He rolled off and threw the condom in the wastebasket by the bed, then pulled her into an embrace. She giggled, running her finger down that sexy trail of hair on his navel. “That was unexpected,” she said.
“Yeah. I hope you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. I’m great.” She giggled again, and he pulled her tighter into his embrace.
“I didn’t want to do this yet. But I couldn’t stop it.” He kissed her lusciously on the mouth.
“Do you regret it?” she asked after he let her go. She was already starting to feel attached to him before the sex, but now… now she felt something even bigger.
“I wanted to wait until after the investigation was over. I’m not in a good place to start anything right now.”
“What are you saying?” she felt like she was about to be dumped into one-night-stand zone. A cold wash of icy water seemed to splash over her entire body.
“Millie, sweetheart.” He sighed. “You’re my mate.”
Ready for the shock of being blown off, that was the last thing she’d expected him to say.
“I’m your what?”
“Shifters know their mates on sight, or smell. You happen to be mine. My bear knows it. I know it.”
“I don’t know what to say,” she said, looking away. She didn’t want him to blow her off but she didn’t know if she was ready for that kind of commitment.
“You don’t have to say anything. I didn’t want to drop all this on you right now.”
He looked crestfallen as he grabbed his pants and started to pull them on. “Brody. It’s just a lot to take in. What does it mean that I’m your mate?”
“It means you are the love of my life. You are the only one for me. I don’t expect you to feel the same for me. I couldn’t possibly expect that from you. You’re a human. You don’t have the same instincts as shifters.”
“Well. I wouldn’t go that far. I don’t usually have sex with men I barely know. In fact, I’ve never done this before.” She got up from the bed and wrapped herself in her bathrobe.
He crossed the room, his shirt still unbuttoned. He took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. “Why don’t we spend some time dating? How does that sound?”
“It sounds… great. I’d like that.”
“It will give us some time to get to know each other before we… make any decisions about the future.”
“Okay.” She smiled up at him as he let her go.
“I have to get going now, Millie. There’s so much to do on this investigation, and I have to get back to my place to feed the bees.”
“The bees?”
“Yes. I’m a beekeeper.”
“Really. I didn’t know that.”
“How about I pick you up tomorrow and show you the hives.”
“It’s a date,” she said, smiling as he went to the door.
Chapter 10
Brody felt like an impulsive fool. Making love to Millie had been like heaven, but it was too soon. The poor woman needed more time to get to know him before he dropped all that on her.
He wasn’t even ready. The darkness building in his chest contracted and burned. His anger was too much to bear. He wanted to punch something, even with the taste of Millie still on his lips.
At the sheriff’s station, he had an appointment with Steve Mathews. There wasn’t enough evidence to arrest him, but he suspected him. Everyone else on the guest list for the party was already gone. None of them would have known Chris previously or had any reason to invite him up to the ranch.
Brody swept into the interrogation room, a makeshift office in the small sheriff’s station, and sat opposite the rich businessman.
“So, why couldn’t we do this at my house?” Mathews asked.
“We want this recorded.”
“Why? You don’t seriously suspect me do you?”
“I confiscated a female mountain lion from two men yesterday who claimed they were hunting on your orders. That lion was out of season. It’s a mandatory five thousand dollar fine for hunting out of season.”
“I’ll gladly pay the fine.”
“Why did you order your men to hunt that lion?”
“I didn’t. I had nothing to do with it. They are going to be fired for stupidity.”
“If we catch you hunting out of season again, it’s jail time. You understand?”
“Are we done here?”
“Chris Whitney was thrown from a cliff on your land, Mr. Mathews. Yes. There is reason to suspect you had some kind of involvement.”
“Chris Whiney wasn’t even supposed to be at the party.”
“Mathews, do you own a European brand ATV called a Quatre?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. What does that have to do with anything?”
“There was an impression of the logo of a Quatre ATV embedded in Chris Whitney’s skin.”
“I’d like to have my lawyer present for any further questioning.”
Brody grumbled. He didn’t have enough to arrest the man. He didn’t even have a motive to connect him to the murder. Mathews’s land was fenced, and inaccessible to the outside. He had numerous employees. Any one of them could have been riding that ATV.
“You’re free to go. We’ll continue this conversation when your lawyer is present.”
Mathews stood, glaring at Brody as he left the interrogation room. Sheriff Charles met him in the doorway as Mathews disappeared out of the building.
“What do you think?” the sheriff asked him.
“I think he’s our man. I don’t have enough evidence yet to arrest him, but he has the same ATV brand as the logo that was embedded in Chris’s chest.”
“You were able to find that?” the sheriff asked with surprise.
“Yes. Millie and I hunted it down on the internet. The body went missing from the morgue. It was only by chance that we decided to look into ATVs. Even with the vague photographs we had, the shapes match.”
“Well, good work,” the sheriff said, clearing his throat. He slapped Brody on the back a little too hard and Brody frowned.
He was going to have to find better evidence against Mathews. Just owning the same brand of ATV wasn’t going to be enough to prosecute a man with a team of lawyers at his disposal.
By the time he was done at the station and had done his rounds for the day, it was late in the evening. He needed to get home to check on his bees.
When he arrived at home, the weight of the world seemed to be squarely on his shoulders. He heaved a heavy sigh and went into his house where he put on his beekeeping gear.
Out in the backyard where the hives were kept, he started the smoker to calm the bees, and when through each hive, checking for signs of illness, invaders, and the honey supply.
He replaced the sugar water bowls and collected the honey from one of the hives that was ready to be harvested. Golden liquid oozed into the collection jar with the honeycomb. He licked his lips behind the bee mask. This was going to be delicious. He’d save it for Millie on their date tomorrow.
Chapter 11
Millie drove up to Brody’s house at the top of the mountain. He’d texted her his address so she could meet him there. He’d promised to show her the hives.
She’d worn a pretty blue dress with navy leggings and ankle boots. The Montana air had gone cold as fall moved in and she’d paired her dress with a long sweater in a burnt orange pattern.
Brody stood on his porch, wearing a red flannel shirt and dark blue jeans. He smiled when he saw her and met her at the door of her car with a big kiss on the cheek.
“Hi,” she said with a smile, feeling a bit shy. Having a shifter tell her she was his mate was a little intimidating. She didn’t quite know what to think about it.
“Come on inside. I’ll show you the house.”
He led her up the front porch of his log cabin house and went inside. She’d been expecting a typical messy bachelor pad with maybe some dead animal trophies on the walls, but instead she found a gleaming, modern, log home.
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“This place is gorgeous,” she said, turning around in the living room.
“It was my parents’ house. I’ll show you around,” he said, walking toward the kitchen. The kitchen was all stainless steel appliances, dark wood, and white marble countertops veined with gold.
“Wow, Brody. I didn’t expect to find you had such a nice house.”
“Thanks.” He stood behind the counter with an amber jar of honey and scooped a small ladle full into a bowl. Then he pinched a piece of honeycomb from a different jar and added it to the bowl.
“This is from my bees. I harvested it yesterday.”
“Ooh. I love honey.” He handed her a spoon as she sat down on the stool on the other side of the counter. She scooped a spoonful of thick honey and sucked it into her mouth. “Oh my God! I didn’t know honey could taste so good!”
“Best in the state. Have to get the bees ready for winter.” He picked up a piece of honeycomb from the bowl and offered it to her. She took it into her mouth, licking his fingertips in the process. He growled low in his throat.
“Let’s go see the bees before I bend you over this counter.”
“Brody!”
“Sorry. It’s my bear. He’s an animal.”
She laughed brightly as he led her out the back door to the porch and into the yard, away from the house, where the bees were kept. Several hives swarmed with activity.
“They feed off the clover patch I keep over there. See?” he said, pointing to a big green expanse of red clover, the purple flowers growing dry in the fall chill.
“What do you do to keep them over winter?”
“They hibernate, like bears.” He chuckled. “I just have to keep the hives warm and insulated. They do the rest.”
He led her out of the yard around the house and opened the passenger door of his truck for her, helping her inside. Millie took his hand, smiling.
“We’re going to dinner in town, then for drinks if you’re up for it.”
“That would be fantastic.”
He drove her down the mountain and parked in front of the only sit-down restaurant in town.
“Hope you don’t mind diner-style eating.”
“No. I love it. Freddie’s is good. Great burgers.”
He helped her down from the truck and held the door of the restaurant for her to walk inside. Millie could get used to this kind of thing.
Back in the city, working seventy hours a week, the high-pressure life of a head surgeon had been everything to her. In that moment, walking into the small town diner with a man who wanted nothing more than to love her forever, Millie started to feel grateful she’d been fired for the first time.
Not that she’d been grateful to begin with. No. Leaving that life behind had been one of the most difficult things she’d ever had to do. Coming out to the country had been her way of starting over. Doing something totally different and new, at least for a while. She hadn’t known how long she would stay. She’d considered doing Doctors Without Borders in Africa after a year or two in Montana.
Now, looking at Brody as the waitress showed them to their seat, she was thinking something totally different. Maybe she could stay here. Maybe this thing with this bear man could work.
She slid into the booth across from Brody and smiled as she looked down at the menu.
“Our special tonight is chicken-fried steak and potatoes. Can I get you all anything to drink?”
They both ordered a soda and water and the waitress left them to look over the menu.
“I think I’ll have the special,” Brody said.
“I’m still thinking burger.”
The waitress returned to take their order and took the menus.
“Did you learn anything yesterday?” she asked him, sucking soda up through her straw.
“Mathews admitted to having a Quatre ATV, but that isn’t enough to arrest him.”
“Is he your only suspect?”
“Right now he is, but he asked for a lawyer halfway through our interview. I’m going to have to go up to his place again and look around.”
The waitress came with their food and they dug in, eating the delicious diner food until they were both full.
“That was delicious,” Millie said, rubbing her belly. Brody smiled.
“I like to see a woman eat,” he said.
“Really. Most men hate seeing women eat.” She laughed.
“Most men are stupid. Plus, I’m not a man. I’m a bear.”
“Right. That explains it.”
“I like the curves on a woman with a good appetite,” he said, grabbing her ass as they walked out of the diner.
“Brody. You’re incorrigible!” She giggled and slapped his chest. The truth was, she liked it. She liked being desired for all the things Brody liked about her. He liked that she was a curvy woman. He saw the femininity behind the multiple degrees and sharp intellect. It made her tingle with desire.
“Ready for that drink, gorgeous?” he asked her, pulling her into a hug outside the diner. The twilight air was cool but Brody’s body was warm and cozy against her. She took a deep breath of his scent and was almost launched into heaven.
“I’d love to.”
They walked arm-in-arm down the sidewalk to the bar across the street from the hospital where she went after work. She was comfortable there and it was a good place to dance and relax after a long day.
Country music lilted from the jukebox in the dimly lit room. Millie smiled as Brody pulled her out onto the dance floor. She’d never done a two-step before in her life, but he taught her how to do it without a word, with only the motion of his body and the smiling look in his eyes.
After a song or two, she was a natural, and they seemed to float over the floor on a cloud of fun and passion. Three sweaty, fast songs later, the tempo slowed and they were pressed together, chest to chest. Brody’s cheek rested on her head and she could feel his heart beating through his damp shirt.
When the song was over, he led her to the bar where they ordered beers and caught their breaths.
“That was so much fun, Brody. I don’t know the last time I had that much fun.”
“Stick with me, sugar. The fun’s just started,” he said, popping some peanuts in his mouth. She giggled, believing every word.
Millie sipped her beer, her face almost aching from the big goofy smile plastered on her lips. But Brody frowned and got up from his stool.
“What’s wrong?”
“That’s Natalie Charles. Chris’s fiancée.”
“Oh. What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to go talk to her. Come on.”
He took her hand and led her across the darkened bar to where Natalie sat alone, nursing a beer. She didn’t look up when Brody and Millie sat on either side of her.
“Natalie, how are you?” he asked her. She blinked her heavy eyes, finally glancing in his direction. A deep frown tugged at the corners of her mouth, making her look older than she was. Dark bags hung under her eyes and her hair was a mess.
“How do you think?” she snapped at him.
“Honey, what are you doing here?”
“I’m getting drunk, Brody. No law against it.” She rapped her knuckles on the bar for another of whatever she was drinking. The bartender poured her a shot and she threw it back quickly, sucking in a sharp breath when she’d finished.
“Sweetheart, maybe you should go home.”
“No. Mind your own business, Brody.”
“Let her be, Brody. She has a right to drink her pain,” Millie said, patting the woman’s hand. Natalie looked over at Millie with a dark expression and then a tear rolled down the mourning woman’s face.
“I just miss him so much,” she wailed. “You have to find who did this so I can kill him.”
“I miss him too, Nat. I can’t even imagine how you feel. It was right before the wedding.”
“He was my mate. My one and only. Now he’s gone.” Tears started to flow and a big droplet splashed
on the bar.
Brody wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a half hug.
“Is there anything you remember about the night he died, Nat? Anything at all?”
She sniffed and wiped her face, pulling away. Sobering, she stopped and looked into the racks of bottles across the bar.
“Yes,” she said. “The night he died, he received a phone call and then he said he had to go. That was the last time I ever saw him.”
“That wasn’t in the police report,” he said, frowning.
“I told my dad. He must have forgot to include it.”
“We didn’t find a phone with the body,” Millie said. “Did he leave it at home?”
“No. But I called it, and it went straight to voicemail.”
“Interesting. We need to find that phone.”
Chapter 12
As much as Brody wanted to invite Millie in for the night, he resisted. They’d done it the first time too quickly.
As they said their goodnights in the pale moonlight, he knew Millie agreed. She didn’t make a move to get intimate and seemed satisfied with a lingering kiss before she drove away in her car.
The next morning, Brody drove out to where he’d found Chris’s body, determined to find the missing cell phone. There could be data on the phone that would tell them who had called him right before he died. It would be evidence enough to arrest whoever it was.
Parking near the forest, he pulled his clothes off in the cool breeze blowing up the mountain and sniffed the air. It smelled like rain was coming in from the north followed by a frost. He’d have to work fast or the phone might be lost forever. With a deep roar, he shifted, his body contorting and reshaping into the form of a bear. On all fours, with the chill wind blowing in his fur, he charged up the hill to where he’d found Chris.
The memory of it was like bile in his belly and filled his bear with rage. He smelled the scent of a rabbit and wanted to chase it, dig it out of its den. But that wouldn’t help anything. The mind of the bear was a ferocious beast, bent on destruction. But the man’s mind urged the creature on. There was important work to do if he was to find the person responsible for Chris’s death. Luckily, his bear finally agreed.