“You do. And you should see enough of me by now to know I feel it too.” He pulled her hand against his chest, just above the steady thrumming of his heartbeat. “You can feel it, right?”
Her cheek rubbed against his shoulder as she nodded. Feeling it was different than hearing it though. Words that heavy came hard for men like Riker.
She wasn’t Merit and she didn’t need his words as an end to some sick game of chase. Their days together would stretch on and on because she was here, willing to work for the bond she knew they could have. And he was here working, too. Those three words could wait and he could offer them when he didn’t feel pressure. They would be more precious that way.
Tilting her face, she kissed his lips. Not suggestively, but just to taste him, to feel that connection with him. The pad of his thumb stroked her cheek and she felt it. He cared so deeply for her it scared him sometimes, and that was more than enough to hold her. Light fingertips brushed her hair, her jaw. They traced her collar bone and revered her body. Nudging a knee between her legs, he seemed content to just be. His kiss was languid, and he explored her mouth with quiet, rhythmic diligence. This was different from the other times he’d made love to her. It wasn’t because he needed her, or that her body was the only thing that could keep his demons at bay. His touch tonight said he just wanted her.
Fire trailed up her hips as he caressed her shirt up toward her ribs, but he didn’t work to remove it. Only to give himself access to her breasts, which felt swollen and wanting. Cupping the weight of one, his lips tickled her neck, warming her against the stiff breeze that drifted in the open window on the storm. Further and further he dipped, until his lips pulled her taut nipple into his mouth, lapping it gently with his tongue. Groaning, she bowed against him but he wasn’t in the hurry that was building in her. By the time he moved to her other breast and gave it fair attention, she was on fire.
“Riker,” she pleaded.
He slid into her slowly. Excruciatingly slowly, and she hooked her leg over his hip, opened further to accept all of him.
His arms hardened around her, pulling her closer and banishing the space between them. Only then did he move, at a sensual pace that made her bite his shoulder against the pleading words caught in her throat. Pulsing release crashed through her, tugging his panted name from her lips.
He eased back, a slow smile on his lips. “One.”
He collected her orgasms like hard earned trophies that night. Cared for her and catered to her until she lay exhausted, and only then did he allow himself to come inside her. Slick warmth spilled from between her legs as he finally pulled away in the early rays of dawn and she infused a smile into the kisses she brushed against his shoulders and lips. She loved him, and he loved her too. Feeling his adoration was more important than hearing it, and she drifted back to sleep happy and satisfied with the home she’d stumbled onto.
****
Alpha meetings were held in a building with two rooms. One was a small office where it seemed Riker spent time between meetings with the six council members who helped to run Bear Valley. The other room was much larger and held a sizable circular table where all of the important clan decisions seemed to be made.
Hannah sat patiently against the wall as Riker discussed issues with the council for the bulk of the morning. Debates were quiet and most of the conclusions swift. Talk of purchasing new solar panels, budget, mineral rights, a sickness that had taken three calves in the last week, harvests, and a hunter who’d wandered onto the property a few days ago.
Riker shot her a glance over his shoulder. Hannah couldn’t tell, because the bottom half of his face was hidden by his shoulder, but she was pretty sure he was smiling at her.
“Give me a minute,” he said to the council members. He pulled a cell phone from his pocket and murmured something against it. Scraps of whispers were all that reached her ears, but forty-five minutes later, Jenny poked her head through the front door and gave Riker a knowing nod. Flicking her fingers, she motioned Hannah to the door.
Standing, she offered a two-fingered wave to the council and squeezed Riker’s shoulder before she followed Jenny out.
“I brought lunch.” A brown sack of fragrant smelling food was clutched in her grasp. “Riker said you need to eat.”
Maybe she hadn’t hid her grumbling stomach as well as she thought. Gratefully, she sat at a picnic table near the meeting house. “I’m starving.”
“That’ll happen. Bears, especially dominant ones, tend to need more physical attention, if you know what I’m saying.” Jenny unloaded Tupperware containers from the sack and set them neatly on the warped wood of the table. “You need to eat at regular intervals to keep up with him. If you’re hungry, let him know. He should be keeping you fed better anyway.”
“I want to work.” The thought had been niggling at her all morning. The pop of a plastic container lid filled the silence.
“I suppose you would. Alpha meetings will get tedious for you. You want me to get you a job assignment with me?”
“What do you do?”
“Work cattle. Sounds lame, but we get to ride four-wheelers and the work is rewarding. The beef provides the main source of protein for the entire clan. It’s important work.”
“I don’t know much about cattle, but that sounds good to me. I’m a quick learner.”
“I’ll ask Shane about it when I go back after lunch. He’s head rancher.”
“What did you do this morning?” Hannah asked, scooping sliced strawberries onto a plate.
“Today is one of my days off, so I went into town with Blaine and ran some errands. Look.” Her nails were painted bright green, and she wiggled them so that the glitter in the polish caught the muted light. Dark clouds still dotted the sky, but enough still got through.
“Pretty.” And the color was so Jenny somehow. Bright, vibrant. Happy. She imagined the black six inch claws of her bear and frowned. “Will the polish stay on if you Change?”
“No, but I don’t have to Change for a while so it’ll hold until they chip and I don’t care about them anymore.” Jenny handed her half of a ham sandwich, and plopped the other half on her own plate.
Studying her own naked fingernails, she wondered if Riker would like color on them. Polish hadn’t graced her fingers since before she’d testified against Stone, which suddenly seemed like a long time ago. She’d detached from the fear over the past few days and something had settled in her. She gave a private smile and sank her teeth into the flavorful sandwich. Crisp lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and flavored mayo made it one of the most delicious bites of food she’d ever taken. That or she was even hungrier than she’d thought.
Spearing a strawberry with her plastic fork, Jenny asked, “What about you. What did you do this morning?”
The memory of Riker’s sensual touches to start out her day flashed across her mind, but she’d keep that little gem to herself. “I met a man named Banks.”
“For breakfast?”
“Yep. He enlightened me on the ins and outs of buying and registering stolen cell phones from crack heads.”
Jenny snorted. “That man is a con artist. He’s also one of Riker’s best friends and they’ve met for breakfast every Tuesday for as long as I can remember. Did he hit on you?”
“Kind of. He called me downright fuckable.”
Jenny brayed a laugh and rocked back in her seat. “Did Riker explode?”
A giggle escaped her at the memory of his seething red face. “No, but it was close. His eye twitched a lot.”
“Banks, that idiot. He must have a death wish. Listen,” she said hurriedly, snatching Hannah’s hand and squeezing it. “I’m glad you guys are okay after last night. I was worried you’d be done after all of that.”
Shaking her head at how big last night had really been, she asked, “Did Blaine tell you what happened?”
“He did. Makes me want to wring Merit’s scrawny little neck. How was Riker afterward?”
“Haunted.”
They both were.
One final squeeze of her fingers and Jenny focused on eating again.
The strawberries made red streaks against the white of the plate as Hannah pushed her food around. “He picked me.” Her whisper was as quiet as the breeze.
Jenny stopped chewing. “He told everyone he picked you?”
The smile that beamed from her face was uncontrollable. “Yes. Right after we left Merit’s house. People had gathered and he announced his choice.”
“I bet Merit shit a pinecone.”
“She didn’t take it well,” Hannah admitted.
Jenny lifted her water bottle. “Fuck ’er.”
Plastic caps thunked as she toasted to that. “Fuck ’er.”
“Fuck who?” Riker asked, sliding into the bench seat beside her.
“Oh, you know who,” Jenny groused.
“Mmm,” he rumbled, pressing a warm kiss against Hannah’s forehead. Just the touch of him, his nearness, brought relief from some tension she hadn’t known she harbored.
His sister waggled her eyebrows. “Congratulations.”
His chuckle was deep and happy and the sound filled her chest until an answering smile burst from her face. Despite last night and its potential to maim and destroy, Riker was back.
“Much appreciated. Never thought I’d be so proud of a mate,” he said with a wink.
Her thigh muscles jumped as he gripped her leg. The bag crinkled as she pulled a plate from its depths and started passing Riker the leftovers. Her mate would finish them off without any trouble.
Jenny squinted at him. “You’ve changed.”
Head canted, he asked, “For better or worse?”
“Better,” Jenny said thickly. “Definitely better.”
Chapter Thirteen
Summer days stretched on and on in the paradise of Bear Valley. Quiet sanctuary clung to this place, filling Hannah with the warmth of safety and the confidence that she’d somehow found the exact place she was meant to be. By the end of the first week, she’d met almost every member of Riker’s clan and was growing to know her place among them.
She’d started work with Jenny taking care of the cattle and had settled into a routine. Riker woke her early in the mornings to spend an extra hour in her arms before he made breakfast while she showered. If it wasn’t Tuesday breakfast with Banks, they dined together in his kitchen. He’d escort her the short walk to the cattle fences, talking easily all the while like they’d known each other their whole lives. His flirty fingers would caress her back and tangle with her hand as he stalled leaving for his alpha duties. And every morning, without fail, he’d always look back at her as he walked away, like he wanted to commit her face to memory before he started his day.
She loved him wholly, without hesitation or reservation. He was everything her life had been missing. Riker gave her purpose. His happiness seeped into her, and she began to hope the curse had been lifted from her life. It had taken the supernatural to make it happen, but as the days drifted by, she began to forget the taint Stone had infused into her past.
Little by little, she found herself again.
Evenings after Riker came home from his alpha duties were devoted to talking and touch. Laughter filled the home, warming it where it had felt cold and lonely before. Dinners were taken with each other, or with Jenny and Blaine, and every night, she fell into bed with Riker, bone deep tired from a hard day’s work. And nightly, he claimed her body, filling her with a satisfaction she hadn’t known existed. She’d never tire of touching him. Her powerful bear, the one so respected by his people, worshipped her body and strengthened their bond with every kiss and every stroke.
She could be happy here with him. For the first time in a long time, she imagined a future.
“What are you staring at?” Jenny asked, swatting her in the butt.
Hannah leaned against the door frame of the barn. “The mountains. I swear I’ll never get over this view.” It always reminded her of how fortunate she was to be here, alive.
“Shane found a calf without a momma and brought her in a little while ago. You want to feed her?”
“Poor baby. Yeah, show me what to do.”
Hannah sank onto a stacked hay bale and watched Jenny mix powdered formula with water in an oversized bottle. Giant nipple in place, she handed it over and led her to the very last stall. The smell of hay and animal filled her senses, and dust drifted in swirling dances as her shoes shuffled against the floor. This was her favorite time of day, when she anticipated going home to Riker. Only half an hour more and she’d be burrowed against him.
The calf was a slight little thing, dark fur crusted with afterbirth the mother hadn’t licked clean. Some of them just didn’t make good mothers. Predators were easily detected by Shane and Jenny, as well as the other two shifters who worked the cattle alongside her. Sometimes the cows just up and left their newborns when their nurturing instincts failed to kick in. Not often, but it happened. At least that’s what Jenny had explained while she was training her.
This shaky baby had been abandoned and Hannah made a pitying clicking sound behind her teeth. Popping the large bottle nipple into its mouth, she knelt beside it as it drank hungrily. “She’ll need to be fed throughout the night, right?”
Jenny leaned against the stall door and rested her chin over her arms. “Yeah, Shane said I could take her home and feed her tonight. She won’t make it until the morning if we don’t give her the extra attention.”
“You have a place to keep her?”
“I can rig up a pen outside, up against the house. That way I’ll hear when she’s hungry.”
“Guess you’re out on fence building then,” Riker said from outside the stall.
Hannah’s heart leapt into her throat and she strained her neck to see him.
Shifting her weight, Jenny turned and huffed a short, humorless laugh. “Why would I want to help with fence building?”
“Because your man volunteered to fix it with me.” Riker appeared behind the stall door and his lightened eyes landed on her. Relief and happiness danced in the gray planes. “That storm last week felled an old tree and it crushed part of the fence on the border of clan property. I thought we could all go out there together and bring dinner along.”
“Well.” Jenny tossed the suckling calf a calculating look. “If I take her to the house now, she should be good for at least a few hours. If Hannah comes, we can get the food gathered quickly and meet you boys out there. Where’s the damaged part?”
“Out by the old well.”
“Hannah, are you game?” Jenny asked.
Of course she was. Hanging out in the woods with her favorite people and the promise of an evening picnic? She pulled the empty bottle from the calf’s mouth and nodded. “You know I am.”
“Good.” Riker bumped his palms against the wooden door and grinned. “Oh,” he said, turning back. “You’re looking hot today, Michaels.”
Hannah giggled and shook her head. Ever since he’d learned her last name, he tried to fit it into some discussion each day. Probably because she still called him Riker over his first name. She liked the playfulness of her last name on his lips though, so she’d never complain. “You’re not looking so bad yourself.”
With a wink and a smoldering smirk that oozed sexy male confidence, he left Hannah to try and find her breath again.
Jenny hoisted the little calf over her shoulders and Hannah carried the bottle and a bag of dry formula as they picked their way down the trails that led to her house. Calf settled in the back of the house, and food gathered in plastic containers, Hannah ticked off plates, plastic ware, napkins, and bottled waters one last time before she hoisted the bag of food and followed Jenny out the front door.
Their laughter echoed through the evening woods, and Jenny swung the folded picnic blanket from side to side while they talked. A trio of men headed back from work at the corn fields waved to them and Hannah called out a greeting. Birds flapped lazily in the branches above
, dry leaves rustled in the wind and everything was right and perfect with the world.
“Today was the best day,” she chirped happily.
Holding a branch away from the trail, Jenny waved her past. “You say that every day. There they are.”
Voices sounded from somewhere in the woods and Hannah followed the deep vibrations of Riker’s laughter. She was honed into it like a bug on a light. A chainsaw revved and Blaine cut at the downed tree while Riker unloaded fencing supplies from a trailer hooked up to an old four wheeler. Work gloves protected his hands, and the muscles in his forearms strained and rippled as he lifted equipment. She couldn’t wait to get him home. To have him draped across her body and gritting out her name.
As if he could hear her thoughts, his eyes lifted to her and a naughty smile played his lips. “Hey, you.” Straightening, he took the bag from her, set it on the seat of the ATV and pulled her in close. The scent of pine and animal and tantalizing male clung to his skin and she darted her tongue out to taste it.
“Careful now,” he growled against her ear. “We’ve got a while yet before I can take you home.”
Work first, play later, and with those sentiments, she helped Jenny and Riker haul the wooden logs Blaine cut from the fallen tree. And when he and Riker set to the task of repairing the fence, she and Jenny spread out the giant blanket they’d brought and organized food onto plates.
With her stomach finally satisfied, Hannah eased her back onto the blanket, rested her head in Riker’s lap as he leaned back on locked elbows.
“If you were a bear,” Riker told Blaine, “you’d be a polar bear.”
“What? I’d be a grizzly. The biggest.”
Hannah laughed. “Riker’s already taken that position, good sir. Besides, polar bears are awesome. Apex predators, camouflaged to match their surroundings? I don’t think he meant to, but Riker just paid you a compliment.”