Reign: A Royal Military Romance (65 page)

With one final, huge tug, she pulled Theresa into the circle of firelight, and then dragged the other girl next to the fire, still on her back. She knelt next to her, trying to remember the one day of first aid she’d taken as part of her job training, two years ago.

Okay, uh, fuck, is she breathing? Does she have a pulse? How do I give mouth to mouth or what if her neck is broken Jesus I think I probably made it worse—

She put one trembling hand to Theresa’s neck, felt around for a moment, and was rewarded with a strong, steady pulse.

Ariana nearly cried with relief, then looked at the rest of the other girl’s body.

That’s when she realized that Theresa had a
lot
of blood on her, and she had absolutely no idea where it was coming from. How much blood was a lot, and how much was too much? How could she possibly get help for her, ten miles into the wilderness?

Jake. He was gone, and God only knew where, but he probably had some sort of signaling device in his pack. Wasn’t that was forest rangers did?

But as Ariana stood, she heard another noise in the forest, where she’d come from, and she looked up only to see the huge bear, facing her, just barely in the forest. Inside her, something snapped, and she looked around, furious now.

She grabbed a log that was mostly in the fire. It burned her hand, but Ariana didn’t even feel the pain as she stood and ran toward the bear, shouting at the top of her lungs, some sort of primal scream.

The bear turned around and ran, and Ariana stopped at the edge of the circle of firelight. She dropped the log, her hand red. She could feel blisters forming as she stood there, wondering what the fuck she was supposed to do next.

* * *

A
minute later
, mostly back in human form but still a little furry, Jake walked naked into the circle of firelight to find Ariana rummaging through his pack with one hand.

“What are you looking for?” he asked.

“Your radio, or a phone or a beacon or something,” she said, without turning around.

He took the pack from her, unzipped an outside pocket, and pulled out a flare gun.

“Give it to me,” she said, and turned to look at him for the first time. She recoiled.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” she shouted.

“Is Theresa okay?” he asked.

“Why are you naked?”

He stood and walked to the other girl, flare gun still in his hand. She had a pulse and she was breathing, though it looked like she’d lost a lot of blood. Gently, he turned her over, and then he saw it: a set of claw marks down her back, onto her butt.

“Oh shit,” said Ariana. The wounds were caked in dirt and leaves. “Oh god, I dragged her through the forest.”

“It’s okay,” said Jake. “I think you helped stop the bleeding.”

“We’ve gotta call someone,” she said.

She seemed to have forgotten that Jake was still furry and naked.

“We can’t,” he said. “The best we can do is get her to the lake. It’s only about two miles that way.”

“We can’t hike cross-country at night,” she said, clearly beginning to panic.

“There’s a rough trail,” he said. “It’s not marked, because it’s not maintained, but it’s there.”

Ariana shook her head, firmly. “No way. Maybe in the morning, but I’m not risking all three of our lives.”

Jake reached out and grabbed her wrist, gently.

She seemed to remember that he was naked and furry, though slightly less furry than before.

“I need you to trust me,” he said.

“Tell me what’s going on,” she said.

“You’re not going to believe me.”

“I promise I will.”

Jake paused for a second. It was an emergency, but he was about to seriously break shifter code. Outsiders weren’t supposed to know. They just weren’t.

“I can turn into a grizzly bear,” he said, looking her right in the eyes.

She stood and walked away.

“Fine, don’t tell me,” she said. “But I think this is fucked the fuck up, just so you know.”

“I swear to God,” he said. “Look, I haven’t shifted all the way back yet.”

She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.

“Are you some kind of government experiment gone wrong?” she asked.

On the ground, Theresa moaned a little and fluttered her eyelids.

“We’ve gotta go,” Jake said. He pulled his change of clothes out of his pack and pulled them on. Ariana seemed much happier when he was dressed.

Then, he picked Theresa up, gently, put her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, and set out for the trail. Ariana was right behind him.

* * *

I
t felt
like they were hiking all night, but when they reached the lake, it was still full dark. She realized it couldn’t be later than one in the morning, and she realized they’d still have to spend the night there.

Jake set Theresa, now fully awake, down very gently on the ground, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. She laid on her stomach, the scratches on her back angry even in the moonlight.

“I usually get a bar or two here,” he said.

Ariana sat down beside Theresa on the muddy ground and put her arms gently around the other girl’s shoulders.

“You’re gonna be okay,” she said.

“It was just there,” she said. “I was peeing and there was this enormous cat just
there
,” she said.

“I know,” said Ariana. “You’re safe now.”

“It clawed me, and I tried to run away, and then out of nowhere there was this huge bear,” she went on. It seemed like she hadn’t even heard Ariana. “And it rushed at the lion, and then, I don’t know, I was waking up by the fire and you were there.”

Ariana glanced quickly at Jake. He was shouting coordinates into the phone, pacing back and forth. He still seemed hairier than normal, but he was no longer furry or naked.

Obviously he can’t turn into a bear
, she thought.
Something weird happened
,
though.

* * *

I
t was only
another hour until a boat was there with paramedics on it. They took charge of the situation, getting Theresa into it, talking to her as they sped back over the lake toward civilization.

“We’ve got an ambulance waiting,” they said. “Then it’s smooth sailing.”

“Good thing you thought to come to the lake,” the other one told Ariana.

“It was him,” she said, gesturing at Jake, sitting in the back of the boat, trying not to get in the way.

“Nice work,” the paramedic said.

Ariana moved back to sit beside him, letting the paramedics deal with Theresa.

“You did save her,” she said. “Thanks.”

“Are you doing okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Tired and shook up, but fine.”

Wordlessly, he reached for her hand. The one she’d burned, chasing away the bear. It was red and burned and blistered, and she remembered it for the first time.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. Suddenly it hurt, even though she hadn’t thought about it most of the night.

“Adrenaline will do that,” he said.

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” she said. “There was this huge bear, and I just—“ she stopped, and looked at him strangely.

“It worked, didn’t it?” he asked, quietly. “Bears are afraid of fire, no matter what.”

He put his arm around her and pressed his lips to her hair, glad to have her okay and safe, boyfriend or no boyfriend. It felt like she melted into him, finally relaxing for the first time all night.

“This probably isn’t the time or the place,” she said. “But I broke up with my boyfriend.”

Jake didn’t know what to do with that, so he kissed her hair again, inhaling her wonderful scent. They stayed like they were, his arms around her, until they reached the ambulance on shore.

“
J
ello
,” mumbled Theresa. She was lying on her stomach on a hospital bed, and Ariana had finally been allowed in to see her.

“Jello?” asked Ariana.

“Jello,” said Theresa. “Aren’t you glad to see me?” Her eyes were half-closed.

“She’s on some pretty powerful drugs right now,” said the male nurse behind Ariana. He held a clipboard.

“I like my joke,” mumbled Theresa.

“It was really funny,” said Ariana. She looked back at the nurse.

“Morphine,” he said.

Ariana nodded.

“We’ve called her parents, and they’re getting on the next flight to Seattle,” the nurse said. “She’s out of the woods now, both metaphorically and literally. If you want to go home and shower or something, she’ll be okay.”

It was about two in the afternoon, and Ariana hadn’t slept at all the night before. At some point her hand had been cleaned and bandaged, but she hadn’t changed clothes since the night before, and now that she didn’t have to worry about Theresa anymore, she realized she was a disgusting mess.

“How bad was it?”

The nurse sighed. “She’s not going to have a great couple of months,” he admitted. “The lion got some muscle in there, and she did lose a decent amount of blood. But thanks to you and the ranger, she got here in plenty of time to suture the tissue together and stave off infection.”

“I’d like to stave that ranger guy,” said Theresa, who sounded as if she’d had about seven drinks.

The nurse smiled. “Anything she says for the next day or so you can’t take too seriously.”

“Beaaarrrrrr,” said Theresa.

The nurse just shrugged.

“She’ll need physical therapy, but she’ll be okay in the end,” he said. “Go home and shower. Take care of yourself.”

“Thanks,” she said, and walked back into the hall to the sound of Theresa giggling maniacally.

Jake was still waiting there, just outside the room.

“Everything ok?” he asked.

Ariana nodded. “Physical therapy and she’ll be ok in six months,” she said. More giggling. “She’s on morphine right now. Her parents are coming.”

The two of them ended up taking a taxi back to Evergreen from the hospital, using CRF’s money. It was the least they could do, Ariana figured, after getting one employee clawed apart and one burned. She fell asleep in the cab, only waking up when they were at the lodge.

Jake wound down his window. “I’ll see you again,” he said.

Ariana just nodded. There was a whole mess there to figure out, but she couldn’t just now.

She went upstairs and barely got her clothes off before she hit the bed and fell asleep.

* * *

J
ake let
the taxi drop him at the end of his long driveway and walked the mile back up to his cabin. Even though he hadn’t slept and had carried that girl two whole miles, he just didn’t feel that tired.

Probably because of what Ariana had said to him, last night, on the boat:
I broke up with my boyfriend
. It hadn’t been the time or the place for it, but was it because of him? Why else would she tell him that?

He showered the dirt off, then went to the fridge and got himself a beer.

Regular humans weren’t supposed to know that shifters existed, but Jake couldn’t have cared less right then. She’d broken up with her boyfriend — and told him that
after
he admitted that he was only partly human. Maybe she would be okay with it. Maybe he could talk her into sticking around or something, and then they could be together, and—

The thought hit Jake like a sledgehammer.

Was Ariana his mate?

Was that why she smelled so good, so much better to him than any other woman he’d ever met? Was that why he felt drawn to her, from the very first moment he saw her?

If this was what finding your mate felt like, a lot of the insanity he’d always seen in shifters began to make sense. He’d transformed and then fought a mountain lion when he was afraid she might be in danger, and he hadn’t even thought twice about it. Something about her brought out his primal need to protect her at all costs.

He downed the rest of his beer in two gulps, setting the empty bottle heavily on the counter. There was just one thought in his mind: he
had
to see her before she left Evergreen.

* * *

I
t was
dark when Ariana finally woke up, six hours later. She was amazed at how much better she felt, even though her hand still throbbed a little.

Bleary-eyed, she stumbled out of bed and into the shower. It took her a long time with her bandaged hand, but she finally managed it. When she got out, she almost put on her pajamas, but then her stomach growled.

She cursed herself for not having granola bars or something in her room. She did
not
want to go out, and the Lodge didn’t have room service.

Ariana had just gotten dressed when there was a knock on her door. Quickly, she came up with a list of who it could be: either the police, wanting a statement, or... Jake, wanting something else.

Either way, her stomach tied itself in knots. She opened the door.

Jake stood there, towering over her, huge and muscular in yet another flannel shirt.

“Hi,” she said. “Come in.”

“Thanks,” he said. The doorway wasn’t much taller than he was.

Hurriedly, Ariana kicked her disgusting, dirty clothes from before under the bed. “Sorry it’s a mess,” she said.

“I’m a bachelor,” he said. “I’ve seen much worse.”

Ariana stood in front of the fireplace and looked down.

“I guess we have a lot to talk about,” she said. “I know I’ve been sending a lot of mixed signals, but I’ve been thinking about it, and, my life is just complicated right now, and—“

His fingers were under her chin, tilting her head up.

“—It’s probably not a good time for me to be making—“

Jake put one finger across her lips, and Ariana looked up at him. His eyes were dark with something — desire? Lust? She stopped trying to talk.

Slowly, he bent and put his lips to hers.

All the thoughts went out of Ariana’s head, and suddenly, there was nothing but Jake’s mouth on hers. Though he’d showered and changed clothes, he hadn’t shaved, and his stubble tickled at her face.

Without breaking them apart he moved closer to her and put one hand on her head, his thumb stroking over her cheekbone as he deepened the kiss. Ariana felt her body respond, all in a rush, the heat flowing down through her like she’d been struck by lightning.

She opened her mouth into his and felt his tongue invade her mouth, seeking through her, and she met it with her own, suddenly desperate to touch him, to blend herself with his man she’d only met a day before. Not satisfied with just a kiss, she reached for his shirt, grasping it in both hands, pulling him toward her.

Jake broke away from her and leaned his forehead on hers, his hand still in her hair, both of them breathing heavily, and Ariana took the opportunity to slide her hands up his chest to the top button of his shirt, and, quickly and neatly, she undid it.

He looked down at himself, then at her, and a slow, half-teasing smile spread across his face.

“I thought it was complicated,” he said.

Her hands were still on his shirt and they slid down to the next button. She felt like her core was on fire, heat coursing through her veins, her heart pounding. She wanted this so badly it hurt.

“I thought about it real quick,” she said, a slow smile coming to her lips. She popped the next button free, opening Jake’s shirt further across his chest. “Turns out it’s pretty simple.”

“And?”

“And, take your shirt off.”

Jake took a step back, his eyes twinkling. Without breaking eye contact, he unbuttoned the rest of the buttons on his shirt and then tossed it aside, standing there in just his jeans.

Ariana couldn’t think of anytime that she’d seen a better-looking man. If he was hot when wearing clothes, he was scorching when he was shirtless: broad and heavily muscled in a way that suggested he’d gotten there by a life of hard physical work rather than going to the gym.

She literally felt weak in the knees.

“What about you?” he asked, closing the distance between them, taking her by the waist.

“What about me?” she asked, running her hands down his chest to his stomach. He was warm, warmer than most people, she thought. The hair on his chest was soft and thick, narrowing to a line of fur at his bellybutton that led underneath his belt.

He kissed her again, pressing their faces together harder this time, his need growing obvious. Ariana ran her hands all over him, pressing herself against him, wanting to be enfolded in his enormous arms. Then he broke away again, and a split second later, she found herself hoisted into the air.

She let out a small, very girly squeal.

“Put me down!” she demanded. He was carrying her like she was a doll, with almost no visible effort expended.

He grinned again, his face close to hers, and then strode across the room and tossed her onto the bed.

Ariana squealed again, and then laughed out loud.

Still grinning, he was on top of her, kneeling over her on the bed, the hem of her shirt in both hands. For a moment, Ariana was uncertain, but then her shirt was off, just her bra on.

“God, you’re beautiful,” Jake whispered, and then he kissed her again.

Ariana felt her her skin was electric, every touch resonating over her entire body. He pressed himself to her, and through his jeans she could feel his rock-hard member. The sensation of it there brought a jolt of heat to her as well, and before she even knew what she was doing, Ariana was tugging at Jake’s belt, trying to get it off of him.

“Not yet,” he murmured into her ear, his fingers tracing their way down her neck. Ariana made a tiny gasp as she shuddered from the sensation — how on earth did he know her neck was her weak spot?

He nibbled his way gently down her neck, and Ariana let out a little sigh as he moved to her shoulder, taking her bra strap in one hand and tugging it down her arm until he’d just barely exposed one nipple. He moved his hand to it and stroked her, just barely squeezing and rolling it between his fingers.

Then he took the nipple in his mouth, just barely sucking at it, pulling down her other bra strap as he did. Ariana felt like a boat tossed on the waves of arousal, barely keeping her head above water.

Jake moved his mouth to her other breast, tugging at her bra a little more, and Ariana moaned, more loudly this time. She thought she heard him chuckle, his breath tickling at her sensitive skin, but she couldn’t be sure.

Finally he moved away again, trailing kisses down her stomach, dipping his tongue into her belly button.

Ariana giggled. She couldn’t help it, she was ticklish.

“Tickles?” asked Jake, his face still against her skin.

“A little.”

Quickly, she arched her back and reached behind herself, releasing her bra and tossing it away somewhere in the room. Right then, Jake undid the button on her jeans and undid the zipper, slowly. She thought she could feel each tooth separate itself, her arousal throbbing with every moment.

Then, in one smooth motion, her jeans and underwear was all off and Jake was kneeling between her legs, his breath hot on her sex.

Ariana squirmed and, despite herself, tried to remember the last time she’d done any pubic maintenance. It had been... a while. She tried to press her thighs together, to get Jake’s head out of her wild bush, but he wasn’t having any of it.

“You don’t have to,” she gasped. “I haven’t... it’s been a while,” she said lamely.

“Of course I don’t have to,” said Jake. He kissed the inside of one of her thighs, sending an electric shock directly into her core. “I want to.”

Then she felt his tongue on her lower lips, dancing between them, moving up to her clit and flicking it back and forth, teasing her. Ariana couldn’t help but snake her hands through his hair just so she could hold on as he sent her into a state of pure bliss as his tongue drove her wild. Somehow, he knew exactly what to do to her: the right pressure and the right frequency, constantly building.