Grizzly Promise Read online

  She shook her head. “It’s not that I can think of a better solution. But seriously? Changing that crazy woman’s memory to make her believe she’s been chasing after Gavin for a year is crazy.”

  Wyatt nodded. “I know. It sucks. But it’s tidy. It eliminated a lot of baggage. Now all she needs to believe is that she wanted Gavin for herself and she thought she could have him if she eliminated you from the picture.”

  Paige pushed her stew around with her fork. “Yeah. I would have preferred Gavin never finding out the council had the ability to wipe minds. I sheltered him from that for ten years, hoping he could live out his entire life never knowing that at any given moment an entity with powers far greater than mine could sweep in and hypnotize him, completely changing everything he knew to be true.”

  “It’s a difficult fact for any human to digest. I hear you, but keeping that from him any longer would have been cruel too.”

  “I hope he doesn’t hate me for not telling him.”

  “I think he was just scared. Nothing else. He panicked. Anyone would.”

  She nodded. “I wasn’t sure George and Henry were going to pull it off. I’m still leery.”

  Wyatt nodded. “I know. Unfortunately, since she was obsessed with you for months and went so far as to kidnap you to get her story, wiping her knowledge of shifters from her mind and letting her go wasn’t a viable option. She needed to be taken into human custody and dealt with.”

  “I expected that.”

  Wyatt took another bite of his dinner and then took a drink of water. He set his elbows on the table. “The picture George and Henry painted to replace Kelly’s memory is convoluted, but it will work. We have to have faith. The police bought it.”

  She shuddered. “It still makes my skin crawl to think she was following Gavin and I for months. All those pictures… George is brilliant.”

  “They went through all the photos, picked out the ones that would support the new reality, and planted them in both her apartment in Calgary and the one here. Mostly distance shots of Gavin dropping you off at work or heading into the library with you at U of C. They even pulled several shots that happened to be of just Gavin and planted them too.”

  She smiled slightly. “It’s kinda comical when you think about it. I mean, she only accidentally happened to get pictures of Gavin while stalking me, and now she believes she was actually following Gavin in hopes of love. He’s gay.” She giggled.

  Wyatt loved that sound, and he loved even more how well she was taking the news. “It is ironic. Nevertheless, the woman is in custody now. Human custody. She’ll be charged with kidnapping and stalking. You and Gavin simply need to stick to your story, which really isn’t much. You didn’t have anything to do with it. You never even knew she was stalking you. Easy. Tidy.”

  “It’s amazing how powerful the Arcadian Council’s hypnotic abilities can be. And not a little freaky too. Thank God, their mojo only works on humans. I can’t imagine worrying all the time that someone has the ability to alter my reality with just a suggestion.”

  “Not to mention how messy their job is cleaning up people’s homes and lives to match the new truth.” Wyatt shuddered, agreeing with her. It was a wonder Gavin hadn’t lost his mind when he’d found out. At least he’d held it together long enough to run from the scene. His panic had been palpable, but there was no way at the time to reassure him.

  The reality was that the world did have a handful of humans who knew about the existence of grizzly shifters. The Arcadian Council was aware of most of them and kept tabs when necessary. Although Gavin was rightfully concerned, he didn’t have any reason to worry. The council had undoubtedly known about his exposure for years. As long as he posed no threat, they would leave him alone to live his life and maintain the relationships he had with his friends and loved ones.

  “So basically,” Paige began, “I’ll be called to testify about my kidnapping in order to implicate Kelly in her weird made-up crime she didn’t really commit.”

  “A weird made-up crime that was far more lenient than the one she did commit mind you. And she’s far better off this way than being sent to the Northwest Territories to stand trial and be sentenced by the grizzly community.”

  “True. I wish there had been a way to just shoo her back to her real life without having to call the police.”

  “And maybe that would have been an option days ago when all she was doing was snooping around trying to spy on people because she thought she believed some of us were actually quote werebears.” He chuckled. “But it takes a special kind of stupid to abduct someone to prove the case. It wouldn’t have been prudent to let her go. She’s unstable in general. The woman has a weird history.”

  “Yeah. I get that.”

  “You’ll have to make a statement to the police, but since the detective on the case is one of us, he agreed to come out tomorrow morning instead of spending half the night questioning you today.”

  “That’s a fortunate coincidence.”

  “It is.” For several minutes, Wyatt let his mate eat in peace, keeping his gaze on her almost constantly, learning her quirks—the way she held her fork, the way she tucked her blonde hair behind her ear after every few bites, the way she let her eyes slide closed when she tasted her food.

  Damn, he loved this woman.

  He needed to tell her a few more things, so he reached across the table and took her hand, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. “You haven’t met everyone in town yet, and I’m sure about a dozen people are dying to meet you, especially my brother Isaiah and his mate Heather.” He took a deep breath. “You know there are other victims of Antoine in town. Not all of them were treated as brutally as you, but he left a lot of scars. More than we know, I’m sure.”

  She nodded. “Is Heather one of them?”

  She was perceptive. “Yes, and Austin Tarben’s mate, Nuria.”

  “His own brother?” She winced.

  “Yes. I just wanted you to be prepared. One day soon you’ll meet both women. Maybe they can help you. Maybe you’d prefer not to talk about it. It’s up to you. I just didn’t want you to be blindsided.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled, the pain and fear he would have expected just days ago not as prevalent. She was going to survive. Her past would not haunt her every waking hour. It would take time, but Wyatt would be by her side every step of the way, however she needed him.

  The subject was dropped, and when she finally pushed her plate away and wiped her mouth on her napkin, she sighed. “Tell your mom that was the best meal I’ve had in forever.”

  Gavin stood, taking both their plates and heading for the dishwasher. “You can tell her yourself next time you see her.”

  Paige followed him with the pot of stew, which he made room for in the refrigerator. As soon as he spun around, he opened his palms in front of her and set them on her shoulders. Enough stalling. He kissed her lips gently and then spoke his mind. “Paige Osborn, will you do me the honor of spending the rest of your life with me?”

  She smiled. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Paige’s heart rate soared as Wyatt backed her down the hallway. Where just days ago she would have panicked at the thought of entering this man’s bedroom, or even the way he was holding her biceps, tonight she was a new woman.

  She wasn’t cocky enough to think there wouldn’t be moments of distress along the way, but she also wasn’t going to hyperventilate over the thought of having sex with the man she loved or binding to him for the rest of their lives. In fact, she was anxious to move forward.

  Her nipples beaded under the cotton material of his T-shirt, and there was no way he could possibly miss the scent of her arousal coating her sex. She wasn’t even wearing panties. Even the act of sitting at the table with him to eat dinner had been a test of her ability to remain calm when what she’d really wanted to do was push the food onto the floor and consummate this thing before she lost her sanity
.

  They’d had important things to discuss, however. And they’d covered all of them. Now they were free to tune the world out for a while and enjoy each other, preferably naked and in bed.

  She was impressed with her mate’s ability to sit calmly next to her at the dinner table and eat as if he wasn’t filling the room with the scent of his own driving need to bind.

  When they reached the edge of the bed and the backs of her legs hit the mattress, she planted her hands on his abs and wiggled them under his shirt. The feel of his warm skin beneath her palms soothed her. There was no way to hide the fact that she was nervous, but she was also anxious and excited.

  He set one hand on her waist and lifted her chin to meet her gaze. “You know how much you mean to me?”

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  “I never want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Communicate with me, okay? Open your mind to me. Let me in so I don’t worry.”

  She relaxed her shoulders and closed her eyes, willing herself to open her mind to him. The idea was foreign to her. She had rarely shared her thoughts with others in her entire life. Her best friend and the person she spent the most time with was human and therefore lacked the ability to share thoughts. Her parents were, well, her parents. No kid let their mother and father delve too far into their inner thoughts.

  “Trust me,” he whispered.

  “I do, Wyatt. With my entire being, but it’s weird for me. Don’t take it personally if I have trouble letting you in.”

  “I know, babe. But it grounds me when you let me in enough to ensure I’m not doing anything that will trigger you.”

  She tipped her head back as he threaded his fingers in the back of her hair. “You’re it for me, Wyatt. You’re in. You can’t do anything that will upset me. If I flinch, don’t panic. I’m just adjusting.”

  He smiled and kissed her lips, deepening the kiss until his tongue was tangled with hers and she melted into him. He had a way of chasing her fears away with just a kiss. Every passing moment she relaxed more.

  When his hand slid down to her thigh and then up under the shirt to cup her ass, she arched forward, moaning into his mouth. When that same hand slid up her back, dragging the shirt with it until the air in the room hit her sex, she lost the ability to maintain the kiss. When he slid his T-shirt over her head and dropped it on the floor, leaving her naked, she tipped her head back and spoke. “Don’t handle me with kid gloves, Wyatt. Not tonight. Please. Treat me like you would any other woman.”

  He cupped the back of her neck and tipped her head forward, forcing her to meet his gaze. “You’re not any other woman, so your request isn’t possible.”

  A whimper escaped her lips. Her knees almost buckled at his words.

  “You’re my mate, Paige, and I’ll handle you with care for the rest of our lives. You can count on that.” His lips landed on her neck and then slid to her shoulder. He continued to murmur against her skin as he nibbled along the sweet spot. “I’m thinking bind first and make love after.”

  She smiled, tipping her head to the side to give him better access while she grabbed his waist. “How will I ever know what sex would have been like without the connection?” she asked as she eased her hands under his shirt and pulled it over his head.

  “You won’t. And I promise you’ll never give it a second thought.”

  “So cocky,” she teased as she reached for the button of his jeans. Who was the woman undressing a man who held her in his arms? She slid the zipper down and then grabbed the denim at his hips and tugged. In moments she had him just as naked as she was.

  When he grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up into the air to drop her in the middle of the mattress, she squealed. “You want to see cocky?”

  She giggled, the laughter a welcome addition to her arousal. Spreading her legs to allow him to kneel between them, she responded. “Yes.”

  Wyatt set one knee between her legs and straddled her thigh with the other. He dipped his head and suckled a nipple into his mouth while he pressed his thigh against her sex. “You’re dripping wet,” he murmured against her breast.

  She grabbed his biceps and held on. “It happens when you’re in the room.”

  “I like it.” He aimed her breast for his lips again and then slid his hand down to cup her sex in front of his thigh.

  She bucked her hips off the bed, beckoning him to continue. She’d never wanted anything so badly in her life, nor had she ever been as sure as she was. This giant sexy man on top of her was hers. Forever. A gentle giant. He would protect her and love her. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt because she could see his thoughts clearly.

  He released her nipple to trail kisses up to her ear where he whispered, “It’s true, you know.”

  “What’s true?” She was losing the ability to concentrate on any one thought. Her clit pulsed with need, and she found herself grinding it against his fingers, needing more. Needing everything from him.

  “I’ll protect and love you. Forever.”

  Ah…so her mind was open to him. “Could you do it a little faster?”

  A sense of desperation filled her. Urgency.

  He chuckled, but his lips nibbled down her neck while he thrust a finger into her channel. “So tight.”

  She gripped his biceps, feeling strange that he was doing all the work and she didn’t have enough brain cells to participate.

  “You’re participating just fine. Relax. Let me make you feel good. That’s all I need. It’s all I’ll ever need.” A second finger joined the first, stretching her while his teeth grazed over the sensitive skin of her neck.

  So much sensation bombarded her. Every inch of her skin was on fire while she willed him to both bite her and thrust his length into her. “Wyatt,” she pleaded.

  Another finger.

  She felt the stretch and sank into bliss. The palm of his hand hit her clit with every thrust of his fingers. His teeth… Damn. The way he dragged them over her skin made her shiver. So much desire. She wanted the world. She wanted him. She wanted to be his in every way.

  “Wyatt…” Her voice was a whisper.

  He lifted his other leg to nestle it between hers, his hand still working her wider. “You’re mine, baby.”

  “Yes.”

  “Say it.”

  “I’m yours.” She lifted her hips toward him as he removed his fingers and lined his shaft up with her entrance.

  “I love you,” he communicated, and then he simultaneously sank his teeth into her neck and thrust his cock into her pussy.

  She gasped, her breath leaving her. Every cell in her body came alive. The pain she had expected from having sex didn’t exist. Neither did any discomfort from his teeth.

  She knew the moment his serum entered her bloodstream. A sense of euphoria took over, heightening every sensation and leaving her with a desperate need to be fucked. He was too still. She squirmed beneath him, pushing on his shoulders. “Wyatt… Oh God. Move…”

  He released her neck, licked the spot where he’d bound them together, and eased his cock out of her only to thrust it back inside. Lifting his head to meet her gaze, he searched her face and smiled. “Good?”

  Her eyes rolled back in her head. Her nipples felt like hard points that needed contact, her clit demanding pressure. Her skin crawled with the need to be touched. Everywhere. Now. All at once. “Jesus, Wyatt. I’m on fire.”

  He might have chuckled into her mind. Or perhaps he moaned. It didn’t matter. What mattered was he took her advice, tucked his hands under her shoulders to steady her, and made love to her. Every pass felt more intense than the last. The building need to orgasm consumed her. Her mouth fell open, but no sound came out. It seemed she might fly apart at the seams or implode.

  Concentrating on the way her clit pulsed every time the base of his cock hit it, she tipped her head back and groaned into the room, a sound of frustration and desire knit together.

  He kissed the line of her throat and then lifted his bo
dy almost upright to wrap his hands under her knees and push them wider and higher. The new position took her breath away. His cock hit a spot in her that made her vision swim. She grabbed his hands where he held her legs, holding her breath against the need to come.

  “Don’t hold back on me. Come. I’ll follow right behind.”

  At his words, she shattered, her orgasm seeming to come from everywhere in her body at once. A powerful throbbing of her clit, her pussy, and her heart. The most intense feeling in the world. Before she came down from the physical high, Wyatt groaned loud and held himself deeper. The sound of his voice filled with so much pleasure, combined with the pressure of his pelvis against her clit, pushed her into another orgasm.

  She gasped, her mouth closing as she rode the waves. For long moments, she was nothing but feeling and emotions and sensation. Not a physical being. Just a melting pile of bliss. Her arms were limp, and they fell to her sides as she gasped for air.

  Still inside her, Wyatt leaned forward to take her lips. He kissed her gently and whispered against her mouth. “I couldn’t decide. Sorry.”

  “Decide what?” she asked in confusion, still heaving from the most incredible experience of her life.

  He eased out of her body and slid to one side, his thigh still lodged between hers but the weight of his body resting on the mattress. With his head on his palm, he brushed locks of hair from her cheek and forehead. His smile was infectious. “Sex or binding. So I did both.”

  Her face split with a smile that rivaled his. “You won’t hear me complaining.”

  He kissed her lips again. “That’s good to know because you’re now stuck with me.”

  “Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

  »»•««

  The sun was rising when Paige opened her eyes to find Wyatt still propped next to her. His torso was stretched long against her body, the warmth of his skin keeping her from getting chilled. They hadn’t pulled even the sheet over them.

  He was staring down at her with a grin on his face that made her heart stop. “You’re gorgeous when you sleep.”