Reforming the Bear (14 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Liam watched as Lucy’s eyelids
fluttered. He hadn’t taken any chances. He’d carried her back to the car and he
and Sam had driven to the hospital where Ash had been standing in for the
vacationing Bear.

“Hi, Lucy, can you hear me?”
asked Ash.

Lucy opened her eyes, looking all
around, first at Ash and then Liam. She was about sit up but then flinched.

“It’ll be okay, Lucy, just take
it easy … you bumped your head when you fell to the ground,” said Ash.

“I’ve never fainted in my life,”
said Lucy.

Liam stroked the back of her hand.
That was probably his fault for throwing so much at her at once.

“Did I dream we were by the
woods?” she asked.

“Nope. That was real,” said Liam.

“I’d like to keep you in
overnight just to make sure you don’t have a concussion,” said Ash.

“Can I stay with her?” asked
Liam.

“You don’t have to. You have Sam
to take care of,” said Lucy.

“He wouldn’t mind staying here
too. He’s used to the hospital,” said Liam.

“I’m going to let you two visit …
call me if you need anything,” said Ash.

Ash walked out of the room.

“What are you thinking?” asked
Liam.

“That I fell for a guy who’s the
most wonderful person in the world and he just so happens to be a bear?”

Liam smiled and kissed her hand.
“Anyone will tell you that before I met you I didn’t want anything to do with
humans. Guess you’ve reformed me.”

“Reforming the bear.”

“Uncle Liam, the cellphone keeps vibrating
and it won’t stop.”

Liam looked around to see Sam
carrying in the phone that had been in Lucy’s bag.

“It’s my brother. He said he’d
call when he wanted me to take the evidence back home.”

Was this it? Lucy would be
leaving. She’d promised to come back, but would she? As of a few months ago
before he knew that Sam existed he would have gladly pulled up roots and gone
back to the East Coast. In fact, it might have been a good thing, getting away
from the memories of Danny. However, now he had a nephew, Danny’s son, to keep
watch over. He’d watch Sam grow into the fine young bear he was destined to be.
He never wanted to be torn between two things he loved.

Sam handed Lucy the phone. She
pressed the button.

“Hello, Mike,” she said, a tear
running down her face. She clearly loved her brother like he’d loved Danny.
Yeah, he would have done the same thing for Danny, traveled cross-country like
her if he had to.

“Who is this?”

Liam saw the color drain from her
face.

“No, no, please don’t hurt them.
Yes, I have everything and I can…”

Something wasn’t right. Liam
snatched the phone from her. He’d deal with this now.

“Liam, what are you doing?”

“Who the hell is this?” asked
Liam.

The voice on the other end spoke
gruffly. “I’ve no idea who you are but the young lady has something belonging
to us. If she returns it, her brother and his two children will be perfectly
safe.” It was a man’s voice.

Liam didn’t like the set-up of
this. Lucy could walk into a trap and all four of them could be killed. If they
wanted the evidence returned they’d have to come to his neck of the woods and
play by his rules. A bear always kept his mate safe.

“If you want your stuff back then
you’re going to need to bring her brother and his children here to me, and when
I know they’re safe then you’ll get what belongs to you.”

Lucy waved her hands in front of
him and shook her head.

Liam lifted his hand and nodded.

The man laughed. “You think we’re
coming out to the middle of nowhere?”

“You want your stuff or not?”
asked Liam, standing and walking over to the window.

“Okay, you give me a place and
time and no tricks or you’re all dead.”

“No tricks on our part.”

Bears always played fair … well,
sometimes.

****

Lucy couldn’t believe that Liam
had done what he had.

“Your brother and his kids are
going to be fine. You were going to walk into a trap, Lucy, and I couldn’t let
that happen.”

He was probably right but she
didn’t like that he’d put himself in the crossfire too. He’d arranged to meet
near Maureen’s place and enlisted the help of most of the other shifters.

“I want you to stay with Sam and
I’ll call you as soon as I have your brother and the children. I’ll call you
and I’ll have them home before you know it.”

“No! Liam, I don’t want you doing
this.”

“Lucy, you’re now my mate and that
means I have to keep you safe.”

****

Liam had sent Maureen away
despite her wanting to stand guard with her shotgun. He’d hesitated over letting
Trent know about the whole thing, but had finally given in and now two cops
were waiting at the end of the road. Once Liam gave the signal, they’d know to
move in and arrest whoever the bastard was that was holding a man and his two
children hostage.

 
 
Liam
heard a car approaching and dust swirling in the air. This was it. He looked at
the bag that Lucy had been guarding so well.

 
Liam stepped outside and onto the driveway as
the man got out and so did another man. Yeah, you couldn’t trust humans to play
fair.

“I told you to come on your own,”
shouted Liam.

“Some extra insurance for me. You
ready to trade?” asked the man.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

The man signaled for the other
one to open the car door. He pulled out who Liam knew was Lucy’s brother by the
similar facial structure and color of his hair. A boy about Sam’s age and a
younger girl stood holding onto their father.

Liam carried the bag over to the car.
As he got closer he could see that Mike had obviously been beaten because his
eye was swollen and almost closed shut, his cheek was cut and his lips
distorted. He had to stop himself from beating the shit out of these two guys.

Instead he pushed the bag into
the man’s chest. “Take this and go before I have to hurt you.”

The man took it just as gunfire
rang out. Liam dived in front of the children but saw Mike go down beside him.
The two children screamed, and the next thing Liam knew, the car was speeding
away.

“Daddy,” sobbed the little girl
leaning into her father.

Liam saw blood on her.

“Honey, are you hurt?” he asked.

“No, it’s my daddy, the bad man
shot him.”

Liam glanced at Mike. He wasn’t
moving and the front of his shirt was covered in blood.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.
He was meant to be the hero, saving her brother and his children. No one was
supposed to get hurt. If she lost her brother then he’d know her pain, just
like when he’d lost Danny. It would destroy her and it would be the end of the
beautiful relationship they’d formed.

Chapter Sixteen

Lucy knew something wasn’t right
when she saw Liam getting out of the car with only her niece and nephew. All
three had blood on their clothing. Where was Mike? Where was her brother?

She ran outside, Susie and Alex
both running full speed toward her.

“Auntie Lucy! Daddy got shot,”
cried Susie.

Lucy looked over at Liam. She’d
trusted him. Put her faith in him to deal with this and keep everyone safe.
She’d started out this journey to help her brother all by herself. She’d been
doing fine and then she’d put her faith in the man she’d fallen in love with.
Now it looked like she’d made the wrong choice.

Without thinking, without even
asking what happened, Lucy ran over to Liam and slapped his face. Her hand
stung. “You promised me my brother would be safe,” she sobbed.

“Lucy, I’m so sorry. It all
happened so quickly. He’s getting the best care at the hospital. I’m going to
take you to him right now. Lilly’s on her way to look after Alex and Susie
while we’re gone.”

She fell to her knees and put her
arms around the children. Right now she was all they had. Liam put his hand on
her shoulder and squeezed it. It was a gesture that she’d not so long ago loved
so much. Now his touch made her angry. She was angry with herself, more than
anything. Lucy flicked it away and then looked up at Liam. “If anything happens
to my brother, I will hate you for the rest of my life.”

****

“Uncle Liam, you haven’t eaten anything
for two days, and you haven’t said anything to me for a long time,” said Sam,
pulling on his arm. Liam remained lying on the couch. Despite Mike being out of
danger and able to head home, he’d broken his promise to Lucy. He’d hurt her
and she’d never trust him again. The relationship was over and he was wallowing
in self-pity like he had when Danny had died.

He was back to acting selfish
again. He
was
selfish, period.
Nothing had changed. She hadn’t reformed the bear. He’d insisted on doing
things
his
way because he was afraid
of her getting hurt or even worse, she’d die which meant he’d be all on his own
again.
 
Liam Ahern had put his needs and
wants before the safety of Mike Hunt. That was wrong … so wrong. He’d lost
Lucy.

Now he was back to being the not-so-fun
to be around bear that everyone avoided. He could never go back to being him
because playing that part wasn’t who he really was. However, without Lucy’s
love, without her being part of his life, that’s who he was. He’d lost Danny
and now Lucy too.

“I’m sorry, Sam. I’ve let so many
people down.”

“When’s Lucy coming back?”

Liam shook his head. Bottom line
was she’d told him she wasn’t ever coming back to Montana and wouldn’t ever see
him again. When she’d left to fly home with Mike and the kids, she hadn’t even
said the word
goodbye
.

“But I want her to live here.
She’s my new friend.”

Liam patted his nephew on the
head. At least he still had Sam.

“Uncle Liam, why isn’t she coming
back?”

He was about to tell him that he
was too young to understand but he never wanted to patronize his nephew like
that.

“I put myself and my needs before
hers. That’s wrong. The old Liam would have done that, but not the new me.”

“But … Uncle Liam, you love
Lucy.”

Shit, Danny’s son was just as
smart as he’d been.

“I know, but she doesn’t love
me.” Liam rolled over on his side, tears rolling down his face.

Sam pulled on his arm again. “You
have to get up because I’m feeling sort of funny and I think I’m going to need
to shift into my bear and run.”

Liam took a deep breath. Once
again in his selfishness, wallowing in his own self -pity, he’d forgotten about
Sam and what he needed to do to stay well. Liam had been left in charge of
Sam’s welfare and if anything happened to him, well, two more people would hate
him.

“Okay, let’s head out to the car
and we’ll run.”

Liam got off the couch and
grabbed the car keys. Sam ran ahead of him out of the door. Once outside he
spotted Lucy’s car. She’d told him she’d send someone to come pick it up in the
next week or so. However, he had a better idea. Once Bear and Hannah were back
and he didn’t need to look after Sam he was going to drive to Philly and
deliver the car in person. He planned to use all his bear charm to try and win
her back.

Chapter Seventeen

Lucy wiped her eyes. It sounded
like her car pulling up outside on the driveway but that was impossible. It
wasn’t due to be delivered back until next week. However, she’d know the purr
of that engine anywhere. She got out of bed and pulled the drapes back and
suddenly panicked. It
was
her car and
Liam was getting out of it.

She had in fact, cooled down a
lot since getting home and had reflected on what had happened and what she’d
said. But the bottom line was she wasn’t ready to see him. Wasn’t ready to talk
to him. She’d said some harsh words. Words she didn’t really mean about blaming
him for what happened to Mike. He was going to be fine, he’d recover but Liam
had been pig-headed and he needed to know that. Love was too precious to give
up on so easily.

Shit, her hair was a mess. Her
t-shirt had a hole in it, and…

The pinging of the doorbell rang
out throughout the house. She looked at the clock: Just a few minutes past
seven in the morning. If she knew Liam as well as she thought, he’d driven
non-stop, probably all through the night to get to Philly.

She ran her hands through her
hair. When the doorbell sounded again, she hurried to the door and opened it
without thinking about what she was going to say. And then when she saw the
hunk of man standing on her doorstep it happened all over again. Her heart
flipped just like it had the first time she’d seen him when he’d saved by the
roadside that night.

He hadn’t shaved and he looked
dead on his feet. Neither of them said anything for a few seconds, but then he
reached out and pulled her into his body.

“I’ve missed you and I’ve missed
doing this,” he whispered in her ear.

Before she could say anything he’d
swooped her up in his arms, also like he had that night when he’d carried her
to the car.

“Bedroom?” he asked.

She pointed to the left.

****

Lucy hadn’t believed that make-up
sex was the way to settle your differences but when Liam’s cock vibrated
against the walls of her pussy, she knew she might have to rethink such an old-fashioned
notion.

She rubbed her hands along his
biceps, feeling the tip of his shaft tickle the back wall of her channel. They
rubbed noses before he picked up his tempo again and started thrusting hard and
deep.

As if they were one, both of them
climaxed together, lifting their heads and crying out. He stayed inside her
while he kissed her.

“You know how to win a girl
over,” she said.

“It’s what we bears do.”

“Liam, I should apologize for the
hasty…”

He covered her lips with his
index and middle finger.

“You were right. I was stupid and
I put my needs before your brother’s safety. It won’t ever happen again.”

“God, I hope my brother never is
in danger again.”

“I did hear they arrested his
boss and two of the other guys,” said Liam. “How is Mike doing?”

“He’s good. They said he
shouldn’t have any permanent health issues. The bullet just grazed his spleen.”

Liam shook his head. “I’m so, so,
sorry.”

It was her turn to put her
fingers over his mouth.

“So where do we go from here?”
asked Lucy.

 
“What I’m about to say is probably going to
make you mad at me again.”

“Try me.”

“I don’t like big cities like
Philly. Not the sort of place for a bear. Plus, I have Sam to think about.”

Liam pulled out of her and rolled
on his side, quickly putting his arm around her so they could snuggle under the
sheet. She knew how much Sam meant to him. She couldn’t ask him to choose him
or her because then she would be the selfish one putting her needs before his.

“I have Mike and his children
here in Philly.”

That was true but Mike after the
scare he’d had, now that he no longer worked at the lab, had talked about
moving out to the country.

“If I moved to Montana, what
would I do?”

“You ever thought of interior
design? I have this apartment that needs finishing because I’m going to rent it
out.”

“Um, I’m very expensive.”

“I can pay.”

“Really?”

“Of course, not in money, but
with lots of loving.”

Lucy playfully pinched his butt.

“Is my car running okay?” she
asked.

“Like new.”

“So you think it’s okay to drive
it back to Montana in the next couple of days?”

“I guess so … does that mean I
don’t have to buy an airline ticket to get home?”

“Well, I might be able to give you
a ride.”

It was his turn to pinch her
butt. “I’ll move there to be with you on one condition.”

“And what’s that?” he asked.

“You try and talk my brother into
moving closer to Kalispell.”

“I think I can do that. And it
will save him the trouble of traveling west for the wedding.”

“What wedding?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? It’s
something else you’re going to do besides the interior design work. You’re
going to be a bear’s wife.”

The End

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