Chapter Ten
Anna Victoria couldn’t remember if she’d ever woken up smiling in her life, but she definitely had one on her face this morning. Waking up came with full awareness of where she was and what happened last night—and it had her mentally fanning herself. Woo. Was there a word for hotter than hot? Like, surface of the sun hot? Because that’s what it was like. The sheets would have probably burned up. Oh Lord, why did no one tell her shifters had an amazing recovery time? Damon didn’t let her sleep for hours.
She stretched her arms over her head, aware of the delicious aches and pains all over her body. Damon’s scent was all over the sheets, but as she reached over to the other side of the bed, she only grasped … paper?
“Huh?” Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and looked at the piece of paper in her hand. Join me outside, read the neat, masculine handwriting.
Another smile broke out on her face. She glanced out the large windows, which had an amazing view of the snow-covered trees. It was already light out, though in this weather, it was always hard to tell what time it was exactly. Still, it would be cold, which meant she needed to be prepared.
Climbing out of the massive bed, she grabbed the shirt hanging from the bed post—Damon’s shirt which he had retrieved sometime last night—and put it on, then grabbed the blanket and padded out of the room, taking the stairs to the ground floor. Wrapping the blanket around her, she opened the door and braced herself for the cold. The chill hit her face, and she closed her eyes, breathing in the clean, crisp air. But where was Damon?
A growl made her eyes snap open. A small yelp escaped her mouth when she realized she wasn’t alone. A large—no, humungous—dark brown bear was on the lawn, digging at the snowy ground.
She should have felt afraid. But her body didn’t tense nor did her heart start racing. Instead, a calmness wrapped over her, and she instantly realized who it was. “Damon,” she whispered.
The bear must have heard her, because its head swung over in her direction. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized those green eyes. “Damon,” she called again.
Though it hesitated at first, the bear eventually began to lumber toward her. Not minding the chill, she stepped out of the cabin and onto the porch, her steps almost mirroring Damon’s animal. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, the bear was already there, bent down, waiting on all fours. Reaching out, she gently placed her hand on the bear’s head.
“Oh, you’re so soft.” The fur was thick between her fingers. She ran her hand over the bridge of the bear’s nose, and then up its head. The bear let out a satisfied chuff when she scratched at the crown.
Fascination made her grow bolder as she examined the bear closely. She’d never even see a live bear, much less petted one. But it’s not just any bear. No, this was also Damon.
The bear pulled back, and she jumped in surprise. The air around her seemed to change and shift, and slowly, the animal’s large frame began to shrink. Fur sank into skin, claws into hands. Seeing him transform … it wasn’t uncomfortable exactly, but it was like watching something private. Still, she couldn’t turn away.
Finally, when it was all done, Damon was there, kneeling on one knee at the foot of the stairs. His head lifted, and his gaze met hers. “You’re up.”
“Yes,” she said. “That was …”
He frowned as he got to his feet. “I hope you weren’t frightened. Or disgusted.”
“What?” she exclaimed. “No, of course not. I was fascinated, but not disgusted.” How could she be? This was a major part of him.
A smile—a rare, sincere one—lit up his face. “I’m glad.” He hopped up the porch, grabbed the pajama bottoms hanging on the banister and put them on. Taking her hand, he led her to the outdoor couch on the other end of the wraparound porch and sat down.
“Come.” He stretched out his arm, and moved over to make room for her.
Following his lead, she threw the blanket around them and cuddled up to him. “Hmm, so warm.” She nuzzled at his chest. “You’re like my own personal heater,” she joked.
“Shifter metabolism.” He pulled her tighter to him. “All good?”
She nodded. “You should have woken me up when you did.”
“I would have, but I haven’t slept yet.”
Her head bobbed up to meet his gaze. “You haven’t?”
“Nope.” He tucked the other end of the blanket under her chin. “Don’t need much rest. My bear was feeling restless, so I let him out. Plus, I’d rather watch you while you’re sleeping.” His lips brushed across hers. “You’re so beautiful when you do.”
“Oh, stop.”
“You are.” His voice took on that low, sensuous tone that made her melt.
She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. It’d snowed heavily up here last night, and now everything was covered in a thick blanket of white, muffling the sounds and creating a calm, quiet feeling to their surroundings. “I can see why you’d want to live up here. It’s so lovely and soothing.”
“When I first came back from the army and I was a mess, coming up here was the only way I could escape.” His fingers stroked her hair gently. “When I said that to Gabriel, he got this idea that I should join the Rangers. I was skeptical at first, but then he said he’d go through the training with me.”
“He did?”
“Yeah. He hates this nature stuff, you know,” he said.
“But it’s been five years, and he’s still working with you.”
He chuckled. “Yeah. Now, he doesn’t like to talk about it, but Gabriel doesn’t need to work.”
“He doesn’t?”
“He’s one of the majority shareholders of his family’s company, Lyon Industries, and sits on the board of
