With the wind blowing through her hair, for the second time that day, she had to admit she was feeling better now that she was on the back of Chris’s bike and had new clothes on.

Getting changed behind a tree wasn’t her finest moment, but hell, she had to accept what had happened this afternoon or let it eat her up.

She Bears were renowned for being vicious. It was why their families and their mates went above and beyond to protect them, cosset them. If they shifted overly, the She Bear wouldn’t get tamer‒ she’d only get worse. Something nobody wanted.

Shuddering at the idea of that rapacious beast being let out on the loose more frequently, she tightened her arms about Chris’s waist and peered over his shoulder at the sight of Houston in the distance.

They lived close to the city but she rarely had any desire to visit save for going to attend meetings at the MC’s number of different businesses. Even then, and only if it was vital she’d be there to translate some figures or statistics.

It was weird to think that she approached the city unmated and would be leaving it fully bound to her mate.

A smile creased her lips at the thought. One that pleased her immensely.

Bears usually found their mates amidst humans. She Bears were so rare that human females were practically the only source of mates to be found. She Bears, on the other hand, would never find a human male. They could only mate with another Bear. Probably because of their inbuilt defense mechanism.

Only another Bear could curb a She Bear. Case in point today.

Only Chris getting in her face, roaring at her and growling until she backed off had made her realize she was safe and could retreat.

She shuddered at the thought, and tried to switch her mind off those terrifying moments where she’d been utterly out of control.

Never in all her life had she felt like that before. It was more of a nightmare than she could ever have imagined.

When Kiko had arrived at the layby and had taken a look around, he and Chris exchanged a low conversation, one even her excellent hearing hadn’t been able to catch. There had been a lot of grimaces, a lot of pulling faces down at the wash of blood on the asphalt. Each glance had made her feel worse, so much so she’d had no choice but to retreat to the dense thicket of trees and use them as shelter to get changed and washed in the bottles of water Kiko had brought.

It had done a basic job, but now she couldn’t wait for a shower.

When they pulled up in the city twenty minutes later, deep downtown, she peered up at the building he’d decided to stop by.

Doormen stood at the door, as did a valet behind a booth.

When they climbed off the hog, all three staff members shot each other a look.

She knew exactly what they were thinking.

Trash.

They probably didn’t realize that with the investments she’d made alone, she was worth over two million. The MC didn’t pay her, so she’d found other side jobs to get some money together, enough to make a small stake. Then, she’d played the stock exchange and as she had talent for it, had won big. Granted, it had taken a hell of a long time, but time was all she’d had for way too many years.

Her personal wealth was probably on par with Chris who, with his expertise, was paid substantially by the MC. She highly doubted he hadn’t made investments either.

“Sir, you can’t park your vehicle here.”

“It’s a hog,” she told the doorman sweetly. Then, pulling her wallet out of her purse, she said, “What’s the matter? Is my money not good enough for you.” She flashed the credit card that she had only recently just signed up with; it cost a fortune to maintain for a year, a fortune she could afford, but with so many perks it had been a delight to sign up.

Granted, one of those perks was flashing it in snobs like these guys’ faces. Because at the sight it, all sleek and shiny black with matte stripes inlaid with gold, the doorman’s eyes widened before he clicked his fingers at the valet.

As Chris handed the keys over, he gritted out, “Scratch her and you’ll pay for the damages.”

With his cut, Chris presented an impressive figure. He often wore it like a vest, over an Oxford shirt and slacks, covering it with a sports jacket for meetings. Today, however, that thin veneer of elegance had been thrown away thanks to the gore covering it from the Spiders Venom attack. He wore a white tee and jeans now, heavy boots on his feet which made him look so fucking sexy, and like such a meat head biker that she could kind of understand why the valet gulped at the threat in his voice.

In his shirt and slacks, he looked like a businessman with quirky taste. An eccentric.

Now, he looked like exactly what he was; a rider for an MC.

With his size and evident muscular strength, he was impressive to behold and he loomed over the snobby staff by a good half a foot. They had to peer up at him and tilt their heads back for Christ’s sake.

The door swept open for them, and they headed toward reception. It was a fancy hotel, one of those boutique ones that had quirky aspects to it rather than a clinical feel.

The desk was a huge mass of glass and mirrored surfaces which reflected the seating areas which consisted of chaises lounges in unusual patterns, armchairs in equally as zany designs, and low leather sofas. Sleek coffee tables were loaded down with pretty orchids in huge glass bowls or huge craggy stone ores.

She took it in with a singular glance and strode toward the desk with her arm tucked into Chris’s.

“Was that a Paisley Executive card you flashed at the doorman?”

She grinned up at the astonishment in his voice. “It was.”

“Doesn’t that have like a forty thousand dollar a year maintenance fee?”

“Yep. But their perks are astonishing. Well, they are if you have a life.”

“What does that mean?”

She shrugged. “Free spa access. If you travel, access to the VIP lounges. Shit like that. Free meals at swanky restaurants.”

“Why did you never take advantage of that before?”

She shot him a look. “Why do you think? I had no one to go with. But to be fair, they only just invited me to apply.”

“So it’s true? It is by invite only.”

There was a trace of a pout in his tone. “They didn’t ask you?” she asked with a grin.

“I’d have flashed it at those snobs too if I had been invited.” He shared her grin and bussed her forehead as they came to a halt at the desk. When the receptionist gave them a similar once over, he sighed. “Best get the Paisley out, babe. Otherwise they might stick security on us.”

As she spoke, Ava’s accent was neutral. Not one twang of Texas filtered into her vowels thanks to way too many wasted hours spent on elocution lessons.

But, being around it, she could speak it like the native she was. Deciding that was the perfect time, in total Texan twang, she murmured, “Why, darlin’, I think we’d like the penthouse suite for the next few nights.”

The receptionist, in her air stewardess uniform complete with a pencil skirt, simple shirt and scarf tied around her throat, coughed. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

“Are you sure, darlin’?” She slid the card along the glass counter again. “Don’t you think my card will go in your little machine there?”

Chris snorted when the woman choked as she looked down at the high-roller’s only card.

“Yes, ma’am, I’m sure it will fit.”

“You see that it does,” she retorted, her tone cooler now, making the woman flush. “Is everyone such a snob in this damn place?”

“No, ma’am. I must apologize if that’s your first impression,” came the reply, less insolent and definitely embarrassed.

Hell, it wasn’t like she could admit to discriminating against them because of what they wore and the cut Chris was sporting.

She knew it wasn’t ladylike to rub it in the woman’s face, but hell, she wasn’t feeling very damn ladylike.

Chris chuckled, and with the arm he’d tucked around her waist, he used to pull her tighter against him.

“Behave,” he murmured into her hair.

She pouted but nodded, watching as the receptionist clicked a few things on the screen in front of her and within a flash, the card was back on the desk.

Most people didn’t use credit cards anymore. They’d been obsolete for a long time. Only the wealthy needed them.

And, odd though it was, she was a part of that gang.

“Here’s the entry code to your bedroom, ma’am. If you require anything, please don’t hesitate to contact us.” She cleared her throat, then eyed them. “Do you have any bags you need help with?”

“Help won’t be necessary,” Chris rumbled. “But thanks anyway.”

The woman nodded, flushing at the look of amusement on his face. “Well, it’s the left bank of elevators. You’re on the top floor, and you’ll need the code to access the room.”

They nodded their understanding, and traipsed through the lobby to reach the elevators.

A few minutes later, they were walking into their home for the next few days.

It was large, spacious, everything she’d expect from a hotel such as this one.

A baby grand piano sat next to a clear pane of glass that overlooked the city and stretched the width of the room.

The panorama was insane, but it didn’t impress her as much as the piano.

She headed straight for it, her fingers trickling over the keys, enjoying the notes that rang around the salon. It was pitch perfect, but more than that, the room was set up perfectly where acoustics were concerned.

“I didn’t know you played the piano.”

She closed her eyes as she tinkled with the keys, but they flared open at his statement. “There’s plenty you don’t know about me.”

“I doubt that,” he immediately denied, making her snort in amusement.

“Mr. Bighead.”

He smirked. “I know plenty. Not everything, granted. Like the fact you somehow have an account with Paisley. Explain how that works to me again, because I know for a damn fact the MC doesn’t pay you. It’s something we often argue about in Council.”

Her brows rose at that. “But let me guess, Dad always vetoes it because Goddess help the MC if I suddenly get some cash in my pocket and decide I want freedom.” She huffed out a breath, then let all her fingers clash with ten keys. The discordant sound had her grimacing at the aural abuse. “I’ve had freedom for years. Financially, at any rate.”

“That’s what I don’t understand,” Chris argued. “How’s that possible when you spend all your time working on MC projects, and yet you get paid nothing?”

She shot him a look. “You really don’t think if I’m smart enough to do what I do, that I can’t somehow make up a way to earn money?”

“The only thing that makes sense is you’re on the take from the MC earnings, but you’re not a thief, Ava. So that doesn’t make sense.”

“Wow,” she told him lightly, gaze returning to the keys as she began to play again. “It’s nice to know what you think of me.”

He grunted. “Don’t turn this around. You know I wasn’t saying that.”

“No? What were you saying?”

“I was asking where you got your money from?”

She jerked a shoulder and swept her fingers into a staccato tune. “I used my brain, of course. I got a job online. Saved up some pin money. Bought stocks and shares. Nothing too complicated.”

He eyed her, then shook his head. “Should have figured it was something like that. You’re not the type of woman who likes to be dependent.”

She laughed at that. “And what made you figure that out? The fact I always listen to my parents’ dictates, or, as you rightly said, I work eighty hour plus a week for nothing?”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t start on the pity party. It is how it is, and it’s not that way anymore.”

She hissed out a satisfied breath. “Now that is something to thank the Goddesses about. My parents no longer have a single damn say in what I do, where I go, or how I live.” She tilted her head upward, eyes closing as she crashed her fingers into a crescendo that fitted her joyously buoyant frame of mind.

“They really got to you, didn’t they?” he asked softly, heading over to the piano to stand closer to her.

She opened her eyes. “Wouldn’t they have gotten to you?”

He pursed his lips. “Yeah, of course. But you’re always so...” His sigh said it all. “Patient.”

“With you, you mean?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

She nodded. “No point in being anything else, is there?”

“Most people don’t think that way.”

“I’m not most people, am I?” She cocked a brow at him. “Or do you wish I was?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth,” he told her easily. “I’m not trying to start a fight, just trying to understand my mate, that’s all.”

“We could have spent the last ten years getting to know one another if you hadn’t ignored me.” Once again, she used the soft tinkling of the piano to soothe her.

“I didn’t ignore you. I was saving my sanity.”

She snorted. “Is that what you call it?”

He sighed, then when she carried on, her focus on the piano and not him, he grabbed her wrist and brought the fingers of one hand to a halt.

“We need to move past this.”

“I know.”

“If you know, then why did you bring it up?”

She jerked a shoulder. “Because it was on the tip of my tongue.”

“Haven’t we already established that you don’t blurt out everything that’s on the tip of your tongue, because if you did, then your parents would have been on the receiving end of some major tantrums?”

Her lips twitched at that. “True.”

“So, can we move on?”

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“On you.”

He sighed again. “What way?”

“Just how you talk to me, I guess. It’s not easy going from us being so closed off to being able to talk about things like my parents.” She shrugged. “They’re a sore subject. I love them, but I seem to have spent the last ten years hating them too.”

“It’s no wonder with the way they’ve treated you.” He shook his head. “But you’re right. I was out of line talking about that. It’s been on my mind, that’s all.”

She frowned. “Why?”

He shrugged. “Kiko raised the topic in Council.”

“What topic?”

“You.”

“Me?” She frowned, then planted her fingers down against the keys. “I’m a topic?”

“Yeah. Your father’s a stubborn bastard sometimes.”

“When it comes to me,” she corrected with a grimace. “Kiko mentioned college, didn’t he? Mischa asked him to.”

“Yeah. But when I spoke to Mischa, she said you’re not interested anymore.”

She pursed her lips, then murmured, “Look at this place, Chris.”

It was his turn to frown. He let his gaze travel over the suite of rooms and the sky-high view of Houston. “I get your point.”

She smiled a little. “Thought you might. I stopped needing college a long time ago. Dad couldn’t stop me from learning. Not that he wanted to stop me from learning, I know that. He just wanted me close by.” She shrugged. “Too close for my sake and not close enough for his.” Her smile deepened. “It’s kind of encouraging that the Council tried to bat for me though. I didn’t realize.”

“You wouldn’t. But we did. Many times. All of us at some point or another.”

She sighed. “I often wonder what it would be like to be the daughter of just a Council member, and then I realize my dad wouldn’t change whether he was VP or just an average rider. But still, that’s the last I want to talk about him. He drives me batshit on the best of days, and today has already been wrecked to a certain point.” She stopped playing and wrapped her arms around herself as she confessed, “I don’t know how to be with you, Chris. I thought I did, I thought it would come naturally but you’ve put so much distance between us I don’t know how to get close to you.” She shifted her head down, whispered, “To you or anyone.”

Her tone was that of a confession and it twisted him up like nothing else she could have done or said.

After what had happened today, he wanted nothing more than to give her comfort, and so he murmured, “We’ll do whatever we must to make that connection. We’ve pushed it aside for so long, I guess that’s the habit our Bears are used to enduring. So, we need to take it slow, get used to being together again.”

She blinked at him, batting those shamrock green eyes in a way that melted his heart. “Even if that means waiting?” she asked hoarsely, and he knew exactly what she meant.

“Even if it means waiting,” he vowed, then strode over to her when she started gnawing on her bottom lip. Before she could second guess, he tugged her into his arms and hugged her.

Nothing more, nothing less than a simple embrace. One that he hoped transmitted his feelings for her.

She wasn’t alone in feeling confused, a little lost.

It was like suddenly having the gate to the Garden of Eden but standing right at the gatehouse for fear of being smote for trespassing.

Everything he ever wanted was right in front of him, and yet it couldn’t have been further away either.

She shivered in his arms, then nuzzled deeper. He reveled in the closeness between them and prayed a little patience and a lot of tenderness would allow their true natures to flourish where he’d been suppressing it for all these years.

“What do you want to do with the rest of the day?” he asked softly, whispering the words into her ear. When she shivered again, he knew it was for a different reason than before.

He smiled, liking her responsiveness, but moved his lips away. He’d meant it when he said he’d wait. He had no problem with that. His Bear wanted to lay Claim to her, but the man was still acclimating to the fact he could have his mate without fear of being castrated by his Prez.

They both needed time.

“I-I don’t know.”

Her whisper was a soft brush against his throat. “Sure you do. Do you want something to eat? Do you want to catch a movie?”

She pulled back and peered up at him. “Anything?”

He smiled. “Anything.”

“Can we just take a nap? I’m so tired I can barely stand up straight.”

Surprised, he blinked at her. Then, shaking his head he murmured, “If a bed is what madam desires, then a bed is what madam shall get.”

She laughed, and as he pulled away and let her fall from his embrace, he knew at that moment everything would be okay.

They would get past this moment.

They would get past these difficulties, and today’s drama would soon be history.

They had each other, and that was all that counted.