Ursa Major (16 page)

Liam grabbed his socks, boots, and jeans. Pulling them on, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Why are you back?”

“Apparently it’s to keep you from doing something completely stupid. And, from the look on your face, I’m too late, aren’t I?”

Sarah didn’t know whether to jump to Liam’s defense or remain silent.

“I know what I’m doing,” Liam replied.

Cameron strode forward until he stood toe-to-toe with Liam. “Do you? Do you know what the penalties are for bringing a
human
into our world? You, Liam, big brother to us all, stand here covered in blood after performing the same ritual I was just doing alone. We should have been out there together, and this
human
shouldn’t be anywhere near us.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Sarah couldn’t stand there and listen to it for a moment longer. “This human thinks you’re acting like a jerk. Who is going to find out? And if they do, what are they going to do to me, kill me?” The instant the words left her mouth she realized they were a mistake.

Cameron’s glare turned on her and made her feel very, very small. His eyes were as black as the night sky above them. “This isn’t your world,” he said.

“I know,” Sarah replied. “You don’t know how much I know that.”

“Cameron, let’s take this inside.” Liam reached down and scooped up his shirt. Without waiting for a reply, he headed toward the house.

Not knowing what else to do, Sarah followed him. She’d known all along that coming to Alaska would bring her into a new world. She just had no idea how new.

~* * *~

Of all the times for his brother to show up, now was not the best. Liam took deep, even breaths, the serenity of the ritual spilling over into the moments afterwards. It was that serenity and the fact that he knew he’d shared something meaningful with Sarah that kept him from decking Cameron’s arrogant ass. He clenched his jaw and kept striding toward the house. He sensed Sarah behind him and hoped Cameron followed.

Once inside the house, Cameron stopped. He turned and stared over Sarah’s shoulder at his brother. “Look, we both need showers and then we can talk. Meet me in the living room in half an hour.” Only then did he realize what he’d done to Sarah’s clothing. Blood stains marred the fabric and he hoped he’d be able to remove them. At least as a man living alone, he’d become adept in removing blood from clothing. Sometimes his own, sometimes prey, either way, it washed out just the same. “I’ll get you a basin to soak your clothing in, Sarah. You probably want to clean up too.” And he refused to imagine her standing naked under the shower spray.

A half an hour wasn’t enough time for him to clean up and put his thoughts in order, but Liam did it anyway. He descended the stairs, the silence in the living room deafening. He paused just beyond the opening and listened. Neither Cameron nor Sarah said anything. It wasn’t a good sign.

Well, he was the big brother and because of that he made the decisions. He stepped into the living room. Liam stood near the front, staring at the fireplace at the far end. Cameron sat in the chair Liam usually occupied, while Sarah sat at the end of the couch. That left the other end for Liam. He preferred to stand.

“She wasn’t to know our secrets,” Cameron growled. “She’s not one of us.”

“I’m quite aware of that. But I also believe in telling the truth. She discovered it first. I didn’t reveal anything she didn’t already hint at or know.”

“Then you were careless. You let your little head rule when the one between your ears should have done the job. Damn it, Liam, you were trapped in a Russian prison because some bitch found out about our abilities. I would think you, of all people, wouldn’t be so stupid as to make the same mistake again.”

Liam vaulted across the space separating him from his younger brother. Rage turned his vision red. An inhuman snarl rolled from his lips. This was completely different from what had happened back in Russia. “Don’t you ever talk about Sarah like that.” Grabbing Cameron’s shoulder, he slammed him back into the chair so hard it rocked onto its hind legs. “This isn’t Russia.”

“No, it isn’t.” Cameron spoke slowly. “But what you did was no less foolhardy. Showing her our rituals. Letting her in on the secret. The Quintursa isn’t going to like this.”

“The Quintursa?” Sarah asked.

Liam remembered he had an audience. Not that he could ever forget about Sarah, but he and Cameron had their moments. Usually it ended with someone fixing furniture. “Our ruling body. Five elders representing the five bear shifters.”

“Shit, man. Just tell her everything, why don’t you? Does she know about our brothers?”

Liam fixed Cameron with a glare that had pinned him in place on more than one occasion. “She knows about me. And because of your foolish actions, she knows about you. I haven’t told her anything about our brothers. I trust her not to take this information back to Washington and put it on her report. She needed to know that more than the environment would be affected if the politicians had their way.”

Cameron stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. And maybe, he had. They both had done time in a Russian prison because foolishness had revealed their secrets. But he wasn’t that same man. He was older, wise, and deep in his gut he knew telling Sarah the truth was the right thing to do. Especially if he wanted a future with her.

The thought rocked Liam back on his heels. He turned to look at Sarah and saw her sitting on the end of the couch, her knees tucked beneath him, looking very much like a chastised child. That wasn’t how he wanted her to remember them. “Hey, it’s okay. Cameron and I argue like this all the time.” He smiled, trying to add some levity to the situation. “Though usually it’s about who ate the last piece of salmon or who won a race through the woods.”

She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I don’t want to cause any problems.”

“You haven’t.” He sat down on the couch beside her. Taking one of her hands in his, he lifted it to his mouth and kissed it. “I believe you’re not going to tell a soul what you’ve seen up here about me and my brother being different. You wouldn’t let me down, would you?” He felt like an ass putting her on the spot like this, but Cameron needed to see his trust wasn’t misplaced.

“No, of course not.”

“Good. And I want you to promise something. No matter what happens back in Washington, once you turn in the report, if it doesn’t go the way we want it to go, don’t blame yourself. I know how politicians work. Politics crosses species lines.”

“I won’t. Don’t worry.”

Liam stared at her for a long moment, half afraid she was telling him what he wanted to hear. He knew if he were in her position, he’d probably blame himself to some extent. After all, she’d been hired to write a report, no matter how impartial her company wanted her to be. If that report didn’t produce the expected results… “Okay.” He reached out and fingered a lock of her hair.

“You and your brother need to talk about this. I’m going to go upstairs and go to bed.”

Alone.
The unspoken word hung between them, making him acutely aware of their numbered days together. “Have a good night, Sarah.” He leaned forward to kiss her, but she ducked away as she stood.

“Good night, both of you.” She said, then hurried from the living room.

Liam listened to her footfalls as she ascended the stairs. “Thanks, little brother. You really messed it up this time,” he said drolly.

“No, I’m not. You did by telling her our secrets. She wasn’t supposed to know.”

Liam took a deep breath. He really didn’t want to fight with his brother. “But she found out anyway. She’ll be gone in a week and then it won’t matter anymore.”

“You care for her,” Cameron announced. “It’ll still matter. She’ll be in D.C. and you’ll pine after her like a lovesick puppy.” He snorted. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

Liam shook his head, wanting to deny his brother’s words. He shoved himself to his feet. “Believe what you want, Cameron. I know I did the right thing.” With those words, he followed Sarah’s path up the stairs.

Sarah glanced at the clock and mentally calculated the time difference between Alaska and Washington D.C.. Deciding it was too late for Ken to be in the office, she punched in the number for their travel agent. Someone always worked the phones twenty-four seven, and Sarah had no doubt by this time tomorrow night she’d be back home. She should be happy. No more rough camping, no more getting caught in a snow storm with just a tent. No more Liam.

She sank to the bed. The travel agent answered on the fifth ring. Within moments she’d explained she needed the tickets moved up and less than ten minutes later, her itinerary had been changed. As she hung up the phone, she knew that in less than twenty-four hours she’d be gone from this place and she’d never see it again.

A lone tear slid from her eyes. She dashed it away. What she was doing was for the best. Seeing Liam’s transformation and the ritual humbled her, told her that there were things in this world she didn’t understand. And she’d come between him and his brother. No, Ken was right. It was time she came home, wrote her report, and moved onto her next assignment.

A light knock on the door interrupted her maudlin thoughts. “Come in.” She pulled her suitcase out of the closet and opened it on the bed.

The door opened.

She turned and watched Liam enter. He eyed the suitcase on the bed, then sat down beside it. “Leaving?”

Sarah nodded. “Yeah, I’ll need a ride into the airport tomorrow morning. I’m going back to Washington.”

“I see.” Liam stared at her. A frown marred his face, and in his eyes she saw disappointment. Because he thought she was a quitter, or for some other reason. Sarah wasn’t sure and hesitated to ask.

“My work is done. I need to go back and write my report. I think it’s time.”

“Is this because of my brother? Cameron can be stubborn sometimes, but he means well. He’s concerned that’s all. We’re not supposed to tell outsiders what we are.” He glanced down at his hands, and for the first time since meeting him, Liam seemed uncertain. “I don’t want you to go.”

There, those six little words every woman wanted to hear. They just happened to come at a bad time. “I have to.” She closed the lid of the suitcase and shoved it out of the way so she could sit down beside him. The need to touch him had her reaching for his hand and tangling their fingers. Bringing it to her lips, she pressed a kiss against it. “I don’t want to come between you and your brother. And really, I had all the information I needed after I watched you relocate that grizzly. Tonight was…” She blinked away the tears threatening to fall. Damn it, she hated good-byes, and that’s exactly what this was. Better to get it over with now than tomorrow. “Tonight was very special and it means a lot to me. I’ll never forget it and your secret is safe with me.”

“Sarah.” Liam turned to face her. Cupping her cheek, he stroked the length of her jaw bone down to her chin. He caressed her lips, then pulled her hand away. “I know my secret is safe with you. That’s why I brought you into my world. If you feel you have to go back to Washington I won’t stop you. I know the work you’re doing is very important. I’ll use what pull I have with the Quintursa to see if they have any connections to make your report fall on sympathetic ears. I know you’re trying to do good work, Sarah.”

It sure sounded like good-bye. Swallowing hard, Sarah pulled away, sliding their fingers apart. She stood and hugged herself. Her closed suitcase mocked her as did her laptop bag where she knew if she checked her email she’d find the tickets and itinerary for the trip.

Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs. Sarah glanced at the closed door wondering if Cameron were about to barge in on them. If this were her last night with Liam, she didn’t want to spend it fighting. Washington seemed so far away from this place, both in terms of physical miles and emotional ones. She crossed the space between them and sat back down on the bed.

Words, all of them sounding trite, came to her lips only to be tossed aside. She looked at him, trying to memorize the strong line of his jaw, his rich, mahogany hair and those dark eyes in which she could positively get lost. “I’ll continue to do good work once I go back to Washington. I have no idea where I’ll be sent next, but I’m sure it’ll be somewhere as important as this one.”
Unless my boss so thoroughly hates the report that I’m sent to cover pork projects for the rest of my career.

Liam remained silent, giving her way too much time to think. Though she wasn’t naive about how politics worked, she hoped that her employer hadn’t gone over to the lobbyists’ side. The impartiality of her employer was one of the main reasons why she worked there. If they had ceased to be that, then she had to find a new job. And her sister probably would as well.

The footfalls stopped just outside the door.

“Cameron,” she whispered.

Liam nodded.

“I suppose he can come in. He’ll be happy that I’m leaving.”

“If that’s what you want?” Liam raised his hand, almost as if he were to reach for her, then set it back down. “I could send him away.”

She shook her head. “Let’s tell him the good news, then I can pack and be ready for my flight tomorrow.”

“What time is it?”

“I leave at 7 in the morning.” She resisted the urge to grab her laptop and fire it up to double check her itinerary. She’d written everything down on the notepad by the bed and her shorthand mocked her with the truth.

“It’ll be a short night then, won’t it?” He asked the question almost as if he had other plans for the evening than sleeping.

Sarah’s body zinged to life. Her breath hitched, the look in his dark eyes making heat pool low in her body. “Probably,” she admitted.

“You can come in, Cameron. It’s not like you can’t hear us through the door anyway,” Liam called out. A moment later the door opened and a very angry Cameron strode inside.

~* * *~

Liam looked from the woman he loved to his brother and back again. This wasn’t turning out well at all. Cameron’s animosity was to be expected. He felt far more strongly about keeping their secret safe, not sharing it with anyone out of their community. Liam, on the other hand, believed that certain humans, like Sarah, could be trusted. He just hoped he wasn’t wrong.

“I’m sure you heard everything,” he said to his brother. What had happened in the former Soviet Union had happened a long time ago. Liam certainly didn’t hold it against anyone. They’d gotten out, with the Quintursa’s help, and were alive. “So you see, you don’t have anything to worry about. Sarah is returning to D.C. in the morning.”

Cameron crossed his arms over his chest.

Liam shook his head.
Don’t argue with me, brother. Just let this one go. If I have to choose between you and Sarah, right now I’m going with her.

“You realize I have to tell the Quintursa about this. Damn it, Liam, you let your dick rule your emotions and now you’ve violated our cardinal rule. Don’t tell the humans about us. How fucking hard could that be?” Cameron snarled.

To her credit, Sarah didn’t flinch. She continued packing.

“Don’t tell me about the rules. I know the Quintursa as well as you do. I’m well aware with what our other brothers do. But I also know…hell.” He growled and dragged his fingers through his hair. Now was not how he wanted to reveal his feelings to Sarah. She deserved so much more than this. Sending her back to Washington with words of love that he couldn’t act upon, because going back to D.C. with her was out of the question. Someone needed to run his business, and he had work to do up here. Someone had to keep the government from killing the grizzly bears.

“You also know what?” Cameron stepped forward, going toe-to-toe with his older twin. “What do you know, Liam? What would change my opinion of your breaking the rules and revealing us? Why should I let you do the very thing I couldn’t?” He spun away and pounded his first on the doorframe.

Liam took a deep breath before answering. Trust Cameron’s past to haunt him even more than being trapped in a Soviet prison would. “Because if you were in my place you would do the same thing.” He spoke softly, not wanting to bring up Gillian.

“That’s different,” Cameron snarled. He raised his fist, but didn’t hit the wall again.

Liam went to his brother and rested his hand between Cameron’s shoulder blades. “I don’t think it is. Look, Sarah is going back to D.C. in the morning. Let this go, Cameron. Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

Cameron shrugged away. He spun, going to the door and opening it. “I can’t believe you’d compare her to Gillian. I have to tell the Quintursa. What they do once they find out, I don’t know. But I have to tell them, brother. I’m sorry.” He stepped through the door and slammed it behind him.

Liam stared at the closed door.

“Who is Gillian?” Sarah’s words cut through the silence surrounding him.

He turned, trying to wrap his mind around the present when he was mired in the past. “She was the love of Cameron’s life. We were young. She’d come up here to do an internship with the DNR. She and Cameron hit it off, but our parents were firm. We were not to get involved with humans. We could not reveal our secret. What I did with you, showing you our ritual, it’s against our law. And should the Quintursa decide, I could be killed for it.”

“No!” Sarah flung herself at him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her face against his chest.

Looking down at her, Liam hugged her. He squeezed tight, half afraid if he let go she’d float out of his life forever. “I don’t think that will happen. I’ve had contact with the Quintursa since you’ve been here. I believe that they would understand the situation. You are in a very unique position to help us. I won’t ask you to and that has nothing to do with our relationship, but if I can make the Quintursa believe—”

“I will.” Sarah peppered kisses across his jaw. “I’ll help you. I’ll do anything to help. Because once I go back to D.C. that’s all I’m going to have left.”

Downstairs the door slammed.

His brother had gone. Liam held the woman in his arms, realizing he’d made his choice. The woman he loved over his brother. Damn, it shouldn’t have been this easy. He hoped, no he prayed, that sometime in the future he and Cameron would make up. It just might be a while.

“I’m sorry. It shouldn’t have happened like this. My mother has said that she always regretted what happened with Gillian. Things were different then. Now, we really could use a biologist on our side.” He stroked her back, loving her soft curves pressed against his chest. Her legs tangled with his, the knowledge that in less than twenty-four hours he’d lose this had his body tight.

“It’s okay.” Sarah curled her fingers into his shoulder blades. “I just want to make sure I have memories to take back with me to D.C..” Tilting her head back, she flattened her palm on his chest, then slid it to his chin. She curled her fingers around the back of his neck. Sarah pulled Liam’s face down to hers and sealed her words with a kiss.

She was his heaven and his salvation. As his lips moved across hers, Liam drank from her. His hands slid down her back to cup her bottom and pull her against him. Her stomach pillowed his erection and all he could think about was sinking into her wet heat. Too impatient for the bed, he spun her around and walked the three steps it took to press her back against the wall. With his hips, he pinned her there, and was rewarded when she hooked one leg around his hips.

He thrust his tongue into her mouth, and she greedily took it, matching his bold strokes with her own. One hand slid to his back to curl against his buttocks, the other still tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck. From shoulders to hips they touched, the layers of clothing doing little to hide her soft curves from him. Especially since he knew what they felt like.

He kissed her like there was no tomorrow, swallowing her whimpering cries and dipping over and over into her mouth. The need for air was but a minute distraction as he changed the angle of the kiss. Her fingers clenched against his rear and he remembered them doing the same with every thrust he made into her body. His jeans grew painfully tight. Only a few hours, that’s all he had.

Liam grabbed the hem of her sweater. He tugged it up towards her head. A little maneuvering had it sliding free and he tossed it to the floor behind them. Her white, cotton utilitarian bra could have been the most expensive lingerie, because she looked beautiful. He freed the front catch, her breasts spilling free into the palms of his hands. He groaned.

The Great Mother had a sick sense of humor to bring Sarah to him right now. He could ask her to leave her job in Washington D.C., even though it was obvious she loved it. He wondered if she would. Money would be no problem, and the Quintursa needed someone like her to liaison between the human and the
Homo interans
government. It would be a win-win situation, but it would be a sacrifice he wouldn’t ask her to make. Because if she accepted, she’d most likely never see her sister ever again. The Quintursa held a tough line and what concessions they gave would come with a high price.

He trailed kisses over her jaw and neck, trying to use the time to slow the pace of his desire. Taking her up against the wall evoked certain primal feelings in him, though it wasn’t how he would have chosen that they would spend their last hours. Of course, once he claimed her, they could always tumble to the bed.

He groaned with the direction of his thoughts. His feather-light caresses grew bolder, the raw desire to claim his mate rising in his blood. His bear roared, demanded he take her now, and the man was having a difficult time getting the bear to obey. Liam skimmed his hands over her waist and flipped open her jeans. The zipper rasped down, and the material sagged, revealing her cotton underwear. Their color was lost on him as he tugged them down, and a moment’s separation for her to kick off boots and socks, then pull her jeans and panties down her legs.