Bear's Kiss (Bear Heat Book 2) (5 page)

“That's when they plan
to strike. To send a message.”

The furrow deepened between
Caleb's brows.

“And now, they'll want
to hunt me down and destroy me,” Prisha sighed and gave a sad
little laugh.

“I'll send my Black
Bears in to scope out your restaurant and your apartment.”

“They might have
wrecked the place already.” Prisha shrugged.

“Maybe...not. That
will draw unwanted attention and set the police on them. They'll
leave your restaurant intact.”

Prisha smiled half-heartedly.
“I...I just hope they'll leave my staff alone. Ray's
bodyguards let Nurin, Ali and Jennifer leave. They didn't hear
anything. They're innocent!”

“I'll send a team to
protect your staff. My Black Bears will watch your staff quietly and
they can keep a lookout for anyone who might be watching them.”

Prisha nodded. “Thank
you.”

Caleb reached over to squeeze
her hand. “Ray Shapez and his goons won't touch you and
yours.” He smiled grimly and flicked his eyes back to the road
ahead.

After making a sharp turn,
Caleb pulled the car to a sudden halt and announced, “Here we
are.”

“Okay.” Wherever
here was.

Prisha gulped and squinted at
the moving shadows. “I don't see anything. Just...trees. Are
we...eh, sleeping in the trees tonight?”

With a low chuckle, Caleb
hopped out of the car and opened the door for her. “You can
say that.”

Prisha got out of the car
warily. They were in the middle of the woods. There was a lake
nearby, but she saw no sight of a house anywhere. No boat, no tent,
nothing.

He had to be joking, right?

She wasn't an outdoorsy
person.

Not in the least.

“Ah, Caleb,” she
began nervously. “I've never climbed a tree before. I don't
think I can...”
Sleep in one!

How was she going to drape
herself around a branch and just snooze? She would probably fall and
break a leg, an arm or her neck.

“There's a first time
for everything,” Caleb said calmly.

Prisha rounded on him, but
the man was grinning insanely at her. “Welcome...to my castle
in the trees!”

CHAPTER
TEN

Caleb led Prisha to the base
of a thick, sturdy tree trunk and pointed. “Look up. There it
is,” he beamed.

She gasped when she saw a
spacious, ultra-modern tree house nestled in the branches between two
humongous trees. “You built that?” she breathed.

“Yep. Ethan helped me.
It took us a whole year.”

“It's amazing!
But...how do we get up there?”

Caleb whipped out a small
remote control from his pocket and pressed a button. There was a
whirring sound and a ladder began to descend from the side of the
house.

“It looks plain and
rustic, but it's equipped with all the necessary security and
communication devices and technology.”

Prisha put her foot on the
ladder tentatively and shot him a questioning look. “Go on,”
he encouraged. “It's perfectly safe.” After a pause, he
added, “I'll catch you if you fall.”

“I won't fall,”
she huffed.

“Well,
if
you
do, I'm here.” It was meant to be a reassuring statement, but
all it earned him was a glare.

She began to climb, and Caleb
followed closely behind her. He kept his eyes on her, but his hungry
bear kept directing his gaze to her ample, fleshy buttocks swinging
and swaying just above him.

At the top of the ladder,
Prisha was staring in speechless wonder at the modern wood-and-glass
structure that had taken him ages to design and perfect.

“This is no tree
house,” she spluttered. “This...is a penthouse!”

Caleb laughed as he retracted
the ladder. He unlocked the door and held it open for her. “Come
on in.”

Once they were in the house,
he swiftly flicked on all the lights and re-activated the security
alarms.

The whole house was bathed in
a warm, buttery glow. Prisha murmured in amazement and appreciation
as she stepped carefully across the hall area, into the modern open
kitchen and towards the large bed that faced a floor-to-ceiling glass
wall. Waking up to a view of a stunning sunrise was one of the
pleasures he relished.

“This is beautiful!”
Prisha exclaimed, pressing her palms to the glass and gazing out at
the peaceful, moonlit lake.

“You...like it here?”

“Yes! It's so
peaceful,” she sighed.

Caleb smiled and went over to
the kitchen. “Let's get you something to eat.”

“I'm not hungry...”

“You still have to
eat.”

She frowned, then came over
and took the pot firmly from him. “Leave this to me. I'm the
chef here,” she said, giving him a playful shove.

Caleb tried to wrestle the
pot back. “You must be tired. Go take a rest and...”

“No. I will cook for
you.”

Caleb put up his hands. He
recognized that note of finality in her voice.

“Okay, okay, but at
least let me help. I've got to make myself useful,” he
grumbled.

“Useful?” Her
eyes widened and she put the pot down. “You saved me, Caleb,”
she said softly, coming up to him. “If not for you, I would be
lying face down in a puddle of my own blood and brain matter right
now. I wouldn't be standing here in your kitchen arguing with you.”

Caleb stared into her dark,
fiery eyes. He saw her strength and will to survive, and her
determination to overcome all her fears. This little human was a
survivor, a fighter. Caleb held her shoulders, wanting to reassure
her and comfort her.

“Prisha...”

She shook her head and
pressed a finger to his lips to silence him. Pushing herself up on
her toes, she kissed him lightly on his stubbled jaw and said, “Shh.
Now tell me what you want to eat.”

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

Caleb's entire body jerked at
her words.
What did he want to eat?

God, there was only one thing
he wanted.

Her.

He wanted to eat her, in the
most decadent, erotic way.

“Prisha,” he
growled, trapping her against his body with his arms.

She blinked up at him, her
hands slowly moving up his chest to his shoulders.

Caleb felt her shiver in his
arms. Her eyelids fluttered and her nails dug into his shoulders as
she clung to him.

“Caleb...” she
stammered. “I...I shouldn't...”

“Shouldn't?” he
growled.

“I shouldn't...want you
so.”

Caleb held her steady as she
fidgeted and fretted. “I...I don't know why I have all these
feelings for you. I've only just met you, but it feels as if I've
known you forever. I trust you, and..I feel for you.” She
shook her head, as though trying to clear it. “I...I've never
wanted anyone like this...”

She took a shuddering breath
and pushed feebly at him, but he refused to let her go. Her head
fell forward to rest on his chest.

“I don't know why I
feel this way,” she whispered. “This is not just a
crush. I've never felt this way before. I'm attracted to you,
but...this is more than just an attraction. I...want you, Caleb.”
There was a plaintive note in her voice, a quiet tremor of confusion
and fear.

Caleb swallowed and ran his
hand gently up and down her back, trying to soothe and assure her.
Even to shifters, the startling recognition of a mate and the intense
pull and possessiveness towards a mate could be overwhelming. Their
beasts could drive them mad with the animal need and instinct to
mate. It took strength of heart and spirit to be a shifter's mate.

Humans could fall in love and
mate with shifters, but only very few humans had an instinctive,
immediate connection with their mates. Prisha recognized him as her
mate, but her rational mind couldn't find an explanation for the pull
of her heart and body. She was trying to fight the attraction,
rationalize it, explain the unexplainable. How do you explain a soul
connection, an intuitive, instinctive tug of the heart?

It was a bond, an emotion and
attraction too powerful to be denied.

She was his mate, his heart,
more precious to him than his own life. He would gladly give his
life to protect her.

Prisha was his. There was no
doubt. She could feel the same deep connection and attraction, but
not being a shifter, she was scared by her own explosive,
uncontrollable feelings. He could feel her overpowering desire for
him, and her fear and bewilderment at her own heightened passion and
lust.

“Prisha,” he said
softly. “I know that you are confused and scared, but your
want and hunger is perfectly natural. What we have between us is
real and eternal. You are...”

She looked mortified and
tried to struggle out of his arms. “I...I'm not that kind of
girl...”

“What kind of girl?”

“I...I don't jump into
bed with strangers...” she babbled.

“I'm not a stranger,”
he gritted out. “I'm your mate!”

“I...what?”

“You are mine, Prisha,”
he said raggedly, his head falling to rest against hers. “My
mate, my life.”

“How…how do you
know?”

“I just do.” He
stroked his thumb across her cheek. “My heart knows. My bear
knows. My body hungers for you. I want and need you. And I care
for you, very deeply.”

She was silent for a long
while. Finally, she lifted her head and gazed deeply, searchingly
into his eyes.

Pressing her palm over his
heart, she whispered, “You feel me here...in your heart?”

“Yes.”

“And you...desire me?”

“Yes, very much. And
the desire will only grow stronger. I will desire you forever.”

Her expression was unreadable
as she touched his face. Finally, she said very quietly, “I am
your mate.”

“Yes. And I am yours,”
he told her, holding her gaze unflinchingly.

Prisha nodded as her eyes
took on a faraway look. “I recall my Nanni telling me about
this.”

“Your grandmother?”

“Yes. Nanni told me
that when I meet my soul mate, I mustn't be afraid.” Prisha
closed her eyes as she breathed in a deep, long breath. “To
have your eyes and heart open suddenly can be shocking and
terrifying. You need courage to see the truth and listen to your
heart. But not everyone is willing or able to do that.”

Prisha looked up at him, her
dark eyes shining with an intense, intelligent light. “Nanni
told me I could choose to sleepwalk through my life. Or I could
choose to open my eyes and follow my heart.”

She smiled. “I didn't
understand what Nanni was talking about then. But I do now.”

Prisha raised her hands to
his face and traced his features with her fingertips. Caleb held
himself still as she ran her hands down his biceps and up to his
neck. There was a look of amazement and joy in her eyes as she
explored his body.

“Mine,” she
whispered with reverence and pride.

Tilting her face up, she said
fiercely, “I don't want to sleepwalk. Not anymore. I won't
shut my eyes and heart to this. To you.”

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Prisha stared up at Caleb's
stern, handsome face and inhaled deeply, loving the strong, masculine
scent of him. She touched his face, his arms, his torso. She almost
couldn't believe that he was hers. Every hard, powerful inch of him
was hers, and hers alone.

There was no denying it. She
could run from the truth, or she could embrace it.

She had been drawn to him
even before she had even seen his face. She could always sense when
he came home. She would be in bed, but once he walked out of the
elevator and headed towards his apartment, she would open her eyes
and breathe a sigh of relief. He was home. He was safe, and she
felt safe knowing that he was just across the corridor from her.
Without even realizing it, she had cared for him long before she knew
his name.

They belonged together. She
wouldn't turn from him, from her destiny. Some people ran from their
own hearts, and they lived to regret it. Her grandmother had
followed her heart, her dream, and lived a full, loving, meaningful
life. She had loved her husband and children well. After her
beloved husband passed away, Shamila went on to pursue her dream of
running her own restaurant in the city. She continued touching lives
and hearts, and she gave her granddaughter a slice of that rainbow by
bequeathing the restaurant to her.

Prisha would live and love
fully, bravely, truthfully, just as her Nanni would want her to.

Prisha held Caleb's face in
both her hands, gazing upon the face of the man who was the other
half of her heart and soul. Her body gravitated towards his, wanting
to be one with him.