Brother Bear Mated (5 page)

Chapter Six

Nastia stood at the opening of the cave waving the last of Renner’s crew off. The sun was merely a tiny orange streamer that seemed like it’d fall behind the mountain any second. They had all worked hard today to make the cave more of a home for her and Thames.

A home for her and Thames. The idea sent her insides warring. She’d be staying here indefinitely. Working so closely with the bear throughout the day made it feel like this place was as much hers as his. And he’d asked her input so many times, maybe he wanted it to be.

She wouldn’t be mad at the idea. The prospect of spending time with the male who intrigued her and gave her the jitters when he was near, made being stuck here seem like a vacation.

And she
was
stuck here.

Even this close to the opening, she could feel Adira’s barrier spell. If she attempted to breach it, she’d be thrown backward hard enough to hit the opposite stone wall. It wasn’t something she wanted to experience. She still remembered what it felt like when she’d tested such a boundary during her training as a child.

Yes, she was stuck here. But rough as it might be, she didn’t despise it. In fact, she felt more comfortable here than she had at her room in the lodge. So much work had been done today she couldn’t believe this was the same cave she awoke in.

They’d built up a frame around the opening and added two wide doors that opened and closed so they met in the middle. Like a kiss. Carefully, she shut them and wandered back into the great room.

The floor was finished all the way to the bathroom. Rough wood planks that Thames said would get a coat of varnish later. Nastia liked them the way they were. Rustic. Earthy. The way her ancestors had lived.

A huge bed was erected in the corner. It looked out of place, haphazardly off to the side, and a pile of folded linens sat atop the bare mattress.

She’d fix it up a little. It was the least she could do. She wasn’t sure if Thames could properly make up a bed, and he was dirty from working anyways.

Nastia looked down at her dusty dress. Come to think of it, she was dirty too.

She stared over at the bear where he crouched in front of the small pot belly stove, loading it with wood. Her eyes moved upward, following the black vent pipe all the way up to the darkness of the cave peak where it curved at an angle and emptied outside.

She rubbed her arms, recognizing the night chill already creeping into the cave.

Thames struck a match on the side of the stove and held it to the brush he’d added, but it didn’t catch. He tried another one, but the fire burned out before it could set ablaze. He frowned deep, his forehead crinkling in concentration as he tried yet another match.

She wondered if she should tell him she could light the fire with a snap of her fingers.

Nastia grinned. He was exactly her type, she realized. A thinker. A try and try again-er. He might even be perfect for her except, a male companion wasn’t in the cards. Not if she wanted to remain light.

Unless…

Unless he was her Anchor.

Hope bloomed in her chest like a miracle.

She’d seen a video one time. Her trusty piece of technology contained an app called YouTube. It played so many videos she couldn’t ever watch them all even if she lived several lives. But this one was a rose blooming in fast forward, transforming from a tight bud to a full and glorious flower. What should have taken weeks was compressed into the span of two minutes and it was… amazing.

Right now, her hope felt like that.

Her smile pulled up even further. Thames would make a wonderful Anchor. He was strong. Stunningly so. And capable. Look what all he’d accomplished in a day. And he was good to the core, she could tell. Kind and… well… okay, he was
sexy
, as the commoners would say.

Very, very sexy.

She tucked her hand into the pocket of her skirt, fingering her new heart shaped rock and her chest fluttered wildly. He found it and presented it to her like a treasure. Like a rogue pirate presenting his maiden with diamonds. And to her, it was equally as special as any of those glittering things. Maybe even more so.

And there
would
be more, he’d said. Which meant he thought fondly of her. If the needy breath-stopping looks he’d given her since the day she arrived at the lodge weren’t proof, this was.

She kept the rock he gave her in her right pocket. The ones she’d found on her own in the left.

One
.

One in the right. Twelve in the left.

“One, two, three, four…” she counted under her breath.

But then… if Thames was her anchor, why did the darkness still sing to her its seductive tune. Why was she still counting and why had she lashed out at her sisters?

Why did everything still seem so dangerous?

Hope crashed like an icy avalanche, tumbling and tumbling until it landed in a heap at the bottom of a steep hill. Another thing she’d seen on YouTube.

Nastia sighed, forcing her heart to be strong and not sad like it felt.

“I can light the fire if you’d like,” she offered, crouching beside him.

Thames arched an eyebrow in a way she was coming to love. A challenge mixed with amusement. “Magic?”

Nastia nodded. “Creating fire is light magic.”

He smirked. “Then yes, little witch. Work your magic. I don’t want you getting cold.”

She felt her cheeks flood with heat. Every time he called her little witch, it felt personal. Like he’d chosen an endearment. A name only he would ever call her, and she liked that very much.

“
Ignis
,” she whispered, flicking her hand at the wood inside the stove. But just like with Thames, nothing happened. Frowning, she tried again. “
Ignis incendere
.” Flame burn. “
Ignis incendere
.”

The tiniest spark of a flame erupted on the wood, but it wouldn’t stay long. She had to make more.

“
Ignis incendere. Ignis incendere
,” she repeated over and over, harnessing as much of her power as she could scrape together, until the fire finally burned bright and hot in the stove.

Relieved, she sat back on her knees, feeling weak.

This was not good. Fire was the easiest of light magicks. For it to be so difficult was a bad sign. She hadn’t struggled that much with a simple flame spell since her training.

“Good job,” Thames murmured, standing and offering his hand to help her up.

She managed a little smile even if inside she was trembling. Was she really losing her light this fast? If so, who would she be in a day’s time? A week’s?

He pulled her to a stand, steadying her with his big hand on her shoulder.

“I uh… was going to fix the bed for you but then I realized how dusty I am and thought better of it.”

Something flashed in his eyes and he squeezed them shut before looking away. His gaze roamed the great room and he murmured, “The entire place is pretty dusty really. The crew cleaned as much as they could but construction leaves a lot of dirt in its wake. Maybe tomorrow we’ll spruce it up in here.”

“I can help you. Together we can get it done in no time.”

He nodded. “Together, huh?”

“Together.”

Reaching over, he used his thumb to brush something from her cheek and his eyes softened. “It looks like you
are
dirty.”

Her sisters brought her clothes and belongings to the cave. If the shower worked, she could bathe.

Thames pulled his hand back, hooking his thumbs in his jean pockets and rocking back on his feet. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he husked. “Come on.”

Turning, he grabbed a lantern off a ledge and stalked toward the small hall that led to the bathroom. But instead of going left, he took a different, smaller tunnel to the right. She’d never ventured this way and it was a tighter squeeze, with Thames needing to turn sideways to fit through in some parts.

“Where are we going?”

“Well,” he mused. “I’m about to show you my favorite part of this place.”

He ducked under a ridge of rock, and she followed because she was curious what made his voice go all whimsical like that. Like a boy on an adventure through the woods.

Thames stopped a few feet into a new cavern. This one was smaller than the one that held the bathroom, and warm. Like she’d stepped through a curtain, humidity coated Nastia’s skin. Her breath felt heavy with it and the earthy scent of the wet rock.

Thames held the lantern high and she could see the source. A six foot wide spring filled a hole in the ground. A wide crevice in the rock that formed a natural made hot tub.

“Wow.” Nastia grinned wide. She knew the warm water on her tired body would feel marvelous. Just the prospect of it made her giddy.

Thames looked back at her, his face highlighted in the halo cast from the lantern. “Care for a bath, little witch?”

“Is it safe?” How deep was it, she wondered, and were there sharp rocks?

Thames hung the lantern from a pointed rock, and started kicking off his boots. “Only one way to find out.” He flashed her a teasing grin before gripping the bottom of his dingy t-shirt and pulling it up over his head.

Nastia pressed her lips together as his broad chest and rippling torso was revealed. He was a fine piece of creation this man-bear. It wasn’t in her nature to lust. She’d been trained against it. But she was finding it hard not to, looking at Thames in the cozy dimness of the lantern light.

She glanced away when his eyes met hers, scrambling for words to break up the silence. But then the rattle of his belt buckle brought her around again. His hands worked the belt until it was undone, and the sight was purely masculine. The single most…
sexiest
thing she’d ever witnessed.

“Wait… uh…”

Those strong hands of his went for the button of his jeans and whatever she was going to say got swept away in a whirlwind of new feelings within her. Nastia couldn’t remember her words. Her mouth was talking but her brain couldn’t back it up.

“Wait…”

Slowly, almost as if he was teasing her, Thames slid his zipper open, each metal tooth taking an entire second to tick open. Nastia watched, unable to help herself. But then he tucked his thumbs behind his waistband and pushed down.

“Wait!” she cried, jerking her gaze away. “What are you doing?”

“Going in,” the bear said easily. “Gonna make sure the water’s fine for you.”

“Okay but…” Nastia could hear the rustling of clothes and knew he was finishing undressing. “Should we… together… in here? I mean, you can bathe and I’ll come back later. To maintain, you know, privacy.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“You don’t?” She peeked back at him but he was already thigh deep in the water, his butt slowly disappearing under the steam that hovered above the spring like a lazy caress.

Nastia gulped. Her bear had a very nice backside. Extremely nice in fact. Goodness, what did his front side look like?

“Nope,” he said, turning to face her and sliding all the way under until the top of the water met his shoulders. “For one, because I don’t give a damn about my privacy. Not with you. And two, because I can close my eyes to maintain yours. If I must,” he added.

Nastia stepped to the edge of the pool. It wasn’t mucky, but there was too much fog and tiny oxygen bubbles to see through the water. And besides it was very dim in the cavern with only the lantern for light.

“I don’t know,” she murmured mostly to herself. She didn’t want to do anything to pull her farther from the light.

“The water’s perfect, Nastia. And I can keep my hands to myself. For now.” His voice went dark on that last part, twisting her stomach in a wonderful way. “Get in. Relax. We accomplished a lot today.”

She stared at Thames, calculating the risk. She believed him when he said he would keep to himself. The real problem was she didn’t know if she wanted him to.

“Alright. I’m getting in. But you…” She eyed him. There was a rascally gleam in his gaze that sent a trill up her spine. “You turn around. I won’t have you peeking at me. Not yet,” she added, imitating his flirty words from before. She wondered if that little clause kinked his stomach up the same as hers.

The corner of his mouth slid up into a sexy smirk. “Smart girl,” he murmured before twisting part way around so his back was half toward her.

“All the way,” she urged.

Thames sighed. “Very smart.”

Nastia grinned to herself. “They don’t call me The Wisest for nothing, you know.”

As she carefully slipped off her shoes and unbuttoned her dress, she caught his soft growl. Whatever it meant, it didn’t scare her.

She trusted the bear.
Her
bear. Now if only she could trust herself.

Chapter Seven

Thames tried to calm the rumble in his throat but it was useless. Yes, he was a patient man. He’d spent many years honing that skill dealing with the mouthy patrons at Cleaver’s bar. But listening to the sounds of his mate undressing while he was unable to watch… no. Bear did not like that one bit. He had half a mind to just defy her request and watch anyway. But she was in charge here even if he wanted to pretend it was him. Neither man nor bear would do anything to hurt Nastia. And that went for her feelings too.

So here he was, stuck staring at the black wall of rock while his female got naked, an unending growl living in his chest. Waiting.

The water rippled gently, lapping sounds reaching him as she stepped in. Closer, closer.

“Stay to the right,” he guided, keeping his gaze on the wall. “To avoid the rocks at the bottom.”

“Got it,” she whispered, and the water moved some more.

She had five seconds to get settled before his bear gave up and turned around.

Four seconds.

Three.

Tw—

“Okay. I’m in.”

Thames swung around to find her covered to her chin, the steam making her mouth barely visible in the mostly dark room. Yeah, he wasn’t getting even a glimpse of his Nastia’s body. But it didn’t matter because he was getting something just as sweet.

Her unbuttoned. Casual. She thought she was retaining her privacy, but she was wrong. He was seeing a side of her no one but her sisters—and maybe not even them—had seen. This was her at ease. Relaxed.

She’d taken her hair down and the long red locks spilled from her crown, settling in a pool around her shoulders. They helped cover what the water couldn’t, which was pretty much nothing. Cheeks flushed from the warmth of the cavern, her mouth slightly parted, she was so damn perfect.

Mine
.

Thames swallowed hard to clear the knot in his throat. He needed to say something. Anything.

“How’s the water?” Dumb. He could do better than that. No matter what Theo said, he had swagger. He opened his mouth to try again, but her eyes fluttered closed on a sigh that ended with a moan.

And that was it, his dick went rock solid ready for her.

“Wonderful,” she said, her voice all breathy.

“I knew you’d like it.” He pulled his gaze away from her. If he didn’t give himself a break, he was afraid his control would snap.

“I think my sisters would frown on this.”

“Why?” he asked, finding her lazy gaze. The water was doing its job, relaxing away the day, and his bear was satisfied.

“Bathing naked with a man so close by? We were taught to remain modest.”

That explained her need to be chin deep. And maybe the long dresses and long sleeves.

“By who?”

“Father Isaac and the tutors. They raised us. Trained us to harness our power. In order to focus, we were to eschew worldly things. Technology, adornments, things that might take our attention from where it needed to be. On our light. They were strict, but they needed to be. Magic is not to be taken lightly. It requires discipline... it’s a great responsibility.”

Thames knew nothing about how her kind was raised. Didn’t even know they existed until the coven arrived at the lodge. But now his interest was piqued.

“What were you taught about mating?”

“Mating?” Her ruby eyebrows drew together. “Like… sex? That’s a very, um, imposing question. It’s personal.” Her tone grew haughty at the end, as if that was all the answer he was getting.

He liked her sass. Liked it a lot.

“It is. And I am curious about that, little witch. Very curious. But I was actually wondering about… well, I guess you might call it marriage instead of mating.”

“Oh! You mean pairing.” She laughed and seemed relieved the conversation had moved away from the physical. “We don’t do that. We have our Anchors and our family. That’s all we need. But Sorcera very rarely find an Anchor. The ones who do, become tutors for the young magic users.”

“Isn’t an Anchor your version of a mate?”

She tipped her head, considering. “An anchor… it’s like… the one thing in the entire world that completes you. It’s light when you’re dark, dark when you’re light. The missing piece that fits so perfectly it takes your breath away. It’s home, when you’ve been a nomad for all your existence.”

Thames’s chest locked up with her wistful words. Because he was feeling all those things about her. Whether he was her Anchor or not, she was his.

“That describes a mate perfectly,” he managed, looking away so she couldn’t see the emotion in his eyes.

“Maybe,” she mused. “But an Anchor doesn’t have to be a person. It can be an object that speaks to a Sorcera’s soul. An animal even. Though some might question that.”

“An animal.” Thames found her gaze again. “Like a bear?”

Nastia froze, mouth agape in surprise. The shock looked strange on her since she was usually so composed. As if his words had doused her with cold water.

But didn’t she feel it, the bond growing between them? His suggestion wasn’t that obnoxious, was it?

Or was it? The Mother Bear’s prophecy was clear. Nastia would have no love for him.

Thames felt his cheeks heat and it had nothing to do with the warmth of the cavern. Damn it. He hadn’t been embarrassed since he was a young and he hated the feeling. It reminded him of all the times he and Theo had been humiliated in front of their clan.

Also, it was a boner deflator extraordinaire.

Roughly he cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence. He stared into the water instead of at her, briefly scrubbing at the grime on his arms until they were clean. Dipping his head under the steamy surface, he scrubbed his face and dragged his fingers through his hair.

Wash it away, all the shame and humiliation. Like back then. It doesn’t belong on you now. You’re good enough. Mate will see
.

Coming up for air, he avoided Nastia’s gaze. He had something to say, and if he was going to get through it, she couldn’t be taking his breath away.

“Mating for shifters is different,” he began. “For the cats—most cats—they claim a mate for offspring but aren’t monogamous. Ouachita is different. They believe in doing what is right for each person involved, so they’d never take another lover unless it was agreed upon. Monogamy by choice. Or not, by choice.”

“That sounds fair.”

“The wolves though, they’re more like the bears. There is one mate, and no other female ever appeals to them. For life. Mated and marked means forever.”

“Forever sounds nice,” she whispered. “If I fell in love, I’d want it to be forever.”

Thames peeked at her, but she was looking at the water too.

“How does a bear know they’ve found their mate?”

“A feeling,” he said, not caring that his voice was wispy thin. “They just
feel
like yours. There’s really no mistaking it, but there’s a ritual for my kind, to prove it.”

Nastia’s forehead creased while her gaze continued drilling into the water. “A ritual. I understand rituals. A Sorcera’s power is harnessed through rituals.”

“Like the counting?”

Her eyes flipped up to him. “Yes. And the rhyming, the challenging, whatever our vice is. But also our spells, our patterns, our celebrations.”

“Like the equinox.”

“Yes. Tell me about your mating ritual.”

Thames took in a deep breath, settling his arms along the ridge of rock behind him. “The bond starts right away. The connection we feel to our mate, it’s instantaneous. But we wait for her to choose us.”

“How does she choose?”

He found her gaze and held it captive, speaking his next words with his heart as much as with his mouth.

“If the female risks herself to protect the male, she has chosen. Found her male worthy enough to take a chance on. He must then prove himself. If he succeeds, there will be a mating and she’ll carry his mark by scent and claw for eternity.”

Her eyes were wide as she took in his words as though she lived and breathed information. Like learning, no matter what it was, was in her blood. He imagined her in a library among stacks of books, one open in her palm as she skimmed a finger across the page, reading faster than she should.

“How… how does a male prove himself?”

“By making his female happy. By bringing her to a safe place, his domain. His cave. And meeting every need, emotional and physical. Protecting her against any enemy. By loving her even before knowing if she will ever love him back.”

He paused in case she had questions, but she was silent. Processing. Making her conclusions. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head and it was sexy as hell.

“You believe love is an action rather than a feeling.”

“I believe it’s something you choose, not something that chooses you.”

“That you love somebody by the way you treat them,” she added. “By the place they hold in your life. Love them by making them important, and as you say, seeing to their needs.”

Thames gave a single nod. “You disagree?”

Nastia thought about it before answering. “I don’t know. Love is not a subject I’ve studied. I’d say I love my sisters. I see to their needs at times and they hold an important place in my life. But what I have for them is also something I feel. A connection.”

“A bond.”

“Yes. A bond. So then what is love? An action or a feeling?”

Thames stared into her eyes. “Both. Love is both.”

Nastia nodded, as if finally getting it.

“If the female didn’t feel something for the male, she’d never take a risk for him. If the male didn’t feel something for the female, he wouldn’t try to make her happy. It’s basic nature, really. Human or animal, commoner or supernatural, we do what we have to in order to be satisfied.”

As brilliant as she was, she was over thinking things. But he could break it down for her.

Leaning forward, he said, “Just like watching me die by cat would leave you unsatisfied, so you struck them down.”

She opened her mouth to answer but nothing came out.

“Like seeing you smile satisfies me so I said yes to the lizard.”

Those wheels inside her head were churning with realizations. His mate was so expressive, he could see every one of them on her beautiful face.

“What are you saying?” she whispered, and the little flicker of hope in her eyes gave him the strength to tell her the rest.

“I’m saying we’re in the mate,” he declared, proudly.

There. It was out in the open, never to be taken back. She’d know his intentions, and that he planned to keep her.

Nastia’s head shook back and forth, her eyes going big and watery.

No. No, no
. Mate is upset.
Make her happy
.

His bear was floundering to fix whatever had brought the tears to her eyes, but in the next breath, they were full to the brim and spilling over her lids like the spring from the rock. Big heavy tears he didn’t understand.

Thames’s chest seized up in panic. What had he done. His female was crying, and it was all his fault.

Damn it. God, damn it.

Pushed too hard
.
Fix it! Fix her
.

“Nastia—”

“That’s not what you’re saying at all,” she said, her voice thick with emotion, her eyes drilling into him like she was going for liquid gold. All the way down to the bottom of his heart. “If your logic about love and your mating ritual is true…”

Thames held his breath, wanting so bad to reach for her, hold her and kiss her tears away. To let her know he didn’t require anything from her she wasn’t ready to give. As much as he wanted to keep her, there would be no mating if she didn’t want him too. He could live with it, he could, somehow, live without her. As long as she was happy. Because seeing her cry was like acid to his soul. He wanted it to stop. Needed it to.

More tears streaked across her cheeks, until he shook with the restraint of keeping his distance like he’d promised.

A strangled sob pushed past her throat, and it snapped his resolve. He couldn’t hold back anymore. Reaching for her, he—

“…then you’re saying…
you love me
.”

—froze. Hands half through the water stretching toward her. Those words had him in a choke hold.
You love me
. Love me, love me...

Did he? Already?

Yeah, he did.

Like he’d told her, loving her before he knew if she’d love him back. An action intertwined indefinably with a feeling. A choice. But he wasn’t ready for those words yet. And neither was she. Those were words he’d save for their claiming.

But why did that make her cry?

Thames swallowed hard, still unable to move while Nastia continue with her ruthless gaze, digging and digging as her tears kept coming. She was digging so deep she’d reach his soul in the next two breaths.