That was all until the damn old women got bored and decided they needed to screw with his complacent existence.
The shit part was, he wanted Marci, and he didn't want to want her and then the witch admitted that somehow the town had done this, and now he was pissed off.
"Caleb? Wait for me."
He stopped at the door without turning. He'd never have thought he'd be battling with himself, restraining his need to grab Marci and take her where they stood. Son of a bitch. Even her voice had his body coiling up like a firecracker ready to explode.
"Why?"
"Why? Because you said you'd help."
He ground his molars. "Yeah, and you just bit my head off." But damn if he didn't like the fire. Fucking hell. Life was fucked up. Maybe it was the fact he hadn't been with a woman in far too long. He doubted it though.
"Well, you basically said I was helpless."
"I did not fucking say you were helpless. I was relaying the information I was told to. Just don't go where the trees turn blue. So there. Fine. Don't go to the pretty trees. Why you're mad is beyond me."
He took a step; he just needed to get away from this woman. The closer she came, the stronger her scent was. Damn Annie and her meddling. He didn't want a woman. Change that. He would be okay with a woman, but not one that he seemed to want. Caring meant that you had something to lose and he'd already lost a best friend. Nothing else had ever been worth caring about, and he didn't want to start now.
"Didn't you mention that you were excited about bringing tourists here? Can you help me get my stuff, and then you can walk away?"
"I don't, what? Seriously. What is your deal? That's not what I said." He tensed his hands and snarled his nose. "God, woman." Heading to the truck, he just needed to keep it together for a little longer.
"Caleb, wait. The forest. Isn't it a problem with the whole tourist thing?"
He ran his hand through his hair. "You're going to be full of questions, aren't you? The town is full of witches and shifters for a reason. You should feel lucky to be here. I didn't know it when I stopped here, but the same generations have been here to watch over that gate. Humans can't sense the gate. The wards around the forest keep gate well out of human sight. But you know as well as I do that the paranormal see things, feel things, and know things, even if they aren't meant to be found. That being said, it's sort of the like the town's job to ensure the safety of the gate. God only knows what comes out of portals."
He stopped, and she ran into his back.
"Oof."
He turned on his heel. "All I know is I'm part of it all. For fuck's sake..."
He stopped. Marci was probably somehow brought here to be a part of it. Shit. Maybe coming here wasn't a choice for him any more than it had been for her.
"Damn it all. I don't know anything anymore."
A heat burned deep within his structured resolve.
"So - gate. You mean like a portal? I've heard about those, but I never actually thought I'd see one."
The slow burn of anger bubbled under the surface as he fought frustration and need. His bear paced with no solution to their plight inside.
"It's a portal to Faerie I guess, and nothing good ever comes from there. Just stay away. I'll get your boxes upstairs; then I need to go."
"Alright," her voice quieted. "Thanks."
He turned and walked away to the truck. He tried to erase the blond hair he wanted to see sprawled over a pillow as he drilled into her. He tried to forget her full pink lips that tasted like sweet sin. The feel of his hands wrapped around her hips, and that ass of hers. Yeah. That, he tried to erase all that. His bear growled.
We are not shifting. You are not in charge here.
She looked in the truck, and he watched her.
"So will that work?"
Shit. Was Marci talking?
"Uh."
She glared at him. "About the top six boxes going in tonight? I can do the rest tomorrow. This way you can leave sooner." She put her hands on her hips.
"Oh. Sure. Fine. I can help with whatever you want."
He loved watching her shirt pull up a little as she reached up for a box too high for her. He wanted to run his fingers over the soft skin.
"I can't reach ..." she said.
He shook off his urges. The bear within him, not so much. The exhaustion of fighting himself was getting a bit old. They were going to have some arguments if they didn't get on the same page. His bear was pawing at his soul, trying to push his way out. This was not how humans found mates, not how he would find a mate as a shifter, when the object of his current obsession was a witch who apparently despised him. Her arousal contradicted everything.
"Here." He reached up and pulled the box down. As she took it from him her hand brushed his, sending a jolt of magic through him.
"Sorry," she said. Her eyes didn't meet his.
She was powerful, maybe not in the sense like a shifter was, but he could feel the river of her magic flowing through him. He titled his head to one side then the next, she was a high like a drug, and his body craved it. His bear sniffed at the air. Damn if that wasn't a turn-on. If a simple touch of her hand could do that to him, what would she do if she completely let go?
Marci was already halfway down the path. He grabbed down two boxes and followed her in, thankful for the distance.
"What kind of
