30
HUNTER
“I’ve been thinking,” I say, rubbing my hand over my stubbly chin. Goldie looks up from her book, lowering it slowly into her lap.
“Don’t hurt yourself.” She grins, and I stifle a smile of my own. Her humor has been a bonus I didn’t know I’d enjoy in a mate. Not your mate yet, I correct myself. She’s still resisting being claimed, much to my frustration.
It’s mid-morning, and Evan and Robert are at the store, leaving Goldie and me to our own devices. She smells good and my bear is ravenous to taste her but that’s nothing unusual. We’ve been in a state of starvation for her since she arrived.
“Seriously. I’ve been thinking about your business.”
She glances up. “What about my business?” Folding down the corner of the page she was reading, she then places the book on the arm of the couch.
“You’re bored. I can tell. ”
“I am,” she admits, raising her eyebrows.
“Have you thought about what you’ll do?”
She shakes her head. “I feel like I’m trapped in limbo. I don’t see how I can go back to do what I was before.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too.”
At my confirmation, her shoulders slump. I raise my hand, hoping what I’m going to suggest next will stave off her disappointment. “How about starting up an online business?”
“What kind of business?”
I shift against the cushions, twisting so my knee is pressed into the back of the couch and my leg rests folded in front of me. I push up the sleeves of my jumper. “Selling the kind of accessories we have in the room upstairs.”
Her brow furrows and her lips purse. She picks at the hem of her shirt, which is actually my old shirt—seeing her wrapped in something I’ve worn ticks all my territorial primal boxes, almost as much as if I had her enveloped in my arms. “I don’t know much about websites,” she says.
“Evan does,” Hunter says. “He can help set up an online storefront. Robert’s great with numbers. He can help you with the financial side.”
She nods, still fiddling, still unsure.
“And I can help you with the purchasing.”
“I don’t have any money to purchase anything with,” she says.
“We have money to get you started.”
“No.” She’s quick to question my idea, even though I can tell she’s interested. Her need for independence makes me both proud and frustrated.
“Money isn’t a problem, but if you feel like it is, we can get you started, and you can pay back anything you borrow from the insurance money.”
Her eyes light up. “You’d do that? Lend me the money to get started?”
“Of course.” She still doesn’t understand the bond we have and the obligations it comes with. She’s human, and there isn’t anything comparable. Even a husband-and-wife arrangement falls short compared to what we’ll have when she finally comes to her senses.
“Do you think it would work?” she asks.
“Well, I think the fact that you understand the business intimately is a great start.”
She blushes, and I smile, pleased that I’ve managed to get under her skin, even a little.
“And when you need to test out the merchandise—”
“You’ll be happy to help,” she finishes.
I shrug nonchalantly. “I’d consider it a public service.”
“Not too public,” she murmurs. “That isn’t my kink.”
I smile and lean back, relaxed now that I know she’s receptive to my idea. Her satisfaction in all things is our responsibility. If it takes helping her to become independent for her to want to bond herself with us, so be it.
“Do you want to get started?”
“Now?” She straightens, and her expression brightens.
“If you want.”
She grins. “I want.”
Her happiness slides over me like the warm summer sun, penetrating my skin, my flesh, and my bones through to my heart. I stand, reaching out for her hand, and she takes mine, allowing me to help her stand. I lead her to the office, and she allows me to hold her hand the whole way. We sit side by side at the desk, researching other similar websites and searching out suppliers. I take notes while she clicks furiously, clapping with excitement at all the potential options. “We should order samples,” I say as she studies two sex toys that look like roses.
“This one sucks, and this one has a little tongue.” Goldie squirms in her seat, and my cock thickens. There are so many things I want to do to her with my own tongue.
“Testing the merchandise will be important. You can include personal reviews on the product pages.”
“And you’ll be happy to help take notes when I do?”
“Mmm…” The thought of watching her pleasure herself with any of these toys has me licking my lips. “Watching would be my pleasure.”
Our eyes meet, and hers are a midnight sky, darkened by wide-blown pupils. I reach out to tuck a stray curl behind her ear, and she shivers.
“Goldie,” I murmur, the bear inside me roaring to just kiss her already.
“Hunter.”
“I want to kiss you.” The words are out of my mouth before I’ve thought them through, but it turns out they’re okay. She presses a palm to my bearded cheek and smiles.
“Okay.”
My heart ricochets from my ribs, landing back in place with a thump. My cock is thick and heavy. I’ve never been this jacked up over a kiss; I never wanted a woman this much. I take her face between both my rough palms and press my forehead to hers. “Goldie.” My voice rasps with longing, and then I press my lips to hers.
Our first touch is electric, as though all the time we’ve spent apart surges through us. My mind glitches, and I forget to move. A shudder runs through me from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes, and I breathe her in, my mate, stunned at the bone-deep satisfaction that envelops me.
Then she moans, and I move, and we’re liquid, molten, lambent, incandescent. Goldie melts into me, opening her sweet lips and welcoming the swipe of my tongue over hers. She tastes of apple and cinnamon, the sweetness I’ve been missing all these years, and the longing I’ve felt to claim her surges, becoming vaster than I can contain. My bear surges forward, the sharp canines I will need for the claiming ache to split my gums. It’s not the time, and I fight against the desperate urge to take her here and now.
“Hunter.” Her hand is on my chest, and she’s trembling. With my eyes closed, I gulp for breaths that will bring me back to my senses. Not now, I tell myself. Not now.
“Yes.”
“Are you okay?”
I open my eyes to find her staring at me, brow furrowed. Her fingers curl in the fabric of my shirt. “I’m okay, Goldie. I’m always okay when I’m with you.”
A smile pulls at her lips, but she can feel my desperate struggle to keep myself under control. I’m not Robert, whose stoic exterior cleverly hides his internal turmoil. My skin isn’t tight enough to subdue my desires. When Goldie’s near, it feels like it might burst open to accommodate all my longing.
She opens her mouth to speak just as the front door opens, and Robert calls out that he and Evan are home. With a small smile, she rests back in her chair, but her breathing is still shallow, and her cheeks are rose pink.
“I guess it’s time for lunch.” I stand and take her hand.
As Robert rustles up some pastrami sandwiches, Evan finds plates and silverware, and I pour drinks. Goldie tells them all about our ideas. Robert and Evan eye me with smiles playing on their lips. I didn’t tell either of my brothers what I planned, but they’re not mad about it. They’re relieved that I’m making the necessary adjustments to help Goldie fit into our lives. I’ve always been a brick of a person, unyielding with sharp corners and a dense, impenetrable center, but Goldie makes me want to be different. She makes me want to shape myself around her as she shapes herself around me. I want all our corners and edges to slot together perfectly so there’s no space between us, just smooth harmony and easy contentment.
I’m not the simplest man, but for Goldie, I’ll try to be better.
“We’ll need to clear the outbuilding and make sure it’s watertight. We could add storage shelves and a long table for packing orders,” I say.
“We can put some new flooring down.” Evan takes a big bite of the sandwich and moans loudly with appreciation.
“We should check the electrics and get a heater fitted for the winter.” I don’t want Goldie to get cold while she’s working.
“And a radio,” Goldie says. “I like to listen to music while I work.”
“What kind of music?” Evan has a million playlists and always dictates the music any time we take a car ride.
“Dolly Parton,” Goldie admits with a smirk. “The Civil Wars, Johnnyswim, and this band I found online called Paper Aeroplanes.”
“Interesting.” Evan wipes his mouth with a napkin. “Want to share a playlist?”
“Sure.” Goldie seems pleased that no one criticized her music taste.
“The roof might need shoring up,” I say. “We should take a look.”
Robert nods. “That all sounds doable.”
“Is there anything salvageable from my store,” Goldie asks hopefully.
“No.” Evan rests his hand on her arm. “But that doesn’t matter. Make this a fresh start, a new beginning. You’ve done it before and created something successful. You can do it again.”
We all nod, and Goldie’s cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink.
This is a fresh start. It’s a new beginning for all of us. Maybe it’s time to put more than just an old business behind us. Maybe it’s time to draw a line over everything.