Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
S uzannah felt like she'd been hit by a truck, or maybe like one of those huge logs from that Final Destination film.
Goodness, that film still gave her nightmares.
But this?
Having Ash Thomas, a bear shifter, tell her that he was her mate?
That they were her mate?
Her heart was pounding in her chest.
The room was suddenly too warm.
"Suzannah?"
She lifted her gaze to meet his.
"I'm sorry."
She heard the words, and a strange kind of panic settled over her. "For?"
She closed her eyes and waited for the other shoe to drop.
Suzannah felt herself bracing for the impact.
And then she felt a hand around hers.
She felt heat surrounding her hand, but not a heat that burned.
A heat that was gentle and comforting.
Opening her eyes, she looked down and saw that the hand holding hers was Ash's hand.
Earlier, when Hetty had clasped her hand, she'd used both of her hands.
It only took one of Ash's hands to surround hers.
That fact alone had her heart pounding in her chest, but there was a tender, almost reverent way that he held onto her hand.
"I don't know how to do this the right way, Suzannah."
She heard a rumbling sound that felt as if it was resonating in his chest.
"I don't want to scare you."
She lifted her gaze to meet his.
"Why would I be scared?" Her voice was trembling so she couldn't blame him for worrying. The only thing that would make her seem more afraid of him was if she pulled her hand out of his grasp. "I mean... I'm confused and shocked. I couldn't imagine this happening to me... ever. Back home in Sylvan City, even though I knew that shapeshifters existed, it was kind of... wishful thinking that I might meet one of them, but here I am, in a room with two of them... of you."
She laughed, but it was thin and awkward.
"I should be apologizing to you."
He shook his head, his gaze fixed on her face. "You never have to apologize to me."
Suzannah looked back at him and waited for some kind of red flag to pop up and start waving in her face, but they weren't there.
"Here," Hetty stepped up beside the table and set down half dozen plates between them, "some deliciousness for you to share why you talk."
Suzannah breathed in the heavenly scents of the pastries and looked up at Hetty with a smile.
Hetty paused and set her hand on Suzannah's shoulder. "It's so good to have you here with us. It's like... it's like Betty is here with us."
Hetty brushed some of Suzannah's hair back from her face. "She would tell you how beautiful you are."
Suzannah shook her head. She couldn't quite believe it.
"You are."
She turned back to look at Ash and the look in his eyes said that he believed the words he'd told her.
Looking at Hetty and Ash, hearing the conviction in their voices, she wondered if there might be some truth in their words.
She hoped so.
She had no interest in being beautiful, but she could be happy, Hetty thought so.
And the way that Ash was looking at her?
She could get used to that.
And looking at Ash? Feeling his touch?
Oh, she could get used to that.
She was already reveling in the warmth of his touch.
Her hand moved, her fingers flexing in his grasp.
It felt like electricity, a buzz of sensation where their skin touched.
Blossoming heat of a kind that she'd never felt before.
Close your eyes.
She heard the words like a whisper in her ears and she looked at Ash, wondering. "Did you hear that?"
There was a question in his eyes, but he nodded. "What did you hear?"
Blushing, she spoke the words quietly. "I heard someone say that I should close my eyes."
His smile warmed her up from the inside. "You heard that."
She nodded. "Why?"
Ash's shoulders lifted and she followed their movement with rapt attention. He was... big.
Big and broad.
And, "Beautiful."
"Hmm?"
Her smile deepened. "I said I think you're beautiful."
Laughter.
She heard laughter.
And this time she was sure it was inside her head.
"Who is that?"
Ash's eyes widened.
"You heard my bear."
Her heart skipped a beat inside of her chest. "That... that was your bear."
He nodded. "A great big grumbly brown bear."
She laughed a little. "Grumbly. But he's laughing."
Ash nodded. "He likes you."
She tilted her head to side and regarded the man sitting before her. "He likes me, but... he doesn't like you?"
Ash shrugged. "He tolerates me. We're kind of stuck together."
Suzannah shook her head. This was all so hard to believe. A thought popped up in her head.
"Why does your bear want me to close my eyes?"
She watched as Ash's gaze seemed to turn inward and she recognized the expression from earlier in their conversation. Now, she understood why he'd been quiet and distant from time to time.
Suzannah looked down at their joined hands and saw that his thumb was gently rubbing the back of her hand.
It was almost too much to believe that this man was so gentle with her.
This man with the broadest shoulders she'd ever seen, and a face that she could stare at for days... weeks... the rest of her life, was holding her hand with the kind of gentle warmth that she could easily succumb to.
When he met her gaze again, he had a smile on her face.
"Goodness," she murmured, "you're lovely to look at."
A growl, soft but pronounced, echoed in her head.
Her eyes widened in shock.
"Was that him?"
Ash nodded and laughed, a chest-deep chuckle.
"He likes that you can hear him."
I can tell her that myself .
If Ash hadn't been holding her hand, she might have fallen off of her chair.
She mouthed to herself. I heard that.
With her free hand, she touched her fingertips to her forehead. She was suddenly feeling a little faint.
Before she could look up and explain her feelings to Ash, he was up on his feet and moving around the table. He didn't let go of her hand. He helped her up and a moment later she was seated on his lap.
"Here." Hetty brought over a glass of iced tea. "I keep iced tea in a refrigerator in the back.
James looked concerned. "She hasn't eaten anything this morning."
Ash let go of her hand and pulled a few of the plates closer. "What do you like to eat?"
Suzannah felt lightheaded, but she wasn't sure how much of it was because she was hungry and how much of it was because everything was changing so quickly.
She was on the verge of begging off the offer, but then her eyes lit on one of the plates that Hetty had set on the table. "Is that a cinnamon roll?"
Hetty smiled at her, a toothy grin of joy. "Yes. It is."
James nodded with his own sly smile. "I dare you to find a cinnamon roll that's better than that one right there. Raisin' Bread makes the best pastries anywhere."
Suzannah reached out to taste it, but her hand was shaking.
Before she could ask for help, Ash reached out a hand and pulled a piece from the outside of the roll.
As she watched with rapt attention, he lifted the morsel up to her mouth.
The scent itself was already heavenly, but the sight of the thick and creamy icing slowly dripping down the side of the torn piece of the roll, she couldn't resist a taste.
Suzannah opened her mouth and Ash put the piece of cinnamon roll between her lips.
She nipped it from his fingers and the first taste of the icing on her tongue was transcendent. It was a delicate sugary confection covering a fluffy bit of cinnamon bread.
H er eyes closed and she moaned softly. So softly that a human probably wouldn't have heard it, but as a shapeshifter, his hearing went way beyond that of a human.
What does it feel like?
He heard his bear's question and knew that he would be jealous if it was his bear in his place.
She's so warm and wonderful.
She smells... perfect.
Like honey.
Ash felt his bear lean heavily against their link, the barrier decidedly thin as they thought back and forth to each other as Suzannah leaned against his chest.
"I've never smelled honey." Suzannah's voice was slower than it had been, but there was a sweet lilt to her tone. "What does it smell like?"
Ash turned his head, leaning in so that his nose was pillowed against her hair. He could hear her breaths, feel the beating of her heart against his chest. "Flowers."
Suzannah wiggled a little against him. "I can feel your voice," she sighed softly, "rumbling through your skin and mine."
His skin tightened, his heart rate built to a fevered pitch.
There was so much he wanted to say to her. So much to admit and confess.
There was no doubt about his own feelings, but as a human, he knew that she might not understand the sudden landslide of emotions and sensations that he felt when he held her, breathed her in.
He had to choose his words carefully, because he was dangerously close to telling her that he loved her.
She was already having some trouble understanding the new world that she was living in. If he pushed her a little too much by admitting his need for her, he might frighten her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
Yet, he had to say something before she could second guess things between them.
"I can smell the flowers."
He felt her tense, just a little. It wasn't fear, but the same kind of tension when he would stop and listen to absorb the world around him.
"I can smell the flowers in the soap you used. I can feel the soft silk of your skin and the warmth of your body through the clothes covering your body. And the scent that makes you uniquely you is filling my senses, making sure that I will never again know what it feels like to be alone in the world."
The tension he'd felt mere moments before was now gone.
She leaned against him and fit perfectly into the curve of his arm that he'd wrapped around her. "Ash?"
He tore another piece of the delightful goodness of the plated cinnamon roll off with his fingers and touched it to her lips.
"Eat, Suzannah." He knew that his voice was deeper than it had been moments before. "You need to eat so that I don't have to worry that you'll faint in my arms."
Her eyes darted down at the sugary bit between his fingers. "I have a feeling that it would make things easier if I just did as you asked."
He nodded. "I need you to take care of yourself, mate."
He felt her shiver at the sound of the word on his lips.
"Now that I've found you, I need you to be safe and healthy and happy."
Ash felt something touch his chest.
Looking down, he saw her hand on him, her palm pressed over his heart. "Does that mean that I get to worry about you, too?"
His heart pounded against his ribs as if it needed to be closer to her.
"You would worry about me?"
He knew that he sounded out of breath, because he couldn't seem to fill his lungs with air.
He'd just found her.
His mate.
Suzannah.
Her smile, the way her eyes searched his, the way she seemed to breathe him in.
He understood what it meant to feel the mate bond.
They'd just met.
What would it be like tomorrow?
Would his love continue to grow this fast?
What would happen when they sealed their bond with their bodies and she became his in every way?
He couldn't imagine that he could feel more connected to her at that very moment.
Suzannah leaned closer, her forehead touching his cheek. "I imagine that caring for you would be the most amazing thing in the world, Ash. I just don't know if I'd be any good at it. I've... been alone for so long."
"I would worry about the same," he turned his head so he could brush his lips across her forehead. "I've never cared for a mate before. I could make mistake after mistake. And I-"
He felt the air in his chest freeze.
"I could scare you away."
She lifted her chin, tipping her head back until they could look into each other’s eyes again. "It looks like we have things we need to learn."
He nodded.
She looked at the table covered with little plates of bread and pastries.
He watched as she picked up a danish with creamy custard and held it up to his lips.
He canted his head to the side and looked at her.
Her eyes opened wide in a doe-eyed stare. "Remember, we're going to take care of each other."
Ash continued to look at her, waiting for her to try the pastry.
She moved her hand and bumped the rolled edge of the danish against his lips.
"Ash?"
He raised a brow at her question.
"Take a bite," she prompted and then bumped the pastry against his lips again. This time he felt it glance off his lips and lift up. "Oh."
He saw the way her smile changed, and her cheeks flooded with color. "Oh?"
She winced, her teeth showing as she murmured her apology. "I made a bit of a mess."
Ash could see her worry and saw her hesitation.
Her eyes widened as she made a decision.
Before she could pull her hand away, he reached out and wrapped his hand around her wrist to hold her in place.
Suzannah gasped in shock, but she didn't look at him in fear.
She watched him and he felt her tremble.
He heard her breathe; an in drawn breath that she held.
If she tried to pull away, he'd let her. He wasn't trying to hold her back or keep her from doing what she wanted.
But he did scent the custard in the danish and again, a wonderful memory surfaced in his mind.
Opening his lips, he leaned forward and took a bite from the pastry. And another. And another until he felt his lip and the brush of his mustache against her fingertips.
Suzannah sat still on his lap, her gaze dropping to his mouth as he finished chewing. When he swallowed the delicious treat, he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to taste the custard from her lips instead. He licked the custard from his lips and smiled at her. "Delicious."
She smiled and turned her hand.
Before he knew what she intended, she swept the pad of her thumb across his lips and his mustache and lifted her hand to show him that there was custard on her thumb.
"You did make a little mess."
He grinned right back at her. "We can get a napkin."
She didn't agree or disagree, but a moment later she wrapped her lips around her thumb. When she pulled it from her mouth with a gentle pop, he saw that it was clean.
His gaze fell to her lips and the hunger that he felt in his belly deepened into his soul.
He wanted to taste her skin as she had. He wanted to feel her touching him.
We're not alone.
Ash wasn't the only one to hear his bear.
Suzannah must have as well. Her cheeks pinked, a color that looked amazing on her. And her smile changed to one tinged with humor.
"He's right," she whispered, "we're not alone. And I," she turned her hand again and took a bite of the danish that still remained in her hand, chewing it with joy, "need to get to work, helping around the bakery."
He stood along with her, reaching for the napkins that Hetty had left on the table for them. He handed her a few, cleaning his hand as she cleaned her own. "Can I stay and help?"
She started to shake her head and stopped. "As long as Hetty's okay with it, I am."
Hetty appeared in the gap between the pastry case and the wall. "Ash practically grew up here, coming into town with his mother. He's welcome to stay and help. After all," she gave them both an outrageously pointed wink. "How could I come between mates?"