A Spark to Bear (Fire Bear Shifters Book 2) (5 page)

“This isn’t exactly fair,” she said lightly. “You saved my life. It’s not like I can just say no to you.”

Hunter’s eyes turned serious. “Don’t say that,” he said. “You can say no any time you want to. If you don’t want this, then tell me now and we can go back to being completely platonic friends, no hard feelings.”

Riley turned her face back toward him, taking a deep breath. She studied his eyes for a few moments, then took a leap of faith.

“I don’t want to be just platonic friends,” she said. “I want you to kiss me.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He leaned his head down, and put his lips on hers. The warmth and softness of his kiss surprised her. She would have expected a man as big and muscular as Hunter to feel rough, but the only thing remotely rough about him was the two-day-old stubble on his chin. It tickled her face in a delightful way, sending happy little tingles up and down her spine. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, and let it run over her tongue with a smooth, rhythmic motion. Riley’s heart raced with excitement as he slid his hands down her back and rested them against her lower back, pressing his groin against her. She could feel his erection pushing against her, large and solid.

She felt herself melting into him as the charred forest around them disappeared. She could only see him. He took his time kissing her, and she enjoyed the moment as the water gently flowed around them. Nothing mattered in that moment except being with him. She forgot about all of her worries back home. She forgot about looking for a new job, or about how she would pay her bills when her savings ran out. She definitely forgot about her ex-boyfriend. She even forgot about the fact that just yesterday she had almost burned alive. She could only focus on Hunter’s skin against her skin, and his tongue against her tongue. She felt her whole body tingling at the immense pleasure of his hands running over her.

But just when she thought he was going to take it to the next level, and start removing their last layer of clothes, he pulled back.

“Let’s not rush things, huh? These things are always better when you take your time,” he said. “Besides, the sun’s almost gone down, and it’s going to get pretty cool once it does. We should get out and dry off.”

Riley tried to hide her disappointment. She hadn’t wanted to stop. Her feelings for him were quickly deepening, and she gladly would have taken their fledgling relationship all the way. But she didn’t want to seem desperate, and she certainly wasn’t going to beg for him to sleep with her. So she agreed with him and started wading back to the riverbank, where they sat on some large rocks and dried off while they soaked up the last rays of sunlight.

When the light had faded to where Riley could hardly see Hunter anymore, he went to find his lantern and turn it on. Then he offered her the long sleeved flame retardant clothing again, and she gladly accepted the warmer clothes. His eyes looked sad, and she couldn’t understand why. If taking things slowly was going to cause him such anguish, why didn’t he just move ahead? She certainly hadn’t given him any hints that she wasn’t enjoying herself.

But she got the strange feeling that whatever was bothering him ran deeper than just denying himself carnal pleasure, and so she let things be. They had yet another Spam and Gatorade dinner, and then they went to sleep early. Riley had been hoping for another late night of talking under the stars, but Hunter didn’t seem to be in a particularly talkative mood.

He did agree to share the sleeping bag with her tonight. They opened it up so it would be wider, and they spread it like a blanket over both of them. Riley snuggled up to Hunter as he drifted off to sleep. She watched his chest rising and falling peacefully for a long time before she finally closed her eyes and joined him in dream world.

This time, when she dreamed she was chasing the tall, muscular man across the field, she caught him. And when the man turned around, she clearly saw Hunter’s deep green eyes staring back at her.

Maybe Hunter was right. He was her destiny.

The next day, Hunter opened his eyes before the sun had risen above the horizon. In the gray light of early dawn, he glanced over at Riley, who was still sleeping soundly beside him. He studied the outline of her face, marveling at how unguarded and peaceful it looked while she slept.

He reached for her hand under the sleeping bag that they were using as a blanket. She stirred slightly when he laced his fingers with hers, but quickly settled back into the steady breathing of sleep. He furrowed his brow, trying to decide how, exactly, he was going to break the news to her that he was a bear shifter.

She had wanted to mate with him last night. He had seen the passion in her eyes, and smelled the desire seeping from her pores. He had been so close to giving in to the craving that had flooded through him. He wanted her, too. But he couldn’t mate with her until he told her who he was. He had seen his alpha, Ian, struggle with the frustration of sleeping with a woman before revealing his shifter secret. Things had worked out between Ian and Charlotte in the end, but not before Charlotte had nearly given up on Ian, angry that he hadn’t come clean with her from the beginning. After seeing how that relationship played out, Hunter had vowed never to sleep with a woman he loved until she knew he was a shifter.

And he was pretty sure he loved Riley.

Everything about her captivated him. Her smile, her laugh, the easy way a conversation with her flowed. She fit him. And no wonder, since he was surer than ever that she was destined to be his lifemate. He had suspected as much, when he smelled her in danger on the day he rescued her from the wildfire. But he knew with certainty after she shared her dream with him. Humans’ dreaming of their lifemates was a rare occurrence. It only happened when the human was unusually tuned in to the supernatural elements around them, or when the lifemate bond was exceptionally strong. Hunter didn’t think Riley was the particularly spiritual type, and so he suspected that they had a rare, extra strong bond. He knew that the moment he mated with her, his soul would be permanently bonded with her.

She stirred again, and he looked over at her. He had to tell her today, even though he was terrified that she wouldn’t want anything to do with him once she knew he hid a bear within him. She deserved to know the truth, before she decided whether to invest any more of her heart into him.

Hunter sat up and slid out from under the blanket, tucking it around Riley as he left. He started packing up his gear, pulling out two protein bars to serve as breakfast. His food supply was getting a little low, but he wasn’t worried about it. Sometime tomorrow they should make it to the visitor center, where a truck would pick them up and carry them out of this burnt up wilderness.

After wolfing down one of the protein bars, Hunter grabbed his radio and wandered a little ways away to contact Ian.

“Ian, this is Hunter, are you there?”

“I’m here. How are you progressing?”

“We’re making okay time. We didn’t make too much progress yesterday afternoon, because the heat up here borders on unbearable. But we’re just about ready to get going, now. I’m going to try to take advantage of the cool morning hours as much as I can. I’m estimating we’ll be at the visitor center a little before noon tomorrow.”

“Roger that. How are your supplies?”

“Food is low, but we have enough to last us through breakfast tomorrow. So, barring any emergencies, that should be fine. And I found the river, so we have plenty of water. I’d say we’re in good shape.”

“Good. Did you mate with her yet?” Ian asked, his voice sounding bitter.

“Ian!”

“I’m just asking. I sure hope rescuing her has been worth it for you, since you risked your life to do it. You’ve also put me in an awkward situation. Boise wants to give you an award for bravery. They want to use your story to publicize all of the wildfire firefighters, and get the word out about how awesome we all are, or whatever. I should have just thrown your ass under the bus and told them the truth—that you jumped off that helicopter on purpose, against orders. Now we’re going to have a bunch of media spotlights on the clan.”

“I’m sorry, boss,” Hunter said meekly. “You know I’m not defiant by nature. But I couldn’t stop myself. My bear felt like it was going to tear right out of me if I didn’t do go after her. I’m sure she’s my lifemate. It would have torn me up inside if I had let her die out here.”

“If she’s your lifemate, then why haven’t you mated with her yet? Is she not as into you as you are into her?”

“It’s not that. She seems very willing. It’s just…I don’t want to lose her trust.”

Ian immediately knew what Hunter meant. “I understand that, Hunter, and I’m not going to tell you to try to hide who you really are from her. But be careful if you tell her. Make sure you can trust her. We don’t want to risk the clan being outed. Especially when Boise already has the media circus lined up and waiting to talk to you.”

“I know. I’ll be careful. And I’m sorry about the media. I’ll find a way to make this better, I promise.”

“Just worry about getting yourself home for now. I’m pissed as hell at you, but we’ll talk about that later. Take care of yourself and the girl, okay?”

“Alright, Ian. I’ll check in later tonight with our progress.”

Hunter signed off and turned off the radio, then went back to where he had left Riley sleeping. He was surprised to see that she had woken up already.

“Was I too loud? Did I wake you up?” he asked. He hoped that she hadn’t heard his discussion with Ian, but she gave no indication that anything was out of the ordinary.

“Nah, I think I just got cold when the warm body next to me left the bed,” Riley said, winking at him. Hunter smiled, and then tossed her the protein bar he had pulled out for her.

“Here. Breakfast. I know it’s not very delicious, but it will at least give you some energy.

Riley munched on the protein bar while Hunter put on all of his gear, and then they took off hiking down the river. Riley seemed to be in a very talkative mood, and Hunter let her talk. He interjected just enough comments to keep her from suspecting that he was in a bad mood. Her mood seemed better than ever, which he suspected had something to do with the fact that he had kissed her yesterday. He worried that she might not feel so chipper once he told her why he hadn’t mated with her yesterday.

He decided that he would tell her when they set up camp for the night. This gave him all day to think about what to say—and all day to dread what her reaction would be. The hours seemed to drag by, but when the shadows had started to grow long again, Hunter picked a spot to set up camp. As soon as Hunter had taken off his gear and jumpsuit, Riley stripped down to her bra and underwear again with lighting speed.

“Last one in is the rotten egg!” she taunted, evidently pleased with herself for beating him at his own game. She splashed out into the water, laughing and shrieking as the cool stream hit her body. Hunter smiled, and then sighed heavily as he stripped down to his underwear as well. He waded out to her, dunking his head underwater for a moment to let the river’s refreshing coolness run over him. When he came back above the surface, he was met with a huge splash. Riley was running her fist across the top of the river to send a wall of water in his direction.

“Oooooh, I got you!” she said, splashing around in delight like a little kid. Hunter chuckled. Her smile was infectious, and it only added to her beauty as the sun made her wet skin glisten. But when she realized he wasn’t trying to splash her back, her smile faded.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Listen, Riley, we need to talk,” Hunter said. Her face fell at his words, and the look of anguish she gave him made his heart tighten up.

“Really?” she asked, her voice sounding distressed. “Are you about to break up with me? Because it’s been less than twenty-four hours since you first kissed me. Are you tired of me already?”

“No, no. It’s not what you think. I don’t want to break up with you. Far from it. But, I’m falling hard for you Riley, and, if I’m not mistaken, you’re falling hard for me, too.”

A look of confusion registered on her face. “I’m not seeing the problem with both of us liking each other. That’s pretty much the ideal way for a relationship to work, you know? Both parties sharing mutual affection for each other.”

Hunter took a deep breath. “I know. But before we take this any further, there’s something about me I have to tell you. And it’s kind of a big deal. A really big deal. I’m going to trust you with a very, very personal secret. And if you don’t want to be with me anymore after that, I understand. God, I hope that’s not the case. I hope you can accept this part of me. But if you can’t, I’m pleading with you, begging you, to keep this secret for me.”

The look of confusion on Riley’s face only grew. “Okay,” she said uncertainly.

Hunter bit his lip and paused before continuing. He looked at Riley’s face one last time before he started speaking. He wanted to remember what her eyes looked like when they were filled with affection for him, in case he never saw that look again.

“Riley, have you ever heard of shapeshifters?”

She raised an eyebrow in his direction. “Yes,” she said, her voice sounding somewhat amused. Whatever things she might have thought he was about to say, that clearly was not on the list.

Hunter took a deep breath, and decided to spill everything in one big, quick confession. “Riley, I’m a shapeshifter. A bear shifter, to be exact. I know it sounds insane, but it’s true. I can switch back and forth between human and bear form at will. The rest of my smokejumping crew, except for Charlotte, are all bear shifters as well. And even when I’m in human form, I retain my keen bear sense for hearing and smelling. That’s how I was able to smell you and find you when you were in trouble the other day.”

Riley stared at him, her left eyebrow frozen in a questioning arch above her eye. She seemed to be trying to decide whether he was certifiably crazy or just attempting to pull her leg. Or both. Hunter met her gaze, trying to keep as sincere of an expression as possible on his face.

After a few moments of silence, he saw a look of fear cross her eyes as she took a step backwards. “Oh my god. You’re serious,” she said.

The frightened look in her eyes tore at Hunter’s heart, but he resisted the urge to step toward her and put his arms around her. He knew she needed a bit of space right now, and reaching for her would only make things worse.

“Is it contagious?” she asked, her eyes widening.

“No. It’s genetic. It’s not something you can catch, so don’t worry about that. And I’m fully in control of my actions even when I’m in bear form, so I would never hurt you. There’s nothing for you to fear.”

She kept staring at him for several more moments, not saying anything. Hunter silently pleaded with her to accept him. Or at least to give him a chance to prove that he was still a respectable, lovable man, even though he was a bear. He wished he could somehow make her see how much he cared about her. His whole life, he had been judged by nearly everyone who had discovered that he was a bear shifter. He had been called a monster and Frankenstein. He’d even had an old lady in Georgia try to cast the evil spirit out of him. But he had always brushed it off. He tried to always see the best in everyone, and when someone acted unkindly toward him, he told himself to give that person grace and remember that they probably had a lot of difficult things in their life to deal with. He had never cared that much what anyone else thought of him, until now. He desperately wanted Riley to accept him for who he was. He could handle it when a random stranger reacted to him with fear and disgust. But he didn’t know how he would cope with the blow if Riley hated him now.

When she finally spoke again, her voice sounded less afraid, and more doubtful. “You can’t be serious,” she said softly. “Shifters are just legends. People can’t actually turn into bears. Are you sure you didn’t inhale too much smoke the other day, or something? I think maybe we need to get you to a doctor. How much water have you had to drink today?”

She stepped forward toward him again, and put her hand on his forehead as if feeling to see whether he had a fever. Her eyes were full of concern as Hunter shook his head at her.

“Riley, I’m not sick. I’m telling you the truth.”

“You feel a little warm,” she said, ignoring his comment. “I think you might have a fever. Maybe we should radio your boss and see if they have a helicopter ready yet that they can send in to get us.”

“Riley!” Hunter said, reaching out to pull her hand down from his forehead. “You’re not hearing me. I’m not sick. I’m telling you the truth. This is a really hard conversation for me to have, because I love you, and I don’t want to lose you. But I need you to understand the truth about me. I need to be able to trust you, and I need you to trust me.”

Hunter held Riley’s hand as he looked into her eyes, trying to convey to her how seriously he meant his words.

“You…love me?” she asked, her voice shaking a little.

Hunter winced inwardly. Maybe this hadn’t been the best time to drop that little nugget on her, but he had meant what he said, and he wasn’t going to deny it.

“Yes. I love you.”

“And you really think you’re a bear?” she asked.

Hunter let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, I really think I’m a bear. I
know
I’m a bear. Do you want me to show you?”