Jade Crew: Captive Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 4) (6 page)

He nodded, knowing that feeling all too well.

“Well, that’s how I feel right now. I made a decision, and it was not only a bad one, but the wrong one. You deserve better than that, and I’d like to make up for it.”

“How do I know this isn’t just some political ploy?” he asked, voicing the real concern he had about her actions just now.

“You don’t. You’ll have to trust me when I say that it isn’t. I may not be the smartest person out there, but I was an idiot and I’m here now telling you I’m willing to learn and admit when I made a mistake.” Her eyes met his and she didn’t shy away, allowing him a long look into the depths of her soul. He held that gaze for as long as he could. It was a place he thought he could never get tired of.

She gave him a lopsided grin as he nodded. “Again, I’m sorry. I’m not perfect. After all, I’m only human.”

He couldn’t help himself. Darren burst out laughing. Big, full-bellied guffaws of laughter. He slapped his hand down on the bar in enjoyment.

“Fair enough Kierra,” he roared. “Come on then!” He hopped off his elevated seat and grabbed her hand. “Get your beer, come on.”

“What? Where are we going?” she asked, confused by his actions but still managing to grab her jacket and glass of beer.

“You want to make up for being mean earlier. So we’re going to have dinner now! Ferro, think you could whip us up a couple of burgers and fries?”

He nodded, heading into the small back area where he kept his grill. There wasn’t much food served at his bar, but he did have a few dishes that he would make on occasion.

“Uh,” Darren said, realizing something. “Is a burger and fries okay with you?” he asked suddenly, realizing he wasn’t sure if she even ate meat.

“Sounds heavenly,” came the response which included a big smile. “No pickles though,” she added belatedly.

“Heathen,” he teased under his breath as he told Ferro about her request.

“Five bucks says you pull off the tomato from yours,” she shot back.

“Pay up,” he told her, neglecting to mention the fact that he may very well have done so until she called him on it.

They seated themselves over in the Jade Crew area, away from the other shifters.

“So, Kierra Valcke,” he said as they relaxed into the comfort of the leather chairs.

“Yes, Darren…I don’t know,” she said awkwardly.

“It’s Shaw,” he informed her politely. “Tell me, what’s your story?”

She blinked. “My what?”

“Your story. Who are you, where are you from, what makes you tick,” he prodded gently.

“Oh, that story.” She paused, gathering her thoughts. He didn’t know if she was going to give him detail or a brief summary, though he hoped the former.

“Well, interesting fact, I’m born and raised here in the Valley. Not many can say that.”

It was true. There were a number of folks who either grew up and then left the Valley, or moved there for job opportunities. It kept constant groups of people coming and going, which meant those that stayed there once they graduated high school were small in number.

“Let’s see. My mom came here before shifters were known to the world, and discovered a man she just couldn’t do without, I guess. They were a hot thing for a while, and I was the result. Apparently he wasn’t happy, and he left. So I was raised an only child by a single mother, who didn’t speak much English. She did her best for me though,” her eyes practically glowed with the love she felt, “but it was still pretty rough.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said meaningfully, reaching out to touch her hand. He meant every bit of it too. For a shifter, family life and a mate were the most important things in life. Loyalty to their mate until they died was paramount, and something that was just ingrained in them. He could never understand how human men could create a child and then just leave.

“He was a shifter.”

“What?” Darren’s eyebrows arched in surprise as he scrambled to secure his glass, having almost dropped it in shock. “You’re a shifter?”

It wasn’t quite what he had meant to say, but if she was a shifter, she had concealed it better than anyone he had ever met before, to the point of it being almost impossible. Shifters could
scent
each other, and there was no trace of it on her. He wouldn’t have believed anyone else who claimed she was of shifter lineage. Only the fact that she had told him to his face convinced him.

On top of that, he also felt almost sick. No shifter should ever do that to a woman. Especially one who had borne his children. Mothers were to be loved and cherished, tended to and praised for raising a shifter’s cubs, human or otherwise.

His bear raged internally, wanting to track the man down and hurt him. Badly. Even though his offspring hadn’t been a shifter, that didn’t mean she wasn’t still his daughter.

The combining of shifter and human DNA was a poorly understood science, though certain patterns were clear. If a male shifter mated with a human woman, the odds of their child being a shifter were near one hundred percent if it was a male offspring, and over three-quarters if it was female. When it came to male humans and female shifters, the waters were a lot murkier, though again the males had a higher chance to inherit the shifter gene. Overall, the odds were against Kierra being human.

She shook her head. “No, purebred human, sorry to break it to you.”

Darren smiled. “Nothing wrong with that in my books. Still, it explains a lot.”

“What do you mean?” she said dangerously, her eyes narrowing.

“The reasons you’re running an anti-shifter platform, and that you don’t ‘get close’ to shifters as you put it yesterday.”

Her expression relaxed. “Oh, that.”

He smiled. “Yeah, that. Look,” his expression became serious, “I’m not out to get you, or to foil your plans or to hurt you. I’m genuinely interested in you, and I feel a solid…something. More than a spark. A draw, an urge. Things that I don’t normally feel for someone. Hell, which I may
never
have felt. I’m sorry if that comes across too strong, but I don’t want to hide anything, or give the wrong impression.”

She stared at him for a long time before responding. The silence stretched, becoming so painful he ached to speak, to say something, but he couldn’t. The next words needed to be hers.

“I understand. Sort of. I know what you mean, even if I can’t understand
why
I’m feeling what I’m feeling. Or even what it is I’m feeling. I just know that I am. Feeling something too, that is,” she amended sheepishly.

“Well, if it’s okay with you,” he said, a grin slowly stretching his cheeks, “I’d like to spend some more time with you to try and find out what it is.”

“I would like that,” she replied softly. “I would like that a lot.”

Kierra

“I think Ferro’s trying to tell us to get out,” she whispered with a giggle, looking over at the bartender.

Those average height and nondescript features of his sure could tell a lot about how he felt, she thought, her attention straying from the man in front of her for just a moment. Like it had all night though, her eyes quickly reconnected with his, looking deep into what resembled pools of liquid mercury.

“You have fascinating eyes,” she told him. Probably not for the first time that evening either. “Such an intricate color to them. I’ve never met anyone with silver eyes before. At least not such a bright shade.”

She enjoyed the way his cheeks dimpled as he reacted to her compliment. He looked like he was going to say something, but instead he just smiled at her once more and then rose, extending his hand to help her to her feet. He didn’t do it because she needed the help, but because he wanted to. That was an aspect of him she had picked up on quickly. He respected her strength, and wasn’t afraid to allow her to make a point, nor did he hold back from arguing a point with her. It had been refreshing that evening to be treated like a full equal, instead of looked down upon.

He respects my mind.

That was hot.

They pulled on their winter clothing, gearing up to head outside. Before she could protest, Darren had snagged her hat and gloves from her hand, tucking them under one shoulder while he grabbed her coat and began to do it up for her.

“Did it ever occur to you that this might be pushing the limits of my personal space?” she told him in a low voice. His face was inches from hers as he pulled the zipper upward despite the height difference between them.

“It did,” he said, his voice ignoring the tension between them with its ease of tone. “But I really wanted to do this, and I figured you would understand.”

The crazy thing was, she
did
understand. “How?”

His eyes flicked up from where he was flipping her hat so it was no longer inside-out. “How what?”

“How did you know I would understand?” she asked, searching his eyes for an answer.

“Because I trust you.”

“How does that apply?” She was thoroughly confused now.

“I trust that you are smart enough to realize I’m not trying to invade your space, and that I simply want to be close to you instead. That if you asked, I would move away, and that I’m well aware you can put on your own gloves and hat.”

“So why do it for me?” she said, acknowledging his points with a nod.

“Two reasons.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she dipped her head for him to put her hat on, and then gave him a look that said “continue.”

“First, because I wanted to see if I liked taking care of you. Which I’ve discovered I do, by the way,” he said with a grin as he slipped a glove on.

“And reason number two?” she asked suspiciously, wondering where he was going as his smile turned into a full-blown grin.

“Well, this one’s a little less professional.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Am I going to hit you for it?”

“Maybe,” he said with a small laugh. “Which is why I’m going to finish putting these gloves on you before I tell you.”

Kierra couldn’t help herself. She laughed, shaking her head at him while he slipped both gloves over her hands.

“Okay mister, out with it,” she said, crossing her arms and watching as he smoothly donned his own gear.

“Well, I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t hope that if you let me dress you today, that one day, you might let me
undress
you.”

The twinkle in his eye took all serious undertones out of the conversation, allowing her to laugh off the sudden influx of knots that invaded her stomach. He wanted to sleep with her.

Part of her reveled in the idea. He was gorgeous. Tall, muscled, polite, intelligent, and the slight exoticness of technically being non-human all combined to form a powerful aphrodisiac that she had a hard time ignoring.

Another part clamped down in fear as his words opened her mind to the reality she had been avoiding all night.

This was exactly how her mother had started off.

Although Stella Valcke had done an amazing job of raising her daughter, and though Kierra held absolutely nothing against her, there was one thing in life she was absolutely not willing to do. There was no way she was going to be responsible for bringing a child into the world that she would have to raise on her own. It wasn’t for her own good. With the example her mother had set, Kierra knew she could do it alone. No, it was for the child’s benefit. She had been robbed of a father in her life, but she would be certain that the same fate would not befall her babies.

Not that she was going to say any of that out loud to Darren. That was something they could talk about in due time. Besides, that didn’t mean she would never sleep with someone until they were married. Although she didn’t engage in casual sex, Kierra was fully aware that it was okay to have needs, and to satisfy those needs. This was the modern world, after all. So perhaps she would sleep with Darren.

But he doesn’t need to know that just yet.

Instead of doubling down on the serious nature of her thoughts, she replied with something as light as his initial remark.

“I’m pretty comfortable in this outfit,” she said slyly. “But if you really want, I think it’s likely my car has an extra layer on it that you could remove.”

His expression sunk with exaggerated sadness as he realized she was telling him to clean off her car from the storm. She giggled at the ridiculousness of his face.

“That’s a snow blow,” he said, shaking his head in defeat as he showed her toward the door.

Kierra coughed as her laughter doubled at his joke. “Wow, that was lame,” she commented.

He just shrugged and smiled broadly, before snagging her arm with his, escorting her toward the doors. They pushed them open together and ducked their heads into the wind as they emerged into the howling winter storm.

The snow had continued to fall, but it appeared to have lessened. The wind had picked up however, and the light fluffy flakes were being heaved back into the air by strong gusts, creating the illusion of more snow. She tugged him in the direction of her SUV, not wanting to shout over the howling wind. As it turned out, there was only a small layer of snow that had had actually stayed on her car. Most of it must have been blown free by the nonstop wind, which was only amplified by the small bowl depression in which Ferro’s bar sat. With the raised road to the east and mountains effectively circling it on the other three compass points, as the wind dipped off the road it spun round and round, creating miniature vortices of snow. She threw her hand over her eyes as one particular creation spun right at them and enveloped them for a few seconds before moving on.

Darren had moved up right beside her, and she felt his hands holding her securely. The fingers of her hand fumbled within her pocket before finding the keys and holding down the remote start button. It would have been a lot smarter of her to do that earlier, but a certain tall and charming figure had kept her mind distracted. It took Darren no more than a minute to clear the vehicle off. She waited outside to thank him instead of taking refuge in the warm interior.

“I had a wonderful time tonight,” he said, his voice cutting through the icy evening air. Plumes of steam formed around his mouth and nostrils as he spoke, the warm air from his lungs mixing with the frigid temperatures of the outdoors.

“Me too,” she said, raising her voice to be heard. “Thank you for giving me another chance.”

“I could say the same thing,” he replied with a grin. She could see the relief hidden in it, and knew that he truly was glad she had come to her senses where he was concerned.

They stood there for a moment, the frozen air and billowing snow completely forgotten. The truth was, Kierra was more excited at what the future held than she likely had ever been. It would be tough trying to juggle her campaign commitments and the sudden attraction she felt for Darren, but she knew that it would be worth it. Without realizing it, she found herself thinking of kissing him.

He was clad in a much lighter outfit than she, more designed to block the wind than help with any sort of heat retention. She had learned quite quickly that he generated far more heat than was necessary. Did that carry through to his lips? Her skin tingled with excitement and her tongue flicked out, ensuring her lips were moist, just in case he did move to kiss her.

A hand came up to caress her exposed chin, and she shivered from the warmth of his touch. Her bottom lip curled up as she bit on it gently.
This is it
, she thought.
He’s going to kiss me, right here, right now
. Her breathing came swifter as the moment lingered on.

He looked at her, and still he didn’t move, his hand cupping her cheek as she leaned into his palm.

At some point—Kierra still wasn’t sure when—the urge to be kissed was replaced by a sudden rush of overwhelming desire to kiss
him
. Throwing caution to the wind, she reached her still-gloved hands up to his face, and pulled him roughly—for her, she doubted it was more than a light touch to Darren—down to her level, where she was able to press her lips firmly to his.

Their lips parted and reconnected and opened and found each other once more with a frenzy that belied the calm of the rest of their bodies. They stood rooted to the ground, interested only in each other, in that small circle that encompassed their heads. The rest of the world didn’t matter, though she did take solace in the fire his lips burned into hers, banishing the cold from her thoughts.

“Wow,” she said in a cloud of quickly frozen breath as they finally parted.

“I agree,” he said, his wide eyes looking as stunned as she felt.

There were kisses and then there were
kisses.
That had definitely been the latter.

Kierra felt her jaw begin to shiver as the cold rapidly set back in. “If, umm, if I suggested that perhaps we do that again sometime, but in a warmer setting, how would you rate your interest in that?” she asked, batting her eyes at him on purpose.

His reply didn’t need any words.