Savor (2 page)

I
never asked to spend my life with someone by my side. I was fine with loneliness, and in my own way I welcomed isolation. It was easier that way. You never had to worry about letting someone down if there was no one there. But we don’t always get to choose the path we walk, or the people we walk it with.

I was a bear. I knew it in every grain of my being, but another part of me was human, and it was the human side, the human vulnerability, that simultaneously saved me and destroyed me. And it was him. Jared. He opened me up to feelings and experiences I never wanted but now needed. If I’d known in the beginning what he was going to do to me, I probably would have run the other way, but I didn’t. I didn’t see it coming.

“You awake?” Jared didn’t bother to keep his voice down, which meant he already knew the answer to his question. We’d stopped in a random hunting cabin in the middle of nowhere and Jared was crazy if he thought I was going to sleep comfortably. I was far too paranoid to close my eyes for long. Instead I lay on one side of a rickety old bed, on top of the covers.

“Remind me why we stopped here again?” My voice came out as loud as his.

“You agreed we didn’t want to arrive at the island in the middle of the night. I knew this place would be empty.” He leaned up on his elbows, giving me a front row view of his bare chest. I shouldn’t have found his muscular chest so inviting, but I did. Everything about Jared’s physical appearance lured me in. Too bad his mouth generally cancelled out the attractive body.

“Because I didn’t want them killing you. Casey did say they were constantly on high alert.” I’d grilled Casey the best I could about the island our family lived on. For the first time, it was my little sister who explored something before me. She seemed insistent that my mom wanted to see me, and my birth father wanted to meet me. I wasn’t sure if I believed her on either account, but something in me needed to find out for myself.

“I’m glad you don’t want me dead.” He smirked. Even his smirk was sexy.

“I’d be on my own if you were.” I put my hands behind my head.

“And you don’t like being alone?” He studied me in the darkness. Sometimes I wished neither of us had night vision. It left you so naked, never having an opportunity to hide.

“I do most of the time.”

“But not always?” His eyes raked over my body. The fact that he could make such a platonic conversation feel sexual gave me even more reason to resist him.

“Why does it matter?” Often the best way to avoid a question is to ask your own.

“It matters because I asked it.” And there went his mouth again.

My annoyance gave me back my will power. “Put a shirt on.”

“Why?” He grinned. “Am I distracting you?”

“No, but we should go. The sun will be up soon enough.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t go with you.” He sat up, swinging his legs off the side of the bed.

“No way.” I moved to standing. “You’re not backing out.”

“Why do you care?” He stood with his back to me. “You can do this alone.”

“Of course I can.”

He turned to me. “Then why does it matter if I go my own way?” He pulled on his t-shirt, and a little part of me missed the view.

“Because we agreed to help each other out. I stick to my promises.” That was one of my good traits. The not so good traits weren’t worth reflecting on.

“Maybe I don’t.”

“You do.” I put a hand on my hip. I didn’t have time for Jared’s games.

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“You’re infuriating.”

I groaned. “And what are you?”

“Charming.”

If I’d had liquid in my mouth I would have spit it out. “Not exactly the word I’d use to describe you.”

“Says the girl begging me to stay with her.”

“I never begged.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Would you beg?” His grin was his undoing.

“Is that how you like it, Jared? With your women begging?”

“I wasn’t talking about how I like my women.”

“Are you sure about that?” I grabbed my backpack and headed into the cabin’s small bathroom.

“Where are you going?”

I paused with my hand on the door. “To shower.”

“Is that your M.O.? You try to mess with guys by talking like that, and then shower to let them know you’re naked and wet yet unavailable to them? This is the second time you’ve pulled it, and I’ve only known you a few weeks.”

“I figure I should be clean the first time I meet my father.” My dad would always be the man who raised me, but technically Gareth was responsible for half my genes.

“And then you mention your father. Great, thanks for the splash of cold water.” He winked. “I’ll be around.”

“You should probably shower when I’m done.”

“I’m not worried about making a good impression on your old man.”

“Yeah, but you need to shower.” I pulled off my tank top and headed into the bathroom. I didn’t need to turn around to know he was staring at my back.

“You better be careful, Vera. There’s only so much teasing a man can take.” There was nothing teasing about his tone.

“You’ve got good self-control.” I closed the door and smiled. Jared was so much fun to mess with.

The hot water felt amazing, and I stayed under the stream long after I’d finished washing my hair and body.

“Quit using up all the hot water.” Jared’s voice came from inside the bathroom.

“I thought you weren’t showering.”

“I changed my mind.”

I peered through the opaque curtain. Jared was standing between me and my towel. “Could you hand me my towel?” I shut off the water.

“I don’t know. Can I?”

“Whatever.” I pushed open the curtain. He’d seen me naked before anyway—albeit it, I hadn’t been wet, and it had been when I was shifting.

“You’re hot for a bear.” He held out my towel.

“For a bear?” I toweled off.

“Yes.” He watched my every move.

“I’m not sure whether you’re hot for a Pteron.”

“You’re not?” He pulled off the shirt he’d just put on and tossed it on the counter.

“Not entirely.”

He undid his shorts and stepped out of them. Followed by his boxers. “Are you sure?”

“You’re good looking.” And huge. I kept that part to myself, but I’m sure my expression gave me away.

“But you hold Pterons to a higher standard?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Forget it. You won.” I pulled on a fresh pair of underwear and a cami.

“Wait. You’re admitting I bested you? I’m not sure if I like that or not.”

“Why not?” I stepped into my shorts.

“Because I like you feisty.”

“I don’t really care how you like me.”

“Yes you do.” He stepped into the shower.

I turned, not wanting to think about him wet. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

“You do that.”

I asked myself, not for the first time, why I was voluntarily spending time with him. He was the most infuriating man on the planet, yet somehow he drew me in. I wasn’t sure what it was about him, but it was more than his looks. If it was that, I’d have slept with him and moved on already.

I paced back and forth outside. I wanted to shift, but I also didn’t want to waste any time. Now that I was bound and determined to meet my birth father and face my mother, I didn’t want anything slowing me down. I glanced back at the cabin. Currently it was Jared slowing me down, but I figured the guy deserved a few minutes to attend to his personal hygiene.

The thick trees surrounding me put me at ease. I loved the forest. The deeper and darker the better. It’s where I felt safest and most like myself. The thought of moving back to suburbia, or worse a city, made me tense. I was positive Jared felt the opposite way. Like most Pterons he’d turned off his animal side and embraced city life. He probably felt more at home in expensive suits than in his natural naked form.

“Miss me already?”

I didn’t turn around. “Not at all.”

“Sure you did. I bet you were thinking about me too.”

I reluctantly turned around. “Don’t be so high on yourself.”

“Here’s your bag.” He tossed my backpack to me.

“Thanks.” I put it on my shoulders one strap at a time. “Are we flying the rest of the way there?”

He glanced up at the dark sky. “Sure, if you think you can handle it.”

“Of course I can handle it.” I removed the backpack I’d just put on.

He laughed. “What can’t you handle?”

“You.” I waited as he snaked his arms around my waist. I tried to ignore the warmth and jolt of excitement I felt as he pulled me back against his hard body.

“I bet you could handle me, bear.” He took off, his long black wings sending us high into the sky. The night was pitch black, but it made the experience better, more intense. I alternated between opening and closing my eyes, not sure which made things better. I lived for excitement. It’s what kept me moving forward and made me feel alive. Flying with Jared was still exciting. I hoped that excitement lasted at least a little while longer.

“You okay?” he called over the wind.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re quiet.”

“I’m trying to enjoy myself.”

“I’m enjoying myself.”

“I can tell.” It wasn’t just his chest that was hard.

“Would you believe me if I told you that flying doesn’t usually do that to me?”

“Yes. I’m guessing having my ass pressed against you doesn’t help.” I couldn’t deny I liked knowing how I affected him. At least it wasn’t one sided.

“It’s not a bad ass.”

“I’m well aware.”

He chuckled. “You have a lot of confidence.”

“So do you.” I hoped we’d fall back into silence. I’d learned quickly that Jared ruined everything when he opened his mouth.