Page 31 of Dream Weaver (Spellbound in Sedona #3)

COOPER

Most nights, I slept like a log. But that night, as I lay in Abby’s big queen bed, I could only stare at the ceiling, listening. Wishing. Yearning.

Abby whispered to Claire, and their sheets rustled. Roscoe paced back and forth in the hallway, unsure of the strange new sleeping arrangements. Finally, he turned in place three times and lay down outside Claire’s open doorway. No sound came from downstairs, just Mike’s vigilant silence — until, a long time later, heavy breathing signaled he’d finally fallen asleep.

The atmosphere on the ranch was similar — tense, then quiet as everyone succumbed to exhaustion. But even then, I couldn’t sleep.

Finally, I caught the soft pad of Abby’s bare feet. A floorboard squeaked, followed by more silence when she hesitated. Then the footsteps resumed, coming closer.

Without a word, I lifted the sheet and blanket. She slid in, nestling along my body. When I wove an arm over the notch of her waist, she grasped my hand and held it at her heart.

I inhaled her floral scent — once…twice…

Then I slept, not just like a log, but a whole forest of them.

* * *

I really, really wanted to take things slow for a few days. Weeks, even. But first, we had to rush around and deal with the aftermath of all that had transpired.

Step one: driving to the metal shop the next morning to explain the damage of the previous night. On Ingo’s advice, Abby and I kept our story simple. Jay had come — alone — to threaten Abby, pushing around equipment and firing a few rounds from his gun. A few harmless rounds, thank goodness.

Walt was furious — at Jay, not Abby. In fact, at great risk to his own health and safety, he caught her in a huge hug of relief.

“Just glad you’re okay, kiddo. You, Claire, and Cooper.”

Abby, Claire, and Cooper. It had a ring to it, I decided.

Destiny, my bear reminded me in an I told you so grumble.

Destiny, indeed.

Abby stood stiffly, enduring Walt’s hug. Maybe even patting his back a little. When he eventually released her, he insisted that Abby take a few days off.

She accepted, but only after disassembling the brazier, banging the pieces into lumps, and throwing them into separate scrap bins.

If Walt and the others wondered why, they didn’t ask, and I didn’t tell. It was better that way.

Step two was a trip to the fire crew I’d quit the previous evening. Luckily, Rich welcomed me back with a level, “We all make mistakes, son.”

True, but I hoped that would be my last big one.

Step three was reporting to Captain Edwards for grilling — er, questioning. Luckily, enough incriminating evidence had emerged on Harlon, Lisa, and their recently acquired Edelweiss Corporation that the ADMSA was less interested in us than them.

“Fucking Harlon. It was him all along,” Abby muttered.

“Well, you won’t need to worry about him again,” Captain Edwards growled.

Apparently, tapping into magic that wasn’t your own was risky business. During the fight at the ranch, Harlon had dug so deep into the magic he’d “borrowed” from Sedona’s vortexes that he’d burned himself out permanently. No more casting spells of any kind for him, ever.

“You mean, kind of like being castrated, but with magic?” Abby asked.

Captain Edwards winced and shifted in his seat. “That’s one way to put it.”

So, whew. Lisa was dead, and Harlon no longer posed any danger. That left Jay as the only loose end, but the way he’d fled the metal shop said he would never mess with Abby again.

And if he does, we’ll be here, my bear growled.

So, whew. As soon as we were finished with Captain Edwards, we headed back to the ranch and straight to bed. Claire was at school, with Mike on guard in the parking lot — even with Jay gone, he’d insisted — so we had the house to ourselves.

And boy, did we make good use of it.

We took our time, though, teasing through every discarded layer of clothing and relishing every kiss. Even when we were skin-to-skin, I went slowly, exploring every inch of Abby’s body and working her up to the first of many orgasms.

Very, very many, I vowed to myself as she lay panting afterward.

Abby being Abby, recovery didn’t take long. In no time, she had her legs wrapped around me and her arms braced against the headboard, ready to push back when I pushed in.

With a groan, I slid home to heaven. No condom this time, and no hesitation, because this was forever.

Forever… My bear hummed.

I pushed deeper, then remained anchored, sucking in a long, sharp breath. I withdrew slowly, aching the whole way, then thrust back in, faster and harder.

And wow, did that bring us to the razor’s edge of ecstasy. We wobbled there, on the brink of exploding, before backing away, catching a breath, and zooming right back again. Because something that good oughtn’t be rushed. It ought to be treasured.

But at some point, even the most well-intentioned bear lost self-control, and the whole operation peaked in a flurry of cries, groans, and throaty exclamations.

“Oh!” Abby cried, clenching down around me.

I flew off the edge, and she flew right after me.

A whole, happy future danced through my mind, blurry but so real, I knew it would someday be our reality. My jaw ached, and my bear couldn’t stop chanting like a husky cheerleader. Mating bite. Mating bite!

Someday , I promised. Today was just day one on our journey to forever . No need to rush things.

We lay panting for a long time afterward. Even when we caught our breath, we lay close for a long time, gazing into each other’s eyes.

Abby’s expression became one of intense focus, and she tapped her fingers thoughtfully.

“What?” I whispered.

“Just wondering if there’s a way to count luck.”

I grinned, holding her flush against my body. “Not in numbers.”

“Definitely not,” she murmured, running her hand over my arm. “I guess my conclusion is, I have a lot.”

I pressed her hand against my heart, and we slowly drifted off to sleep, making up for the all-too-short previous night.

I’d only slept one brief night on that mattress and under those covers, but they already felt like home. Well, the mattress and covers were pretty interchangeable. The home part was Abby.

Abby took three days off work, and each passed with the same basic schedule. We woke, ate breakfast, drove Claire to school, then returned to the ranch for a couple of blissful hours in bed. We would rouse ourselves in time for Mike to bring Claire home, eventually have dinner, and the cycle would slowly tick over again.

But then the inevitable happened — a forest fire, in Oregon. The first real blaze of what turned out to be a very busy season. I struggled to focus at first, but it wasn’t long before tunnel vision kicked in, and days one and two turned into twenty, thirty, and forty. We wildland firefighters worked in cycles of two weeks on, forty-eight hours off, with on often hundreds of miles from home.

My first two weeks away were a killer. The second fortnight, after a blissful weekend at home on the ranch, was even harder. But old habits kicked in, and I learned to flip a switch, speeding time up at work and slowing it down for days off.

And days off had never been so good, with lazy mornings and delicious pancake breakfasts. Long, ambling walks, horseback rides, or bear rambles. We ate out on my first evening back each time — pizza, in the very same place as our first dinner together — followed by dinner with the entire family the next day, and an early dinner with just the three of us on my last day home.

Off times also meant reading Claire bedtime stories, then waiting in bed for Abby to finish her turn. After that came studiously quiet sex, what with Claire just down the hall. Then I would head off to work again, changing gears back to that high-speed time warp of firefighting.

The Yavapai Hotshots fought fires all over the West, earning a reputation as the “on fire” crew of the season — pun totally intended. A lucky crew armed with axes that sang in our hands and roared right back at blazing fires, or so some of the crew claimed.

I kept my mouth shut on that one. But when it came to toasting their creator, I was all in.

The original ax had been recovered from Lisa’s house and returned to cheers from the entire crew. Needless to say, it went everywhere with us.

But as far as I was concerned, the luckiest ax was mine — the very last one Abby had forged. She’d etched a roaring bear face into the blade, and anytime a fire raged too close for comfort… Well, let’s just say the fire rapidly retreated.

We crossed paths with the Pine Ridge crew several times, so I still got to work with my siblings, cousins, and other family members. At the same time, I’d gained two new families — the Yavapai crew and Abby’s wonderfully eccentric family. I loved going home to them. And if the three sisters were a tight sorority, we three guys — Ingo, Nash, and I — quickly grew close too.

So, yes. Home and family. Days were full, and nights passed in deep, peaceful sleep.

I still had dreams about leaving Peter behind. But I had other dreams too, like catching Claire just in the nick of time at that electrified fence. That didn’t make up for my brother, but it provided a little perspective, in a way. A little more peace.

Peter, I figured, wouldn’t mind me thinking such things. And I was sure he would have approved when fire season finally tapered to an end and I got to go home and stay there. Home, in Sedona.

“You think you’ll even remember how to relax after a season as hard as that?” Nash asked my first week back.

Relaxing hadn’t been my concern. Magic was. But I quickly concluded that living on a ranch surrounded by vortexes was pretty okay. Idyllic, even.

I laughed. “I’m a bear shifter. Downtime is our specialty.”

Still, I found myself plenty busy, between work on the ranch, helping Abby in the metal shop from time to time, and my own projects — especially the one I’d mapped out in my head during the long fire season. Nash helped me with it some afternoons, and even Claire had pitched in at times. When it was done, we had a big unveiling — Pippa’s idea.

“Any excuse for a party,” she joked.

She set up balloons and a long red ribbon that Claire cut for the grand opening.

Mike whistled. “Now that’s what I call a playground.”

“Sure is,” my father murmured, giving me a proud wink.

Yes, my parents had come down from Wyoming to visit me in my new home. It wasn’t Thanksgiving yet, but it felt like it. They hadn’t been all too sure about the witch thing, but Claire — and Abby’s firefighting background — had won them over in no time.

We all stood back, admiring the new playground — everyone but Claire, who raced off to test the monkey bars, slide, rope bridge, and jump stumps.

“Oh my gosh. It’s great!” Pippa gushed.

Her father, Greg, nudged her. “Space for lots more kids, you know.”

“Dad.” She stretched the word to four syllables and rolled her eyes.

He stuck up his hands. “Just saying.”

“The man has a point,” Mike chimed in. “You don’t want Claire growing up all spoiled. She has to learn to share.”

Yes, those two had a clear agenda when it came to the next steps in their daughters’ lives.

Abby wasn’t half as vocal as the others, but I could tell by the way her eyes shone that she loved the playground. Doubly so since she’d never had anything like it as a kid.

I hugged her, because that had been part of my goal, too — letting Abby catch up on some of the things she’d missed out on herself.

My sister, who’d also come to visit, pointed at us and laughed. “You two look cute in those shirts.”

My mom had followed a long family tradition by bringing us early Christmas gifts — matching flannel shirts, one for every member of the family, even Claire.

So, cute? I grimaced. Maybe.

Abby patted my chest and shot me a sly wink. “Adorable.”

“Exactly the look I was going for,” I sighed.

Then Claire called out. “Come on, Mommy! I’ll show you how it works!”

I let Abby go with another kiss and watched them play, grinning so hard, my cheeks hurt.

My mom wore a similar expression, as she so often did. It had always confused me, because standing around watching kids play hadn’t seemed super special to me. But now, I got it.

Boy, did I get it.

“Come on, Cooper! You too!” Claire called.

“Yeah, come on, Coop. Let’s see you try that tunnel,” Ingo joked.

I joined Claire, but not in the narrow tunnel or on the rope bridge, which Pippa raced toward.

“The ultimate test,” Ingo laughed as I headed for the monkey bars.

Oh, they were plenty sturdy. I knew, because I’d personally reinforced them.

That was the special bonus in all this. All summer, I fought fires — preventing destruction but not actually creating anything. Now, I got to make things and watch others enjoy the outcome. Especially Claire. And, hey. If Abby and I ever had more kids, they could play here too.

My bear was all over that one. Cubs! Soon!

Well, we would have to see about that. But I hoped so.

The blueprints for Claire’s playground had come from the business my sister ran with her husband and our cousin. I’d laughed off jokes about me opening a new branch of the company in Sedona, but now that I was done with Claire’s set… Well, maybe that wasn’t so crazy after all.

All in all, breaking in the playground was a highlight of my first month on the ranch full time. The next highlight came a little later, when, after months of waiting…

Claire was at another weekend sleepover at her friend Tana’s. Pippa and Ingo were out dancing, while Erin and Nash were already in bed due to their early-to-bed, early-to-rise ballooning schedule. So, the ranch was quiet, and Abby and I had the house to ourselves.

“So, I was thinking…” Abby said as we watched the stars from the porch.

My mind had been wandering, so I assumed she was going to follow with something like, I was thinking it’s time for dessert.

Not exactly what she’d meant, as it turned out.

“…now that you’re home for a while…” Her hand dropped to my leg.

Foolish bear that I was, I remained focused on the stars.

Now that you’re home for a while, we can start renovating the spare room , was what I absently expected to come next.

She stroked up and down a little, and boy, was that nice.

“…it would be a good time to… You know, to…”

She trailed off, blushing. I wasn’t looking, but I could sense her cheeks heat. We were that tuned in to each other.

Or maybe not as tuned in as I thought, because her hand slid toward my groin next.

Which was when it finally dawned on me that renovations were not what she had in mind.

Less than a minute later, we were panting, naked, and in bed.

Well, almost naked.

“Let me…” I broke off a kiss long enough to unclasp her bra. Maybe not the best idea, because I got a little distracted, kneading, kissing, and nipping her soft flesh.

Best distraction ever, it could be argued, but a distraction, nonetheless.

A good thing one of us was goal-oriented.

“Here,” Abby panted minutes later, guiding my hand to her core. “I need you here. And I need that mating bite. Now.”

She wasn’t kidding, and I was totally on board with that plan. Still, I did my best to throw on the brakes a little.

“A mating bite is a little like blacksmithing,” I mumbled, rolling away her panties.

“How?” she growled, kicking them off her ankles and feet.

“You need to lay the groundwork first.”

“ Lay is the only part of that sentence I like—” she started, then broke into a cry of delight as I touched down.

I circled my hand around, then…um…heated up the forge.

Abby arched as I probed and rotated, letting out another cry and another…

A damn good thing we had the house to ourselves.

While I worked her, she worked me, gripping my shaft and stroking up and down.

She moaned, tapping my back the same way she gave the anvil a few warm-up taps at work. A cue, of sorts. At work, that meant I should ready my sledgehammer and prepare to pound.

In bed, it meant… Well, pretty much the same thing.

She wrapped her legs around me, drawing me in deep. We settled into a steady rhythm, with her inner clenches timed to meet my powerful thrusts. The decibel level was a lot like work, too, except with heavy groans and sharp cries instead of metallic blows.

“Wait…” Abby panted.

I stopped so fast, it hurt. “Not good?”

“Very good,” she assured me. “But this would be even better…”

She pushed me back and rolled to her stomach, taking up…whatever we’d decided that position was called. The one with her on her belly with her rear raised and me on all fours behind her. Lazy dog?

My bear scoffed. I’ll show you lazy…

“Oh…” she breathed as I slid back home.

We picked up right where we left off, moving at a steady, perfectly matched pace.

But the longer we went, the more my control crumbled. My canines extended, and I scraped them along the side of her throat.

“Yes…” Abby bucked under me.

Instinct led me to the right spot, and I bit down — hard — and exploded inside her.

Abby let out a long, low moan. Or maybe a loud one. Hard to tell, because my bear drowned her out with a roar.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

The words echoed in a higher, feminine note in my mind. Because as surely as I was claiming Abby, she was claiming me.

Shocks of ecstasy racked my body. I held on, anchored deep in both places — teeth and core — while our essences mingled, forging an eternal bond.

My vision went blank, and sound and light blurred. I heard rustling trees and a rushing river. I smelled an alpine meadow flooded with flowers. I felt my thick pelt rub against something soft and sleek. Something that moved, rumbled, and hummed in delight — another bear, slight and trim, with a reddish tint to its brown fur.

My mate, the she-bear sighed as she wound her neck around mine, marking me with her scent.

All that played out in my mind as we flew through our high. My teeth remained deep, my body wrapped around Abby’s. Then, as the high gave way to waves of softer pleasure, my teeth retracted, and I pressed my tongue against her skin. Then I slowly let go, kissing the tiny wounds to make them heal instantly.

Abby gradually relaxed her grip on the sheets, letting me wind my fingers through hers. I lay over her, limp, panting, and thrilled.

After months of pining for this moment, we were here.

“Holy shit, was that good,” Abby murmured in her usual poetic style.

I chuckled into her shoulder blades. Yes. Yes, it was.

“Are we… Did you…” she mumbled.

I nuzzled her shoulder. “I did. We did.” We were mated now. Forever. “No second thoughts, I hope?”

She snorted and wiggled her rear. “The only thought I have is for seconds. Can we do that again?”

I laughed. “Anytime we want.”

Dangerous words, knowing Abby was the impatient type. Happily, she relaxed into my arms and let me hold her for a while.

“So, I get to be a bear now, huh?” she murmured once we’d eventually cleaned up and rearranged ourselves, spooning together in her — er, our — bed.

I stroked the patterns on her arms. “Yes. Well, pretty soon.”

“How soon?” she demanded.

I laughed. Abby had always assured me she loved the idea of being able to shift, but it was good to know she hadn’t changed her mind.

“It’s different for everyone,” I said. “But knowing you—” I felt around her ears, then snuck a hand along her hip “—that could be any time now. No sign of fur yet, though.”

Her laugh rippled through her body, and I tugged her closer, trapping her in my arms.

“Soon,” I murmured, tucking my chin over her shoulder and closing my eyes. “Very soon. I’m sure of it.”