revved its engine on the street nearby. Maggie looked over and, horror-stricken, realized who the bike belonged to.
Keith stared icily back at her. He made a whole show of revving his engine loudly, then he put on some sunglasses and sped away.
“Shit,” Maggie said. She was so panicked at the sight of him that she had remained completely still and silent while he was there. Now she turned to Trish. “That was Keith.”
Trish suddenly looked a lot more concerned than usual. Her usual joviality was gone and in its place was fear. “Should we go?”
Maggie nodded faintly. “I think so.”
They packaged up the remains of their sandwiches and Maggie paid for their lunch, since it was payback for everything Trish was now dealing with. Add a rush to get back home to the list, she thought gloomily.
Maggie was thankful that she was out with her friend and did not have to drive herself back to Luke’s place. She doubted very much that she would have been able to drive in a straight line, she was so scared of Keith. She did not even know why. He had been bossy and bordering on violent, she supposed, but he hadn’t actually done anything. She supposed that the threat of him maybe doing something was scary enough.
“Thank you,” she said when Trish dropped her off back at Luke’s place. “Now make sure that you drive fast but not crazy fast, and get home safely. Please text me as soon as you get in.”
Trish smiled at her. “Okay, Mom.”
With a slightly nervous but still amused laugh, Maggie closed her car door and rushed back into Luke’s house. As soon as she got inside and made sure the door was closed and locked, she sat on the couch and called him.
Alarmingly, the call went straight to voicemail. She knew that he was probably busy at his job, but she had expected that Luke would answer when she needed him.
“Hi, Luke, it’s Maggie,” she said after the tone. “I’m fine and at home now, but I went out to lunch with Trish, which was probably a stupid idea now, in hindsight. Keith showed up on his motorcycle and looked right at me. I don’t know if he knew that I was there or what, but he looked at me like he wanted to get me… So we rushed back and Trish dropped me off here. She is on her way home now. Please please call me back as soon as you get this. Bye.”
She hung up and set her phone aside, close to her so she could answer it as soon as possible. She glanced out the window and immediately found herself wishing that Luke’s place was not quite so big, with not quite so many windows. Maggie got up from the couch and paced around for a few moments, phone in hand, then she went to the refrigerator and poured herself a tall glass of juice. This stress couldn’t be good for the baby, and it was no picnic for her either.
Finally, her phone started to ring. She answered it halfway into the second ring.
“I just got your call and I’m on my way,” Luke said. “I’m in the car right now.”
“Please be careful,” Maggie implored him. “It wouldn’t be good if you got in an accident now.”
He chuckled softly. “I’ll be careful. Just stay right where you are, don’t open the door for anyone and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She nodded a little before realizing, with a smirk, that that was a wasted gesture. “I love you,” she said faintly.
It just came out of her. She could not take it back, even if she wanted to. Which she didn’t.
The words hung in the air for a moment. Then, just as faintly, Luke replied, “I love you.”
Once their call was ended, Maggie went back to the couch and just hugged her pillow. She did her best to lay low in case there was any chance that Keith had shown up and was watching her through the windows.
She closed her eyes and did her best to focus on breathing and slowing down her heart rate. She needed to relax, even though it was hard. Panicking would only make the next few hours worse.
Suddenly, her phone notified her that she had a new text.
Got home safely. No sign of that guy the whole way back. Hope you’re safe too. Keep me updated. xo
Luke got home about thirty minutes later. He parked his truck in the driveway and came inside the house, letting the door shut behind him. He rushed to the couch and hugged Maggie. She felt much better now that he was home with her.
“I never should have left the house,” she said. “I never should have done it. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said, kissing her and cupping her face in his hands. “You should be allowed to leave the house without some asshole threatening you.”
Just then, there was a bang on the door. Maggie jumped and tears welled up in her eyes. “This is all my fault!” she cried.
“Shh,” Luke cautioned her. “Go into the bedroom and close the door. Now.” He directed her without raising his voice, keeping his eyes on the front door the whole time in case the unknown intruder might barge in at any moment.
Maggie did not argue with him. She got off the couch and dashed down the hallway, closing the bedroom door as soon as she got inside, sitting up against it in an effort to keep it securely closed.
Luke went to the front door. “Who is it?” he called.
“I said I’d be back,” Keith’s familiar voice snarled.
Suddenly, the door slammed open with the weight of his foot against it. Once he had kicked the
door in, the werewolf came into the house, smirking a little at the sight of the broken, useless wood as it now lay in a heap on the floor.
Maggie jumped, making sure to keep leaning against the door so no one could burst in. From the sound of it, however, her weight alone would not be enough to keep out Keith if he really wanted to come in. She looked around, trying to think if there was anything in the bedroom that would serve as a better barricade.
In the blink of an eye, Keith shifted into his werewolf form. Meanwhile, with a low growl, Luke’s eyes flickered from his gentle blue to the golden brown of a bear’s eyes as he shifted into his other – and possibly true – form of a grizzly bear.
There was so much growling and howling going on that Maggie could not help but open the door just a sliver so she could see what was going on. When she noticed that neither man-animal was actually paying the slightest attention to the bedroom door, she opened it a little wider, careful to keep it from squeaking or making any other sound.
Watching them, Maggie held her breath. She was so afraid that Luke was going to lose. He was so much older than Keith. He moved slower because of his size, but his movements were much more powerful. Whenever his swipes made contact with Keith’s small, wolf form, he ended up tossing him practically all the way across the room. She thought that perhaps his massive size would be key in defeating Keith, but she still worried that the swifter, more agile wolf would find some way of tricking or surprising Luke into a grave error.
She bit her lip, wishing that she could somehow join the fight but knowing that Luke would not have that. She needed to protect their baby, and the only way that she would be able to do that was by staying out of the way.
Keith suddenly brought his nose into the air, sniffing. “I can smell the girl,” he barked. “You can’t hide her from me forever.”
That was the challenge that Luke had been waiting for. He leapt at Keith, taking his small canine head into his mouth. Maggie looked away, hearing an unsettling crunch. Thankfully, Keith’s head was not entirely crushed and he was dropped back to the ground. Maggie did not know what she would have actually done if Luke had murdered someone for her sake. She supposed that that sort of thing happened all the time with shifters, but that did not mean that she liked or condoned it herself.