Groaning, Dan tore the shirt off his back and threw it Lucy, who caught it with a laugh.
"You sort it," he muttered, thinking that he couldn't come across as any more idiotic. She completely flustered him. It was as though he couldn't think straight when she was around.
Lucy pulled his shirt straight before handing it back to him. “Thanks,” he said, heavily. “Sorry. I must be coming across as such a moron.”
Her smile sent a wave of heat through him. “Not at all. It’s quite endearing, to be honest.”
Standing still, shirt in hand, he studied her for a second or two, trying to work out whether she was being truthful or not.
“I mean it,” she laughed, clearly aware of the disbelieving look on his face. “Seriously.”
Dan finally managed a smile, realizing that she was telling the truth. Thinking about what an idiot he'd made of himself since he'd met her, it was probably just as well she liked it. "Maybe I'll just keep making sure my shirt's on wrong if it's going to get you to look at me like that," he quipped, catching her blush. Pulling his shirt over his head, Dan took his chance. Stepping forward, he caught her in his arms before lowering his head and kissing her soundly.
Chapter Twelve
Lucy was stunned. Dan pulled away after only a second or two of contact, looking down at her. His breath was coming quickly, matching her own. He was waiting for her to respond, to let this - whatever this was - carry on.
It wasn’t a good idea. She didn’t shift, but he did. He wanted her to, but she was determined not to. Was there actually going to be a future for them? Or was this just going to be a passing romance?
Did it matter? Dan’s nearness made her forget about all her concerns. All she could see and feel was Dan, and her desire for him surged through her. Standing on her tiptoes, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
Their kiss was gentle and sweet, as though they’d been waiting for one another for a long time and had finally found each other. Dan didn’t push her or rush her in any way. Instead, he simply settled her against him and continued to kiss her slowly, evidently happy with taking his time. Every single sense came alive at once. One hand rested against the curve of her jaw, tipping her chin just a little, as the other dug into her hair. It felt like time just stopped around them. She forgot everything else. There was only Dan.
Eventually, he was the one who broke their kiss, although he rested his forehead against hers for a moment before smiling into her eyes.
Lucy swallowed, not sure what to say. Her heart was thumping and passion was threading through her veins. Ever since he'd pulled the shirt over his head, she'd not been able to stop her desire from spiralling almost out of control. He probably didn't realize it, but he was incredibly attractive. She'd sucked in a breath on seeing his broad shoulders and solid chest, her fingers almost itching to touch him. She'd tried to hide it, tried to look like she was completely unaffected, but he'd seen the way her cheeks had gone crimson as she'd watched him.
“Sorry, Lucy, I couldn’t resist,” he whispered, his arms still around her waist. “That was quite something.”
She smiled at him, their foreheads still pressed together. “Yes, it was,” she murmured. She couldn’t think of anything else to say, suddenly a little anxious about what this meant.
"Don't start worrying about things now," he said as if he'd read her thoughts. "Just enjoy the moment. We can talk about things later."
He stepped back, dropping his hands from her waist and smiling at her. “So, did you want to walk somewhere or go and get something to eat?”
Lucy grinned, glad that there was no awkwardness between them. “Is there anywhere else to eat except the Chinese takeout place?”
He laughed. "No, not really." His face suddenly became thoughtful. "But Tom and Savannah are out at the lake, and Nick and Jo are at the cabin." His brows lifted inquiringly. "If you like, I'd be happy to make us something back up at the shop. We'd have the place to ourselves, at least."
That sounded wonderful. Just some space and time to be with Dan, without anyone else around. “That would be great.”
“Brilliant.” He held his hand out to her and, after a slight pause, Lucy took it. Her hand slipped into his as though it belonged there. It felt right. Trying not to make a big deal of it, Lucy walked back towards the shop beside Dan, happier than she had been in a long time.
Dan hoped that his homemade pizza, with salad on the side, would impress Lucy. When he’d offered to make some food for them both, he’d had to mentally go through everything he had back at the house, and, thankfully, he’d managed to make his pizza without too much trouble. There wasn’t exactly a lot of toppings, so he hoped she’d like cheese and tomato, with extra cheese and a little bit of ham.
He smiled to himself as he served up the food. Taking a chance and kissing Lucy could have gone either way. She might have stepped back and asked him what the heck he was doing, ruining things between them for good. Dan grinned as he thought of how she’d eventually kissed him back. It had been slow and sweet, just how he liked it.
That didn’t get rid of the on-going issue between them, though. She still wasn’t going to shift, and he still couldn’t imagine being with someone who wouldn’t use that part of themselves. At the same time, Dan didn’t want to stop what they’d started. They had to just find a way through this, somehow.
“Dinner is served,” he grinned, handing her a plate.
“Wow,” she breathed, looking down at her plate before glancing up at him. “Did you make all of this?”
“Yup.” He grinned at her, before sitting down. “Don’t tell me how impressed you are until you taste it, though. It might not be as good as it looks!”
Lucy laughed, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. “Well, whatever it tastes like, thank you for going to such an effort to make this for me.”
Dan lifted his shoulders. “How else would I impress you?”
"I think you've done that already," she murmured, her gaze glancing down his body before she looked away as if only realizing what she'd said.
Dan’s eyebrows rose, going hot all over. Perhaps the whole shirt incident hadn’t been a bad thing, after all. The thought of her hands on his skin made desire course through him and he had to drag his eyes away from her before he did something silly, like throw his pizza to one side and drag her into his arms again.
Swallowing hard, he focused on the pizza on his plate, until his blood cooled.
“So,” he continued, looking at her. “What do you think Dominic’s up to right now?”
She grimaced. “Nothing good.”
He tipped his head. “I don’t want to start asking you something that’s going to make you mad at me, but - ”
“You’re going to ask me about the not-shifting thing, aren’t you?”
Dan couldn’t help but grin. “Yes, I am.”
Lucy sighed, rolling her eyes. “I really don’t want to talk about this, Dan. You’re not going to change my mind.”
He lifted one eyebrow. “Really? Not even if I show you that not all shifters are like your brother?”
She shook her head, filling her mouth with pizza so that she couldn’t answer.
"Then, will you at least talk to me about it?" Dan asked, gently. He could see the hesitation on her face but willed her to say yes. He was growing closer to Lucy, he could tell, but she still wasn't ready to open up to him. If only he could get her to talk, then perhaps he might be able to get her to trust him enough to show him her bear. Dan was pretty sure that once she got back into her bear, she wouldn't be able to stop shifting again so easily. While he waited for her to finish chewing on her pizza and answer him, he thought to himself about everything that they could do together, as bears. Tom and Savannah had their lake, Jo and Nick had their cabin. They would have to find somewhere different, somewhere special. Somewhere for just the two of them. A place they could go whenever they wanted to have some time alone.
“I might,” Luc
y said eventually, making Dan smile. “But not yet.”
He shrugged. That was better than an outright no. “Dominic really didn’t treat you well, did he?”
Anger flared in her eyes. “No, he didn’t.”
Dan chewed slowly, wondering whether or not to ask his next question. “Did he ever hurt you?” he asked, quietly. “Physically, I mean.” It had been a bit of a risky question to ask, but Dan wanted to know. The way Dominic had been treating Lucy the first time they’d met had made him angry enough.
"No," Lucy replied, softly. "No, he didn't. Although," she continued, looking directly at him. "If you hadn't come along when you had that night, I'm not sure whether things would have stayed that way. He probably would have dragged me along with him whether I liked it or not."
Rage flooded Dan’s veins, burning him from the inside in. His bear roared loudly and Dan physically bristled.
“Don’t go and do something stupid,” Lucy said, in a warning tone. “Besides, there’s nothing you can do against Dominic. Not by yourself.”
Dan knew that was true but still he wanted to rip into Dominic for treating Lucy so badly. Reminding himself that this was exactly the kind of behavior Lucy didn't want to see managed to calm him down, his fists slowly uncurling as he looked at her steadily. "I don't like the way Dominic treated you, Lucy," he growled. "He's given you the wrong impression about shifters. We're not all like that."
“I know,” she said, frankly. “You keep telling me that, Dan.” She looked at him for a long moment, with something like indecision in her eyes.
Recognizing that Lucy had a lot to work through, Dan chose to drop the matter. "Listen," he said, softly. "Why don't we talk about something else for a while? I understand that the shifting thing is something of a big deal and there's a lot going on, so, until you're ready, we won't discuss it again."
Her eyes widened slightly. “Really?”
“Sure.” He gave her a slight smile, hoping that she’d trust him enough one day to let him show her exactly what a good shifter looked like.
“What about asking me about Dominic?”
Dan shook his head. “Nope. I won’t ask any more. Not until you’re ready to talk to me about it, if that day ever comes.” He tipped his head slightly, studying her thoughtfully. “I want to respect your boundaries, Lucy. Although, if Dominic does come along, I can’t promise I won’t go for him.”
Shaking her head, Lucy let out a quiet laugh. “Believe it or not, it’s actually quite nice to have someone who wants to defend me. It’s pretty different from what I’m used to.”
Dan tried to smile, despite his bear still roaring and angry inside at the mention of Dominic. “I’ll always be ready to defend you, Lucy,” he muttered, dropping his head and picking up another slice of pizza. He vowed that he would never let Dominic hurt Lucy again, not even if got beaten to a pulp in the process. She had to see that someone was going to stand up for her, even if it was a guy who managed to put his shirt on inside out.
Chapter Thirteen
A few more days passed and Lucy began to grow quite settled with the Alliance. Dan, especially, was spending as much time as he could with her, making sure she was left feeling right at home. Lucy even began to enjoy stripping the old wallpaper off the walls in the office and was able to help Savannah out with the paperwork too, which meant Savannah had more time to go and help Tom with the house.
Lucy had been delighted to hear that Tom was building a house for him and Savannah to share. At the same time, she realized that it would mean only Dan was left here. When Tom and Savannah eventually moved out, there would be a bed going spare. Perhaps she could move in here - not that she had very much to her name. Her cheeks flushed as she thought about sharing a bed with Dan, and what he would look like first thing in the morning.
"Lucy?" Dan came over, and Lucy felt heat rush into her face yet again, wondering if he could tell what she'd been thinking about. To her horror, she saw him give a quick sniff of the air, before grinning at her. Apparently, he was learning how to put his shifter senses to good use, even in his human skin. Her pheromones were telling Dan exactly what she'd been thinking about, even if she wasn't going to say a word about it.
"Hi, Dan," she said, turning around and trying to be casual. It didn't quite work, and she could see the glimmer of laughter in his eyes.
He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, the scruff on his chin tickling her neck. Lucy sucked in a breath, closing her eyes as desire shot heat into her belly. “Thinking about me, were you?” he growled into her ear.
“Something like that,” she admitted, as he pulled away. His grin was spreading across his face even more as she smiled at him, aware that her face was probably bright red. Her eyes flitted to his mouth for a moment, before she turned her head away. What was she doing? Sometimes she couldn’t think straight when he was around, especially when he was so close to her. Everything about him just oozed appeal. Even the way he smelled was….
A sudden frown crossed her face. Her bear was content too. For the first time, it wasn’t trying to push out of her skin, or growling quietly. It was silent. When Dan drew closer, it almost seemed to purr.
“Is something the matter?”
She shook her head, stepping away from him. "No, I - " She didn't like this feeling. Her bear was trying to tell her something about Dan, but Lucy didn't want to listen. She hated that the bear kept on trying to get her attention when it was the very thing she was trying to get rid of, the one thing she didn't want to be a part of her any more.
“Got any plans for this evening?”
Forced to focus back on Dan instead of on her tumbling thoughts, Lucy shook her head, wondering what he had planned.
“Great,” he grinned. “Then I was hoping you’d come out with me for a walk somewhere.”
Lucy frowned again, thinking that perhaps Dan was going to take her somewhere to try and get her to shift.
“And don’t worry,” Dan continued, as though he’d read her thoughts. “I won’t be trying to push that bear out of you, Lucy. I just found a nice place and I want to share it with you. You can talk to me about stuff when you’re ready, remember?”
“Oh,” she replied, immediately feeling guilty that she’d not trusted he’d keep his promise to not talk to her about shifting. “Sure, I’d like that.”
He nudged her. “No need to look so guilty, I forgive you,” he grinned, making her smile. “I’ll bring dinner and Nick’s going to lend me the truck. See you after work.”
“Bye.” Lucy kept her eyes on him as he walked back out of the door, and along past the window towards the actual repair shop. He always managed to make her smile, even when she didn’t want to. It was like she couldn’t be in a bad mood around him.
Jo walked in, giving her a quick smile. “Everything okay?”
Lucy nodded, turning back to the paperwork she was doing for Savannah, who was up at the house build today. “Yeah, fine. Dan and I were just arranging something for after work.”
“Oh.”
Jo didn’t say any more but Lucy could tell she was smiling. Heaving a loud sigh for Jo’s benefit, Lucy quirked one eyebrow when she turned around with an innocent expression on her face.
“What?” Jo asked, spreading her hands.
“I know you’re secretly thrilled Dan and I are spending so much time together,” Lucy replied, barely able to keep a straight face. “He’s a friendly guy, is that so surprising?”
Jo shook her head. “No, not surprising at all, if you’re sure that’s all it is.” She paused for a second or two, her smile spreading. “I don’t think Dan wants just friendship between you two.”
Lucy sighed again, but this time for real. "I know. I like him too."
“So what’s the problem?”
Wondering if Jo would understand, Lucy tried to explain. “He’s a shifter, I’m not.”
“You are,” Jo contradicted, confused.
“I know I am,” Lucy replied. “But what I mean is,
I don’t shift. Dan doesn’t understand that.”
"Mmm." Jo tipped her head, her eyes wandering around the room. Lucy knew she was thinking about what to say and was happy to give her the space to think. Even only after a couple of weeks, she'd really grown to like and respect Jo. She always seemed to know what to say and the others always listened to her.
“Do you know the one thing I find difficult about my relationship with Nick?” Jo asked, eventually.
Lucy shook her head, wondering what on earth it could be. Jo and Nick seemed so strong together, so obviously in love.
"It's that he's a shifter, and I'm not," Jo finished, with a sad smile on her face. "He experiences the world so differently from me and can do things I can't. There's a huge part of his life that I can't share in, and, while it doesn't mean that we love each other any less, it certainly can be hard at times."
“But shifting has it’s bad side,” Lucy replied, suddenly feeling defensive. “I mean, even Nick’s involved in a feud with another pack.”
"Oh yes, I know," Jo agreed, calmly. "But he's never chosen to be a part of that fight, Lucy. That's the difference. Your brother - and Lucas - are shifters who want to fight. It's who they are. They want to dominate and control. Savannah and Dan were a part of that pack, but they left in the end and joined us because they realized how different we are." Her gaze shifted away from Lucy to the corner of the room, her expression almost dreamy. "If the Northern Wind pack weren't here, weren't fighting with us, then this pack would just be about going out in the woods, lazing around and swimming in the lake." The corner of her mouth turned up. "Except I'd be the only human surrounded by a whole pile of bears!"
Lucy saw the slight sadness in Jo’s eyes and immediately felt ridden with guilt. Jo wanted something she couldn’t have, while Lucy wasn’t using her shifting abilities at all. Jo seemed to view them as a gift, as something worth having, while Lucy still couldn’t pull herself away from the idea that being a shifter meant being involved in violence. “I guess if I keep on staying human then you won’t have to worry about being the only human in a pack full of bears,” she replied, trying to lighten the mood.
The Dragon's Charm Page 126