Mary and the Bear (10 page)

Carefully so that she didn't fall off the bed, she propped up on one elbow, and groaned inwardly when an evil drummer started a vicious beat inside of her head. She closed her eyes and prayed that her head would fall off. She could live without a head, couldn't she? And if not, well, right now, death didn't sound like a bad thing.

She desperately needed that coffee. She couldn't see it, so she felt for it, being careful not to knock the cup over. She burnt her hand when one of her fingers slid inside of the cup, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her head. She brought it to her mouth. Ahh! She closed her eyes and savored the flavor. It wasn't how she liked it, but it was strong and hot, just what she needed.

Half of the cup was gone before her vision improved enough for her to see. As the caffeine worked it's magic, she slowly alerted to the fact that she was naked.
Hmmm, when did that happen
? She didn't normally sleep in the buff. It wasn't until she was placing the cup back on the nightstand that she noticed the glass of water and the bottle of pain reliever sitting there.

Just what she needed. She opened bottle and took two. She was about to close it when that villainous drummer played a particularly painful combination. She tossed another two pills into her mouth and chased them with water. Too weak to get up, she lay down wondering if she'd ever feel human again.

She must have dozed off for it was the intense pressure on her bladder that woke her the next time. Her eyes still felt like sand paper, but she was more alert. The evil drummer had given up his wicked ways and was silent for now, for which she was extremely grateful.

She crawled out of bed and stumbled to her feet. She hoped someone got the tag number of the truck that hit her. If she hadn't been in an accident, then she was mugged. There was no other explanation for the way that she felt.

She relieved her bladder and climbed into the shower, standing under the hot stream, letting it run over her head and down her body while still half asleep. After awhile, she roused herself enough to wash her hair. Becoming more alert, moment by moment, she finished washing and stepped out of the shower.

Now that she was awake, her mouth tasted like something crawled in it and died. She brushed her teeth and tongue and spent a long time with the mouthwash. When she rose from rinsing, she glanced in the mirror and shrieked. Her eyes were puffy and swollen with dark circles, her skin pale and wan. She looked horrible.

She was in the bedroom getting dressed when the bed caught her attention. Actually, it was the pillows she noticed. The pillows on both sides were dented as though two heads, and not one, slept in her bed last night. The decorative pillows that she kept on the bed were on the floor, as though they had been tossed there during the night. Her entire bed was a mess, which was surprising because she rarely moved in her sleep. She kept to one side of the bed and that was it.

As she stood there, memory kicked into place. In a rush, it all came back to her. The party. The drinks. Crying over Babs’ death and Hugh. Oh lord, she'd slept with Hugh! She looked around anxiously. Where was he?

Fool! It's not like I could miss him. He's too big. He must have left. Where did he go? What time is it? Almost one.
No wonder he'd left. He was needed at the diner. Saturdays were busy.

She dressed and straightening the room. Her linens smelt like sex and Hugh. She stripped them off the bed and replaced them with fresh ones. Once the bed was made, she went into the kitchen to find something to eat. On the refrigerator was a note from Hugh.
Sorry I had to leave. Waited as long as I could. When you're ready to eat, come down to the diner and I'll feed you, Hugh.

How considerate of him, but she wasn't ready to face him just yet. It wasn't every day a woman gained a new lover. At least she'd been spared the embarrassing morning after scene she heard so much about. Although if he were here, they'd be past it now.

A cursory glance at the contents in the refrigerator showed there was nothing appealing inside. She was hungry, but didn't feel like cooking. Looks like she'd be taking Hugh up on his offer after all.

It was after one o'clock when she finally walked through the door. He examined her carefully. She was a little rough around the edges, but otherwise okay. She went directly to her seat at the counter and picked up the menu. She caught sight of him and blushed to the roots of her hairline. Hmm, interesting reaction. He'd find out later what that was about.

He pulled another ticket from the turnstile in the window and got back to work. If he wanted time with his mate, he needed to hire more help. While he worked, he made a list of reliable people he would call.

The next order was Mary Elizabeth's. He recognized the handwriting. Hugh delivered her food when it was ready. He eyed her possessively. “Good morning, feeling better?"

"I'm okay.” She blushed again and played with her food.

His mate was looking distinctly uncomfortable. From the way she was subtly glancing around, she was concerned about public opinion. Smiling wickedly inside, he put Phase II of his operation in action: The Claiming. His mark was already on her, serving notice on all shape-shifters that she was taken. Now it was time to let the rest of the population know. “I want you to take it easy today. Get plenty of rest. I didn't let you get much sleep last night.” He spoke low, but knew his voice carried.

Her mouth opened in shock. Silence fell in the diner and all eyes turned their way. Seemingly oblivious to the firestorm of gossip he'd just started, Hugh leaned forward and kissed her lingeringly on the mouth, just in case there was any doubts about how he kept her woke. “I'm needed in the kitchen. I'll see you when I get off.” He sauntered back into the kitchen.

Belatedly, it occurred to Mary Elizabeth that when she agreed to Hugh's terms, maybe she should have heard what those terms were. Now because of her blanket agreement, he had the upper hand. Just what had she let herself in for? Well, other than sex. Great sex. Fabulous sex. Okay, so she thought the affair would be their little secret. How unrealistic of her. She could deal with it. She could deal with almost anything as long as he kept delivering like he had last night.

Or so she thought. She questioned her ability to handle things when she got to the register to pay for her meal. Hugh's voice boomed from the kitchen. “Cyndi, Mary Elizabeth's meal is on me. Just tear up the ticket."

Cyndi gave her a knowing look and once again she could feel everyone's eyes on her. Giving Hugh an evil look, she walked out of the diner and back to her apartment where it was safe.

She parked and studied house. It was a cute little wood-framed, complete with an old-fashioned front porch. The house wasn't as small as it appeared to be. There were three levels to it—the attic, the main level, and a basement. The attic, used primarily for storage, might be an option, but there was no bathroom, and possibly no electricity other than the single light socket in the ceiling.

She started there. No, this won't do. There were too many windows, and no way to block them all. She left and headed for the basement. Now this was more like it. It was partially remodeled. The floor and walls were made of concrete, which were insulated and covered with dry wall. There was a half-bath and plumbing for the washer and dryer connections.

It was easily defendable. There was only one point of entry. There were two windows at ground level but they were extremely small. Still, she could easily reinforce them with steel grills or bars, just in case. She would remove the door at the top of the stairs and install a heavy-duty, steel-reinforced one in its place, complete with deadbolts. If she walled up the stairway, she could install another steel door at the bottom as an extra security measure.

The basement was large, running the whole length of the house, with just one section walled off for the bathroom. It was empty except for an old bedroom set, which was still in good condition. She'd use it and save herself the hassle of dragging hers downstairs. She was going to be locked in for quite a while, at least a week. As long as she had food, water, a bathroom and a place to sleep, she could get through most of it.

The inside taken care of, she moved to the outside. She needed to set booby traps around the perimeter of the house. Not to kill, but to slow them down. She had to give it more thought.

Scent. It would be a big problem. Her scent would broadcast her heat to every shifter in the area and bring them running. Their scent would trigger a sexual response in her. If she smelled them, all of her efforts would be for nothing. She needed something strong enough to block their scent, but not so strong that it damaged her nose. If she could temporarily disable their sense of smell, especially while they were in wolf form, it would cut down on the number of pursuers.

All of the weak males, the omegas, would be in wolf form. Eliminating them would be easy, leaving only the strongest, the betas and alphas. They could control their change and could easily switch to their human form to hunt her. The only way to protect herself from them would be to put up plenty of barriers and hope they couldn't get through.

The only hope she had was that the harder it was to get to her, the less shifters there would be making the attempt. Each delay would cause them to fight among themselves until only the strongest remained. That's when all of her security precautions were going to be put to the test.

Maybe she should call Rory for help. No matter what differences they may have, she knew he would come to her rescue if she asked. The question is, in the final analysis, would she be able to trust him? If he set up her safe room, how did she know that at her weakest moment, he wouldn't slip someone inside? Every room had weaknesses and no plan was foolproof. How did she know that he wouldn't use it his advantage? She didn't, and that was a risk she couldn't take.

She couldn't ask any shifter to help her. Well, not any wolf-shifter and she didn't know too many of the other types, but maybe she could hire a human. Someone who wasn't local. She'd pay enough to make it worth their while as long as the room was ready when she needed it.

She measured the doorjambs and the windows, calculating how much material she needed. This room was perfect. All the control panels and valves were located here, along with the furnace. They couldn't force her out. She needed another source of heat and light, just in case they knew something she didn't. The nights were cold and she didn't want to freeze and it was too risky to switch to wolf form just to keep warm.

There was no phone, but that was fine. Who would she call? Everyone would be out of his or her head with lust because of the blue moon. She was on her own. She just had to plan really well. She headed to Colbyville to get the things she needed.

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She was in the kitchen. He would have smiled at the picture she presented if he wasn't so concerned. There was flour on her sweatshirt and pants and a streak of chocolate on her face. Hair escaped from her ponytail, leaving strands in disarray around her face. She was pulling a pan of cookies out of the oven.

"What's wrong?"

She jerked and the pan of cookies dropped onto the counter.
Hmmm, must not have heard him enter.

"Damn it, Hugh! You scared me. What are you doing here? Why aren't you at work?” She was screeching. There was definitely something wrong.

"I left early. You didn't answer my question. What's wrong? You're tense."

Mary Elizabeth closed her eyes and visibly gathered her resolve before blurting out, “Hugh, I'm sorry, but this won't work. I know I agreed to your terms, but I simply don't have what it takes to handle an affair. I mean, look at me. I'm a nervous wreck. I have no idea what I'm doing, or how to proceed."

She had the most beseeching expression on her face. He widened his legs and crossed his arms over his chest, leveling a look on her. “Well, you did agree and I'm not letting you loose. I told you last night, this isn't a one-night stand.” He said nothing about her misconception that they were involved in an affair. If she was already panicking, she'd run scared if she knew what he really wanted—forever.

She transferred the cookies to a plate, avoiding his gaze. “We never discussed birth control, disease, and the like. You didn't use any last night and I didn't think to ask. How do you know I'm safe? How do I know you're safe? What if I'm pregnant?"

Her bashfulness amused him. He needed to put her at ease. That wasn't going to happen as long as she was in this kitchen. “You're right. We do need to talk, but we aren't doing it in here.” He took her hand and dragged her into the living room. He sat on the couch and pulled her onto his lap, locking his arms around her when she tried to squirm off.

"Be still. I'm not letting you up."

He waited until she settled before starting. She looked everywhere but at him. His mate had a definite problem with intimate conversation. “Now, first things, first. You are not pregnant."

This got her attention and made her look at him. “How do you know?"

"I know.” He didn't tell her he would be able to tell by the change in her scent. “Now on to your second issue. I'm clean. We're tested regularly in the military and I haven't been with anyone since I've been out. The few sexual encounters I have had, I used protection. What about you?” He didn't tell her that as a shape-shifter, he couldn't catch any disease. His body was resistant to them all.

She blushed and ducked her head. “There was only one,” she mumbled.

He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her head so he could see her face. “One what? Lover?"

"Yes, well, no. It was only that one time. I don't think that qualifies him as my lover."

"You've only had sex one time? I thought you were engaged?"

"You know about that? I'm surprised Kiesha told you. I never slept with Charles. I wasn't attracted to him in that way. In hindsight, I guess I shouldn't be surprised Babs stole him from me. We were more friends than anything else."

"You're engaged to your brother-in-law Charles?” He was missing something here. He planned to keep digging until he got to the bottom of the story.

"No."

She must have saw his confusion and elaborated. “I met Charles in college. For reasons I won't go into, I hadn't dated much growing up. We met in a study group and started hanging out. He was nice and everyone was pairing up. When he asked me to marry him, I said yes. Then he met Babs, and that was that."

He could see something in her eyes. Some information she was withholding. “So that was it? No harm? No foul?” There had to be more to the story than this.

He could see her debating whether to tell him the rest and held his breath, willing her to trust him. “No, that wasn't all. Babs followed me to the university. I introduced her to Charles after we were engaged. You know, the whole, ‘this is my family’ thing? It was time for end of semester finals and I had a heavy class load. There wasn't a lot of free time, so I didn't see much of Charles. He said he understood. He was studying, too. When the semester was over, he was coming home with me to meet my parents. I was going to surprise them with my engagement. When we got home, I was the one who was surprised.” She shrugged ruefully. “Babs and Charles announced their engagement to our parents. I had no idea they were seeing each other. I still had the ring Charles gave me in my purse so my parents wouldn't see it until after we made our announcement."

Hugh's hands were digging into her waist by the time she finished. “Son of a bitch! No wonder you didn't want to go into detail. Someone should have beaten the shit out of both of them. What happened then? Do you still have feelings for this chump?” What kind of man did something like that? And that sister. What kind of bitch must she have been?

"No, I don't have feelings for him anymore. I wouldn't have sex with him when we were together. I had this quaint notion of saving myself for marriage. I realize now if I really loved him, I wouldn't have waited. After they betrayed me, I took the ring he gave me and sold it. I used part of the money to finance a vacation for myself and banked the rest of it. I had to get away from all of them. That's when my little one-night stand happened. I was angry with Babs and Charles, but angrier with myself. I figured since there wasn't going to be a wedding, there was no need to hold onto my virginity. The experience was so awful that I didn't bother repeating it."

His mate wasn't a virgin, but she was close. He liked knowing he was her first, and if he had anything to do with it, only lover. The clown that took her virginity didn't count. He shifted slightly, repositioning her on his legs to increase the circulation. He thought over all he'd learned. “You said you hadn't dated much. Why was that?” He wanted to know everything about her that he could.

"I might as well tell you the rest. Babs was the beauty in the family, and extremely popular in school. Whenever anyone befriended me, I never knew if it was me they were interested in or if they were just using me to get to Babs. And it wasn't just the guys. Girls did it, too. When most girls were going out on dates and learning how to handle themselves with boys, I was home studying or baking. It's the reason I had my choice of four-year scholarships to several colleges after high school. I didn't have much of a social life."

He pulled her close and laid a long, lingering kiss on her lips. “Here's what we're going to do. We are going to go back and pick up a few of the things you missed out on. Go, take a shower, and get dressed. Put on some jeans. When I come back, we are going out on a date. We are going to neck and fool around, and if you play your cards right, I just might let you get to second base."

She looked at him and smiled. It was like the sun coming at the end of a dark, gloomy day and warmed his heart just as much. “Really? That sounds like fun."

She hugged him tight before jumping up off of his lap, and rushed to go get ready. Before she reached the bedroom, she turned back. “How long do I have?"

He looked at his watch. The movie started at seven-thirty. “Can you be ready in an half an hour?"

"Yes. I'll be ready and waiting.” Then she turned and rushed into the bedroom.

He watched her enter her room before leaving. He had a half an hour to get ready and put his plan into motion.