Chapter Six
“Lily,” Dawn admonished the older woman after dinner wound down and the two of them walked the path back toward the car. “Why on earth would you say such a thing?”
“Which thing, sweetheart? Oh, you mean the comment about Kai’s biceps? You didn’t think they were nice?”
Dawn shook her head. Lily had had a hell of a time that evening, play-flirting and making the men blush with her open ogling of chests and thick arms. But that wasn’t what Dawn was referring to. “I mean the thing about dragons.”
Lily fluttered her eyelashes innocently. “What about them?”
Dawn sighed and took a step back. There was no reasoning with that woman — especially now that Tessa was coming up from behind.
“Thank you so much for coming out here tonight,” Tessa said.
“Oh, I had a wonderful time.” Lily beamed. “Didn’t you, Dawn?”
She nodded. “Dinner was great. Thank you.”
She meant it, too. Dragons, bears, and wolves aside, Dawn had to admit that the evening was nothing like she had feared. The Pacific was serving up one of those gorgeous, starlit nights when everything seemed peaceful and serene. The food was divine, and the company was nice. Really nice. Who’d have thought dinner with a group of shapeshifters could be such a pleasant event?
And, damn. What did it say about her social life that her best night out in the past couple of years was one spent with a flirty seventy-year-old and a group of people who each hid a wild, animal side?
The fears that had accelerated her heart rate on the way in had all but dissipated, though she still wasn’t sure what to make of Hunter and his friends. But never mind — she’d survived the night. It was getting late, and she had work in the morning. Another day at the Kapa’akea resort, which had its pluses and minuses. The plus was seeing Hunter again. The minus was…well, seeing Hunter again. The man made part of her want to shred her own self-control and toss it to the wind.
They were nearly at the car when Lily threw up her hands in dismay. “Oh, my purse! Sweetheart, can you fetch it for me?”
Dawn turned and headed back down the path, running her hands over the awapuhi growing on either side. It was dark, but she could make out every curved petal of the ginger flower. They interlocked, one nestled inside the other, each petal arching back to the night sky. Dawn tipped her chin up to study the stars. Canis Major was high in the sky, and Sirius, the Dog Star, shone bright. Then came Gemini and then… Her step faltered. That was the Great Bear. Guardian of the night sky or a hunter in disguise?
She was so engrossed in thought that she nearly walked into a tree. “Oops.”
Except it wasn’t a tree. It was Hunter. He grunted and steadied her before quickly letting go.
“Sorry,” he murmured, stepping back quickly.
“Sorry,” she gulped, thinking how strange it was that he was so flighty around her. She ought to be the flighty one, right?
Then it hit her. All this time, she’d been worried about Hunter hurting her when it had been her, hurting him. Poor Hunter — as big and mighty as he was, part of him was still the lonely kid who’d never really fit in. And for the past weeks, she’d been as cold and standoffish as the kids at school had been when Hunter was the new kid on the block. She hung her head a little. Hunter had only ever been sweet to her. Why couldn’t she bring herself to trust him?
He held something out, extending his arm so she wouldn’t have to come too close. “Lily forgot this.”
Dawn took a deep breath. She could just take the purse and go, but how could she ignore that pained look in his eyes?
“Hunter,” she whispered, ignoring the purse and slowly reaching for his arm. It was thick as a tree branch yet surprisingly soft with tiny curls of hair. She moved her hand up and down slightly, in part admiring his bulk, in part wondering what it might feel like to touch bear fur.
He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t move, though his nostrils flared.
Hers did, too, because damn. He smelled so good. Like Maui. Like koa, the toughest kind of wood.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so…so…” She fished for words. Cruel? Mean? Cold? “Distant,” she decided. “I just…”
“Not your fault,” he murmured.
She looked at him. It wasn’t exactly his fault, either. If he hadn’t stopped the wolf that had attacked her, she would be dead.
“You saved me. Again.” Maybe it didn’t matter that he’d done so in bear form. Either way, he’d put himself on the line to defend her.
You can judge a man by his actions, not his words, Lily had once said.
Hunter waved a hand as if it were nothing.
“It’s just that I never suspected…” Her words petered away. What exactly was she trying to say?
“No problem. I get it,” he said, giving her an easy out. All she had to do was take Lily’s purse, thank him, and walk away with a confident stride. He’d get the message and leave her alone once and for all.
Except she didn’t want him to leave her alone. Not in her heart, not in her soul. So instead of turning, she slid her hand higher, past his elbow and all the way to his shoulder. Trying to reconcile herself to the idea that the beast might be as much of a gentle giant as the man.
Her heart revved, though, and her fingers shook a tiny bit.
Hunter’s brown eyes shone in the dark, but he didn’t flinch.
“I don’t get it,” she whispered, inching closer. “Why is it that around you, I can’t seem to think straight?”
The left side of his mouth crooked up. “Around you, I could never see straight.”
Her right foot stepped forward, and her left followed without her even realizing it, and suddenly, she was sharing his personal space. Easing into it the way she might ease into a warm bath.
Her blood prickled and danced in her veins. Her breath came in jittery, uneven waves. Was she really standing that close to Hunter?
A second later, her eyes went wide. Because she wasn’t just standing close to Hunter. She was kissing him. Gingerly. Softly. Reaching with her lips. Her hands reached, too, slipping around his neck as if they’d kissed a hundred times when, in fact, she’d only ever done it once in real life.
But kissing Hunter — a bear shifter… Was she crazy?
Maybe she was because, wow — she was enjoying it. The soft, smooth feel of his lips. The hint of something powerful slumbering inside him, kept carefully leashed. She pressed close enough to feel the beat of his heart. A low, steady beat that represented Hunter perfectly. Solid yet fragile. Quiet, yet powerful. His lips barely moved over hers, but her soul danced.
God, this feels so good, she wanted to sigh.
She slid her arms around his shoulders — well, she tried, given their breadth — and leaned deeper into the kiss. An unrushed, skipping-through-fields-of-flowers kiss. The feeling of coming home after a long, long time away.
If Hunter’s grip had been a little tighter or his lips more demanding, she might have pushed him away. But his touch was so gentle that all she wanted was more. More than she’d ever let herself dare to desire.
“Dawn…” Hunter murmured.
She hummed because it felt so good to hear him say her name. Officer Meli was for strangers. Hunter was a friend.
“Dawn…” he whispered, gently pulling back.
She might have kept her hands fisted in his shirt and her lips glued to his forever if it wasn’t for the fluttering of a bird overhead. She took in a sharp breath and stared. Did he not want what she wanted?
The look in Hunter’s eyes said he wanted her just as desperately as she wanted him, but, as always, something held him back. He smoothed his hands over her shoulders then pulled her in for a hug. A long, tight hug, the way you hugged someone you’d missed for years.
“Dawn,” he whispered, resting his head against hers.
She took a deep breath, inhaling his musky scent, and clutched his shirt. Damn — she’d totally lost control for a minute. Maybe she was the one with an animal side.
“God, Hunter. Remember that kiss under the waterfall?”
She’d been sixteen, he’d been seventeen, and they were the last two kids at the local swimming hole. Splashing and playing had somehow turned to touching and hugging, and when they’d kissed, she thought she’d seen heaven.
He nodded. “That kiss got me through…well, a lot of rough spots.”
She ran her hand over a scar on his forearm, wondering what terrible things he might have seen or done all those years he’d spent in far less peaceful places than Maui.
She closed her eyes, remembering the kiss down to the tiniest detail. The flavor of his lips. The slide of his hands over her ribs. The way they fit like they were made for each other. They’d broken apart and gazed into each other’s eyes for what seemed like hours until the bushes rustled with a new group of visitors that made them skitter apart.
“Why did you stop seeing me?” she asked. They had vowed to meet back the next day, but Hunter hadn’t shown.
His eyes dropped, and he kicked the ground.
“What?” She grasped his arm.
“Your dad. Your dad found out. He came around to my foster mother that night and made a big stink.”
She pulled back, gaping. “My dad?”
Hunter nodded. “He said if I ever got within a yard of you, he’d have my ass arrested.”
Dawn shook her head. Her dad had been a wisp of a man, and even at seventeen, Hunter had been a big kid. But then again, her father was the district attorney, and she could picture how easily he could threaten someone like Hunter — a kid who had no one to stick up for him except the eccentric old woman who took care of him.
She rested her head on his shoulder and rolled it from side to side. Her dad had been the one to encourage her to date the captain of the football team, Clive, who’d—
She tore her thoughts away from Clive, as she always did. And as for her father… Some judge of character he turned out to be.
“My dad was an ass.”
Hunter’s chest rose and fell, but he didn’t say anything.
I missed you, she wanted to say. I missed you so much for so many years. And I thought I was finally ready to get closer, but then…
Then she’d been completely freaked out by him turning into a bear. Dawn stared at her feet.
“Dawn! Are you coming?” Lily’s voice boomed out through the night.
She let out a long, uneven breath and backed away slowly, pulling the purse from his hand. “I’d better get going.”
Hunter nodded quietly, though his Adam’s apple bobbed. Was that hope or rejection in his eyes?
Dawn turned on her heel and did her best not to rush away, feeling his eyes on her the entire time.
“See you soon?” she murmured, unable to resist looking back.
His smile was forced, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. “See you soon.”
She wanted to boomerang back into his arms, but she made herself walk on. A minute later, she was in Lily’s car and out the estate gate, ordering herself not to look back.
“Lovely people,” Lily said as she pulled onto the highway.
Except they’re not people, Dawn wanted to say. But, heck. Hunter had such soul and so much sorrow. It wasn’t fair to think of him as less than human.
“That Hunter is such a nice man,” Lily said, opening the door to a conversation Dawn didn’t want to have.
She hummed something neutral and looked at the stars.
“A very attractive man, too.” Lily winked.
Like Dawn needed to be told. Even back in high school, he was a sight to behold. But now, there was a wounded warrior appeal to him that made him that much harder to resist.
“So what’s the problem, sweetie? You two spent the whole evening gazing into each other’s eyes.”
“We did not!”
Lily snorted. “I know love when I see it. What’s holding you back?”
Dawn picked at a thread in the hem of her shrug. How much could she say? How could she possibly explain?
“There’s something inside him that scares me,” she said at last, choosing her words carefully.
Lily tut-tutted. “You’re not afraid of him. You’re afraid of falling in love.”
Dawn’s eyes went wide, and she snapped her head around. “Why would I be afraid of that?”
“You tell me.”
Dawn huffed. Lily could be impossible sometimes.
Still, her mind swirled with answers she couldn’t quite bring herself to utter aloud. Because love makes you vulnerable. That was one good reason. Because not every man loves his woman. There. Another good reason.
And then, of course, there was, Because I’m afraid I might not be able to love him back.
Dawn closed her eyes, putting a wall up against the ugly memories in the far reaches of her mind.
Lily tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “What you need is someone to shake you out of that carefully controlled cage you live in.”
“It’s not a cage.”
“Everything worth having comes with a risk,” Lily said. “But without love, you don’t really live. Did I tell you about Stanley?”
Dawn watched the scrub blur by at the edge of the road. Lily had shared so many stories about her late husband, Dawn figured she knew them all by heart.
“I nearly gave him up,” Lily said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. “I was so young, so foolish, thinking another good man would come along. So I let him go when things started feeling a little too…ordinary. I thought I wanted my freedom. I wanted a more exciting man.” Lily sighed. “I found out how empty my life was without him. How no other man could take his place in my heart. Lucky for me, Stanley waited. The man had such faith in true love…”
Dawn’s eyes grew misty. Hunter had that unshakeable faith, too. He had faith in her, even when she’d shown so little in him.
“When I think that I could have lost him forever… But I was lucky. We had our second chance, and we used it, honey.” Her voice took on a naughty hint again. “Boy, did we use it.” She slapped Dawn’s thigh, making her jump. “I don’t want to see you let your chance slip away.”
Dawn closed her eyes. She didn’t want that either. But deep inside, her heart was scarred and fragile. Did she really dare?
Lily drove the next few curves in silence then murmured, “A beautiful night, don’t you think?”
The sky was perfectly clear, and starlight glittered over the sea. The lush, earthy scent of Maui seemed doubly rich at night, when colors drained away and the landscape slumbered. Dawn breathed deeply and thought back to Hunter’s kiss.
She nodded. A beautiful night, indeed.