by Bianca D’Arc
Georgio grinned. “I like my creature comforts, and we did all the labor ourselves,” he explained. “The guys helped a lot at first. When I got here, I was still kind of messed up physically. I spent a lot of time daydreaming about how I wanted things, and the fellows helped me make it happen.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said oasis,” she said, turning in a circle to take it all in.
“I like greenery,” he said quietly, trying to figure out what she really thought of the indoor tropical garden he’d created around the spacious bathroom.
“This is like a paradise,” she enthused, causing him to release the breath he hadn’t been aware of holding.
“Test the water. Too hot?” he asked, leading her to the large tub that would easily hold them both. The tub was filling, and Georgio knew the water was set at his preferred temperature. “I’ve got it preset, but I can change it if you want it cooler or hotter. What do you think?”
She sat on the side of the tub and waved her hand through the water, smiling at him in a way that made his insides clench. “It’s perfect,” she told him. “Why don’t we get in and let it fill around us?”
Whew. They were still thinking along the same lines. Relief filled him.
“Your wish is my command,” he said, feeling playful, now that the first test was through. She liked the amenities. After they bathed—maybe a long time after—he’d show her the rest of the house, and hopefully, she’d like that as much, if not more.
They climbed into the tub, settling at opposite ends. The faucet was in the center, between them. They lay there, in the warmth for a good long while, just…being.
“This is the life,” she said, her voice sleepy and sexy in the extreme.
“It gets better,” he said, issuing more instructions to the voice recognition system in the bathroom that lit a small fireplace on the opposite wall, which was faced with creamy stone and had a glass recess filled with sparkling rocks from which came the gas-powered flames. He then lowered the lights a bit further and instructed his system to play some soft music in the background.
“Oh, wow. All we need is a glass of fine wine, and I might never leave this room.” She sighed, leaning her head back on the edge of the tub as she sank into the hot water.
“I spent a lot of time in here soaking my leg after we finished building it,” Georgio admitted in a low voice. He touched a button on the side of the tub, and water started flowing around them as small jets in the sides of the tub sprang to life. He touched another button, and the water lit up from below, strobing slowly through various colors on low intensity. “What’s your favorite color?” he asked, hand poised over the controls.
“How about the aqua? I like the way it looks with the glistening white stone walls and the green plants in the background.” She watched as he set the color.
Her eyelids were lowered halfway, her energy reading to him as relaxed and safe. Good. That’s what he wanted to bring to her life. Security and peace, as well as the fiery passion they’d shared moments before. That was the kind of life he wanted—for himself, as well as for her. It was the kind of life he wanted for them, together.
“This is like paradise,” she whispered, her voice dreamy.
“It’s been mine alone, until now,” he told her quietly. “I would share it with you forever, if that’s what you want.” He watched her carefully for any reaction to his words.
Her eyes opened fully, almost glowing as she regarded him. “Are you…?” She cleared her throat and tried again. “Do you think that what’s happening between us is…?”
He couldn’t wait for her to find the right words. He had to take a chance. The time felt right, and his inner bear was clamoring for him to take the leap of faith.
“I think you’re my mate,” he said, the rumble of the bear filling his voice. “I’ve thought it for a while now. The question is, what are you thinking?”
She looked stunned, and he hoped he hadn’t wrecked things with his impatience. The bear waited patiently and watched from behind his eyes as his human half started to worry. Would she reject him now? Would she leave? Would she push him away?
“I think…” She swallowed hard, licking her lips nervously. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
It took him a moment, then he blinked as her words hit home. “Really?” He almost squeaked as his inner bear receded into the background, satisfaction running through his soul. “I mean… I want you to stay, Matilda. Forever.”
“Here?” she asked, looking around the lavish room.
“Well, not right here,” he allowed, chuckling. “We can live in Grizzly Cove, or anywhere, really. I’ll go wherever you want. I just want to be with you. For the rest of our lives.”
“You’d move? For me?” She seemed surprised.
“Of course I would. In a heartbeat.”
“But you’ve obviously put your heart and soul into this house. I wouldn’t want to make you give it up.”
“No sacrifice is too big to make you happy,” he assured her. “You gave me back what I thought lost forever. You gave me hope. I would do anything for you.”
A tear slid out of the corner of her eye. “I wouldn’t make you give up your home.”
Georgio slid around the tub, not caring if water sloshed out. That’s why he’d built the whole room as a wet area, with a drain in the center. If water escaped the tub, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. He sat next to her, trying not to crowd her too much, but wanting to get to the bottom of her tears. It nearly killed him to see her cry.
“I’ll do anything for you, honey. That’s what mates do. I want you to be happy. It’s my driving purpose in life, now.” He reached out to wipe the tear away from her cheek. “Where do you want to live? Tell me, and I’ll make it happen.” He met her gaze. “Do you want to go back to California?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve already decided I’m never going back there. We were abducted from there. I would never feel safe there, again.” She stole his breath when she moved into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder. “I like what I’ve seen of this town, and your home, so far. Give me a little time to take it all in, and we can figure out where we end up later. For now, I just want to be with you. Wherever. Whenever.”
He growled in satisfaction. “I feel the same.” His heart welled with emotion. “I almost can’t believe I actually have a mate. You won’t change your mind, will you?”
She laughed and looked up at him. “I don’t think I could change this no matter how hard I try. It’s for keeps. I can tell.”
“That’s how they all say it feels.” He nodded. “I just wasn’t sure it was the same for lions.”
“Oh, it is. And my inner lion is feeling very possessive of you, so be warned. Other females around you will not be tolerated. Cats like to claw.”
He laughed outright, feeling immense satisfaction. “I like that. And the same goes the other way around.”
“Don’t worry. I’m a one-bear woman. Now and forever.” He heard the wonder in her voice. It echoed the wonder he felt in his own heart.
“I love you, Matilda,” he whispered against her lips, just before he kissed her.
When they came up for air a few minutes later, she smiled that dreamy smile that he was coming to know and love. “Same goes for me,” she told him. “I love you, too, Georgio. My grumbly bear.”
She kissed him, this time, and she didn’t let him go for a good, long while.
They went from the luxurious bathtub to the bedroom, stopping only briefly so he could rub the water off their skin with plush heated towels. Georgio really had thought of everything to make his oasis comfortable. She loved the room already and wondered what other little jewels she’d find in the rest of the house.
After he’d tantalized her by rubbing that soft terrycloth all over her body, he scooped her into his arms again, and carried her through a second door that led out of the huge bathroom and directly into his bedroom. He issued voice commands to turn
off the lights and fireplace on their way out, and a few more to turn the lights and music on low in the spacious bedroom.
The colors were dark and subtle. The bedding was a deep hunter green that made her feel like they were still in the forest. It was a comforting feeling.
Georgio deposited her on the bed, coming down over her with a wide grin on his face. His gaze met hers, and time stood still.
“Say it, again,” he asked after a long moment where all they did was stare into each other’s eyes. She didn’t have to ask what he meant. She understood.
“I love you, Georgio,” she whispered, reaching up to draw his face down, closer to hers. “You’re my mate.”
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear those words,” he admitted, his gaze going tender. “Or to say them.” He cupped her cheek with one hand. “I love you, too.”
She wasn’t sure who jumped who, but a moment later, they were wrestling playfully. She ended up straddling him, a wide grin on both their faces as he gave in.
“I surrender,” he told her. “But only to you, honey. Only ever to you.”
She giggled. “Will you deny it if I tell your friends that I bested the bear?”
“Hell, no,” he told her, still smiling. “The guys with mates will understand, and the single men will just be envious.” He paused, looking up at her, his gaze going tender. “They’ll all wonder how a broken down wreck of a man like me could mate a gorgeous, wicked-smart, Alpha lioness. They’ll all think I’ve gotten away with something here, you know.”
She bent over him so she could look deep into his eyes. “Never. You’re not a wreck, and never have been. I won’t believe it.”
“Oh, honey, you didn’t see me in the days just after my escape. I almost think…” He paused, and she sensed he was trying to find the courage to say something important. She didn’t rush him. “I sometimes think that I maybe walked over the bomb on purpose.”
Chapter Fifteen
Matilda hadn’t expected that. “What makes you say such a thing?” she asked quietly, wanting him to share his deepest secrets with her, as she would with him.
“I was…pretty messed up after my captivity. The torture.” He swallowed hard before continuing. “They didn’t actually break me, but they came really close. I felt so lost when I regained my freedom. As if nothing would ever be right, again.” She stroked his shoulder with one hand, laying her cheek against his other shoulder and just letting him talk. “I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings. I was still fighting an inner battle in my own mind. That’s why everyone thinks I didn’t sniff the explosives until I was on top of them, but I can’t help but wonder, sometimes, if I did it on purpose. Like, maybe I wanted to end it all, and somehow, I knew the bomb was there.”
She didn’t automatically deny his feelings. She knew, from her own experience, that wouldn’t work.
“You really believe that?” she asked him, instead.
He shook his head slightly. “I don’t know. Sometimes, maybe. Most of the time, I accept what the guys told me happened. I don’t remember much. The explosion was…like nothing I can accurately describe. Noise. Light. Pain. Then, oblivion.”
She shivered. “If I were you, I’d believe your friends. They know you, and I seriously doubt they would lie to you. If you’d done it on purpose, I think they’d know, and they would have gotten help for you. Did they do anything like that?”
He paused before answering. “No. Not that kind of help. I mean, I talked to Gus about the captivity, and he really helped. I found out later that he’d sought out special training to treat people specifically with captivity and torture-related trauma. I couldn’t believe he’d done that, just for me.”
“Believe it. He’s a shaman. If he’s anything like the priestesses I’ve known—and I think he probably is—a large part of their calling is to heal. And Gus is a longtime friend. Of course he would do anything in his power to help you. Didn’t you tell me the guys in your military unit were like brothers? That’s what family does.”
“Maybe among cats, but bears are a bit more solitary,” he told her.
“Not your group of bears, remember? I bet the normal rules of behavior don’t apply too much when it comes to the bears of Grizzly Cove.” She reached up and stroked his cheek.
She could feel the tentative smile at the corner of his mouth against her palm, and she knew she’d said the right thing. She just had one last little point to make. Hopefully, that would go over as well as her previous words.
“Don’t you think, if you really had been suicidal, that Gus or any of the other guys would have addressed that with you?” she asked. “I can’t see your brothers-in-arms letting you suffer through something like that without trying to help. After all, Gus helped with the captivity trauma, right? Why wouldn’t he—or any of your friends—try to help if they’d thought you’d blown yourself up on purpose?”
“I thought maybe they were all in denial. Or, maybe, they didn’t realize it,” he whispered. “I can’t be certain how it all happened, now. It’s mixed up with the explosion and everything else.”
“Then, I think you should talk to your friend, Gus, about it. Ask him. I don’t think he’d lie to you. If he thought there was a problem, he’d help you solve it, not brush it under the carpet and never speak of it. He probably has no idea these doubts still plague you, right? Because you’ve never spoken of it with him? Am I right?”
“I’ve never said these things to anyone,” he admitted, making her heart swell.
She had to choke back the emotion that threatened to overwhelm her. “I’m honored you would share this with me,” she told him after a moment.
She hadn’t thought her heart could hold any more love for this man, but at that moment, somehow, she loved him even more. The emotion had snuck up on her, snowballing into something enormous from the moment they’d first met. How it had happened remained a mystery known only to the Goddess, but Matilda trusted the feelings welling in her soul. Feelings for this man who had been through trauma like hers and who understood her better than anyone because of it.
“I love you, Georgio.” She couldn’t say it enough. “And I think, maybe, I’d like to talk to Gus, myself. Maybe he can help me deal with some of the stuff that’s still bothering me from my own experiences.” She thought, maybe, if she talked with the shaman, Georgio might feel better about doing the same thing.
Georgio’s heart was so full at this moment. He didn’t know how he could love his mate any more.
“I know what you’re doing,” he told her, smiling even as the words left his mouth.
She leaned up to meet his gaze, a playful smile on her luscious lips. “Is it working?”
He growled and rolled them on the big bed so that he was over her. “You know I’d do anything for you. You don’t have to coax me or bribe me, though I have to be honest, I am open to sexual persuasion.”
She laughed. “You are, huh?”
He nodded solemnly. “I truly am.”
They spent the rest of the night in Georgio’s enormous bed, making love and sharing bits about their lives and feelings. It was a night of wonder, of exploration and of discovery. Georgio was bowled over by the joy in his heart and the beauty of the woman who was his mate—inside and out. She had a tender soul and a fierce heart. He marveled that they would have the rest of their lives together to learn, live and love.
They slept a few hours at a time, only to wake when Georgio’s phone rang. He’d put it on the charger on his bedside table, at some point, as he always did every night. When he answered it, his voice rough with sleep, John’s chuckle greeted him.
“Thought you’d want to know, we’re going to have company around lunchtime. Sam Kinkaid is flying in with Matilda’s little brother. He suggested a meeting on neutral ground because he wants to meet you but knows enough not to confront you in your den. I thought a luncheon at Zak’s restaurant would work. Eamon wants to see Seamus, again, and Moira wants to see Sam, as well.�
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Georgio’s sleep-deprived brain struggled to catch up. Seamus and Moira were mated, now. Moira was a selkie from Kinkaid’s Clan. Another cousin, he thought, though he wasn’t clear on how they were all related. Seamus had helped Eamon and Matilda escape the menagerie where they’d all been held, and now, the newly-mated couple made their home in Grizzly Cove. At least for the time being.
Seamus was a koala shifter from Australia, and he still had family there. Moira’s people were in Texas, among the Kinkaid Clan. They’d met in Grizzly Cove and had been granted leave to stay so Moira could act as liaison between the cove and Kinkaid. It would also be easier for them to travel from the west coast to Australia when Seamus was ready to go back home and see his family.
Georgio looked at the clock on his bedside table. He was shocked to discover that it was nearly eleven a.m.
“What time?” he rasped out, rubbing one hand through his hair and over his face, hoping to drive away the fatigue that plagued him.
He’d never been this lethargic in his life. Then again, he’d never been mated before and up most of the night making love and sharing secrets with his new mate.
“Noon?” John made the time sound like a question.
“Yeah,” Georgio replied, thinking through what they’d need to do to be ready in an hour.
“I had Urse pick out some clothes for your lady. She left them on your doorstep,” John said, even as Georgio’s jumbled mind thought about the fact that Matilda didn’t really have much in the way of wardrobe.
“Tell your mate, I owe her one,” Georgio told his friend and Alpha with genuine feeling. “Thank you.”
“I figure you all can have lunch and catch up, then we can have a strategy meeting with Sam after, in City Hall,” John went on. “Just be at Zak’s place at noon, okay?”
“Roger that,” Georgio replied automatically.
“Who was that?” Matilda’s sleepy voice came to Georgio from the other side of the wide bed, and he turned to look at her.