Bared for Her Bear (9 page)

and the fact she knew what the bear looked like naked had all sorts of dirty images rushing through her

mind. He took her hand before she could make a move, and the air turned icy as a blast of the frigid

coldness rushed by her from the hostess. She glanced over at her, saw the narrowed-eyed look she was

shooting at Ary, and figured maybe there was a history between the two. That obviously made her

uncomfortable, but she wouldn’t be intimidated.

Charlie gave her hand a squeeze and addressed the hostess. “No, Lauren, I’ve already taken a

table outside. I want a little privacy for my date and me.” Heat rose to her face at the fact he

considered this a date. A tingle of pleasure shot through Ary at the fact he clearly wasn’t affected by

the hostess. He didn’t wait for a response, just kept hold of her hand and took her outside. The patio

was surrounded by a stone wall that offered privacy in an almost intimate manner. There was one

other couple seated outside, but they were far enough away from the table Charlie led them to that she

wasn’t worried about being overheard. After they took their seat a young waiter stopped by, and they

gave him their drink orders. She opened up the menu, but wasn’t hungry. Her stomach felt like it was

in knots for what she was going to have to tell him.

“Have you ever been here before?” She glanced up at him. He was scanning the menu, and

after only a minute of looking at it closed it and set it aside.

“Not since they had the re-opening.” He nodded, but didn’t respond since the waiter chose that

moment to set their drinks in front of them.

“Have you decided on what you’d like to order?” The waiter looked between them. He was a

cute human male, but she could sense his interest leaning more toward Charlie. That had her smiling,

which in turn made him look at her quizzically.

She closed her menu and handed it to the waiter. “I’ll just take a chicken Caesar salad, please.”

She wasn’t hungry, but she also didn’t want to be rude or seem like she was one of those girls who

couldn’t eat in front of a guy. If Ary was anything it was not shy to eat around people. Charlie had

invited her to lunch, and maybe if she forced herself to eat something the tightening dread in her

stomach would ease. He ordered the biggest burger they had, a double order of fries, and a side salad.

Ary supposed a man of his height and weight, especially concerning his profession, would need a lot

of calories. The waiter left, and a moment of silence filled the space between them.

“Only a salad?” He said and brought his glass of water to his mouth.

She shrugged. “I’m not all that hungry.” The sound of the couple on the other side of the patio

seemed a lot louder than it had been only moments before. “So, um.” She started to pick at her napkin,

and even if he hadn’t been a shifter and able to smell her unease, her twitchy movements would have

been loud and clear.

“Hey.” He reached across the table and took her hand in his. The heavy weight of his palm

settling over hers had the effect of grounding her. “I know that this must be awkward and all after we

slept together.” The corner of his mouth curved up, and heat spread up her neck and to her cheeks. All

it took was him mentioning what they had done in the most non-descriptive way, and a small smile, if

it could even be called that, and she was ready to push everything off the table and beg him to take her

right there. She opened her mouth, but he started talking again. “You’re probably wondering why I

called you after waiting so long.”

Actually that had not been what she thought at all. That hadn’t even crossed her mind.

“I’ll be straight, and just tell it like it is since we are both adults, and beating around the bush

is not my style.” She swallowed and didn’t know why that ball of dread in her stomach started to grow

at an astounding rate. “I freaked about … well, you know, but then after I watched you leave that night

I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind.” He let go of her hand and leaned back in the chair. He

didn’t speak, but she could hear him breathing and see the rise and fall of his massive chest. “I have

always just stayed to myself, knowing that I would never need anyone to live my life with.”

The sound of her heart seemed so incredibly loud, and the feel of it pounding in the base of her

throat made it hard to swallow. He leaned forward again and took hold of both of her hands.

“In all of my forty years of existence I have never wanted a female the way I want you.” His

blue eyes bored into hers, and she swallowed past the lump. “I know this is probably pretty heavy, but

I have done a lot of thinking, and know that if you’ll give me a chance I’d like to show you that we can

be good together.”

Ary licked her lips and removed her hands from his. She swore a flash of hurt crossed his face,

but a millisecond later it was gone and that stoic, hard mask was back in place. His jaw clenched tight

and he leaned back in his chair. Well, it was now or never. She bent down and grabbed the small black

and white picture tucked into the side pocket of her purse. Straightening back up, she stared into his

face for a suspended moment before reaching across the table and handing the picture to him. He took

it while keeping eye contact, and Ary was shocked by how her hands shook so forcefully. Placing them

in her lap she waited to see him lower his gaze to the sonogram picture of their baby. When he did the

world stopped, time stilled, and there was nothing aside from that one, tense moment. Would he toss

the picture back in her face, call her a liar and that the child she carried wasn’t his, or would he accept

it and actually want to go through this journey with her? He looked up at her then back at the picture.

“February…” She watched as his throat worked when he swallowed. He kept looking between

her and the picture. Although their child looked like a tiny dot right now, in just a few months they

would be able to tell the sex and whether their child would be a bear or ocelot shifter. Before either

could say anything else their food was brought out. Once they were alone again she lifted her eyes

back to Charlie’s and saw him staring at the photo again.

“I found out almost two weeks ago that I was pregnant, but I should have told you that night

you dropped me off at my car that it was only days before I was fertile.” Taking a deep, steadying

breath, she pressed on. “I want you to know that I don’t make it a habit of going home with men I

don’t know and sleeping with them. I have never done that.” Ary looked down, suddenly not able to

keep eye contact. “I was trying to work up the courage to tell you, but as if we were on the same

wavelength you called me.” When she forced herself to look at him a gasp left her at the fact he was

right in front of her on his knees. He still held the picture of their baby, and his expression couldn’t be

called anything but awe-filled and expectant. Could it really be so easy for him to accept all of this? “I

know there are probably doubts in your head on whether the baby is yours, and I’ll understand and

won’t take offense if you want a test once the baby is born, but—”

Before she could finish her sentence he had his mouth on hers and was kissing her breath away.

He broke the kiss far too soon and leaned back. His hand was on her cheek, and she was so stunned by

the play of events that she was speechless.

“I thought it would go a lot differently.”

He shook his head and smiled.

“So, you’re not upset or think I’m lying?” There were a lot of males out there that would not be

having this kind of reaction to a bomb like this being dropped.

“February.” Just hearing him say her full name was an auditory orgasm. She shouldn’t be

thinking about sex right now, but here she was, inhaling his scent, and being surrounded by all his

masculinity that it made it impossible not to. “Kitten, I asked you to come out here because I wanted

to talk to you about starting a relationship. I want you, and the fact you carry
my
child, only solidifies

the fact that you are
mine
.” She curled her toes in at the declaration of his words. The heavy feel of his

hand on her belly shocked her to the point she had to grip the armrest of her chair to steady herself. He

moved back to his seat a moment later, and she was left feeling utterly confused, but happy. He

certainly wasn’t the type of male many talked about. He might have this hard, devil-may-care attitude,

be overly large and intimidating, and have this aura about him that made everyone move out of his

way, but she had just seen the soft side of Charlie Wylde.

“Can I keep this?” He held the picture loosely between his fingers, and her heart palpated at

that small request. She had another of the same image at home. She nodded. The smile he gave her

was filled with so much pleasure, so much happiness, that one would think she had just given him the

world.

“I’m just…” She looked back at the patrons in the corner. They were an older human couple,

with graying hair and bright smiles. Could it actually be possible that Charlie wanted a life-long

commitment with her?

“Thinking too hard.” Smiling over at him, she nodded. “Listen, nothing in life that is worth

anything should be wasted on the ‘what-ifs’, and Ary, you are one of those important things in life.

Hell, I can’t explain why out of every female in the world my bear and my human want you like our

next breath, but I know it feels damn good and I am not going to let that go.” Could he sense what his

words were doing to her? “Since the moment we came into each other’s lives it has been a whirlwind

of emotion and action. I know you feel the same way, felt it when I touched you, saw it when you

trembled, and smelt it as the delicious aroma of everything that is you.”

He was going to make her cry with his gently poetic words. Here was this monster of a male,

able to crush anyone that stood in his path like a toothpick, and yet he spoke to her as if she were a

delicate flower needing to be watered and placed in the sun. Everything he said was right and had that

ball of dread in her belly dissipating until there was only pleasurable warmth that filled every empty

spot in her. It had only taken a few hours under him, a couple of weeks of worry and angst, and now an

hour spent in his presence and listening to his sweet words for her to want to give every part of herself

to this shifter.

“I have no doubts that the child you carry is mine. I can smell my scent permeating from you,

as if your body knows that it is in the presence of its mate.” He spoke fiercely, like he had known this

would be the outcome. Male shifters were known to be territorial, possessive, and all around alpha in

everything they did, but Charlie was in a whole other class. He put every man she had been with to

shame. “Even if you decide that you’re not ready for something between us, I want you to know that I

will always be there for you and our baby. Do you understand me, February?” His blue eyes never left

hers until she felt herself nodding in response. She may not know much about him, but deep in her

heart she knew he spoke the truth. If there was one rumor she heard about Charlie that she would

believe over all else, it would have to be the one that he took care of his family above all others, and

that his word was his livelihood.

“I believe you, but, Charlie?” Licking her lips and smoothing her hands over the napkin, she

knew that she did want to give them a chance. It wasn’t just about the baby, and she had a feeling that

Charlie wasn’t the kind of man to do something just because. “I do want to see where this goes

between us.” His grin was wide, and he didn’t have to say anything to show that her words had meant

the world to him. This was good, and for the first time in her life she actually felt like she was going

down the right path. That revelation scared the shit out of her.

****

After Charlie left Ary, but not before promising to see her later, he sat in his truck and let his

thoughts consume him. All he could think about was the child that grew inside of Ary,
his
child. There

was no doubt in his mind that she was telling the truth. The scent of her was a mixture of everything

whole and pure that made up his little ocelot shifter, but there was an underlying scent,
his
scent, that

surrounded her. He hadn’t really noticed it before, not when there had been a plethora of other aromas

that invaded his senses since stepping into the café, but once out on the patio where the fresh air

swirled around them and he could really concentrate, the smell was undeniable. He didn’t need an

ultrasound to know that their child would be a bear shifter, not when he could sense so much of

himself around and inside of her. Or maybe it was just his overactive imagination wanting to find