Chapter Sixteen
Holy crap! Howard shifted back to human form.
"Elsa?" He brushed her hair back from her face, his hand still gray from the shifting process.
She was breathing, but unconscious. He didn't know if she'd fainted from shock or pain. Maybe both. His nose still burned from where his snout had touched her birthmark.
With his hands now back to their normal color, he rolled up the short sleeve of her T-shirt. He'd been curious about her mark since their first meeting. The bear had been curious, too, but Howard would have restrained the beast if he'd known the touch was going to hurt her.
Heat radiated from the birthmark, an angry red circle on her shoulder with clawlike extensions. It resembled an animal paw and looked like a large animal had grasped her by the shoulder.
"Elsa, it's all right." No response.
He lifted her in his arms and carried her back to the stream. A few feet into the pool, where it was still shallow, there was a flat rock. He sat on it with her draped across his lap.
"Time to wake up," he murmured, trying not to think about her lovely rump nestled against his groin.
He dangled his hand in the cool stream, then stroked her cheek with his wet fingers. "Wake up, sweetheart." He dampened his hand again and brushed her hair back from her brow.
She moaned.
Was she still in pain? If he touched her birthmark with his bare hand, would it hurt her again? He looked around for something to use and spotted his cotton briefs nearby on the bank, where he'd dropped them on top of his pants. With his trousers and shirt both torn and bloody, the briefs were the cleanest choice. He grabbed the underwear, dunked it into the cool water, then pressed it against her hot birthmark.
Her eyes fluttered open.
"There you are." He smiled. "You were starting to scare me."
She stared at him, a dazed look on her face.
"You fainted." He sloshed his underwear into the stream again, then pressed it to her birthmark. "I didn't mean to make this burn again. I'm sorry."
A shudder skittered through her, then she frantically looked around.
"It's all right." He gave her a reassuring smile. "You should know by now that I'm not going to hurt you. I'm wild about you."
Her eyes widened, taking on a tinge of panic. "Wild?"
He winced. "Bad word choice. How about smitten? Infatuated?"
"No!" She scrambled out of his arms and stumbled onto the bank of the stream. "You - " She pointed a trembling finger at him. "You're - you're - " She blinked and looked him over.
"Four letters, starts with a b."
"Butt-naked!"
"That, too." He nodded. "Though it's probably a minor issue at the moment."
She dragged a hand through her hair as her gaze darted nervously about. "I didn't imagine it, did I?"
"No."
Her gaze landed on the tree where she'd hidden earlier. With a shaky breath, she pressed a hand to her heart. "I thought I was going to die." Her eyes shimmered with tears. "I thought you were going to kill me."
"Elsa." He started to get up. "Sweethea - "
"No!" She jumped, her hands spread out. "Don't move."
He sat back on the rock, half of his rump underwater. With his knees bent and his arms crossed over them, most of his groin was hidden. Which was good at the moment. "There's no need to be afraid of me."
"No need?" She waved her arms. "You're a bear! A huge, freaking grizzly bear!"
"And I didn't hurt you." He winced. "Except for the burn from your birthmark. I didn't expect that to happen. I thought it was a onetime deal." Maybe it was a onetime occurrence for him in each form as human and bear.
She bit her lip, watching him with a look that was part disbelief, part terror.
Dammit, he didn't want her to be afraid of him. Some day they would laugh about this, and the sooner that day arrived, the better. "I knew you were there, Elsa. I could smell your scent. And you moved through the forest like a herd of buffalo - "
"What?"
He smiled. That was more like it. He'd take her anger, embarrassment, annoyance - any emotion but fear. "Did you enjoy the show?"
"Watching you turn into a beast?" She shuddered. "Of course not! It was a horror show."
"I was referring to the peep show. When you watched me strip."
She looked away, her cheeks pink. "I - I didn't expect you to do that. I just followed you here out of concern for your health."
His mouth twitched. "That was kind of you."
"It was the least I could do. After all, you were injured bringing me flowers."
"Did you like them?"
"Yes." She gave him a sheepish look. "Okay. It wasn't just concern. I was curious. You said you were self-healing, and I wanted to see how it worked. The last thing I expected was for you to . . ."
"Shift?"
She shuddered. "Is that what you call it?"
"I have to shift in order to heal." He lifted his arms to the side. "See? The scrapes are gone. I had a real bad one here, just above my hip." He leaned to the side to show her.
Her eyes widened, then she looked away. "I believe you."
"And my cracked ribs are completely healed."
She turned back to him with an alarmed expression. "You had cracked ribs?"
"Yes." He ran his hands over his chest and across his abs. "I was in a great deal of pain."
Her gaze followed his hands. "I'm glad you're better now."
He lifted his leg nearest her. "I had some scrapes along my calf, and even here on my thigh."
A glazed look came over her face.
"Of course, you saw all my injuries when you hid behind the tree over there like a Peeping Tom."
She stiffened. "Excuse me?"
"I believe you gasped when I pulled my underwear off."
She gasped. "I did not! I was very careful not to make any noise - " She winced, and her face turned pink.
He grinned.
"You have some nerve!" Her eyes flashed with anger. "Making it sound like I'm some kind of pervert, when you're - you're a beast!"
He narrowed his eyes. "Maybe you shouldn't follow men into the woods."
"Maybe you should have warned me!"
"How? For the past week, you refused to talk to me!"
"If you knew I was behind that tree, you should have warned me." She crossed her arms and glared at him. "You scared me to death."
"A warning would have scared you, too." He raked a hand through his hair. "Try to see this from my point of view. I was in a lot of pain, so I needed to shift. I didn't ask you to come along and spy on me, but when I realized you were there, I thought why not shift in front of you? I was going to have to tell you sooner or later, and I thought I could show you how harmless the bear is."
She snorted. "Harmless? Why would I think a grizzly bear is harmless?"
"Because it's me! Couldn't you see it was me?"
She bit her lip. "I was too scared to think very well."
"I've been scared since the moment I met you, scared that you would run away from me once you knew the truth." He winced. That was more than he should have admitted. He grabbed his wet briefs and shook them out.
"You cooled down my birthmark with your underwear?"
He gave her a wry look. "They're clean. Reasonably." He'd showered and put them on just over an hour ago. "Do you want to watch again?" He dragged the cotton briefs up his legs.
With a huff, she turned her back to him. "You really are a beast."
"That's true." Smiling again, he stood and pulled his underwear up. He was still semi-aroused from holding her, and the wet material clung to every contour.
"You were so big," she whispered.
"Thank you. I like to think I'm fairly well endowed."
She scoffed, turning to face him. "I meant the bear!" She glanced down at his underwear, then away.
His mouth twitched. He'd known what she was referring to, but it was too much fun teasing her. "I'm actually a Kodiak bear. That's the biggest of the grizzlies."
"Great," she muttered.
He pulled on his trousers. "And in case you're wondering, I'm proportional."
"Huh?" She slanted a suspicious look his way.
"By that I mean - " He carefully zipped his pants up. "I'm big all over."
She snorted and looked away. "As if I'm interested."
"Aren't you?" He leaned against the boulder to pull on his socks. "You followed me here."
She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Fine. I acknowledge your bigness. You have a big chest. And big shoulders."
"Thank you." He tugged on the last sock.
"Big muscles."
"Yes." He stuffed his feet into his shoes.
"An enormously big ego."
He grinned. "That, too." He slipped on his polo shirt. It was ripped in places and still damp.
She lifted her chin. "But I'm not sure you'll do. I hate a man with a big butt."
"I love a woman with a smart mouth." He strode toward her, still smiling.
She stepped back, her eyes widening. "What are you - "
He pulled her into his arms.
She stiffened. "Your shirt's wet."
"Relax." He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed his chin against her hair. "It's me. Whether I'm human or bear, it's always me."
She groaned. "A man who becomes a bear? It's too strange."
"Stranger than being a Guardian of the Forest?"
"I didn't ask for that."
"I didn't ask to be a were-bear."
She leaned back to look at him. "Is that what you call it?"
He nodded. "Or a shifter. Actually, there are a lot of shifters who didn't come from Scandanavia, so they're not berserkers. I know some panthers and tigers - "
"What?" She pushed away from him. "Are you telling me people turn into those things?"
"There's more to the world than you would normally - "
"I don't want to hear it!" She lifted a hand to stop him. "I'm having supernatural overload. I want a nice, normal world."
"Fine. Then look at it this way. Right now, I'm a man. You're a woman. One hell of a woman." His gaze dropped to her chest, which had been dampened by his wet shirt. Her T-shirt was molded to her breasts, her nipples clearly defined. "And the feelings we're having are completely normal. The attraction. The desire."
She sucked in a deep breath. "I'm not sure I can handle this."
"I want you." He moved closer. "I've always wanted you."
"No," she whispered, but her body betrayed her. Her nipples puckered, the tips growing tight as beads.
"You want me, too." He cupped her breast, and she stepped back.
"Please. I need more time."
"Elsa." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight. "I'll give you all the time you need, but please don't spend it convincing yourself that I'm dangerous. Or that I'm going to hurt you. How could I hurt you when I'm falling for you?"
"Oh, Howard." She rested her head on his shoulder. "I do want to believe you, but this were-bear stuff is so . . ."
"Amazing?"
"Frightening." She leaned back to study his face. "What if you lose control?"
"I'm always in complete control. Of the bear, that is." He glanced down at his swollen groin. "Other parts seem to have a mind of their own."
She gave him a wry look. "Beast."
"Goldilocks." He kissed her brow. "Will you admit the truth?"
"What truth?"
He leaned close to whisper in her ear, "You liked my butt."
She swatted his shoulder. "Would you get over yourself?"
He chuckled. "I would actually prefer to talk about your naked body. If you could give me something to go on." His hand slid over the curve of her rump. "Oh, yeah, this is - "
"Will you stop?" She shoved him away with an exasperated look. "I'm still in shock, and you keep trying to feel me up?"
"Right." He nodded. "My apologies." He gave her a forlorn look. "I'm a bad little bear."
Her mouth twitched. "Can you ever be serious?"
"I'm serious about you." He smiled. "Seriously."
She gave him a bemused look. "And this is the personality of a grizzly?"
"Think of me as a big, cuddly, honey bear."
She snorted and turned to walk up the hill. "I don't know what to think."
At least she didn't seem afraid of him anymore. He caught up with her. "Can I see you tomorrow?"
"I don't know." She slanted him an annoyed look. "Can you manage to stay human for the entire time?"
"Yes. But it would be fun to act like animals."
"Beast."
"Goldilocks." He took her hand to help her up a steep incline. "So I'll see you tomorrow morning?"
"Maybe." She sighed. "It would have to be secret. My aunts would shoot you on sight."
"I understand."
They reached the top of the hill. The walk back to the house would be easy now, but he didn't let go of her hand. With a smile, he realized she wasn't pulling away. Even though she knew he was a beast.