Page 82 of Have a Bear-y Little Christmas
A shudder went through his whole body, and for a split second I was worried that something terrible had happened, but then the same transformation that had nearly startled me out of my skin and quite literally ripped Remy out of his, began to play in reverse.
It was much slower at this time, however, almost careful even, and I watched with rapt attention as the fur slowly receded and limbs began to shrink down to more appropriate sizes and bending at the correct angle. I couldn’t imagine the insane amount of energy it took to go through such a process, so suddenly the sheer excess of food and everyone’s impressive appetite made a whole lot more sense.
Jeez, how many clues had been right under my nose, and I’d never even noticed?
“Jeannie...?” he said, and part of my brain was definitely shocked that he still sounded like the Remy that I knew. In my mind, the transformation should have completely andirrevocably changed every part of him. “I’m sorry, I know that must have been pretty shocking.”
He held his hands up, as if trying not to startle me, and took another careful—so incredibly careful—step forward. There were all sorts of things written on his face: concern, fear, but also… something more confident. It was as if he was freer.
“I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while, but I didn’t really know how to bring it up. But I promise that you’re safe, okay? I had to chase that bear off. I promise, I’m not going to hurt you.”
Of course he wasn’t going to hurt me! I knew that much. But for some reason, the absurdity of that statement helped draw me back into myself. I thought back to all the stories I had edited throughout my career, and how I had often been so annoyed by leads who got incredibly tripped up over the fact that the paranormal world existed. I’d always understood that there needed to be some doubt, some shock, but nothing drained my enthusiasm for a story more than when they belabored the point. So, I supposed it was a bit of karma that I was now faced with the same exact situation.
But apparently, most of my psyche was able to put my money where my mouth was, because I found my mind was already rapidly beginning to categorize and put things in their place.
The fact that no one really wore warm clothing. The aforementioned sheer amount of calories everyone around me ingested. The way Addy had been just fine after that terrible cut on her shin. Ana’s incredible strength. How had I been so blind?
“I know that this is probably a lot to ask of you, but why don’t we go inside, I’ll fix the door, and you try to get some sleep okay? We can discuss everything in the morning.”
I blinked and realized Remy had nearly reached the front entrance, standing just on the edge of the porch, somehow looking quite striking in simple blue jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt. The night sky hung heavy around him, a cloak ofendless obsidian, but it was almost like my brain was casting a translucent silhouette of his grizzly form behind him, towering, intimidating, and…
…andpowerful.
I didn’t really have an explanation for what I did next. All I knew was that I was so chock-full of emotions I was surprised the top of my head didn’t pop off from the sheer pressure. Relief. Shock. Fear. Excitement. So much adrenaline! And of course, a deep, unrelenting,attraction.
I grabbed him and yanked him toward me, angling his head down so I could crash my lips into his.
It wasn’t polite. I wasn’t even sure it made sense. But my body cried out with excitement and relief at the contact, and a simmering heat rolled through every part of me.
Remy stiffened, and despite the emotional overload going on in my brain, I did have the wherewithal to worry I was doing something wrong. But then his arms wrapped around my waist and he yanked me against him, nearly crushing me against his large, muscled frame.
It was so much, so much all at once, but it felt like it was over before it began. We broke apart, panting slightly from the intensity.
“What?” Remy said, sounding like he was the one who had just been surprised by hard proof of the existence of the paranormal.
“Sorry,” I breathed, andfuck, I sounded absolutely wrecked. How could a simple kiss affect me like that? “I just got caught up, I guess.” That wasn’t really enough of an explanation, and I knew it, while I tried to get my words back to the forefront of my mind. A more difficult task than I thought. “Just, uh, thank you for saving me. That might have been the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!”
Also most terrifying. But less so now that my brain was processing things through the lens that it was Remy. Because, as crazy as it sounded, I knew that no matter what form Remington LeBeau was in, he would never purposely hurt me. Not in a million years.
Not unless I asked real nicely.
That was certainly a thought-and-a-half, but I tucked it into another part of my mind for a later time. Perhaps when I was thinking a little clearly, and my blood flow wasn’t going to very particular places.
“Not that I’m complaining,” Remy said slowly. Was it strange that I found it cute how I could almost see the gears turning in his head? Possibly. But if it was, it was most likely the least strange thing in our situation. “But that wasn’t exactly the reaction I was expecting.”
Somehow, I managed to find the tail-ends of my humor and yank them back to me. “Oh, sorry about that. If you’d like, I can run around screaming until you’re forced to smack me to bring me back to my senses?”
That startled a laugh out of him, and the sound was like a balm over the last chunks of fear still lingering within me. Truly, nothing all that bad could happen to me if Remy was around and laughing.
“Believe it or not, I’m not really into striking women across the face. Or anyone really.” He shook his head, and it was nice to see the last bits of his worry fade from his gaze. I preferred it when he was smiling at me anyway. “Not to belabor the point or anything, because I am grateful, but how the hell are you so calm right now?”
Okay, he had every right to be a bit dubious about my reaction. It wasn’t entirely logical—at least not from an outside perspective—so I did my best to explain it in a way that made sense.
“One of my biggest clients exclusively writes paranormal shifter romances, so I read and edit scenes just like this about twice a month every month. I guess if you dry-run a situation enough, it kinda helps you process it when it actually happens.”
That must have been the last answer that Remy expected, because his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He stared at me for a long moment before he burst out laughing. And this time, I had to join him.
All this time, I had been worried about whether Remy was even ready for a relationship or felt anything toward me, and it turned out that he was an entirely different species. And not just any species, but a magical one! There had been a whole subplot of conflict going on, and I hadn’t even been aware of it.
