Guardian Bears: Lucas (16 page)

Finally, he collapsed, his energy spent and body shaking. His breathing came quickly, and his heart pounded as fast as hers. The two of them clung to one another, holding tight, and Emily felt a deep peace sweep over her. A happiness she couldn't have imagined feeling before she met Lucas, and now couldn't imagine doing without.

When he brushed the hair out of her face so he could look her in the eyes, she could see that he felt the same about her.

His lip quirked, tired and happy. "Mine," he whispered. "My mate."

"Yours," Emily agreed happily. "Mates, forever.

* * *

T
hey lay together
, holding each other close, and Lucas realized that he had never even imagined being so content. It seemed like hours passed in a happy daze, the two of them in each other’s arms.

Eventually, she moved, propping herself up to look down at him.

"Is it really over?" she asked. "They won't be back?"

He smiled at her. "It is. You saw them – Dominic is going to take over, and he won't want this to come back on him. I think he's going to have his work cut out wrangling that pack into shape, mind you, but I doubt that any of them are going to want to remember what's happened tonight."

"You think we can trust him?"

Lucas frowned, considering the question. "When I talked to him, he seemed to be a decent man. Just loyal to a leader who didn't deserve it. I may not like him – I couldn't ever like someone who threatened you – but I can respect that in a soldier. Especially since he came round to doing the right thing in the end."

He lifted Emily easily, drawing her close for a kiss. His body was recovering its strength quickly, faster than he'd have expected, but perhaps that was her presence. Being with his mate was invigorating.

But looking into her eyes, he could see her fear wasn't quite extinguished. A few days ago that would have exasperated him, but he'd seen the stress she'd lived under now and understood. Her life had been in danger long enough that the fear had become a habit, and now he'd seen that she wouldn't let that get in the way of doing what she needed to.

It takes more strength to do that than to not be afraid in the first place
, he thought with a smile. Now, though, it was time to put that fear aside. Time for her to move on from the past, and turn her thoughts to the future.

"Emily, when we were making love, you asked if our child would be a bear. Did you want that?" he asked her, stroking a hand gently through her hair and down her back as he changed the subject.

The look in her eyes changed, and he could have sworn they shone with an inner light.

"Oh yes," she answered, reaching forward and brushing his cheek. "Um, I mean, if you do?"

He laughed gently, amused at her nervous tone.
As though that could be in doubt!
But clearly she did doubt it, so he pulled her close. "There's nothing I want more, Emily. Nothing on this earth would make me happier than to raise our children together."

Her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace, and it felt as though she would never let go. And that, Lucas realized, was fine by him.

T
he Guardian Bears
website was still a tangled mess. Emily looked at the screen, sighing and shaking her head, a fondly exasperated look on her face.

"That bad, huh?" Karl said from the doorway. Lucas growled a warning.

"I'm sure I can fix it up," Emily replied, shooting her mate a look. He smiled and raised his hands – he had been the first to admit that the website he'd built wasn't great. There were so many things he was good at, but web design wasn't one of them.

In the weeks since he'd rescued her from the wolves, she'd been floundering for something to do with herself. At first there had been plenty of distractions – moving in with Lucas, for one thing. She hadn't been sad to leave the small hideaway she'd been living in behind, even though it did hold some great memories. Waving goodbye to Tom for good, and putting the weeks of fear behind her, were worth it.

The wolf pack had sorted itself out, or so Karl had told them. Most of them hadn't really wanted to follow Victor's path anyway, and Dominic's challenge had given them the excuse they needed to turn away from disaster. Even the ones who weren't happy about Dominic's takeover were too busy with their own politics to worry about her, Karl assured her. Over the weeks, her fear of them had faded away to nothing. She trusted her bear to keep her safe.

But with that feeling of safety had come a touch of restlessness. She needed something to do, and she had no job, nothing to spend her time on while Lucas was away.

She didn't need to work, of course, Lucas had made that clear. But she needed something to do while he was working.

Looking back at the Guardian Bears website, she'd seen her chance to help. Not just to help her mate, but to help the company he worked for, and to help other women in positions like hers find the help they needed. Lucas had the right idea about advertising on the internet, but the site he'd designed was bad enough that she'd nearly turned away from it.

Now she had the chance to make it better for anyone else who came looking.

"I'd better just start from scratch," she said, and then laughed at the wounded face Lucas pulled.

"It can't be
that
bad!"

"Don't argue with your mate," Karl said. "She knows what she's talking about, that's why you asked her here. And I'd have thought you'd like to have her around the place longer – the more work she has, the more time you two can spend together!"

Emily blushed, but she couldn't argue with the big man. He was right, at least half the reason she was here was to spend time with her man.

Lucas didn't argue the point either, and Emily knew he was as happy to have her in the office as she was to be there.

Karl looked from one to the other and shook his head with a fond smile. "You know, I was thinking that we really need a better online presence. And that doesn't just mean setting up a website and forgetting about it, I know. None of us guys are very computer savvy, but we could certainly use someone who was."

Emily looked up at him, surprised. "Are you offering me a job?"

"If you want it," Karl said with a shrug. "And I suppose I'd have to get my partners to agree to it. I know Marcus will be keen, but I don't know if Lucas will go for it…"

The warning growl from Lucas made both Karl and Emily laugh, and after a second Lucas joined in too.

"That would be wonderful!" She felt her heart swell with happiness as she thought about the idea. A job that would let her help people, and work near her mate? What could be better?

There was one thing that would make things complete, of course. She put her hands on her belly, thinking about the little life they'd kindled there on the night they'd mated. So early, she wasn't showing anything yet, but she was sure.

A few weeks ago, the news would have terrified her. She couldn't have faced bringing a fresh life into the world while she was on the run. But now, safe in Lucas' arms, it was the happiest thought imaginable.

L
ESLIE CHASE

I love writing, and especially enjoy writing sexy paranormal romance. It lets my imagination run free and my ideas come to life! When I’m not writing, I’m busy thinking about what to write next or researching it – yes, damn it, looking at castles and swords counts as research.

If you enjoy my books, please let me know with a review. Reviews are really important and I appreciate every one. If you’d like to be kept up to date on my new releases, you can sign up for my email newsletter by
following this link
.

My website can be found at
here

Follow me on
Twitter

My
Facebook page is here

Email me at
[email protected]

M
y books
:

Guardian Bears

Ex-military bear shifters providing protection from the threats no one else can deal with. Each book is a stand-alone plot, as the sexy bears find their curvy mates.

Guardian Bears: Marcus

Guardian Bears: Lucas

Guardian Bears: Karl

T
iger’s Sword

A four-part paranormal romance serial: Maxwell Walters, a billionaire tiger shifter meets his mate Lenore while dealing with a deadly menace that threatens them both. All parts available on Kindle now.