by Amelia Jade
Gray hung his head. “I know. But hey, she’s a badass, and if you make fun of me too much, she’ll come take it up with you.”
Kelly grinned savagely at Andrew and tossed him a wink, promising much “destruction” if he tormented her mate.
“Okay, okay. I give!” he said with a laugh. “Now, tell me about these other facts?”
So the two of them filled him in on how Jacen had been a former Institute operative. Also she spoke about the differences in his personality from when he’d been with her, to when they had finished the “job” of impregnating her, to what he’d been like upon arriving at her door the first time.
“He didn’t seem unstable when he came to me either time before. But that was before he knew about Gray as well. So it could have simply been triggered by that perhaps?” she said.
Gray nodded. “I figure he spent months at the hands of Intelligence. Who knows what they did to him while he was there, right? But while in captivity, all he focused on was Kelly and the baby. Builds it up in his own little world. He’ll come to her, reveal himself as alive and after some time to think about it, she’ll welcome him into her life. So he has no reason to lose it. Then I’m there, and he realizes everything is falling apart and isn’t how he imagined it. Boom, his mind just sort of breaks.”
Andrew nodded. “It makes sense.”
Kelly sighed. “So what now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Am I in trouble?” she asked, looking back and forth. “I mean, I killed someone.”
Andrew opened his mouth, but Gray beat him to it. “No, you aren’t in any trouble, my love. You were acting in self-defense of both yourself, and of me. There is no reason for you to be in trouble. Shifter law views these things differently than human.”
“Oh.”
“As ambassador to Cloud Lake, I have final say over all punishment awarded due to harm inflicted upon a shifter. Which is rare for obvious reasons. But the local police won’t want to get involved, and I’m certainly not going to put you in jail or anything after all I’ve heard. You are free to go.”
She nodded. “Where do I go? My place is kind of in shambles.”
Andrew returned her wink. “I’m sure Gray has a suggestion or two on that matter.” He departed without any further fanfare.
“As a matter of fact,” he said slowly, “I do.”
He linked his arm through hers and escorted her up the stairs.
“You live here?” she asked, surprised.
“Um, yes? I’ve thought about buying property in the city, perhaps up by the Koches. But it’s just been me. There was no need for a full-on house.”
“And now?” she asked.
Gray paused. “I dunno, I think living here works.”
He showed her to his room and opened the door upon a fairly standard hotel room. There was a sitting room with television right at the front. A hallway on the left-hand side, created by the bathroom on the right. At the back of the room was the bed, with another TV on the far wall from it.
“Sure. Until the baby is born,” she teased, perfectly accepting of the living accommodations. They didn’t have a kitchen like she did, but the rest of it was much nicer.
“I think we can arrange something,” he joked, and pulled her tight.
They stood there in the room, embracing one another for what felt like eternity. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she thought once more of Jacen and his needless death, and then it was done.
Chapter Thirty
Gray
He finished packing the last of their things, and looked back and forth between the two piles.
On the left were his items. Two suitcases of clothes, and three boxes of miscellaneous items he’d picked up over nearly six months of living in Cloud Lake.
To the right of them, in a mound, was all of Kelly’s…stuff. There was really no better way to describe the nine boxes, three bags, two suitcases, purse and…and…he wasn’t even sure what the other thing was, besides being a bag. A shoulder bag?
“Is something wrong?” Hector asked.
Gray turned to his right and regarded his friend. Then the pile of his mate’s things. Then Hector, and back again.
“I’m sensing that something is,” the other shifter half-laughed.
“She’s been here three weeks,” he complained. “And look at how much stuff she’s already managed to accumulate!”
This time Hector did laugh, not bothering to hold it in. Gray punched him in the shoulder, but it didn’t stop the laughing. Hector reached out a hand to brace himself on the wall as he howled with laughter. Gray stood there, giving him an evil glare, but it still took several minutes for Hector to recover. That’s when Gray hit him with his counter.
“I’m sure Rachel will be glad to know you’re okay with this much stuff.”
Hector’s jaw snapped shut abruptly. “Not funny, man.”
Gray laughed, but the hostility in Hector’s eyes shut him up. “What’s wrong? I thought you were fawning over her like no tomorrow?”
His friend looked away. “I was. Until she stopped responding. I haven’t seen her in days now. Over a week even.”
“Shit, sorry man,” Gray apologized. “I didn’t know.”
“I know, I haven’t told anyone.” Hector sighed. “Sorry I snapped. Not your fault.”
Gray shrugged. That was all that was needed; there was no need for a long conversation about everything. He shouldered Hector and reached down for the bags. Together they carried them downstairs to where the waiting truck sat out behind of the embassy in the loading yard. Gray rarely came out this way, preferring the front doors, but it was convenient now. He’d hoped to be able to avoid using such transportation, but the reality of the matter was, it made sense for him to rent a vehicle for an hour.
“So where’s Kelly at?”
Hector finished putting the last box into the truck as Gray pulled the sliding door closed and ensured it was securely closed. They weren’t going far, but no sense risking it.
“Getting spoiled,” he said. “I sent her to go get her hair cut as well as the nail things girls always like, for her hands and her feet. I forget what the person called them, but Kelly was over the moon about it, so I think I did okay.”
“Nice.”
Gray nodded. “Yeah, they said it should keep her occupied for about three hours. I bought the works, so she’s getting a full shampoo and massage while she preps for her hair, that whole thing.”
His friend whistled. “You weren’t kidding when you said spoiled.”
“Nope, I wasn’t. She’ll come back, and I’ll take her out to show her the new place. It’ll be perfect.”
Hector nodded. They split around the truck and hopped in, both a little nervous. Hector, because he was unused to riding in vehicles, and Gray, because he was unused to driving them. He knew how—he’d taken lessons—but it had still been an…interesting drive to the embassy.
Come to think of it, Hector might have been a little nervous because about that as well. Gray hadn’t crashed them, but there had been a close call or three.
“Don’t worry, I’m going around the town to get there, not through it,” he said as Hector strapped himself in quickly and braced himself.
“That’s a relief.”
He socked him in the arm again for the sarcasm in his reply. Then he fired up the engine and guided the truck out into the streets.
“So she has no idea?”
“None,” Gray said with a grin. “I think. If she does, she’s really, really good at not letting me see that she knows.”
The two of them chuckled and settled back into the drive. Sort of. Gray’s head kept swiveling around, looking everywhere, while Hector tried to be as surreptitious as possible about holding on tightly and not jumping every time Gray tapped the brakes.
***
“Where are we going?”
He grinned, holding her hand as they strolled through the streets. “Your hair looks fabulous, lo
ve.”
Kelly blushed and shook her head slightly, sending the glossy tresses of her brown hair bouncing. “Thank you. I love it.”
The stylists hadn’t done much to it. They’d taken a few inches off, but it had been treated with some product or another that made it straight and shiny. Gray had listened, and even made a credible effort to understand what she was talking about. Unfortunately, the information had fled him at some point. Probably when she’d kissed him, but he couldn’t remember. It was all a blur.
Now though, he was back in command, guiding her through the town as he held her hand, taking her out to show off to everyone, letting everyone know that she was his, and that he was proud to have her.
They were also meandering closer to their final destination, not that Kelly had any idea. This was a secret he’d kept from her, and also managed to get Harden to keep from Erika, so that the two friends couldn’t spill the details. He hoped. Even if they had made their way to her through the various grapevine chain of one of the Koche brothers’ mates, to Erika, to Kelly, she hadn’t made a connection, which was good.
“This is really nice and romantic,” she said, leaning into him and walking with her head resting against him for several paces.
“It’s nice to be able to just spend time with you like this,” he agreed, giving her hand a squeeze.
She squeezed back.
“Thank you for spoiling me today. I mean, you do every day naturally, but you know what I mean.”
He grinned. “You’re welcome, darling. I hope you enjoyed it.”
“I did. It’s been so long since I’ve spoiled myself like that! I wouldn’t have been able to anytime soon either, so I really appreciate you stepping in. I feel so relaxed and happy today.”
They walked along for some time after that, making their way across town. They took frequent breaks, and even got ice cream at one point, a particular favorite of his, and all shifters. The number of ice cream parlors back in Cadia was the highest per capita of any store.
“Where are you taking me?”
He covered his reaction as best he could, looking over at her with a carefully assembled look. “What do you mean?”
Kelly smiled. “I mean, where are you taking me?”
“On a walk.”
She lifted both eyebrows, her face screaming disbelief. “Uh-huh. And this walk has an end destination, does it not?”
Gray put on his best condescending face. “Well of course. I don’t intend for us to walk forever. So of course we’re going to stop at some point.”
The back of Kelly’s hand hit his upper bicep. “No. That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
He laughed. “I know, I know. We’re just about done, then we’ll head home, I promise.”
Kelly eyed him sidelong, but didn’t press the subject, much to his relief. After all, he didn’t want to explain to her ahead of time that “home” was no longer where she remembered it.
They went off the sidewalk and took a manicured path through a little woodlot, emerging on the other side on the road that marked the unofficial northern edge of Cloud Lake. The sun was starting to set in the west, lighting up the Quicksilver Mountain range to the east that separated Cloud Lake from Cadia. The view from this part of town was incredible, the ground sloping slightly upward compared to the center.
“It’s beautiful,” Kelly said softly, stunned by the visage in front of them.
“That it is,” he echoed, but his eyes weren’t fixed on the landscape.
Eventually Kelly noticed him staring at her and she flushed a rosy pink and got up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “You’re sweet.”
He stroked his hand down her cheek, but didn’t respond, enjoying the silence while looking into her eyes. A smile tickled his lips, twitching them upward slowly, but before it could blossom he leaned in and pressed his lips to her forehead, kissing her several times as he hugged her tight.
“Come on.” Gray took her hand and tugged her along. They were extremely close to their destination.
“What? Where are we going? I thought we were going back?”
“I never said that,” he replied, pulling her gently in his wake.
“Yes…yes you did!” she protested. “You said we were going home.”
“I know,” he said cryptically.
Kelly stared at him oddly, and he pulled her off the side of the road and down a roughly hacked path in the forest on the north side of the road.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, resisting his pull some more.
“Exactly where I said I was.”
Almost.
“But you said you were taking me—”
The trees cleared in front of them, and Kelly came to a stumbling halt.
“Home,” he supplied as the words stopped coming out of her mouth.
Before them was a gorgeous two-story home made entirely from huge timbers. Massive trunks formed beams that held up the frame, supplemented by horizontal logs for the walls, all stained a gorgeous dark orangey-brown color. The roof was a uniform black color, contrasting sharply with the design.
Windows and doors had been cut here and there into the frame of the building, turning it into a house instead of a cabin. The front doors were the pièce de résistance however, with their two-story-high glass windows and peaked archway supported by two massive logs that stretched from the ground all the way up to the top, carved into dueling bear motifs on the front.
“But we don’t live here,” Kelly said, her voice tight. “Gray, we don’t live here. We live at the motel. The embassy. We…” she turned to look at him, and her face lit up.
“We live here now,” he said.
“I…Gray…I don’t know what to say. It’s beautiful!”
Behind them the sky turned shades of orange and red as it dipped below the horizon. The light show playing out on the mountains was visible, but neither of them were looking at it. Their attention was only for each other now.
He smiled and took his mate by the hand.
“Come with me. Let me show you our new home, where we’ll start our lives, and our family, together.”
*******
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Big Bad Bear Daddy
A Fated Mate Romance
By Amelia Jade
Big Bad Bear Daddy
Copyright @ 2017 by Amelia Jade
First Electronic Publication: August 2017
Amelia Jade
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.
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Big Bad Bear Daddy
Chapter One
Rachel
Another round of whistles filled the room.
The object of their attention, a young woman with thick legs and a round waist, was slinking up the stairs to the sultry tunes of some classic music she didn’t entirely recognize. The beat was familiar though.
Bamp. Ba-damp. Ba-damp. Bamp.
It repeated itself several times over as she worked her way up to the stage, short gray pleated skirt swaying with her hips. The white button-up that she had on was held in place by a mere three buttons, each of which appeared strained to its breaking point by the contents concealed behind it. The bottom half was tied tightly just below the voluminous curves of her breasts, while the top had been peeled open to give the audience maximum viewing coverage of the ample amounts of skin she had to offer. Stockings pulled up just over her knees, black heels at least six inches high and a pair of ubiquitous pigtails completed the ensemble.
As she reached the stage the crowd went wild with delight, their whistles, cheers, and lusty cries reaching a new fervor. They hooted and hollered, banged on chairs, and some even tried to tell her to get off the stage and just come home with them. The performer was more than up to the task though, shaking off the catcalls and wagging her finger at those who suggested other things, a big bright smile plastered on her face the entire time. Then the music began to play, and she began to dance. The noise quieted for a moment, until she tossed her shirt into the face of a nearby male and with the palm of her hand pushed him back into his chair. The crowd loved it.
And Rachel shouted right along with them, the group of women she was with acting just as loud and obnoxious as some of the men, though without the undertones of seriousness behind them.
“Isn’t this so fun?!” Michelle asked, having to shout to be heard over the music.
Rachel looked over at her friend and smiled. She wouldn’t normally have come to an establishment such at this by choice. But Michelle was having a blast, and her black dress and white sash that was embroidered with the words Bride-To-Be had made her the center of attention. More than one dancer had swung by because of it, giving Michelle a show to the shouts and cries of the gaggle of women surrounding her. There were about nine of them altogether, and they were a fairly noticeable party in the sea of men.