Chapter Thirteen: Clint

Chapter Thirteen – Clint

“So, why the surprise visit?” Martha propped herself up against the pillows, her eyes connecting with Clint’s in a way that said more than words. “I’m guessing it wasn’t just for sex.”

A shy smile spread across her face as reached out for the cup of coffee Clint offered her. Good fresh coffee was the least he could do for his mate after their lovemaking.

The hair on his arms stood up on end as his fingers brushed against hers. He’d never get used to the sensation she evoked in him.

And he never wanted to.

“Can’t a bear just want to see his mate?” Clint teased. He was worried that she might still be in shock after he revealed his true nature, his deepest secret, that he wasn’t just a man—he also happened to be a bear shifter.

Martha sighed and looked up into his eyes. “I’m certainly liking your primal nature.” Clint’s cheeks flushed at her words, and he smiled sheepishly back at her.

He reached out and pulled her close, and his lips found hers with the same hunger as before, a desire that could never be sated. His grip tightened around her curvy body and a shudder of pleasure raced down her spine when he finally spoke.

“We’ve only just made love, but I want you again,” he whispered into her ear as he swept his fingers through her silken hair and left a trail of lingering kisses along the delicate skin of her neck. Martha trembled beneath him as he traced paths of pleasure down her body, thrilling her with every caress.

Clint pressed his lips to the hollow of her neck, inhaling her as though she were the air he needed to survive. He wanted nothing more than to linger here, lost in the moment and lost in her. But if he didn’t leave soon, he’d miss the chance to catch up to the person holed up in that deserted shack.

Reluctantly, he pulled away from Martha, desperately trying to commit every detail of her to memory. His throat tightened as he forced himself to let her go. “I have to go,” he said softly and grabbed his clothes.

As he pulled on his jeans, Martha sipped her coffee and then said, “So is this another shifter trait?”

“What?” Clint straightened up, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Sensing the teasing in Martha’s words, he couldn’t help wondering if she was playing with him...or if she had something else up her sleeve. But he wasn’t sure.

“You’re running out on me after the best sex I’ve ever had?” she said, smiling sweetly at him.

Clint groaned. “You’re making it impossible for me to leave,” he said, leaning in for another kiss. He desperately wanted to stay with Martha but couldn’t.

Martha nodded her head in understanding. “Go do what you have to do,” she said gently, tracing a finger along the line of his jaw before she leaned in, brushing her lips against his one last time. “I’ll be here waiting for you to return.”

“Oh, now I remember why I came over here.” Clint straightened up, tugged on his shirt and pulled it down over his broad chest.

“There was a reason other than making love to me?” Martha asked.

“There was.” He released a long, deep breath and tucked his hand under the sheets. She moaned gently in response, easing her thighs apart as he traced a line along her legs to her thigh. He savored the smoothness of her skin beneath his fingertips and the small sounds that escaped her lips as he touched her intimately.

“You’d better tell me before you forget again.” With a mischievous glint in her eye, Martha set the coffee cup down on the nightstand and inched lower on the bed. Her fingertips explored him, tracing over every contour of his body through his clothes before finally finding their home in his groin. She massaged with gentle pressure and a seductive rhythm until he grew rock hard beneath her.

“Are you trying to make me forget?” Clint’s voice rumbled, full of barely contained desire. It was all too tempting to slip back under the covers with his mate.

“That depends why you are here.” Martha lay back on the bed, her head resting on the pillow.

Her hair cascaded across the blue linen, and Clint found her almost irresistible. But he pulled away and took a step back, needing some distance between them before she overwhelmed him completely. He cleared his throat before grinding out, “You are so beautiful. And so distracting.” His voice was gruff but still held the softness of love.

“I’m not going to apologize.” She arched a questioning eyebrow at him.

“I don’t want you to. I love the distraction.” Clint sighed heavily and raked a hand through his hair. “But, what I came to tell you, before...we...” He motioned toward the bed. “Is that Lana has invited you, Jody and Kay over to the ranch for dinner while Grant, Ryan and Jesse help me stake out the shack.”

“So you’re really doing it.” Martha sat up and clasped the blankets to her breasts. “Did you call the sheriff?”

Clint shook his head. “No, Brad is busy. He has a family dinner to go to,” he explained, glancing evasively at the window.

Martha was shocked. “A family dinner?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

Clint shrugged. “We can handle it on our own,” he admitted honestly.

“Brad’s the sheriff. He should never be too busy,” Martha began indignantly, but then her expression cleared. “Oh. I get it...”

“Brad is giving us a chance to figure this out without involving the police, but if there’s a problem, the sheriff will be there in the blink of an eye.” Clint locked eyes with her. “We don’t always do things by the book in Bear Creek. But we always get the job done.”

“I believe you.” She held up her hand. “And don’t worry, I’m not going to go all lawyerish on you guys. That life is behind me, and I am happy to embrace the way you do things here.”

“You’re going to fit right in.” Clint closed the distance between them and kissed her on the cheek, inhaling her scent one last time before he left.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her fingertips grazing the rough stubble of his cheek. He shivered and closed his eyes, savoring her gentle touch. “I’ll be here waiting for your return.”

“No, you’ll be at Grant’s ranch having dinner.” Clint backed out of the bedroom. “Ryan will pick you up in an hour.”

“Okay.” Martha stretched languidly, her feet sliding from the mattress until her toes reached the soft, handwoven rug below. She curled her toes into the fibers, her bare calves reminding him that she was naked beneath the bedcovers.

“I’m going before you get out of that bed,” Clint told her.

“Am I less irresistible in bed, or out of it?” Martha’s sultry lips pursed in a pout, and he wanted nothing more than to press his own against them and feel the burst of heat that would follow—a heat that would melt away the last remnants of his resistance. He would succumb to her with one kiss.

“Both, but I have to go.” Clint gritted his teeth and drank her in, wishing he could freeze time in that moment and stay there with her forever.

Before his resolve evaporated like rain on a hot summer day, he turned away from her, his long strides carrying him to the front door. Every step closer to leaving her was harder than the last. He clung on to the handle, fighting the temptation of returning to her side and refusing to give in to the desperate ache that begged him to stay.

We have other obligations, his bear reminded him, as if he needed reminding. It was the only reason making him leave.

Clint pushed open the door, the cold breeze hitting him with a blast of reality. It was a moment of calm, but he was still aware of the deep longing that had spread through his veins ever since his mate had gone away. No matter how the chill nipped his skin, it wasn’t enough to cool him off.

Clint crossed the porch with determined strides and curled his fingers around the handrail as he stared up at the mountain for a long moment. His pulse pounded in his ears as a wild wave of exhilaration raced through him. He needed to calm himself and regain control before he went back to the lodge.

Clint sucked in a deep breath and let it go slowly, releasing the tension in his body as he stood transfixed, gazing up at the rocky behemoth before him.

The sun seemed to set the mountain ablaze, its jagged peaks bathed in a vibrant orange light that filled the horizon. He felt an inexorable pull toward it.

The call of the wild,his bear murmured dreamily.

Not as strong as the call of our mate, Clint replied. But incredibly potent, nonetheless.

With a firm resolve to keep his word and track the person who had been camping out at the shack, he tore his eyes away from the mountain’s splendor and hurried down the porch steps. As he strode to the lodge, it was as if he were a new man, as if he had been given a wonder drug that had knocked years off him, both physically and mentally.

By the time he reached the lodge, he was ready for anything.

He entered his private living quarters through a side door and took the stairs two at a time. When he reached the landing, he stared out of the window toward lodge number five, sensing his Martha. His thoughts lingered on his mate for a long moment before he switched his attention to the task ahead, staking out the remote shack and waiting for the shifter drifter to come back.

Ten minutes later, he was in the kitchen filling a thermos with hot coffee. He grabbed some sandwiches from the fridge and added them to his backpack. He also packed some energy bars, just in case he needed sustenance during his stakeout.

Clint took one last look around the kitchen, making sure he had everything he needed. With a satisfied nod, he slung the pack over his shoulder and stepped out into the cold evening air.

He paused for a moment to take it all in, sniffing deeply at the promise of snow on the horizon. Yes, they were definitely in for a frosty night ahead.

But the cold doesn’t bother me, his bear reminded him.

I’m just worried about Martha and the others. The road to Grant’s ranch is steep in places.Clint’s jaw tensed as concern filled him.

Ryan is driving them up there in his truck,his bear reminded him. Then he’ll hike down to meet us. When they’re ready to leave, he’ll go back and get them and make sure they get home safe.

“There he is.” Kay grinned as Clint entered the kitchen of the home she shared with her mate, and Clint’s partner in the lodge, Curtis.

At least Curtis would soon be an official partner in the lodge. Curtis just didn’t know it yet.

It’s the right thing to do, his bear told him.

It is,Clint agreed. They had thought over their future, and that of the lodge, for a while now, ever since Clint had a health scare some months ago. Martha’s arrival had cemented those ideas.

“Here I am.” Clint hitched his backpack higher on his shoulder.

“Curtis is going to take care of everything here.” Kay narrowed her eyes at Clint. “And I will take care of Martha. We all will.”

“I know you will.” Clint smiled, feeling some of the tension drain out of him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to bear it if anything happened to his mate while he was away. But with Kay and the others looking after her, he felt confident that Martha would be safe.

I think Martha can look after herself,his bear replied.

Don’t try to tell me you aren’t worried about our mate, Clint asked his bear.

His bear grumbled incoherently, something about ‘of course he was,’ but the rest of his words were lost as he settled down in the corner of Clint’s mind.

They both had to make adjustments as they became accustomed to this new reality. He wanted to shield Martha from any and all harm, yet he also knew that if he tried to keep her from being her independent and resilient self, she would push him away.

“If you need me, call.” Curtis came into the kitchen and kissed Kay on the cheek. “There’s nothing here that can’t take care of itself for a couple of hours. You and the baby are what’s most important.”

“I will.” She ran her hand over her swollen stomach, the baby was so close to making its arrival in the world. Clint could not wait to hear the sound of a newborn baby, it’s cries heralding a new beginning for all of them.

Except Jesse, his bear said mournfully.

But there was nothing Clint could do about that. So he focused on what he could change.

The fate of the person, the young man, who had found himself sleeping rough in a remote shack in the midst of winter.