She waited for his thanks. When he didn’t say anything, she bit off, “You’re welcome,” a bit harsher than she had meant. He flinched under her tone.
“Thanks,” was all he said.
“You’re welcome,” she repeated. “See, that’s how it works.”
He grunted.
“I’m Gina,” she tried for the second time.
He grunted again.
“Now, you tell me your name. That’s how it works.”
“Dean,” he said, and left the room. He flipped the light off on his way out, leaving her in darkness. Petey followed him out.
“Petey!” she hissed. They really were friends now. What the hell was going on here?
Then she followed them out of the storage room.
*
Dean didn’t know what to think. For the longest time, he thought he had everything under control: his life, his bunker, everything in it. He’d effectively dropped off the grid. He hadn’t seen another person, let alone talked to one, in nearly two years. And he had been fine.
Or so he had thought.
Now, he wasn’t so sure.
It wasn’t just that he didn’t want to talk to this woman - Gina, he corrected himself - it wasn’t just that he didn’t want to talk to Gina; it was also that he didn’t know how. His own voice sounded foreign to him. It sounded wrong. Words were hard to come by.
Sure, he had muttered a few What the hell?s Occasionally a Shit! when something went wrong in the bunker. But real sentences? Those had been silent for a long, long time.
If he had it his way, he wouldn’t talk to this woman at all. If he had his way, he would kick her out this instant. Then again, he could. She was in no position to stop him. She had her dog, of course. Petey. He was vicious and had a lot of heart, but in the end, he wouldn’t be able to stop Dean from kicking them out.
It would be the smart thing to do. It would have been what his grandfather would have done, if his grandfather would had risked his life to save hers in the first place. But Dean didn’t think he had it in him to make her leave. Even though he kept himself away from other people, he had a soft spot in his heart for them.
He had vowed that he would never harm another person again, no matter the reasons or consequences. And yet he had already let his rage get the best of him, if only for a few moments, just a few minutes ago.
That was something he would have to work on, and soon. It had been a long time since he’d shifted. It was always there in the back of his mind, that feeling that he should shift, but he refused it. And he’d almost lost control today. He’d have to do better, especially with another person in the bunker.
He heard her following him back into the kitchen, Petey hot on his heels. He wanted her to leave him alone, to go into his room, to go into the bathroom, anywhere – just away from him. He didn’t want to talk to her.
Well, that was a lie. He did want to talk to her. Who wouldn’t? He didn’t know much about her besides her name, but he could tell that she was a strong woman. She would have to be, after all. He had found her medical kit laying in her car, ready for her to use it to stitch herself up. Most people out there couldn’t do that, no matter what the consequences.
So, she was tough. Strong. Determined. He could also tell that she was smart: probably one of the smartest people he’d ever met. She had the foresight to load up a carload of important stuff. Most people would panic and grab their valuables. This woman had grabbed the essentials to survival. In a way, it resonated with him.
She was also beautiful, though he tried his hardest not to focus on that. He hadn’t seen a person for years, let alone seen a woman. He hadn’t been with one, or even talked with one, for even longer than that. Finding her in her car yesterday had been a surprise.
He’d almost frozen up when he had to cut her scrubs off of her body. It felt wrong. But it had been the only way he could be sure she wasn’t hurt any more, and the only way he could patch her up and save her life. Still, he had seen her almost completely naked, and he didn’t like what he was feeling towards her.
He was attracted to her. That was dangerous. He needed to set some ground rules; not for her, but for himself. If he let himself get attached to her, his survival could be at stake.
What should he do?
There was only one choice. Once she was back to full health, he would send her on her
way. He felt horrible thinking about it, but it was what he had to do. She simply couldn’t stay here. It wasn’t safe for him. He stood in front of the cabinet then, rolling the glass on the counter. Could he do it? Kick her out?
He turned and looked at her. Gina was sitting at the table, playing with Petey. There was a smile on her face. She was kind, too, he realized. Too kind. Too trustworthy. She should be scared stiff right now, he thought. Trapped in a fallout bunker with a Shifter who hasn’t talked to anyone in over two years and looks like a mountain man. She should be scared, but she’s not.
He sat down at the table, unsure of what to say. How did these things go, again? Conversation had never been his strong suit, even before his life had turned bad, but now, it was ten times worse. He thought of plenty of words: Sorry. You need to leave. How are you feeling? That dog sure likes you. You’re beautiful. You’re lucky to be alive. I’m dangerous.
But none of them left his lips.
“So how long have you been in here?” she asked. The dog jumped up into her lap and she stroked him behind the ears.
He opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it. How long had it been? Over two years, but how long, exactly? That’s what she wanted to know, right?
“Two years. Two months. And…” he answered. And how many days?
“Two years and two months, huh? That’s a long time. Why have you been in here so long?”
Dean felt a fresh surge of anger rising up in him. How could she ask him that? It was none of her business! He pushed it away. It wasn’t her fault; she couldn’t have known. Still, flushed emotion must have been evident on his face. She looked surprised.
“I don’t want to talk,” he said. About it, he wanted to say. He still wanted to talk, but the words wouldn’t come out. She nodded at him.
“I’m going to go lay down, then,” she said.
I don’t want to talk about it, but we can talk about something else. The thought was intrusive and he wanted to say it so bad, but the words just wouldn’t come out. But she was almost gone and he had to say something.
“Don’t touch anything.”
She shot him a glare and left the room. Petey hesitated for a second, but when she called him, he followed her dutifully out of the room. Dean sat alone, the silence so loud that he pounded his hands on the table to block it out.
*
Gina heard the banging from the hallway. She faltered for a few steps and stopped. Should she go back and try to calm him down? Try to figure out what was going on? She considered it, but then went into the bedroom. She didn’t want to push the man – Dean – any more than she had to.
After all, if she pissed him off enough, he would just kick her out. That was definitely not what she wanted, especially with her strength so low. She would do her best to get along with him, though she wasn’t sure if that would happen any time soon.
Once she was recovered, what would happen, though? Would he let her stick around here? Would she want to? Would she leave willingly? There was just so much she wasn’t sure of.
She could be stuck with worse, though. Yes, he was crass, brutish, and uncivilized. His speech and actions left much to be desired. But he was good looking, as well. If he would cut his unruly hair and thick beard, he would be a very handsome man.
Stop, Gina! Don’t start thinking about that kind of stuff now! She knew she shouldn’t, not right now. Maybe not ever again. Still, it didn’t hurt to look, right?
Gina had no idea what time it was. In the bunker, time was irrelevant. There were no open windows, no clocks, no way to tell what time of day it was outside. No
way to tell what the weather was like. No way to tell if the forest was on fire above them, or bombs had wiped away the face of the earth. In a way, it didn’t matter down here; not right now, anyway. She took comfort in knowing that, for the time being, she was safe.
She lay down on the cot with Petey curled up between her feet, trying to get comfortable. She had a feeling it was going to be a rough night for both of them. Now that her pain was fading away and she didn’t need to rest to heal, Gina noticed all of the downsides of this damn cot. It had been made with efficiency in mind, not comfort. The pillows were hard, and the blanket was itchy wool from some era past.
Still, Gina found herself drifting off, despite everything. As she was dozing off, she saw Dean come into the room and pull a chair up to the table. He leaned back in it, kicked his feet up on the table, and was asleep before she was. It was astonishing to her that he could be so relaxed like that, but soon she too was drifting off into a much-needed sleep.
*
With the major exception of the lessening pain in Gina’s thigh, the next day was much like the one before. Dean wasn’t in the bedroom when she woke up, so she took the time to peel off her pants and examine the wound. It was still tender, but there was no infection and it seemed to be healing nicely. She was thankful. In a few short days, she would need to cut the stitches out, but that was a worry for another time.
As she was sitting there, examining the wound, Dean came into the room and made her jump.. Scrambling to covering herself as best she could with the blanket, she glanced up at him, cheeks blazing, and had to avert her eyes: he had just come from a shower. Water was still dripping down his chiseled chest, and his beard and hair were still soaked through. He had a towel wrapped tightly around his midsection, which left little to the imagination. Gina risked one more quick peek at him as he stood looking down at her.
“There’s towels in the bathroom,” he told her as he moved towards the back of the room, seemingly oblivious to her wide-eyed embarrassment. She couldn’t help but watch him as he reached a cabinet and opened it wide to reveal piles of his clothes. With no trepidation, he dropped the towel to the floor. Gina’s eyes widened even further. If possible, his ass was even more toned than his chest. She knew how he spent his spare time.
Her face on fire, Gina managed to get out of bed. “Come on, Petey,” She said as she quickly left the room, sparing a final glance at Dean’s backside as she went. Outside she leaned against the wall, getting her bearings. Her face was still red hot; she was thankful he hadn’t noticed her reaction to his naked body.
That was something she hadn’t expected to see. With a grin, she realized it wasn’t unwelcome, though. Carefully, together with Petey, Gina made her way down the concrete hallway towards the bathroom. Once inside, she shut the door behind her and eagerly slid the huge deadbolt into place, locking it. She wasn’t afraid of Dean bursting in on her, but the comfort of a locked door was one she hadn’t even realized she’d been missing.
She turned the handles, watching with awe as water sprayed out of the faucet. She turned the hot water to full blast. Within a minute, the bathroom was filled with warm, thick steam. She took her clothes off, rummaged through the cabinets for some soap, shampoo, and bubble bath that she thought she would like, and dove in.
Gina sprayed the bubble bath underneath the faucet, watching the bubbles expand as the water rose up around her battered body and washed away all the aches and pains she hadn’t even noticed were there. Petey sat on the floor beside the tub, content.
“All we need is a little bit of wine, eh Petey?” she asked. He looked up at her, clearly happy and relaxed with his eyes slowly closing. She decided to do the same. She couldn’t be sure how often she would get to take a relaxing bubble bath, but she vowed to take advantage of it every day while it lasted.
Gina turned the faucet off once the tub was full, and lay back in it until the water turned cold. Then she drained it and refilled it, with another squirt of bubble bath. It was luxurious and she never wanted it to end. When the water started to cool a second time, Gina washed her hair and body, rinsed off, and climbed out of the tub.
She drained it and grabbed a towel, taking care to be easy on her sore body. Her head was still tender from where she had hit it and her thigh ached. The rest of her body was a mass of small bruises and tender spots, but that was to be expected after her car wreck.
She wrapped the towel tightly around herself and left the bathroom to go down the hall towards the bedroom. Dean was nowhere to be seen when she reached it, so she closed the door behind her and found a change of clothes. For a few minutes she sat and rebandaged her thigh. Finally dressed and clean, she felt like a new woman.
But now what? You can only take so many baths, she told herself. There were a few books stacked up in the bedroom, but nothing that caught her eye. There were a lot of survival manuals, outdoor reports, and geographical data books that didn’t look interesting to her. Plus, they all appeared to be extremely outdated. Most of them had been published back in the 60s.
Had Dean’s family been in this bunker for that long? That would be ridiculous.
She made her way to the kitchen, where Dean was sitting at the table. He was snacking on another one of those survival meals, and now that she wasn’t starving anymore, she realized just how unappetizing they looked.
“You can have some of my food,” she offered. “It might be better than what you’ve been eating in here.”
A grunt was all she got in return.
Gina threw up her hands and sighed before collapsing in a chair. She couldn’t help it. This man was so frustrating. Typical, really, that out of all of the people in the world, she was stuck in here with this brute of a man who hardly spoke.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Dean,” she said, emphasizing his name. Obviously, her tone came through, because he put down his fork with a look of alarm on his face. He didn’t say anything; didn’t even grunt, so she knew she had gotten through to him. “I didn’t choose to wreck my car down the mountain. I didn’t choose for you to rescue me. I didn’t choose to be stuck in here with you, but I am. We’re in this together, for now. Just humor me for a week and I’ll be out of your hair.”
“No.”
“No? You can’t even be friendly for a week? What is your problem?”
Gina found herself getting back out of the chair. She was leaning forward on the table, arms outstretched, anger evident. This man was unbelievable.
“No,” he said, pausing, as if to find the words.
“No! Fine! Petey and I will leave in the morning. I’m sorry for inconveniencing you,” she said, standing up to storm back to the bedroom. She felt the world spin for a second: all of the exertion had taken its toll on her. One moment she was taking a step, and the next she felt herself falling.
The ground was rushing up at her, and there was nothing she could do. She closed her eyes, bracing for impact – and felt thick, warm arms wrap around her instead. Her eyes fluttered open and she felt herself being lifted up and gently carried. Was that Dean? Everything went black.
*
Dean had scooped her up easily. For a man of his size, he moved fast. He had wanted to tell her that he didn’t particularly want her to leave even when she was better, but once again the words just wouldn’t come out. So all he could tell her was, “No. No. No, no, no.”
And then she had overdone it all and fainted.
He deposited her carefully into the bed. Petey had been by his side the entire time. Although they’d had a rough introduction, Dean thought that on some level, he and Petey respected each other. Petey understood that Dean was looking out for Gina, and Dean understood Petey was doing the same.
MARS (BBW Bear Shifter MC Romance) (MC Bear Mates Book 1) Page 41