Burn (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 5) Read online

  "I don't think—" she began.

  "Then we could go back to your house for a nightcap," he continued suggestively.

  Not if you were the last man on Earth, Elle thought in disgust.

  "No, I don't think so," she said in her firmest tone.

  She was a shifter and he was just an Ordinary, so she wasn't worried about her ability to hold him off if he decided to get physical.

  Her biggest concern right now was getting him to leave without causing a big fuss.

  His arm tightened around her waist. "Aw, c'mon, Elle. I know you're not dating anyone. Aren't you lonely for a real man?"

  "Stop it, Andy. It's time to go home. You're drunk," she said in disgust, forcibly freeing herself from his grasp.

  He blinked in momentary surprise at her strength.

  Then his expression turned ugly. He sneered at her. "And you're just a stuck-up bi—"

  A sinewy hand closed around his throat and momentarily cut off his air.

  "Now, that's no way to talk to a lady, mister," Justin chided Andy in his soft Texas drawl. "And Mrs. Swanson told you to go on home."

  Andy's eyes bulged, and his mouth opened and closed soundlessly, just like that of a landed fish. He grabbed Justin's hand and tried to remove it by force, but it was useless.

  Justin calmly held Andy in place as the Ordinary's face purpled dangerously. The sabertooth shifter's eyes gleamed like those of a big predatory cat observing a struggling rodent.

  "Justin, let him go," begged Elle.

  Lord knew that she'd been wanting to do the same thing to Andy…just not in the middle of Thor's wedding reception.

  The little confrontation was already attracting curious looks from a few bystanders, though most of the guests in the party tent were still busy dancing.

  At her words, Justin immediately released Andy and stepped back. Andy swayed and clutched at the edge of the bar as he gasped for breath.

  "Who the hell do you think you are?" Andy wheezed.

  Elle saw his fists clench, and she groaned inwardly.

  Trying to look intimidating, he leaned into Justin's space and thrust his jaw forward, which made him look like a red-faced bulldog.

  "I'm the father of the bride," Justin said, calmly crossing his arms. "And I don't want you doin' anything to ruin my little girl's wedding."

  "Go home, Andy. I'll be expecting an apology from you once you've had a chance to sleep it off," Elle said, keeping her tone firm.

  She didn't really think Andy was going to feel bad about his behavior, but she was trying to give him a chance to retreat before this situation escalated any further.

  Andy scowled defiantly. "I'll leave when I'm good and ready! And don't think I won't tell anyone that your friend here—" His mouth twisted in an attempted snarl "—attacked a guest, and you just stood by and encouraged him!"

  "Mom? Andy here giving you any trouble?" Evan asked as he strolled up, a bottle of water clutched in one hand.

  He had changed out of his tux and now wore his favorite cargo shorts, Teva sandals, and a T-shirt with a picture of a lynx on it. He smelled of bruised grass. Elle saw fresh stains on his T-shirt and shorts, as well as grass blades tangled in his long ponytail, and guessed that he must have been playing football with the kids.

  "Evan, sweetheart," Elle said with relief. "Can you give Andy a lift home, please? He's had a little too much to drink, and he's not feeling well."

  "I am not drunk!" Andy insisted, a little too loudly.

  Elle saw Paul the bartender, who was Sheriff Jacobsen's brother-in-law, roll his eyes and shake his head.

  Whatever Andy told people tomorrow, she doubted anyone would believe him. They all knew him too well.

  Evan surveyed the scene, one dark brow raised. His gaze lingered on Justin, who stood protectively at Elle's shoulder like a bodyguard.

  She decided she liked the feeling of having Justin at her back in this situation. Even though she could have handled one obnoxious Ordinary without help, having both Justin and Evan on hand ensured that Andy's removal from the wedding reception remained low-key.

  "Sure, Mom. I'd be happy to," Evan said good-naturedly and closed in on Andy with shifter speed.

  With the ease of a wildlife biologist experienced in capturing and tagging large game, Evan had Andy restrained and was hustling him out of the party tent before Andy could do more than utter an indignant "Hey! Let go of me!"

  "You've got yourself some good boys there, Elle," Justin said as they watched Evan haul Andy in the direction of the party's informal parking lot on the far end of the pasture. Then, with a wicked twinkle in his eyes, he added dryly, "Even if one of them turned out to be a lawyer."

  Elle chuckled. "Well, if you hadn't stepped in just now, I might have done something that both Andy and I would have regretted. Then Mark wouldn't have any choice about acting as the Swanson family lawyer and bailing his poor old mother out of jail."

  "I saw how you looked at him," Justin observed in a deadpan tone. "That man's downright lucky he still has the use of his arm."

  "My parents taught me that it was rude to dismember guests," Elle responded, trying for the same dry tone.

  It worked. Justin rewarded her with another one of his hearty laughs, and she felt that unwilling spark of attraction again. He was already handsome, but when his amazing eyes lit up like that, he was devastatingly sexy.

  Down, girl.

  She needed to get away from the reception for a bit. A few minutes away from the noise and crowd, and she'd be able put away the unpleasantness of having to deal with Andy and continue to act the part of gracious hostess and mother of the groom.

  "Justin," she asked on impulse. "How would you like to walk with me and grab a breath or two of fresh air?"

  His answering smile made her knees feel week. Oh, this is bad.

  "Why, I'd love to."

  He followed her out of the tent.

  Neither of them said anything as they crossed the expanse of lush green grass and made their way down to edge of the water.

  "So, you've known Andy for a while?" Justin asked with seeming casualness as he and Elle stepped onto a path that ran parallel to the riverbank.

  "Pretty much all my life. And he's been an obnoxious ass ever since our kindergarten days," she confessed.

  "That's the downside of livin' in a small town," Justin observed. "You know all your neighbors, and they know you, but you can't get away from ones that irritate you."

  "Andy wasn't always this bad," Elle said. "He's gotten a lot worse since he inherited all that money and property from his grandma."

  "So, he's not a bitter ex or anything like that?" Justin asked.

  "Andy Schlumbacher as my ex? Are you kidding me?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I wouldn't date him if he was the last man on earth! And even then, I'd probably decide to let our species die out."

  Justin chuckled at her outraged tone. "Well, I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that." His expression turned serious. "I've been meanin' to ask: are you involved with anyone right now?"

  Elle blinked, caught off guard by the question…and its implications. Could Justin actually be expressing an interest in her?

  True, he'd been flirting with her all day, but she had chalked most of it up to his desire to rile up Mark.

  "No," she said, feeling breathless and oddly flustered.

  "Good," he said, quietly, and reached out to take her hand.

  Just like before, Elle felt the same electric jolt at his touch.

  * * *

  As they walked in the shade of the tall cottonwoods lining the riverbank, Justin tried to analyze what he was feeling.

  Satisfaction, definitely. He'd sprung to Elle's defense against that intoxicated Ordinary, and she'd let him. That was always a good sign when it came to shifter courtship.

  But he felt more than just satisfaction at having successfully completed Step Two of his plan to court Elle and annoy Mark.

  Walking hand-in-hand with her like th
is made him feel…happy. And mostly peaceful, with a strong and intriguing undercurrent of desire.

  It had been a long time since Justin had felt happy. And so far this week, he'd experienced it multiple times, highlighted by his walk down the aisle this morning with his formerly estranged daughter on his arm.

  And now, this warm, vibrant, thrillingly strong woman was at his side, accepting his romantic advances.

  Justin was trying to figure out how he should take advantage of this golden moment of privacy to steal a kiss when his thoughts were interrupted by a large splash somewhere up ahead.

  A moment later, he heard a very young child shouting, "Ellie!"

  Elle tore her hand from his grasp and ran forward. Justin was close on her heels.

  "Oh my God," she exclaimed, coming to a sudden stop and kicking off her low-heeled pumps. "Matt! Ellie! They're both in the river!"

  Justin spotted a small, dark head bobbing in the current near the middle of the Salmon River. At first, it looked like a sleek, wet otter.

  Then, with a jolt of horror, he recognized Mark's eighteen-month-old daughter Elizabeth Margaret.

  An instant later, he saw three-year-old Matthew dog-paddling his way out to her, obviously trying to rescue his cousin.

  Matt might just be barely out of toddlerhood himself, but the kid had real guts and a bear shifter's protective nature, all right.

  He was also fully dressed and clearly struggling against the weight of his waterlogged clothes as he splashed and struggled his way where Ellie was bobbing helplessly as she was carried downstream.

  "You get her, I'll get him," Justin said urgently as he bent to pull off his boots.

  His jacket and hat were already off and on the ground.

  "Okay," Elle called over her shoulder as she leaped from the low bank into the shallow water.

  She rapidly waded out into the river until she reached the place where the bottom dropped away into a deep channel, then swam towards her struggling granddaughter with the fast, efficient strokes of an experienced swimmer.

  "Matt!" Justin called, waist-deep in the bracingly cold water himself by this time.

  He saw the moment that the mid-river current caught and buffeted the little boy, spinning him around and pulling him under.

  His breath caught as the boy disappeared under the surface.

  Shit! Justin launched himself forward and swam as fast as he could towards the place he had last seen Matt.

  He felt a rush of relief as Matt's head popped up again momentarily.

  Justin heard him cough and splutter.

  Then he sank again.

  When Justin reached the spot where he had last seen the little boy, he dove. Opening his eyes underwater, he peered frantically around, searching for a small shape in the clear, cold depths.

  Nothing except pebbles and streamers of water weed.

  Shit! Shit! Shit!

  Justin surfaced, gulped a lungful of air, and saw Matt's water-slickened hair about ten yards downstream.

  He was still trying to swim towards his little cousin but struggling against the current.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Justin saw Elle reach her granddaughter.

  Good. Now he just had to reach Matt, and everyone would be happy.

  Justin swam as fast as he could, and aided by the current, reached Matt quickly.

  He snagged the little boy by the back of his sodden T-shirt. "I got you, son."

  To his surprise, Matt screamed "NO!" and thrashed frantically, trying to get away.

  What the hell?

  Justin used his hold on the boy's clothes to draw him against his chest, then looped his arm securely around Matt's flailing body.

  As Justin began to tow Matt towards shore, the boy launched into an epic tantrum, sobbing and screaming and struggling, as if Justin were some kind of river monster intent on devouring him.

  "Ellie! Ellie!" were the only things that Justin could understand amid the shrieks of rage and fear.

  "Ellie's fine," Justin tried to assure him as he kicked and stroked through the water with his free arm. "It's gonna be okay, little man. It's gonna be okay. Your Nana's got Ellie. See?"

  But caught in the coils of his tantrum, Matt either couldn't hear him or was too exhausted and frightened to comprehend what Justin was trying to tell him.

  Justin reached the shallows and managed to stand. Dripping, his sodden clothes plastered to his body and with the little boy struggling hysterically in his arms, he began to wade grimly to shore.

  That was when little Matthew Swanson shifted into a bear cub in Justin's arms.

  Justin felt the struggling cub shred his sleeves with sharp claws and rake the flesh beneath, leaving long, deep scratches down each of Justin's arms. His screams turned to yowls of alarm and anguish.

  "Ow! Stop that!" he said in exasperation as he slogged the last few feet to the riverbank. "I'm just trying to help you, little bear!"

  Justin stepped up on dry land and saw blood welling from the long, parallel gashes on his forearms.

  He whistled in admiration. "Dang, little bear. I've been in challenge duels against adult sabertooths that did me less damage."

  Matt's response was to yowl even louder. By now, he was squirming and twisting so vigorously in Justin's hold that Justin was afraid he'd drop the little cub.

  He tightened his grip, ignoring the claws digging into his arms, and stepped out of the water.

  Only to be greeted by an earthshaking roar.

  Uh-oh.

  That was the only thing that Justin had time to think before a full-grown male grizzly came charging out of the tree line. The bear's jaws were wide open, revealing an impressive set of fangs.

  Justin caught Mark Swanson's scent and realized what this scene must look like, with little Matthew yowling in terror and struggling in a sabertooth shifter's hold.

  There was no time for Justin to shift, or run, or do anything but brace himself as the enraged bear bore down on him with 2,000 pounds of righteous, brown-furred vengeance.

  Chapter 4

  At the last possible moment, the huge bear skidded to a halt in front of Justin.

  Mark rose up on his hindquarters, towering above Justin, and raised one thick foreleg to swing at him.

  Justin saw the long, curving black claws that tipped the massive paw and knew that the bear intended to literally rip his head off.

  His arms tightened around the struggling bear cub in his arms, and he bent over Matt, instinctively trying to protect the little cub.

  Then he heard a second bear roar nearby, even louder than the first. And the wail of another little kid joined Matthew's outraged yowling.

  Great. I'm one dead cat.

  An instant later, a large bear with water streaming from its blonde-tipped fur and the remains of a pretty chiffon dress wrapped around its neck bowled into the Mark-bear.

  Justin saw Mark stagger sideways and nearly topple over before dropping down on all fours.

  Mark turned on the second bear with an angry snarl.

  The smaller blonde bear—it was Elle, Justin realized belatedly—was clearly having none of it.

  She growled loudly, lunged forward, and smacked the Mark-bear across the muzzle with her paw.

  Justin thought he was about to witness an all-out battle between two angry bears.

  But to his astonishment, he saw Mark sit down abruptly and bow his head.

  Elle growled at him again, and Mark went all the way down into a submissive crouch.

  She trotted away, and Justin finally remembered to breathe. Even little Matthew had gone quiet in his arms during the confrontation between the two bears.

  A strange ripple passed over the Mark-bear's skin, and Justin realized that Mark was beginning his shift back to human.

  Accustomed to the extremely painful and torturously long time it took him to shift to his sabertooth shape and back again, Justin was fascinated by the speed and seeming ease of Mark's shift as the bear rapidly dwindled away to reve
al a naked man on his hands and knees.

  Mark was panting a little, but he didn't look nearly as exhausted as a sabertooth shifter would have after two shifts in rapid succession.

  At this point, Elle returned, carrying a bawling and very wet Ellie in her arms.

  Elle was wearing the shredded remains of her dress, the tattered bits of chiffon held together by an apparently sturdy neckline.

  The delicate fabric was plastered to her skin by water, and Justin thought that she looked as pretty as a mermaid. Wherever her bare skin peeped out between bits of torn fabric, it was beaded with diamond drops of water.

  Justin covertly admired her curves as she approached him. She shifted Ellie to her hip and reached for a now-quiet Matt.

  Mark, who was now sitting up, watched Justin hand the bear cub, still dressed in his toddler outfit of jeans and a T-shirt, to his grandmother.

  "It seems I owe you an apology, Mr. Long," Mark said quietly, not meeting Justin's gaze.

  "You most certainly do! Mark Edward Swanson, what on earth were you thinking?" Elle demanded, her brown eyes glowing with anger as she settled Matthew on her other hip. "I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you right now. Justin saved Matt from drowning and you attacked him?"

  Mark winced and bowed his head.

  "I'm very sorry about the misunderstanding," he said softly, lifting his head to meet Justin's eyes. "It won't happen again."

  "It had better not!" Elle snapped. "Attacking a guest! My guest! Who was helping us!"

  Justin saw Mark's cheeks flush with embarrassment above his short, neatly trimmed beard. "I’m sorry, Mom. It's just—after what happened to Caitlyn, I just wasn't thinking straight."

  Elle opened her mouth, and Justin spoke quickly to head her next comment off at the pass. "That's all right, son. You thought you were defendin' one of your own. I'm a dad, too. I understand the need to protect your family."

  Mark's eyes widened. Justin's words had clearly taken him by surprise.

  Justin extended his hand. "Apology accepted, and we'll say no more."

  Mark didn't hesitate before grasping and shaking it. "Thank you. I appreciate your understanding, Mr. Long."

  "Now, didn't I ask you to call me Justin, son?" Justin asked, as genially as he could. He couldn't resist needling Mark a tiny bit, so he added, "Since we're all kin now."