Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Samantha
I can’t believe Daniel is here, standing in front of me, looking almost normal. I don’t know what to think or what to say. I just stand here like a dope, blocking his entrance into his own home.??
“Hello, Samantha.”?
I stare past him and see Tina smiling. “Well, I’ll let you two have your alone time. I’ve got the boys until tomorrow soooo…” she softly punches Daniel’s arm, “you’ll have plenty of time to talk.”?
I nod and try not to burst into tears like I’ve been doing on and off for the past day and a half. “Thank you, Tina,” Daniel says.?
“Hey, they’re my nephews. I love having those meatballs around.” She walks past me and I just stare in wonder as she gathers the boys. They get a very quick hug session with their dad and then, Tina walks them out to her car. I watch in shock and then look at the man who’s decidedly NOT on death’s door.?
Now, it’s just me and Daniel.?
And I can’t believe how good he looks. “How?”?
He smiles. “Tina told me that she promised you a miracle.”?
I laugh so I don’t cry. “Yeah, she did.”?
“Well, I’m not completely a hundred percent. You need to finish that miracle.”?
I roll my eyes and step aside for him to come into the house. “Come on, let’s just get you some dinner and ...”?
He grabs my hand and stays still. “Sam, please.”?
I look at him. “What?”?and then I break down. Dinner? Really? What am I trying to do, make things somehow normal? Make it seem like I didn’t almost lose him? “How?” I sob. “You were dying! How are you…”
“Come with me.”?
I have no idea what this man is talking about, but I know now that I can’t deny him anything because…
Because I love him. Completely. Seeing him in that hospital bed, it was the worst moment of my life. “Okay, lead on, my fearless leader,” I sniffle out the words. I feel pretty foolish. I’m aware this all seems so silly and romantic but trust me, there is nothing romantic about the thought that you are going to forever lose the one person in your life that makes you feel whole.
There’s nothing remotely meet-cute about walking into a hospital room and understanding that you love this person so much that you don’t think you can go on without them.?That’s particularly horrible when you’re certain the person is about to die.
And knowing you’d have to keep going no matter what because you love his kids like they’re your own and you couldn’t leave them.?
My eyes flash up to Daniel’s face and suddenly, I know. I understand.?
All his heartache and fear and loneliness. Everything he had to endure when Bridget died.?
“Daniel.”?
He just tugs me to him and kisses me. “Come on, my little zookeeper. I’ve got something to show you.”?
I cling to him, marveling at how healthy he looks when it was just a day ago that he seemed so, well, not healthy. We walk around to the back and across to the edge of the yard where the trees begin to thicken.??
And then the man begins to undress.?
“Daniel, what the hell are you thinking?”??
“I still have some healing to do, and this is how I do it. I’ve been wanting to show you, I just wasn’t sure when would be right.”?
“Daniel, as happy as I am to see you alive and, well, naked, maybe now is not the time for...”?
He just steps to me, kisses me, steps back and then, he’s gone.?
The air seems to undulate like it does with heat waves coming off asphalt on hot days and then, I stumble back so fast I almost fall flat on my ass. The only thing that saves me is when I reach out and manage to grab onto a tree behind me.??
“Holy fuck. What? Oh my… I…”?
There is a tiger standing where Daniel was standing. I’m confused and, well, terrified. The thing is huge. It’s bigger than any tiger I ever saw in the exhibit at the zoo. I’ve never heard of any tiger being this large. It must be twice the size of the biggest tiger we had, and Maksim was one of the largest Siberian tigers in the world.?
“What the fuck is this? Am I having some kind of bad trip? Is this a dream?” I start to shake so hard I have to hold the tree with both hands.?
The tiger doesn’t move. It just lays down and sets its massive head on the ground in front of me.??
And I start to remember.?
Shifters.?
They’re a thing. Right. They were announced and they were stories I heard about as a kid, but we all knew it was a joke. “It’s a joke.”?The tiger just huffs slowly and blinks.?No joke.?“No,” I protest. “It’s all a hoax. They’re not real.” The tiger doesn’t respond.
I walk up to the tiger with my hand outstretched like some stupid Disney heroine, but this is no Disney movie. I touch the large face and again, the tiger just blinks and then ...
The tiger isn’t there and my hand is resting on Daniel’s cheek.
I wish I could explain exactly how it looks when he shifts, but it’s like there’s just a haze. It makes you want to rub your eyes, like they’re watering or something, and then, the tiger is just gone and the man is there.
Daniel draws me to him and holds me close. He kisses me softly and I feel all my anger and fear and worry melt away as I feel his body next to mine. I finally pull back to see that he’s whole. Complete. “You’re okay.”
He nods. “Shifting heals us. From human to animal heals us dramatically. From animal to human, it heals us a little. The fire was so big and things were so confusing that I ended up in an ambulance so I couldn’t shift. That was why Tina was so desperate to get me out of the hospital’s care. I needed to shift so I could heal.”
I run my hands over his body and marvel at how perfect he looks. Not long ago, I saw him unconscious in a hospital bed with all kinds of beeping machines around him. Now, he’s here and okay.
And then I realize.
“Uh, Daniel, you’re naked.”
He grins. “Yeah. You’ll remember that I undressed. I can’t shift when dressed. Well, I could, but it would destroy the clothes.”
I return his smile and then I step back and very casually, start removing my clothing.
His eyes go wide and I laugh. “You almost look like a wolf from those cartoons.”
“Hey now, no insults. I’m nothing like those dumb dogs.”
I shake my head. “Of course, there are wolf shifters.”
I pull my panties down and he pulls me close again. “And bears, and lions, and horses ...”
“Oh my,” I whisper as his lips press against mine.
“And dragons.”
I push away. “What the hell? Dragons?!”
He laughs and grabs me to him again. Nibbling my ear, he mumbles, “But they don’t eat hobbits.”
We kiss and our hands roam over each other. I feel a need to touch him everywhere, searching for any missed injury or sign that he’s still hurt. I do feel a new scar or two, but eventually he takes my hands in his own and then, he just grabs me and lifts me up into his arms.
He settles me onto him and we move together. He holds me without effort as I roll my hips and urge him deeper. I kiss him harder as I get closer. I don’t care that some nosy neighbor could be out peeking over the fence. I don’t care about anything except the feeling of his body and mine.
His fingers dig into my ass as he tries to hold me steady. I bury my face in the nape of his neck and breathe him in, trying to hold every sensory detail of this moment forever.
My orgasm claws to the surface, and I arch backward. Just as it crashes over me, I feel him shudder. I feel my body flood with warmth and I hug him close. “I love you.”
He wraps his arms around me even more tightly. “I love you, too, my little zookeeper.”
I laugh and then, I kiss this incredible man once more.
“And you’re never scaring me like that again.”
“I’ll do my best.”
I slip to my feet, but I refuse to let him go. “Promise me.”
“What?”
“Promise me no more heroics.”
He strokes fingers through my hair. “I promise I will do my absolute best to not play the hero. Unless it’s for you.”
I smile. “I just want to hold you here.”
“Okay.”
And we stand there, naked together. Happy together.
I never plan to let go.