Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Colton
We fall asleep when it’s not even dusk, so it isn’t surprising that I wake around midnight.
I start some coffee and decide on dinner.
A good pizza in my brick pizza oven. The oven is an indulgence I allow myself.
Well, you already know I’m into cooking.
I turn the oven on and then head to the shower.
A minute or so later, I hear her say, “Can I come in?”
So, I get another remarkable treat as we make love in the shower.
Then, we clean each other up, and I think the whole process of bathing her is wonderful.
I think the process of her bathing me is just breathtaking.
I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced something so sweet.
This isn’t my first shower with a woman, but the couple in my past never involved us doing anything other than washing each other’s back.
I don’t know. I think I’m just hung up on this girl and so it’s easy to ascribe a whole lot of meaning and significance to things.
I have to admit that I hope she likes all of this as much as I do.
In some ways I feel a little bit like a teenager mooning over a cheerleader but I don’t mind.
It’s sort of a nice feeling to be kind of goofy over Gianna.
We dry off, and I grab a pair of lounge pants.
I’m kind of gratified that she grabs one of my button-down shirts and puts it on.
I suppose I’m mostly gratified that she’s put on the shirt but nothing else.
Sure, I guess I’m caught up in the excitement of the moment but I can’t help myself.
I also feel really good because it just seems like the weight she had on her shoulders is finally lifted.
Hey, if I need to sleep with her constantly to keep whatever makes her sad at bay, I’m willing to make that sacrifice.
We go out to the kitchen and she looks around. She finally lets out a whistle and says, “You realize if I ever tell my mom I went out with a guy who has a better kitchen than she does, it’ll all be over.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we never actually went out.”
I seat her at the counter with a glass of wine and I feel pretty damned excited to make the pizza in front of her.
I have doughs I buy from the pizza parlor a block from the station.
I make the sauce myself and keep it in the refrigerator.
Well, you already know. For me, cooking is the forest when I can’t get to the forest.
I mean when I can’t shift into my bear form.
Bears aren’t cut out for society, and that pretty much includes bear shifters.
We have a relatively low tolerance for the company.
For me, though, an hour in the kitchen extends my tolerance so I don’t need to break free and get to the woods as often as most.
Most bear shifters.
I still need to be a bear a hell of a lot more than a wolf shifter needs to be a wolf.
You know, there are bear shifters who spend decades as bears.
I don’t know any other shifters like that except maybe dragons.
Of course, dragons say human are their shifted form and the dragon is their normal form.
I can tell you that just about every bear goes through a period when the idea of remaining an animal is very powerful indeed.
But right now, I’m more than content to be cooking for this amazing woman. I think if she were in my life constantly, I wouldn’t be ....
Whoa. Here I am, making pizza for her and thinking that this is something more after just one night together. I need to relax.
Gianna sighs. “This is just so wonderful, Colton, thank you.”
I nod. “Well, not to brag, but yeah, I am pretty good in bed.”
She laughs out loud and it makes my heart soar.
“Not that, you goof. I mean, well yeah, that ...but I’m also just grateful to be somewhere and with someone that doesn’t require anything more of me than, I don’t know, being me.
Not even being me. Just being. Somewhere that doesn’t require more than just existing. ”
I stop arranging the toppings on the pizza and look at her. “I know what you mean, and I’m happy to be here with you.” Sappy much? Ah hell, I don’t care because she gives me the sweetest smile. She is beautiful.
Then, she sighs again. “I’ve just been so tangled up with my brother, and his ups and downs, for so long that I sometimes don’t know how to stop and think about anything else.
It just starts to consume me. It’s that way for my parents, too, I think.
I’ve watched it just wear them out through the years and it makes me angry, you know?
Like, how can he treat them like that? Why do I have to make up for it? ”
I know I could say something, but I sense that she just wants to vent, so I let her continue.
“And, of course, I feel guilty for blaming him for something that is clearly out of his control. I worry about him. All the time. When he’s out of contact for months on end, I think he must be dead somewhere. It just sucks.”
“And now the fire.” She adds. I think she wants to say more.
I slide the pizza in the oven and go sit down at the table with her. “At least it didn’t take the whole house. Are you guys having insurance look into it?”
“Oh yeah, we already have workers on site and all. I’m handling all of that. It’s just, well, Kyle has had people after him before. They’ve shown up at the house and my mom and pop have paid them off. It’s awful.”
She looks down at the table as if she’s embarrassed or afraid to say more. So, I nudge her gently. “You think someone involved with your brother set the fire.”
She nods and I can hear her trying to fight back tears. “I don’t want to think it but, yeah, I think someone’s trying to hurt Kyle or get money back from or something. I’m worried they’ll go after my parents to make a point.”
The bear in me wakes up and starts growling for release. Already, I know I would go to any lengths to protect this woman. If I could shift right then, I’d be biting things and tearing trees out of the ground.
And then I’d be hunting.
I force myself to shake it off. I get up and grab the pizza from the oven and cut it, bringing us each a thick slice.
She grins. “Wow, this is gourmet. Artichoke hearts? If I didn’t know better, I’d call you a food snob.”
“Guilty as charged. But you also know the ingredients for my firehouse chili so let’s not be too hasty putting me in a box.”
We eat and she doesn’t say anything more about her brother or the fire, but it sits in the back of my mind and I begin to think of ways I could help her. After eating, she gives me a coy smile and stands up, walking to me and taking my hand, she leads me from the kitchen back to my room.
She walks me backwards to my bed and we both climb on.
We remove what little clothing is in the way and she begins to kiss me.
Her mouth moves down my body, caressing little tender spots with the barest of touches.
When she finally gets to my cock, I’m already rock hard and on the edge. It doesn’t take me long at all.
Afterward, she slides up alongside me and curls against my side. I pull her tight and kiss her head. My need to protect her overwhelms me. I feel energized by it, but exhaustion wins and shortly after I hear in her breathing that she’s fallen asleep, I drift away as well.