CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Ezra and Thea spent a few more days in town, going through the books and setting things to rights. By the time the rally was breaking up, they were about ready to get on the road, too. They stayed an extra day to say farewell to the bear brothers, who had jobs waiting for them back in Phoenix. They hinted things about their boss that would have to be seen to be believed, but Ezra didn’t pry. He figured they’d tell him if he needed to know. He trusted all three of them enough to believe that.
Chase was coming along nicely, and he’d made amends with the visiting White Oaks Pack. Ezra had asked Arch Hanson to stay on in South Dakota for a few weeks, to act as a special troubleshooter should any of the drug runners come to call. He’d cleared the temporary position with Trevor, who was absolutely thrilled to have someone of Arch’s reputation on board to help, should it become necessary.
So, when the rest of the White Oaks Pack headed home to Iowa, Arch stayed on at the garage. Trevor and Beth were footing the bill for a small apartment nearby and a generous expense account, as well as a decent salary. Ezra privately thought that Trevor was trying to lure Arch out of retirement and have him sign on full-time as a second troubleshooter, but the werewolf would need convincing, Ezra was sure.
Still, it would be nice to have help. Beth’s stepfather had really fouled a lot of things up during the time he’d had control over Beth’s inheritance. There were a lot of businesses still on Ezra’s list to check out and fix up, but for now, he’d been told to go back to Grizzly Cove for a full debrief. That was a relief, because Ezra really wanted to show Thea the town and see what she thought of it. If she was amenable, he thought they just might be able to build a little place on the edge of town and settle down among their own kind.
It would make a great base of operations, even if he kept going out on the road as Trevor and Beth’s number one troubleshooter. And it wasn’t too far from Thea’s folks, who lived in Sacramento. They could come up and visit or Thea and Ezra could easily scoot down the coast to see them.
The location was close to ideal, and they’d have the strength of an entire town full of bears and mer behind them. Ezra privately thought that might make Thea feel a bit more secure. She’d made incredible strides, but she would probably still be recovering from her ordeal for some time to come.
They took their time heading west to Washington State. The trip was something of a honeymoon for the newly mated couple. They stopped frequently and stayed in fancy hotels in each city they passed through, making love in big, soft beds and taking advantage of stately bathrooms with giant showers and one particularly memorable tub big enough for two.
Ezra spared no expense when it came to his new mate. He showered her with gifts—at least those small enough to fit in their saddlebags. He was making plans as he rode alongside her. Plans for the house he would build for her. A house big enough for the children they had discussed in the dark of the night after the most glorious lovemaking of his life. A little girl with Thea’s eyes and gentle voice. Or a little boy who kept them hopping with his antics. Either, or both, would be welcome if the Goddess so blessed them.
There would also be a guest suite for Thea’s parents to visit as often as they wished. And if they wanted to move to Grizzly Cove, too, Ezra would do everything in his power to talk the guys who ran the town into it. First, of course, he’d have to get permission to move in and buy land there himself, and—the biggest thing of all—he had to see if Thea liked it enough to want to live there.
He thought she would. The place could be a fresh start for both of them, surrounded by people he knew and trusted with his life. More importantly, he trusted them with Thea’s life. Every one of the core group who had created Grizzly Cove were stand-up bears with their heads screwed on straight.
The Alpha bear, John Marshall, was a strategic genius and had led men in battle. Ezra would stand with Big John any day of the week. And Trevor was there with his new mate, Beth. Ezra had a feeling Thea would hit it off with Beth. Both women had been through so much to find happiness with their true mates. They had a lot in common, though, of course, Beth was a mermaid.
The closer they got to the coast, the more excited and nervous Ezra became. Would Thea like the town? Would she want to live there? If she did, would the bears accept them into the community? There were a lot of questions running through his mind, but he tried not to let it get him down. All things could be conquered, given enough time and the proper strategy. He just had to figure out how.
Thea sensed Ezra’s edginess as they approached the small town hidden away on the Washington coast. The redwood forest they drove through was magnificent, but Ezra’s mood was getting to her a little, and she couldn’t truly relax and enjoy her surroundings. Was he worried about what his friends would think of her? Was he concerned she wouldn’t fit in?
Thea was worried enough about that for both of them, but she didn’t want to give voice to her doubts. She didn’t want Ezra to know that she was afraid of the reception she would receive from the other bears.
She’d grown up alone, in a family of loners. She hadn’t ever really hung around with other bears. At least, not until recently. Ezra and the three brothers were the only other bear shifters she really knew besides her parents. She had no idea if the bears in Grizzly Cove would like her or shun her completely, and she was really nervous about finding out. Ezra’s mood wasn’t helping reassure her either.
When they drove through the little town at the apex of a wide cove, Thea was charmed by the quaint shops and multitude of little art galleries. The buildings were obviously new, but they had a sense about them that they were well-loved and happy places to live and work. There was a tingle of magic about the place that was somehow joyful.
Ezra didn’t stop in the town but drove, instead, to the end of the strip of buildings that culminated with a hotel on the beach side of the street. He stopped in a parking spot big enough for both of their bikes to sit side by side. Thea got off her bike, stretching out the kinks in her muscles for sitting so long. They’d taken their time getting here, but it had been a long trip, regardless.
“This where we’re staying?” Thea asked, trying to hide her nerves, which were growing even more taut now that they’d reached their destination.
“Yeah.” Ezra nodded. “And it’s also where Trevor and Beth are bunking down while their home is being built. You’ll like them,” he told her, as he had a few times before. “Trev’s an old friend, and his mate, Beth, is a sweetheart.” He unbuckled his saddlebags and grabbed Thea’s, too, carrying them for her as he led the way into the hotel.
“Hey, Billy,” Ezra called to the man behind the front desk. “My old room available?”
“Hey, Ez, long time, no see. And who’s the lovely lady?” Billy’s eyes sparked with interest.
“Billy Longknife, this is Thea Jackson. My mate.”
A little thrill went through Thea when he said that. She noticed the way Billy’s eyes widened, and then, his face broke into a giant grin.
“You don’t say.” Billy looked at them both speculatively. “Anybody else know about this?”
“Not yet,” Ezra replied. “But I’m sure it’ll get around town eventually.” Ezra laughed as Billy nodded, and Thea got the idea that Ezra expected Billy to spread the gossip as soon as they were out of sight.
“Congratulations, man,” Billy said, his tone sincere and somewhat emotional. “And to you, ma’am. Ol’ Ez here is one of the good’uns.”
Thea smiled at the other man, putting her hand on Ezra’s arm. “That he is.”
“Here.” Billy tossed a key card to Ezra, and he snatched it out of the air in the blink of an eye. “Your old room is ready for you. Trevor and Beth are still next door. Their house is nearing completion, but it’ll be a little bit yet before they move out.”
“Thanks, Bill. We’ll see you later,” Ezra told the other man as he led the way down one of the hallways that spawned off the main entrance area.
They were heading toward the beach end of the building. Thea looked forward to seeing what kind of view their room might have. The cove looked incredibly picturesque. She couldn’t help but steal glances at it as they’d ridden through town. She couldn’t wait to walk along the shore and just…be.
Thea loved looking at the ocean, and she thought she was going to enjoy her time in this town on the edge of it. So far, she’d like what she’d seen of Grizzly Cove. Now, she just had to get over the hurdle of meeting the locals.
“Ezra!” A woman shouted from a short distance down the hallway, and Thea looked up to find a small woman coming toward them at a fast clip.
A much larger man was right behind her. The guys smelled of bear, but the woman wasn’t quite like anything Thea had scented before. A little salty, perhaps. Was this a mermaid? She certainly was petite. At least compared to bear shifters. The woman was sized more like an average-sized human. Maybe a bit on the smaller size for a human woman, Thea revised her judgment as the woman walked right up to Ezra and gave him a hug.
And why was this other woman hugging her mate? Thea’s bear half sat up and took notice. If that hug strayed from merely friendly into something more intimate, the bear was ready to swat Ezra back into line, but it didn’t. It was pretty clear from both of their body language that the woman and Ezra were merely friends.
Thea met the strange man’s gaze across the distance, Ezra and the woman between them. His gaze was calculating and seemed to miss nothing. Suddenly, Thea felt a bit more on edge. Would this bear shifter judge her as not fit to be in Grizzly Cove? Was he one of those who could make such a decision?
Ezra let go of the woman and turned to the man as the woman stood looking at Thea with her head tilted to one side, her smile cautious but still welcoming. Ezra held out a hand to the other man, and they hugged briefly, as bears often did, but it was a bit more of a bro hug with that back-slapping thing where they sort of bumped shoulders.
“I’m Beth,” the woman said, showing no fear as she faced Thea. “You must be Theodora.”
“Um…yeah. Hi. Call me Thea,” she replied, caught off guard by the fact that the other woman seemed to already know about her.
Ezra and the other man ended their greeting, and both turned to look at the women. The man came to stand behind Beth and held out a hand to Thea.
“I’m Trevor. Ez has told us a bit about you, of course, but I’m glad to finally meet you,” he said, his tone and expression friendly.
This was Ezra’s friend, and the couple were his bosses. Thea recognized the names, but somehow, she’d pictured them older. Probably because of the business empire Ezra had told her about that they commanded.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Thea said, returning the other bear shifter’s handshake.
The couple seemed very nice on first impression. She hoped she didn’t look too wrung out from the journey. She had hoped to be able to clean up a bit in the room before encountering too many locals—and especially these two, who were so close to Ezra.
“You guys just arrived, didn’t you?” Beth said, seeming to look at the saddlebags Ezra had dropped in order to return her greeting hug. “We should let you settle in, but I hope you’ll join us for dinner. Zak has his restaurant going full steam now, and he’s added some really yummy seafood items to the menu for us. Do you want to meet there at about six?”
Ezra looked at Thea, and she could only nod. She wasn’t quite sure what she was agreeing to, other than dinner, but seafood sure sounded good. It would likely be really fresh, considering they were on the coast.
“That would be great. We’ll meet you there,” Ezra said, answering for both of them.
The other couple headed off after a quick goodbye, and Ezra led Thea the few steps to the door of their room. He slid the key card over the lock mechanism, and the door clicked open.
The room was nice. Obviously new with fresh paint and sparkling finishes. And it was big enough for a bear shifter…or two.
“Trev and Beth have the room next door. I’ve been staying in this one whenever I’m in town,” Ezra told her as he deposited their saddlebags on the table in the corner.
“They seem nice,” she replied noncommittally. She wanted so much for his friends to like her, but she didn’t want to let on how nervous she was about it all.
“They’re great,” Ezra replied, digging into his bags for a change of clothes. “We have just enough time for a quick shower.” He turned back to her, smiling that sexy smile she’d come to know meant he was up for mischief. Delicious mischief of the sexy kind.
“Don’t you mean a quickie shower?” she asked, feeling playful as she walked up to him and leaned in for a smooch.
“I like the way you think,” he told her, putting his hands around her waist and drawing her close.
They undressed as they chivvied themselves toward the bathroom and its large, open shower by small moves. It was almost a dance as they took turns taking off various items of clothing from themselves and each other as they moved closer to their target. By the time they made it under the water, which Ezra set running before they got in, things were getting steamy—and that wasn’t just the water.
Thea pushed Ezra back up against the side wall of the shower enclosure, loving the texture of his hot, wet skin under her hands and against her body. He was hard in all the right places, and he seemed to appreciate the areas where she was soft against him.
His hands stroked her breasts and played with her aching nipples as she explored his sculpted body. At one point, she sat down on the bench at the back of the shower and crooked her little finger for him to come close. He smiled with wicked delight as he stalked closer to her, and she bent forward to take him in her mouth.
She played with him, coaxing his reaction ever higher, using her blunt-tipped nails to scratch up and down the backs of his thighs. She knew from their past travels and encounters that he liked that. A lot.
A little bit of that treatment, and he growled, sweeping down to lift her into his arms and reposition them so that he was sitting on the wide bench and she was straddling him. Then, he joined them, and it was her turn to growl in appreciation.
The water pelted down on her back, just reaching her where they were positioned at the far end of the long shower stall. It blanketed her in warmth from behind while Ezra’s solid presence kept her warm from the front. It was a delicious sensation all the way around. Ezra was turning her into a real fan of shower sex. It seemed to be one of his favorite places to make love, and she was quickly coming to understand why.
He thrust up into her as she moved to meet him. They strained against each other, and she knew this was definitely going to be a quickie, as she had teased him. First and foremost, she was hungry for him after hours of abstinence as they had driven the last leg of their journey here. It felt like she couldn’t go more than a few hours without stopping to jump his bones these last few days. Maybe she was in heat…or maybe, her new mate had somehow addicted her to his lovemaking. She’d bet on the latter.
Second, they were expected for dinner, and she wanted to make a good impression, which meant she needed time to do her hair and maybe put some thought into her wardrobe—though she didn’t have a whole lot with her because of saddlebag limitations. Still, she had a little black dress that ought to work nicely for a dinner out at a restaurant. It was a slinky thing that didn’t take up a whole lot of room in her luggage, so it should still be in reasonable condition. She’d have to check and see if maybe hanging it up in the steamy shower would loosen any wrinkles.
But that was for later. Right now, her man was driving her wild, and wardrobe issues were the furthest thing from her mind. She rode Ezra like her Harley, giving no quarter and taking all he had to give. And that was a lot.
Ezra pushed her higher and higher, using his skilled fingers to play her body. Eventually, after he’d wrung a few hard, fast climaxes out of her, he moved his right hand to the apex of her thighs and began his master stroke. He knew just how to touch her now to set off not just fireworks, but nuclear explosions. She shouted her completion as her passions jolted toward the heavens. Then, he tensed along with her, and they rode to the stars together, on the flaming spear of light his explosive touch had caused.
The comedown was monumental, but she pushed his wet hair off his face and kissed him all over his stubbly cheeks before zeroing in on his lips.
“I love you, Ezra. I’m so glad you’re my mate,” she whispered, emotion riding high as her heart opened and love for him poured out.
Ezra’s gaze softened, and the look he gave her filled all the empty places in her soul.
“I love you, too, Thea.” He kissed her then—a kiss of promise and dreams for their shared future. A kiss of the deepest love a man could have for a woman. A kiss of souls and hearts and minds and animal spirits.