Slade (BBW Bear Shifter Moonshiner Romance) (120 Proof Honey Book 5) (71 page)

“Might as well, now,” Bart said. He sounded more resigned than anything else.

“They’re Shifters,” Mel explained. “All of the Saints. Addy, too, though she’s different.”

“Shifters?” Candace asked. She had never even heard the term.

“You’d better show her, Luke,” Mark said. “Better that she find out now, while we’re all together.”

Candace stared at Luke, as though pleading for an explanation, but rather than giving her one, he only smiled. Then she couldn’t see him clearly anymore. He got blurry and then fuzzy, and then he suddenly wasn’t there at all. Instead there was a giant bear, up on his hind legs, his deep gold eyes watching her intently, though she could have sworn the beast was smiling.

“Dear God…”

She looked around the room, and everyone else seemed to be taking this “Shift” in stride. At least until Addy jumped up.

“Watch your head, Luke! Don’t break the light fixture!”

Then, much to Candace’s surprise, the bear dropped to all fours and came to her. He rested his muzzle on her lap. Candace reached a trembling hand out and touched his furry face.

“All the boys like to be scratched behind the ears when they shift,” Mel said with a smile in her voice, as she reached out to do just that.

“Oh. Okay.”

She mimicked Mel’s motion on the bear’s other ear, and soon the bear was grunting his pleasure.

Everyone laughed, then suddenly the bear was gone, and Luke knelt before her.

Candace took a very deep breath. “I…I didn’t know anybody could do that.”

She looked at first Mel than Addy.

“All of you except Mel have golden eyes.”

“That’s true,” Addy said. “That’s how you can tell a Shifter.”

“I think I should be scared or something, but for some reason, I’m not. I don’t know what to say,”

“Maybe you should start by telling us why you were in that alley in need of rescuin’,” Bart said, his voice now gentle, as though he had changed his mind about her,
because
she wasn’t scared of them.

Candace looked up and felt tears threaten.

“You won’t believe me. Or you’ll want nothing to do with me, if you do.”

“Try us,” Luke said. “You already know our big secret, and we can’t help you—we can’t protect you—if we don’t know yours.”

Candace took another deep breath. “All right. Okay. I’ll tell you.”

And she did.

“This is nuts,” Candace said for the umpteenth time. “You can’t possibly want to do this!”

“It’s too late now, darlin’,” Luke said, but he had a grin on his face.

“We all agreed this was the only way to protect you,” Bart said, satisfaction in his voice.
 

Bart was driving the family SUV, and all of them were along for the ride. They were on their way to the Opryland Hotel after a visit to the Davidson County Clerk’s Office, where Luke and Candace had been married. It had taken some extra cash to a friend of a friend of an acquaintance, but they had managed to fudge official looking identification documents for Candace, who had no way of proving who she was, since she’d never officially even been born, but after Candace had told them everything the night before, not only had her new family insisted she stay with them, Luke had insisted she marry him.

“This Manager guy wants you for one thing and one thing only, Candace. If you’re married to me, you won’t be what he wants anymore.”

“He’ll still want me. He’ll want to hurt me for running away. He’ll want to kill
you
for helping me.” She was that certain of the man’s power.

“He can try,” Matt had said. “But if he does, he’s gonna have more to worry about than a police raid on his whorehouse.’”

It was unanimous in the Saint clan. For some completely inexplicable reason, they all wanted her. Luke wanted her for his wife. His brothers and sisters-in-law wanted her for a sister, and Bart had wanted her for Luke. They’d been willing to break—no “bend” the law, as John had put it—in order to see her legally protected from the bad guys. It made her cry just to think about it.

“Hey, it’s not all altruistic from our side,” Mel had said, a laugh in her voice. “After all, Addy’s songs need a soprano, and you’re perfect for them.”

They had all laughed at that, but Candace knew there was more to it than that. She had seen the looks on their faces the night before. They had been incensed, ready to leave right there and then to go rip apart the House in which she had been born and kept prisoner all her life. She’d almost—almost—told them exactly where it was, but something had stopped her. These were good people, but Shifters or not, they couldn’t stop bullets, and she knew the Manager had an entire private police force of his own.

She had finally agreed, however reluctantly, to this crazy plan. She simply had no place else to go, and frankly, she’d envied Mel and Addy their husbands, and found herself drawn to Luke in a way she’d never even imagined. In the very short time since he’d found her in that dank alley, he had become the center of her life. It didn’t make sense. People didn’t fall in love at first sight, not in the real world. But there was just something about this man with whom she had just spoken her marriage vows.
 

Luke was right about one thing. She wouldn’t be an “untouched” debutante after tonight, and the Manager would be furious that his plans had been thwarted. The only question that remained was whether these five men—and one woman—who could become a band of wild animals with claws as sharp as knives could teach the Manager enough of a lesson that he would give up ownership of his prize. She had her doubts but could not argue with these people, this new family, because she wanted what they offered just too much.

They pulled into the wide, circular drive at the front entrance of the hotel and got out. Bart handed the keys to a valet, and they entered the grand lobby with its lighted dome of stained glass. Luke paused at the front desk to check in then sent their luggage up to their room with a bellhop, so they could all go into the Atrium, where they had reservations for dinner at the Old Hickory Steakhouse. The Atrium was magical at night, with its sparkling lights and cascading waterfalls. Candace was entranced by everything, and she clung to Luke’s hand almost afraid he would vanish in this fantasy world, leaving her left with nothing but the remnants of a dream.

Dinner was as promised—memorable—and the after dinner liquors exactly what she needed to relax.

“Well, here’s to the newest Saint,” Bart said, lifting his glass. “Welcome to the family, Candace Saint.”

Candace had to swallow tears before she could speak. “I don’t know how to thank all of you,” she began.

“I do,” Luke said, giving her hand a squeeze.
 

She blushed crimson and everyone laughed.

“Get a room, bro,” John said. “Oh, wait! You’ve got one!”

More laughter helped to settle Candace’s nerves.

“And don’t you worry about tomorrow,” Matt said. “Enjoy your nights, here, and we’ll be back to pick you up whenever Luke calls us.”

“We’ll do a little rearranging at home,” Bart said. “I’m gonna call the realtor tomorrow and ask him about that other house.”

“What house?” Candace asked.

“There’s a two-story house right across the alley from us that Uncle Bart’s thinkin’ about buyin’,” Mark said. “We’re thinkin’ about flippin’ it, maybe turnin’ it into two apartments. That way he and John can move in there, while we’re fixin’ it up, and you and Luke can have the first floor in the big house.”

“If it’s still for sale—and the sign was still up this evenin’ when we drove by—then we can buy it this week, and by the time you and Luke get home, John and I can be moved across the alley.”
 

“And on that note,” Mel said, taking Matt’s hand, “I think we should all get out of here, so these two can start enjoying their honeymoon.”

“Right!” Bart said, emptying his glass. “How about it, boys and girls?”

They separated in the lobby after Candace was hugged and kissed by everyone in the family

“Don’t worry” Mel whispered in her ear. “They don’t shift in the bedroom.

Candace felt herself blush crimson. Mel laughed and sent her husband a telling look, which made it clear to Candace that hers wouldn’t be the only “honeymoon” this night. She swallowed hard, and allowed Luke to take her hand. At least tonight would be
her
choice,
her
decision. And she trusted Luke like no one else she had ever known.

Their room was awe-inspiring, the bed the biggest she had ever seen. Then she glanced at her new husband and was reminded of just how big
he
was. Beyond the bed was a glass door leading to a small terrace that overlooked the atrium at the center of this incredible palace of a hotel. She stepped outside and leaned on the railing, her eyes roaming over the sparkling lights below.

“We can take a stroll through there tomorrow,” Luke said, coming up behind her.
 

She understood. This was a grand hotel, but Luke didn’t want to chance taking her anywhere in the shadows, in case the Manager or his minions might be watching. She was okay with that, though she wondered how she could spend the rest of her life in hiding without leaving Nashville altogether.

Luke laid his hands on her shoulders, and she straightened to lean back against him. When he wrapped his arms around her, she hugged them to her.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said. “Like a fairyland.”

“Under all those lights and glitter, it’s really nothin’ but a fancy, overpriced mall, you know.”

Candace laughed and smacked him lightly on the arm, like she knew he expected. “Spoil sport.”

Luke chuckled and nuzzled her neck.

“You know, we do have somethin’ better to do tonight.”

Candace sighed. “I know.”

She pulled away from him and returned to their room. Luke closed the class doors and the curtains behind him.

“If you’re not ready, I understand.” He voice was soft, gentle.

Candace glanced back at him and knew she’d never know another man more honorable than he. She shook her head.

“I think I’ve been waiting for this moment—for you—my whole life.”

His smile warmed his golden eyes. “I know I’ve been waitin’ for you, darlin’.

She took a deep breath and considered, not wanting to break the spell but needing him to understand.

“I know how it’s supposed to work. I’ve lived surrounded by sex my entire life. I’ve had men stare at me, and I know they wanted me in that way. I had to sing and dance for them, while pretending they weren’t there. It was easier, when I was a little girl, because I didn’t know what was under the glitter, the fancy dresses, the handsome men, the beautiful women. I was thirteen before the Manager let some of the…women…tell me things, things about what went on behind closed doors, what I could expect as I got older. I’m not sure I believed them. Maybe I just didn’t want to believe them, because I knew that life—
their
life—was not for me. Mama said so. The Manager said so. They both continued to tell me so—until two days ago.”

She ran her hands through her hair releasing it from the pins that held it in place and shaking it out. She set the pins carefully on the dresser then turned to face him.

“I have knowledge of what goes on between a man and a woman, Luke, but I don’t have a clue what you want me to do.”

He crossed to her and enfolded her in his arms.

“What I want you to do is forget all that,” he told her as he rocked her gently. “All that stuff those women taught you, that’s not what this is about, what
we’re
about.”

Candace pulled back and studied his face closely in the dim light.

“Are you saying you don’t want me in that way?” she asked in surprise.

He shook his head. “I’m sayin’ this isn’t about ‘sex’, darlin’. Or at least it’s not only about sex. I’m not gonna just have
sex
with you. I’m gonna make
love
with you. Now maybe those women didn’t know the difference. Maybe your mama didn’t know the difference. But tonight I need you to know the difference.

She shook her head, incredulous. “How can you love me after only two days?”

Luke smiled and brushed the hair back from her face. “There’re all kinds of love, darlin’,” he said. “There’s what we already have for each other, based on courage and mutual respect. There’s what we’re gonna feel come mornin’, when we wake up makin’ love together in that big bed. Then there’s what we’re gonna feel for each other when we’re both old and gray and watchin’ our grandkids play.”

Candace felt tears threaten and reached up to take his face between her soft palms. “Courage and mutual respect is a good place to start,” she whispered.

She pulled his face to her then, and their lips met.

The contact was charged and in no time they were struggling with the fastenings on their clothing. She pushed the suit jacket off his shoulders, he drug her soft sweater up and over her head. Even as they continued the dance, Candace felt her belly clench in anticipation, wanting him inside of her, needing to surround him. Maybe this wouldn’t last. Maybe it couldn’t last. But if it didn’t, it wouldn’t be because of either of them. There might be outside forces that pulled them apart, but she now knew those forces would have a fight on their hands.