RANCHER BEAR’S BABY(8)

I leaned back so she could see and watched her eyes go big.

“That’s not good.”

My chest tightened and I had a moment of panic, thinking the worst. My bear roared at me, telling me that it was okay, that this was how it was supposed to be because she was mine. Although, I knew she was my mate, thinking that she could potentially get pregnant with my cub scared the hell out of me. I wasn’t ready.

“Are you by any chance on the pill?”

She sat up and fumbled to get the flannel shirt back on.

“No, but don’t worry. I’ll just take a morning after pill.”

My chest tightened even more, until I wasn’t even sure what I wanted or needed. I reached out and tugged the shirt back off of her shoulders.

“Come here.”

Her body was stiffer than it had been, but I didn’t know how to fix it in that moment. I just did what felt right. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my chest.

“Rest, little one.”





CHAPTER 9: Elizabeth


I woke up before Alex and squeezed myself out from under his heavy body. The man slept like the dead. I was used to that, though. Sam slept the same way.

At the thought of Sam, I felt sick. It wasn’t the way I thought it would be, though. I thought I’d feel sick because of what I’d done with Alex the night before, but instead, I felt sick thinking of having ever been with Sam. The idea of Sam settled on my stomach about as easily as a brick.

I went to the bathroom and then brushed my teeth using some of Alex’s toothpaste and my finger. My hair had dried into a weird mess, so I braided it down my back and then pulled my slightly stiff, dry dress back on.

The spark I felt for Alex had grown into a torch. I couldn’t even look at him without feeling slightly unbalanced. He was kind and seemed like someone I would actually enjoy being with outside the bedroom as much as I did inside. I stifled a giggle. Inside the bedroom had been amazing. The sex was earth shattering. I’d actually lost my mind and bitten the man. I’d never bitten anyone during sex before.

It was all so strange, though. One night stands had never been my kind of thing. Meeting him and feeling comfortable enough to come back to his trailer with him and sleep with him all on the same night was so unlike me. I just instinctively trusted him and felt drawn to him. Everything about this sounded so stupid in my head, but it was real.

I pulled my legs under me and stared out of the windows across from Alex’s couch. None of what I was feeling for Alex mattered, though. I couldn’t stay. I had to go back to DC. Wyoming wasn’t my dream, I didn’t even have a job here, and now that things were over with Sam, it was time for me to go home.

“Come back to bed.” Naked, Alex stood in the doorway to his bedroom, looking confused and grumpy.

“Sleep better with you there.”

My chest ached painfully and I shook my head. I wanted to go back to bed with him. I wanted to pretend like I’d come to Wyoming to be with him instead of Sam, and that things were going great. I wanted last night over and over again. But that wasn’t the reality. The reality was that this hot sexy sweet man and I just had an awesome roll in the hay which temporarily took my mind off of the fact that my life was a mess, but now it’s time to put on my big girl panties. I had to rip off the bandaid, and face my future.

“I have to go.”

He rubbed his hands down his face and then pushed them through his hair. It went all over the place and, somehow, he ended up looking sexier than ever.

“Why?”

“I have to go home.”

He growled and stepped towards me. “To your ex?”

I shook my head. “To DC.”

“No. It’s too early. Just come back to bed.”

“I can’t. I have to go, Alex.”

He went back to his room and came back out a few seconds later with a pair of pajama bottoms hanging low on his hips.

“You can stay here. Stay until you get on your feet.”

Tears filled my eyes and I had to look away so he wouldn’t see them. “There’s nothing here. Everyone treats me like I’m diseased. I came here for my ex and now it’s time for me to go.”

He sighed. “I can’t make you stay, but I wish you would.”

I nodded and stood up. “I have to go by the motel and grab my wallet, at least. I have to buy a bus ticket and get out of here.”

“I’ll drive you.”

Sam was gone, luckily, so I just ran in, grabbed my purse, and packed a quick bag. I held my tears in all the way to the bus stop. I was confused about how much pain I was feeling. I didn’t know Alex well enough for any of the feelings I was having towards him to be genuine. I bet a shrink would tell me that it’s some sort of misplaced something-or-other and that I had transferred feelings I’d wanted to have for Sam over to Alex, or some mumbo-jumbo like that. Regardess, I felt a massive amount of weighty sorrow at saying goodbye to this man I barely knew. He insisted on buying the ticket for me and then slipped his number into my purse while we silently waited for my bus to arrive.