"Oh, hey, Mitya! I hope you don't mind if we join you," a tall, weathered-looking man wearing a baseball cap greeted them. "I thought we'd bring the grandkids up here for a picnic."
The newcomer had a short, salt-and-pepper beard. He was wearing mirrored sunglasses, a baseball cap, and a navy-blue Bearpaw Ridge Fire Department T-shirt over cargo shorts. A large insulated bag was slung over one shoulder, and he had a rolled-up beach towel tucked under his other arm.
"Hi Fred; hey, Linda," Dimitri said, as a beautiful black woman entered the enclosure behind Fred.
She had large whiskey-colored eyes, a flawless complexion, and dark hair that she wore in a tight French braid. She was wearing a stylish, wide-brimmed straw hat trimmed in hot pink ribbon, a matching hot pink cotton shirt, and khaki shorts that showed off shapely, muscular legs. "Hi Mitya!"
Linda turned her smile on Damaris. Warmth illuminated her eyes and made her whole being glow with warmth and friendliness. "You must be Mitya's friend Damaris."
Her voice was just as warm as her smile and was tinged with a slight Southern accent.
Wow. Dimitri wasn't kidding when he said news traveled fast around here. But Damaris couldn't help responding with a smile of her own.
"Actually, she's my girlfriend Damaris," Dimitri said with a proud grin as he threw an arm around her shoulders.
He was serious? Oh my God. He wasn't just sweet-talking me to get me into bed? I'm really his girlfriend?
She hadn't really taken him seriously. The thought that this incredible, gorgeous man would want her as his for-real girlfriend floored her.
Damaris was used to guys who would say anything to get into her pants, and so she'd taken their earlier conversation as teasing banter while Dimitri did those fabulously dirty, sexy things to her.
Apparently oblivious to the fact that her world had just turned upside down, Dimitri continued, "And this is Fred Barker—he's one of my fellow volunteer firefighters—and his wife Linda, who is one of the emergency dispatchers. They're also electricians, and they helped to build my house on the ranch."
"I'm really pleased to meet you," Damaris said automatically.
She was still reeling from his casual announcement. Thank God he was holding on to her because she felt like passing out. In a good way.
"Congratulations, Mitya," Linda said, her smile widening. "And welcome to Bearpaw Ridge, Damaris. I'm sure you'll really like it here."
Two kids, a dark-haired boy who looked about ten and a girl with extremely curly light brown hair who looked closer to Sophie's age, burst into the enclosure.
"Grandpa, Jayden said that he smelled a bear and it was going to eat me!" wailed the girl.
She came to a halt as she caught sight of Dimitri, and Damaris saw that her eyes were the same shade of light whiskey-brown as Linda's.
Then the girl whirled on the boy, who was smirking.
"Jayden, you jerk!" she said angrily. "There's no real bears here! It's just Mitya!"
"And I don't usually eat children," Dimitri commented dryly. "But I'm willing to make an exception for Jayden."
The girl put her hands on her hips and glared at Jayden. "See? Mitya's nice. To me."
Jayden rolled his eyes. "Hi, Mitya. Ignore the pest."
"I am not a pest!" protested the girl.
Oh man, these two have to be brother and sister, Damaris thought with amusement.
"And these two little noisemakers are my grandkids, Jayden and Lily," Fred said placidly, giving Damaris a proud smile.
"I have a daughter about Lily's age," Damaris said. "Maybe we could all go out for ice cream or something on another day."
She knew that uprooting Sophie from her life in New York was going to be hard, even if Sophie was currently enamored of the idea of living near ponies and horses and cute baby calves. The least that Damaris could do as a mother was try to introduce Sophie to some potential friends before she started her new school in the fall.
"That would be real nice," Linda said. "There aren't too many girls Lily's age living in Bearpaw Ridge. I'll make sure to tell my daughter Monique to get in touch with you. Are you staying at the ranch?"
"Um—" Damaris began. "I'm at the Riverside Inn—"
"But she'll be moving to the ranch soon," Dimitri interrupted smoothly. "Ash just hired Damaris to work at Grizzly Creek Games. We're in the process of discussing rental arrangements."
His hand squeezed Damaris's shoulder, as if reminding her of his earlier offer.
"Well, the Swansons do have a lot of B&B rooms and cabins on their property. I know because I helped build most of them." Fred cleared his throat and looked around as if slightly embarrassed. "I sure hope we weren't interrupting anything, you two."
"Not at all," Dimitri lied smoothly. "We were finished here and just about to head down to the lake to have our picnic." He gestured at the cooler, which was standing in the shade of one of the changing rooms.
Damaris spotted a bit of brightly colored Lycra fabric from her tankini and felt her face grow hot at the memory of Dimitri ripping it off her.
"Are you sure?" Linda asked, as if she could sense the truth. "I'd hate to think that we drove you away by showing up with kids and the kitchen sink."
"Absolutely sure. I know the perfect picnic spot—that pine grove. There's even a table and benches there."
* * *
An awkward silence fell between Damaris and Dimitri as they began walking back down the trail from the hot springs.
Damaris' head was still whirling at the realization that Dimitri was hers.
A decent, honorable, kind, and extremely hunky man wanted to be her boyfriend. And with that realization came a whole new crop of worries.
Tony's going to kill us both when he finds out. He just might let me walk away if I promise never to tell anyone about my special assignments but not if he knows that I'm involved with Dimitri Medved.
The thought of Tony's possible reaction felt like needles of ice piercing the warm golden afterglow that suffused her entire body.
When they had turned off the trail and were crossing the meadow towards the pine grove at the edge of the lake, Dimitri said, "So, since you're my girlfriend now, you'll be moving into my place, right?"
"Um," Damaris began.
The thought of living with Dimitri was so tempting…but she had Sophie's best interests to consider. And despite the way that Damaris felt about her new boyfriend, she knew that moving in with him so quickly was probably not a good idea.
She still wanted to be near him, though.
"Do you think that Elle might be willing to rent me another place on the ranch?" she asked, hesitantly, not sure how Dimitri would take her question.
Dimitri stopped, and she saw the disappointment in his expression. "But my place would be perfect—"
He stopped speaking abruptly, sniffed the air, and froze.
"Is everything okay?" Damaris asked, looking around.
"Grizzly," Dimitri said, his voice suddenly low and rough. "And he's waiting to ambush us in that grove."
Damaris took an instinctive step backwards, and Dimitri tightened his grip on her hand. "Listen to me. This is important. Don't run, whatever you do. The bear will think you're prey for sure, and I don’t care if you're an Olympic-class athlete, you can't outrun a grizzly."
Her heart pounding, Damaris stared at Dimitri. He looked concerned but calm. That's a good sign, right?
"What should we do?"
"You're going to stay here and not move."
Damaris remembered her gun, concealed in her day-pack under her towel. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"And what are you going to do?" she challenged.
He actually grinned at her, as if this was some kind of insane game rather than a life-or-death situation. "I'm going to make him leave."
"What the hell?" Damaris couldn't believe her ears. "Dimitri, no!"
"Stay. Here," he ordered, removing his boots and stripping off his shirt.
Just like at th
e hot spring, the sight of his bare, dark-haired chest and the six-pack below it made her blink and momentarily lose her train of thought.
His jeans were the next to go, revealing long, muscular legs emerging from a pair of red briefs that left very little to the imagination.
Damaris swallowed hard, distracted by the sight of the very large bulge straining the front of his briefs, and then reality set in.
"Wait—why are you getting naked with a bear running around? What the hell is going on?" Damaris demanded.
I knew there had to be catch with Mr. Perfect. Is he nuts?
"I'll explain later," Dimitri said. "Hold my hat."
He swept his straw cowboy hat off his head and thrust it at her.
Then, contrary to his own advice, he took off running in the direction of the pine grove located a couple of hundred yards away, at the edge of the meadow.
"What the hell, Dimitri? Are you insane?" Damaris shouted after him, terror and anger rushing through her body.
He's going to get himself killed with his frickin' Tarzan act!
Last week, she would have thanked her lucky stars for a perfect accident that wasn't even her fault and would have gotten the hell out of here, followed by a quick flight home to collect her paycheck from Tony.
But she couldn't let anything happen to Dimitri now. He was her boyfriend! And she was more than half in love with him.
Her hands shaking, Damaris unzipped her backpack and dug frantically around inside it, pushing aside the damp towel and bottles of water and sunscreen before her fingers finally touched the cold metal of her Smith & Wesson.
She'd never had to use it in self-defense before, but her second dads Dan and Jim had both been NYPD officers, and they had taught her to use a gun. She still went to the range every Saturday morning to practice.
She checked to see if it was loaded, made sure the safety was on, grabbed Dimitri's jeans where they lay crumpled on the grass, then dashed in the direction that her brand-new boyfriend had gone.
At the edge of the trees, a scrap of red fabric caught her eye. Dimitri's underwear.
A fresh wave of terror swept through her. What the fresh hell is he thinking? Naked bear wrestling? I knew he was too good to be true! He is nuts!
Nutcase or not, it was up her to save them both now.
Then she heard an angry roar come from somewhere nearby, loud enough to make her stop in her tracks as her bones vibrated. It was echoed an instant later by a second, even louder roar.
If that stupid bear even tries to touch a hair on Dimitri's head, I'll blow its stupid face off!
The thought that Dimitri might be in serious trouble gave her feet wings as she ran into the grove.
Please don't let me be too late!
Damaris followed the sounds of roaring and growling. She stopped short when she caught sight of movement just ahead.
Her heart was pounding like a very loud drum as she hid behind the trunk of a pine tree and peeked cautiously around it.
It wasn't just one bear in the small clearing. It was two bears, and they were fighting, lunging and snarling and swiping at each other with huge paws tipped with long, curving black claws. One bear was the medium brown that she thought of as a typical grizzly coloration. The other bear was much darker, nearly black, with blazing golden eyes.
She looked around frantically, but Dimitri was nowhere in sight.
At least he's not lying on the ground, bleeding, she tried to reassure herself.
But the fact remained that he was somewhere nearby, naked and unarmed.
Damaris clutched her gun and tried to figure out what she should do next.
She was pretty sure that shooting either of the terrifying giant monsters battling in front of her would just make it angry. Angrier.
Because both bears were up on their back legs now, roaring and growling at each other with rage-filled intensity and long, sharp-looking teeth.
I've got to get outta here. But Dimitri had warned her not to run, and there was no way in hell she was going to turn her back on two giant angry bears and hope that they would just let her walk away.
Dimitri. God, I hope you're okay.
She stood frozen behind the inadequate shelter of the tree trunk and watched the fight rage.
She'd seen bears fighting in those wildlife programs that Sophie was always watching. But the films had failed to capture the sheer power—and ear-ringing volume—of two grizzlies battling it out, tooth and claw, just feet from where she stood.
Finally, the medium-brown bear turned and began lumbering away, pursued mercilessly by the bigger, darker bear.
Scarcely breathing, Damaris watched as the victor stopped at the edge of the clearing, as if making sure that his rival wasn't coming back. She wondered what she was going to do if it came after her next.
Where the hell is Dimitri? And what the hell was he thinking when he ran off like that?
Then her world fell off its foundations like a house in an earthquake when the huge grizzly stopped and shuddered. She saw its fur ripple and blur, and then it began to change.
Damaris stood rooted to the spot as the huge grizzly's dark fur melted and its body folded in on itself and shrank. Bones moved under skin, and the muzzle shortened on the giant head.
Moments later, the bear had vanished. In its place was a stark-naked Dimitri on his hands and knees, covered with scratches and bruises.
Shock gut-punched Damaris and left her struggling for breath.
No way. No fricking way. I did not just see what I thought I saw!
Dimitri was walking towards her, covered with scratches and bruises, when she stepped out from behind the tree to confront him.
She aimed her gun at him. "What the hell is going on here?"
She hated how her voice cracked on the word "hell."
Dimitri froze. His gray eyes widened in shock and momentary horror.
Then Damaris saw him straighten his magnificent shoulders and force a smile.
"So, there's something I've meaning to tell you," he began. "I was going to wait until we'd been dating for a while, but that bear is a nuisance bear. Someone's been feeding him, and he's lost all fear of ordinary humans. That makes him extremely dangerous—Damaris, you're not really going to shoot me, are you?" he finished as she continued to keep the gun trained on him.
Damaris's hands were shaking, and she was breathing hard. She knew that those two things would ruin her aim for most things, but Dimitri had been approaching her as he talked. And he made a pretty big target.
"Hold it right there," she warned him, trying to steady her grip on her gun. "Don't come any closer until you explain all this."
Chapter 13 – Confession is Good for the Soul
"I don't want you to be afraid of me," Dimitri said, coming to a stop.
With triumph from his recent battle singing through his veins, and his bear riled up and unwilling to settle down, he was having a difficult time projecting calm reassurance when his mate-to-be was clearly terrified and pointing a gun at him.
Oh, and he was naked, too. That was just the cherry on his current shit sundae of a predicament.
"Did I really just see you turn into a bear? Or were there some kind of mind-bending fumes in that hot spring?" Damaris demanded.
With his enhanced senses, Dimitri could hear the wild pounding of her heart, and when the breeze shifted, he could smell her fear, too.
His bear didn't like this change in her. It wanted Dimitri to take her in his arms and reassure her. It didn't understand why she was so upset. It was their job to protect her, and they had just done so successfully.
Hoping against hope that he hadn't just ruined everything with this very special woman, Dimitri decided to tell her the truth. "I'm a shapeshifter. A bear shifter."
Shifters were an open secret in Bearpaw Ridge, but still, there were a lot of Ordinaries who didn’t know and shouldn’t know. If there was one rule that all shifter communities shared, it was never to reveal themselves to an Or
dinary unless it was absolutely necessary.
Some shifters even managed to keep their true natures hidden from their Ordinary mates, but Dimitri couldn't imagine keeping such an essential fact about himself a secret from someone he loved and trusted.
He'd just been waiting for the right time to tell Damaris, that was all.
"You're a…what?" Damaris demanded.
He saw her expression turn thoughtful, though she didn't lower the gun.
"Holy shit," she breathed. She shook her head, disbelief written across her features. "You mean you really did turn into a bear just now? It wasn't some hallucination?"
"Yeah. I can turn into a bear. Let me show you…but don’t shoot me. Please?"
A handgun probably wouldn't kill him, but it would hurt. A lot.
But mostly, he couldn't bear the thought that Damaris might be afraid of him when all he wanted to do was protect her.
Dimitri's bear was still close enough to the surface that shifting this time barely hurt. When his shift was complete, he deliberately sat on his haunches and did his best to look harmless.
"Holy shit," Damaris said again, her tone filled with wonder rather than terror this time. "You turned into a frickin' bear!"
She stared at him for what felt like a long time.
Afraid of scaring her off, Dimitri didn't dare move a muscle under her scrutiny.
Then Damaris lowered her gun and flipped the safety on with her thumb. It was clear that she was comfortable and experienced with handling firearms, and he wondered where she'd learned those skills.
Slowly, she approached him.
It felt like torture as she circled him warily, her gaze hard and assessing as she examined him from nose to paw.
At least the sharp scent of fear was fading from her scent. That had to be a good sign.
She finished her circuit and stood before him. "Dimitri? Is it really you? This isn't some trick? Some kind of special effect?"
He nodded in response and met her gaze.
His heart soared when he saw her reach out cautiously. A moment later, he felt a light, tentative touch on his left ear.
He couldn't help it. He huffed out his pleasure at her touch, and she jumped back as if he'd burned her.
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