Healing the Bear (10 page)

He
pressed harder, thrust with more gusto. She grew lightheaded wondering, if a
person could have a stimulus overload. It was almost too much. She never
thought she’d hear herself think that.

“Dane,
I don’t think I can tolerate the double treat.”

“Oh
yes you can, baby, and it’s going to be great,” he whispered in her ear.

She
believed him. She held on, feeling even her legs growing sensitive, her skin
tingling and then
kaboom
, the double whammy.

Dane
held her as she shook. She was sure she was seeing fireworks, sparks of light
traveling around the room. She stroked his arms, admiring the muscles that
stood out on his forearms and then heard him moan and pant before
a warmth
spread through her pussy. He squeezed her extra
tight and kissed the side of her face.

“See
that wasn’t too much for you,” he said.

She
smiled,
glad she had trusted him, because he was right.
That had been the experience of a lifetime. They laid together, him resting his
cheek on hers. Melanie suddenly wondered what Mike would think of Dane. Would
he be happy that she’d finally found someone to be with?
Someone
that she felt free to be herself with?

Yet,
she wasn’t exactly herself. A tear ran down her cheek. They’d taken away her
husband and also any chance she had of ever being normal again.
Those bastards
.
Sometimes she thought about taking her agent up on his suggestion that they
provide her with a gun and let her take shooting lessons so she could defend
herself if the occasion ever arose. She’d practice and practice until she
became as good, if not better, than a sniper, and then she’d lay wait for them.
She’d shoot them but not fatally so she’d have the chance to tell them just
what they’d taken from her and then she’d finish the job. Sometimes she was
shocked at her fantasy. She’d never been a violent or revengeful person, but
that morning had changed all that.

“You’re
very quiet all of a sudden,” said Dane.

“Post
sex makes me sleepy.”

“As long as pre sex doesn’t.”

“You
want something to drink, a soda or more tea?”

“I
am sort of thirsty, but after my drink I’ll have to go because I have to be up
early for my job interview.”

Melanie
slid out of bed. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. And I’ll be right back
with some soda.”

****

Dane
flopped over onto his back. It was raining. He could hear the gentle
plip
-plop on the window pane. He loved rain. Depending on
what season it was on their planet, rain was sometimes colored blue or pink.
When they were kids both he and Lucinda used to lie on the hills and look up at
it falling. Sometimes they’d stick out their tongues and then giggle and point
at one another as the rainbow colors splashed over them.

He
sat up and smiled when he noticed the teddy bear.
Uggy.
He reached over for it. The nose was the most bear like feature on him. In
fact, whoever made it had done a pretty good job with it. The mouth, well, not
so much. He turned it around to see if he could find a manufacturer’s name but
instead he spotted a slit in its fur. Not where it had ripped on a seam, but a
straight edge like someone had intentionally cut through its fur and into the
stuffing. He pressed his finger against it. There was something inside the
bear.

Now
he was intrigued. He knew it was wrong, but he wanted to find out what it was.
He heard the bathroom door shutting and knew he had a few minutes until Melanie
came back. He pushed his index finger and thumb inside and they met with what
felt like papers. He pulled on them.

Photos
fell out onto his lap.

Melanie with strawberry blonde hair and
a man with dark hair with his arm around her, both smiling for the camera.
Next one a wedding, Melanie and the man.
Another
photo of Melanie with two older people.
Her resemblance to the man was
uncanny and Dane guessed it was her dad.
Another photo of
Melanie with a bunch of kids.
 
It
looked like a classroom.
 
More photos of
her and the man. He heard the toilet being flushed and knew he had to get all
the snapshots back inside the bear before she caught him snooping. He was all
fingers and thumbs, and as he pushed them inside he realized he’d bent a few.
Damn.

He
heard footsteps and then saw the door open. He set the bear on his lap.

She
stopped dead in her tracks like she was scared at what she saw. Why would she
hide those photos? If it was the husband she’d lost wouldn’t she have them in a
frame somewhere on display like he did with his photos of him and Lucinda?

“What
were you doing?” She looked at the bear.

“Just checking out the teddy bear.
He’s cute.”

“Yeah,
he is, in fact to me he’s priceless.”

Dane
looked at her. Bears knew when someone was hiding something. He could also
smell fear on her again. He wouldn’t push it now, but he wanted to know all
about those photos, the man in them, and why she’d opted to hide them so well.

Chapter Eleven

Melanie
hoped Dane hadn’t thought she’d just wanted sex and then hurried him away. If
she’d had her way, she would have rather him stay the night. However, when
she’d gotten back to the room and seen him sitting with Uggy on his lap, her
nervous radar had gone into overdrive.

She
turned the bear around, slid her fingers inside his back, and pulled out her
photos. She knew them well enough and how they were arranged to know they were
in the wrong order and one had a crease where it was bent by someone pushing it
into the crammed space, and it certainly hadn’t been her. She’d broken the
cardinal rule of keeping something that connected her former and present life
and identity. No one was supposed to know about those photos or even the bear.

Dane
had seen the photos and he’d not said anything or asked anything.
Something to be scared about?

She
shook her head. She trusted him with her heart and soul. He was a kind person
and he wasn’t someone out to get her. More likely curious and if they were
going to continue the relationship she guessed he had a right to know stuff
about her.

She
pulled the one out of her and Mike on their wedding day. A tear fell from her
cheek and hit the center of it. She hoped Dane was everything she thought and
that he wasn’t hiding any lies about himself. She hoped he was supposed to be
the man who would take Mike’s place in her life.

God
damn it, she deserved it after all that had happened.

****

Dane
straightened his tie. He really wasn’t a shirt and tie sort of guy, but this
was a job interview at a school and he guessed that’s what was called for. He
was nervous because he really wanted and needed this job. It would make him
feel like he was truly back on his feet again. It would also be money so he
wouldn’t seem cheap taking Melanie on dates like a walk around the lake and
giving her flowers he’d pulled from a meadow.

Emily
smiled as she walked toward him.

“You
all ready?” she asked.

He
took a deep breath. “I hope they think I’m qualified for the job.”

“You’re
more than qualified. Trent and Aidan wrote you a shining report on both your
talent and reliability. And speaking of which, Trent’s taking you out for lunch
after your interview. He thought you deserved it.”

“That’s
great.”

“You
want to come meet the kids in the class before I take you to human resources?”

“Sure.”

He
walked beside Emily and thought how strange to be interviewed by people in a
department called human resources. Emily stopped at a room with windows to the
left looking out into the hallway, and opened the door. He saw a few children
quickly running back to their desks when they spotted her.

“Come
on in,” said Emily. He followed her inside.

“This
is Dane, and he might be going to work here very soon so can you say hello to
him.”

“Hello,
Dane,” thirty small voices shouted.

“Hello,”
said Dane.

“Dane’s
a friend of my husband,” said Emily.

“How
old are you?” asked a little boy sitting at one of the front desks.

“I’ll
be thirty-eight later this year.”

“Wow,
that’s really old,” said the boy.

“Why
are you so big and tall?” asked another boy.

“Because
I ate everything my parents told me to.” He winked at Emily.

“Now
I want you to look through your books and be very quiet while I show Dane where
to go for his job interview. Can you say good luck to him?”

“Good
luck, Dane,” all the voices shouted again.

One
little girl got out from her desk, walked over to him, and handed him a picture
she’d drawn.

“It’s
for you.”

Dane
knelt down and took it from her. She was a cute little girl and it had him
wondering whether the baby Lucinda had been carrying was a boy or girl. It also
made him wonder if he’d have a chance to have another family. An image of
Melanie sprang into his mind as he stood.

“Thank
you and I’m going to put his on my fridge as soon as I get home.
Bye, everyone.”

He
followed Emily outside and they walked along the corridor.

“Guess
it’s a fun job,” he said.

“Most
of the time yes, other times you want to pull your hair out, but I can’t think
of anything else I’d like to do.”

They
walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor. “Here’s the office and
Trent’s going to be out front in about thirty minutes.”

Dane
put out his hand and shook Emily’s hand. “Thanks for everything.”

“Go
in there and ace that interview.”

Dane
crossed his fingers on both hands and went inside.

****

Melanie’s
mind wasn’t on work. She’d burned two large quiches because she’d forgotten
she’d put them into the oven until she saw smoke billowing from the sides of it.

Shit.
She threw both of them into the garbage and knew she had to start over again. She
had to be quick about it because they were for the ladies afternoon lecture in
the library in a few hours.

 
She took out the flour and shortening and set
it on the table. Two things were buzzing around in her head.
Dane
and the photos that had been clearly pulled out and then replaced in Uggy.
She hadn’t checked on them for over a week so there was the outside possibility
that someone had broken into her apartment and found them. However, her gut
told her it was Dane because he’d been holding the bear when she returned to
the bedroom.

What
must he have thought of her?
One for hiding photos that most
people put in frames and proudly displayed.
She was embarrassed just
thinking about it. Did he wonder if she was really married?

She
headed out of the walk-in refrigerator with a tray of eggs and set them on the
table.

She
couldn’t accuse him of looking through those photos just in case he took offense
at her accusation. She liked him a lot and didn’t want to lose the only man
she’d found so far in her new life.

Melanie
decided to put it out of her mind for now or she’d have two more ruined quiches
on her hands. She would causally ask him the weekend when they went sailing.

****

“So
how did you think it went?” asked Trent before he bit into his
hamburger.

“Pretty good.
They said
they’d let me know either way by tomorrow.”

Trent
gave him the thumbs up while he chewed on the piece of meat he’d bitten into.
Some juice ran down his chin.

“How
are things going with you and is it, Melanie?”

“Melanie, yeah, really good.”

“Sleeping
together yet?”

Dane
wasn’t the type of guy to have sex and tell.

“You
are.” Trent leaned across the table and slapped him on the arm.
 
“You think this is going to be a serious
relationship or what?”

He
took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I love being with her and I think she feels
the same way, but how do you make the whole human and shifter thing work?”

“How
does anyone make any relationship work? You have to put in the effort.”

“I
don’t think she feels totally at ease with me because…maybe I shouldn’t be
saying anything.”

“I’m
your bear buddy and I’m a cop, so spill.”

“She
has this bear…I mean this teddy bear and while she was out of the room I was
checking him out. There was a slit in his back and all these photos were
stuffed into it.”