What a pathetic monster he made.
With a frown, he forced himself back around the corner and into the barn. Staring at Elyse all day wasn’t going to make his extensive to-do list any shorter. Taking care of her was instinct now, and one he couldn’t ignore. Ian didn’t want her to just survive the winter while he was sleeping. He wanted her comfortable and well-fed. He wanted her happy. Happy. Yeah, she deserved that after everything. He wouldn’t be here for her in a couple of months, and he needed to get this place up and running, manageable for her even, so she could get her confidence back. Oh, his Elyse was tough, but she’d buckled under the weight of the last couple of years, and she needed to find her strength again. And he was going to show her how strong she could be. She would have to be if she was going to help keep his secret someday.
Keep his secret? Ian shook his head at how much he’d lost his damned mind. She couldn’t ever know he was a bear shifter. Just the thought of her looking at him like he was a freak soured his stomach. She’d looked at him like he was everything earlier when he’d kissed her. Those strange colored eyes of hers had pooled with adoration for him. Him. If she found out what he was and what he’d done to Cole, she would hate him.
Forcing his mind onto the task at hand, he spent the next two hours fixing the four-wheeler. And when it was finally running again, he filled it with gas and drove around Elyse’s property to familiarize himself with the acreage and outbuildings. Her land was covered in rolling hills and ancient pines. Even when the winter dumped white over the landscape, there would still be plenty of green thanks to the trees that grew here. The beetle infestation had blown through these parts a few years back, but this place hadn’t been hit too badly. And the dead trees left over from the pine beetles would make good firewood now. The ATV paths were overgrown or non-existent, which meant this four-wheeler had been out of commission for a while, but it was powerful enough to handle the sharp inclines of her land. At the highest peak, he could make out a large, jutting rock in the distance. He stood on the four-wheeler, bent at the waist and arms locked on the handles just to take in the place better. She had a beautiful piece of land, and as he stood here, dragging his gaze over the lush wilderness, he understood how she found magic in this place.
A wooden structure in the distance captured his attention, so he revved the little engine and drove toward it. It was a dilapidated cabin, probably long ago abandoned by some of Elyse’s relatives. And when he drove a nearby trail, it led to a second two-room cabin, the roof of which had collapsed. Ian shook off the urge to eye them as possible den sites for winter. He couldn’t hibernate this close to Elyse. Not with Miller hunting him. Still, it was nice to imagine sleeping so close to her.
When he drove the four-wheeler back down the dirt path near the house, Elyse stepped out of the chicken coop and waved, then shielded the sun from her eyes as she waited. Damn, it felt good to have her here when he came home. Chills blasted up the back of his neck at the thought of that word. Home. Was this place home already? It was strange to think so, but that ring she’d accepted from him said he was a part of this place now. And it was a part of him.
“You said you need to eat a lot,” she called over the roar of the little engine.
“You hungry?” he asked.
“Yeah, and I was going to make you lunch, too. What do you want?”
Pleased to the bone she’d been thinking about his constant need for food, he grinned and patted his leg. “I want you up here, woman. Ride with me into the barn, and then I’ll cook you something.”
Her face transformed as her full lips lifted, and she graced him with those straight, white teeth of hers. She approached slowly. “I’m filthy, Ian Silver. Are you sure you want to cuddle me?”
Ian reached for her and tugged her hand until she was standing right beside the ATV. Then he picked her up by the waist and settled her over his lap, hooking her knees around him. Playfully, he nipped her neck as she giggled. God, he loved that sound.
Revving the engine, he said, “Your dirt don’t bother me, Elyse. Hold on.”