Marrying The Bear (Gray Bears 1) (4 page)

“We're just so happy
you're fine...”

“Tell Tristan to drive
carefully.”

“We made pumpkin pie
for you…

“...and creamy soup!”

“...and some chocolate
chip cookies!”

Alisa dabbed at her eyes
discreetly as Glynda and Neveah interrupted each other and hollered
into the phone. She wished they were her Gramma and Ne-ma. She'd
never had a grandmother. She'd only met the father of her adoptive
mother briefly before he passed away.

“Alisa, are you there?”
Neveah asked.

“Y-yes,” she
sniffed.

“Are you...crying,
dear?” Glynda asked.

“No,” she lied
and let out a sudden, wrenching sob.

“Oh sweetheart, you
must have had a terrible fright. Just put the accident out of your
mind. You're safe now,” Glynda said. “Hush now.”

“I wish you're my
Gramma!” Alisa blurted out between sobs.

To her utter amazement,
Glynda and Neveah starting chuckling delightedly. “Oh, you've
made us so happy!”

“What?” Alisa
sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “I'm sorry. I
shouldn't...”

“You are to call me
Gramma from now on, Alisa.”

“And call me Ne-ma!”

Alisa blinked and sputtered,
“Really? You mean it? I can call you Gramma and Ne-ma?”

“Yes!” Gramma and
Ne-ma shouted happily. “Oh yes!”

Tristan grinned at her when
she handed the phone back to him. It was obvious that he had heard
everything Gramma and Ne-ma said. He spoke briefly to them and
clicked off.

As he drove, he chatted
amiably, telling her about Shadow Point, his family, his work crew,
and funny little tidbits and stories about their friends and
neighbors.

The good thing was that he
made her feel more and more comfortable and relaxed.

The bad thing was that she
found herself getting more and more attracted to him. From the way
he spoke about his family, she could tell that he was very proud and
protective of them. She smiled wistfully, wishing that she belonged
to such a strong, loving family.

“Okay, here we are,”
Tristan announced with a flourish. “Welcome to Shadow Point.”

CHAPTER
NINE

Tristan went into the kitchen
and found Ne-ma washing up some plates and cups. He had left Gramma
sitting with Alisa in the dining area of the inn. Tristan had driven
her to Broomstick Inn and brought her into the dining hall where
Gramma and Ne-ma were waiting for her with a table full of warm,
comfort food.

Alisa had finished two slices
of pumpkin pie, a bowl of soup and was currently nibbling a large
chocolate chip cookie. Gramma was telling her stories of Tristan and
his brothers when they were little, and making Alisa laugh.

“The vampire who
attacked her was one of Rosalina's,” Tristan told Ne-ma
somberly.

Ne-ma slanted him a look.
“Are you sure? Rosalina is one of our oldest friends. And she
is a great Master. She keeps all her vamps in check.” Ne-ma
dried her hands and huffed. “You must be mistaken, Tristan.”

“No. There's no
mistake. I saw her mark on him.”

“Looks like we'll have
to pay Rosalina a visit then,” Gramma said, coming into the
kitchen.

Tristan started. “How's
Alisa?”

“Better. You always
feel better after a chocolate chip cookie.”

Ne-ma pursed her lips. “You
shouldn't leave her alone out there.”

“No. Tristan should go
out and keep her company,” Gramma said.

“Me?”

“Yes. You.”

“But...”

Ne-ma and Gramma practically
pushed him out of the kitchen. “Go! We don't need you. Alisa
does. We'll go talk to Rosalina tomorrow night,” Ne-ma said.

“And you should sleep
with her tonight, Tristan,” Gramma added sternly.

“What!”

“Alisa said that
vampire bit her. He tasted her blood and he will come back for more.
Rosalina said that most vamps will drink from the same person at
least twice before they are satisfied. Only the most disciplined
vampire can walk away after just one drop. It's like chocolate, she
says.” Gramma gave a shrug.

“Chocolate?”
Ne-ma turned and frowned at her best friend.

“Can you stop at just
one piece?” Gramma challenged.

“No. Can you?”

“No. No way!”
Gramma winced, aghast at the thought. “Who can?”

Ne-ma smirked and turned to
Tristan. “Why are you still here? Go to bed.”

Tristan stared at the two
silver-haired ladies before him, unable to formulate a coherent
reply.

“For cryin' out loud,
just sleep in her room,” Ne-ma said in exasperation. “You
have to protect her, in case that vampire comes a-misting to her.
You can sleep on the couch, on the floor, wherever.”

“Or in her bed,”
Gramma said, giving her grandson her best wide-eyed, innocent look.

“In her bed,
definitely,” Ne-ma agreed.

“Now, don't say we put
any naughty thoughts in your head. All you'll be doing is sleeping,
right?”

“And protecting her.”

“Now go! Go to bed.
And take Alisa with you!”

With that, they hustled him
right out of the kitchen and kicked the door shut in his face.

Tristan staggered out into
the hallway to find Alisa walking around the cozy inn and looking at
the pictures hanging on the wall. Some of the pictures showed Gramma
and Ne-ma when they were younger, laughing and making silly faces at
the camera.

She turned around and smiled
when she heard his footstep. “Hi.”

“H-hi,” he
stammered.

She smiled and pointed at one
of the framed photographs. “I recognize Gramma and Ne-ma, but
who is this?”

Tristan peered at the old
photograph which showed three grinning young ladies with mud-smeared
faces and said, “Oh, that's Rosalina. This photo was taken
before she was Turned.”

“Turned?”

“Yeah. Rosalina is now
a vampire. A Master Vampire.”

“Master Vampire,”
she repeated, her eyes widening a fraction.

“Master Vampire is just
a title. It's gender neutral,” he babbled, feeling the need to
spew out some accurate but useless fact. He just had to fill his
mind with facts, information, trivia, anything but the image of her
in bed with him.

It wasn't working.

“I see.”

Alisa looked back at the
photographs and stifled a yawn. “I'm sorry. I'm just really
tired. Shall we go to bed? Gramma said that I should sleep with you
tonight.”

“She said that? To
you!”

His voice must have sounded
unnaturally loud and harsh because she grimaced and jumped back,
almost knocking into a shelf.

“You don't have to,”
she squeaked. “It's okay if you don't want to.”

“I want to!”
Tristan roared. “Damn it, I want to sleep with you!”

The echo of his roar filled
the room as they stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.
Finally, Alisa blinked and squeaked, “That's good.”

Tristan closed his eyes,
feeling like a bloody fool. Gramma, Ne-ma and his bear were ganging
up on him. They were messing with his head, short-circuiting his
brain so that his cock was now doing the thinking for him. He was
getting hard just standing in the same room as this human woman, who
was so vulnerable and strong at the same time. She was scared and
confused, but trying her best to put on a brave front.

The woman had driven herself
all the way out of the city, taking with her just her phone, a map
and two bags. She had fought tooth and nail against a vicious
vampire and survived. This little human was by no means weak and
feeble. The fear and fatigue showed in her eyes, but she refused to
fall apart. Alisa Perez was strong, vulnerable and so achingly
sweet. The scent and heat of her was driving him crazy.

“Come on. I'll show
you to your room,” Tristan said gruffly.

When she hesitated, he took
her hand and tugged her to him. “I won't bite.”

Liar liar, pants on fire!

He wanted to bite her all
over. Bite, lick, suck and taste every inch of her...

Alisa nodded and followed him
up the stairs. And from the look on her face, she didn't really
believe him either.

CHAPTER
TEN

Alisa sat down on the edge of
the bed and stared around the room. Gramma and Ne-ma had told her
that lodgings would be provided and she could stay in one of the
rooms at the inn. She had expected to have just a small corner room,
but the room Tristan had parked her in was huge.

Tristan had left the room to
collect her bags from his car. She pressed her palm to her lap and
tried to steady her breathing and her heartbeat. Her hand still
tingled from Tristan's touch. She liked the way he held her hand,
firm, possessive and secure. She liked being around him, and she
liked Gramma and Ne-ma a lot. She knew she was going to love it here
at Broomstick Inn, and she couldn't wait to get started. She'd
wanted to explore the kitchen right away but Gramma and Ne-ma
wouldn't hear of it. They told her there was plenty of time for that
in the morning. For tonight, all she had to do was eat, relax and
sleep.

Her room door was ajar and
she heard Tristan's approaching footsteps. The thought that he was
going to be here in the room with her the whole night made her
nervous, excited and...horny. There, she admitted it. She was all
nerves and hormones around Tristan. Good-looking, hunky men like
Tristan made her jittery, but Tristan seemed unaware of his
smoldering looks. He could melt the panties right off any female
with that killer smile but he hadn't made any smooth moves on her.
He wasn't a peacock or a player. He didn't preen and strut and
flirt. From what she could tell, Tristan was open and honest with
his feelings. He loved his Gramma and Ne-ma, his brothers, his
family. He was fiercely protective, loyal and he was a powerful bear
shifter. She had seen his lethal, razor sharp fangs and claws but he
didn't scare her. In fact, when he was around her, he seemed kind of
confused and jumpy.

But one thing was clear to
her. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. That big bulge in his
pants didn't lie. Oh yes, she'd looked. She had eyes, and she would
use them.

Tristan burst into the room
with her two bags and kicked the door shut behind him. He engaged
the locks and put the bags at the foot of the bed.

A low growl rumbled from his
throat as he stared at her. The sound sent heat unfurling low in her
belly to pool between her thighs. Tristan inhaled sharply and his
eyes darkened with unmistakable desire. “I'll sleep on the
couch,” he snarled and turned away.

Alisa stared at the small
couch at the corner of the room. His long legs would be hanging off
the side and there was no way he could be comfortable in that. She
couldn't let him sleep on the couch. He was here to protect her, and
he was her boss's grandson.

Right. She wasn't going to
jump his bones.

“Tristan,” she
called out. His burning gaze fixed on her and she almost forgot what
she was going to say.

“T-the bed,” she
stammered. “It's big enough for the both of us. We can sleep
together...without touching.” She balled her fists to steel
her resolve. Her twitchy, treacherous hands wanted to touch and feel
him all over.

“You sure?”

She nodded, not trusting her
voice.

Tristan came over and loomed
over her. He was like a magnet, powerful and irresistible. She
found herself gravitating towards him and her rebellious, traitorous
hands reached out and pressed against the wall of his chest. They
both gasped and jerked at the contact, as though an electric current
had sparked through their bodies.

She could feel his muscles
tense under her fingers, and his hot breath on her neck made her
shiver in anticipation and want. She moved closer to him, her hands
traveling up his chest to his shoulders. Tristan held himself
absolutely still. Only his chest rose and fell with his harsh,
ragged breaths.

She should move away from
him. Her brain repeated the command, but her body was in mutiny.

Fuck off
, her body
snapped at her brain.

You just want to fuck
,
her brain accused.

So what if I do?

You have to stop now.

Oh yeah? Make me!

Her
brain had no chance to respond because at that instant, Tristan's
mouth closed over hers. Her brain gave up and surrendered
completely. It knew when it was beaten. There was no way to fight
this.

Alisa
moaned and
her lips parted
for him. His kiss ignited every nerve in her body, and she felt
herself melting against him as everything fell away. All her fears
and worries, insecurities and doubts disappeared as she lost herself
in his embrace.