An Unexpected Affair (7 page)

There was no doctor nearby, and the storm was far from over. The cold rain started to chill his naked skin, and Clarice didn't have much warmth in her either. The nearest clinic was halfway across the island, and if the storm didn't get them on the way, the cold temperatures surely would. There was nothing else he could do but carry her home and hope that she'd wake up on her own. He had to trust that she would be fine without immediate medical attention.

He started walking back up the same way through the trees as he had come earlier. But in his human form, without the protective thick fur, the cold significantly slowed his progress. Derek could feel his muscles tighten and lethargy wash over him.

He looked down at Clarice's face. She was completely still, even as the heavy droplets hit her ivory skin. It took all the energy he had left to transform yet again, taking the utmost care that the claws his hands sprouted didn't hurt her. Once again covered in warm fur, he started on the walk home.

Running on all fours would have been quicker and more comfortable for him, but as long as Clarice was protected against the elements in his strong arms, slow and steady would have to do. He kept going, zig-zagging through the woods while hunching over just enough to keep her dry.

By the time they got back to the farmhouse together, her cheeks had even warmed to a rosy pink. If he didn't know any better, he might have thought she was sleeping.

Clarice had the strangest dream.

After crashing her car into the tree - or having the tree crash into her, she wasn't certain how it had happened exactly, she'd been trapped in a world of white noise. She couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't even feel her body.

Somehow, she had made it out of the wreck and back to the cottage, though. She had been aware of her movements, somewhat, as well as the noises around her, but she hadn't been able to see much of what had occurred. The one thing that stood out to her was Derek's voice. He'd asked if she was okay, and if she was in pain. He'd hoped out loud that she hadn't been badly hurt.

Clarice had wanted to tell him that it was fine, that he didn't need to worry himself, but couldn't open her mouth to form the words. She had caught a glimpse of his face looking down at her, before the overwhelming urge to sleep on had dragged her back into the white. Or perhaps all that had also been part of her dream, and it wasn't Derek who had rescued her.

Somewhere between the car wreck and the farmhouse, she was certain that there had been another presence as well.

She had crashed near the spot where she'd first seen that shadow in the woods and was now certain it had been the bear. Throughout her mysterious rescue, the bear had been watching all along, she could feel his eyes on her. At one point, when her eyes refused to open, she thought she could even feel fur, brushing against her cheek.

The strange thing was, even though she knew the bear was there, close to her, she didn't feel like she was in danger at all. She felt completely safe, cared for even.

The feeling still lingered when she finally did open her eyes.

While she was in the white world, time seemed to hold no importance. Upon waking, and struggling with her vision as her eyes adjusted to the light in the strange room she found herself in, Clarice had no way of figuring out how long she'd been unconscious.

There was a flicker of a candle on the heavy wooden dresser in the corner. She tried to lift her head to get a better view of the rest of the room, but a thumping headache prevented her from moving too much. The bed was comfortable and smelled of clean cotton.

Clarice reached upwards, carefully exploring the painful welt on her forehead with her fingertips, before letting her arm drop beside her body, back onto the soft, bouncy mattress. After staring at the black wooden beams holding up the ceiling for a moment, she turned onto her side.

She was definitely sore, and not just on her head, though there didn't seem to be anything else wrong with her that she could tell. The dresser, the huge wardrobe and the equally solid looking door looked very similar to the furniture and decor of Moss Cottage. But this wasn't her bedroom.

After taking a deep breath, and closing her eyes to focus, she lifted herself, bringing her back closer to the headboard of the bed. It was only then that she realized she was not alone. Towards the other side of the bed, in the corner, a figure slept in a wicker armchair.

Although the candle light did not brighten up that part of the room much, she would recognize him anywhere. Derek.

So it hadn't just been a dream. He had rescued her from the car wreck and carried her all the way back to the farm, just like she'd thought. She wondered what else from her dream was true. The bear? It couldn't be, could it?

Her heart was hammering in her chest as she continued to watch him sleep. Was this his bedroom? Perhaps it was one of the other cottages, surely Derek - who as far as she could tell didn't even like her - wouldn't have brought her into his home?

He stirred slightly, readjusting himself against the side of the large chair. Clarice held her breath in an attempt not to make any sound, but next thing she knew, he had opened his eyes. She shouldn't have seen it, considering how little light there was, and yet there they were: two burning amber orbs, looking right at her.

"Uhm," Clarice started, too nervous to formulate proper words.

"How are you feeling?" Derek's deep voice attempted to soothe her, when Clarice remembered why she'd been upset earlier, before the crash.

"How long was I unconscious for?" she asked coolly. She felt torn. Although she realized how ridiculous it was of her to feel so betrayed over what was essentially a detail - one that isn't even any of her business - still, emotions threatened to well up again. Then again, he did rescue her, she should be thankful for that.

Derek sat up straight, his eyes still burning brightly at her.
Weird.

"It's dark," Clarice mumbled.

"Power's out," Derek explained. He got up and moved in closer to Clarice's bed, keeping his eyes fixed on her. His movements were deliberate, purposeful. He looked like a man on a mission.

Clarice held her breath, but her heartbeat sped up anyway. As he moved into the candlelight, she could finally see his expression. His eyes looked her over, lingering on her forehead - Clarice wondered if it looked as bad as it felt - then traveled downward, pausing on her lips. He seemed tense, with his lips pressed together tightly, disguising how sensual and full she'd remembered them to be.

Should she say something?

Derek sat on the edge of the mattress beside her and leaned over, gently brushing a lock of her hair out of the way and carefully inspected her injury.

"That was a close call," he mumbled.

His breath tickled her face as he spoke, and Clarice instinctively closed her eyes for just a moment too long. Having Derek this close to her now overloaded her senses. She wanted nothing more but to lean in, just to get a little taste of him. Despite her earlier assumptions, it did seem as though he cared for her. However, she couldn't be sure he cared for her
like that.

All she could do to stay civil was to focus on her breathing, in and out, to force her body to slow down, when all it wanted was to spin out of control. She opened her eyes again and noted that he was still there right in front of her.

"That tree, it was too close. I couldn't avoid it," Clarice explained though the words seemed unimportant.

"I know."

"You carried me all the way." Although she'd intended for it to be a question, the sentence came out as a statement. Her memories, however muddled, already told her that he had, in fact, done so. He looked strong, with his broad shoulders and thick biceps that ever so slightly fought against the fabric of his shirt, but she'd crashed quite a long way away, and it wouldn't have been easy to carry her for such a distance. How had he managed that?

A hint of a smile played on Derek's lips, and he nodded.

"I couldn't very well leave you there, could I?"

"I suppose not."

This was the most they'd spoken in the entire week that she'd been at McMillan Farm. The familiarity in Derek's expression made Clarice feel like they knew each other a lot better than they did.

"You're not married," Clarice spoke in a whisper, more to herself than to him.

He shook his head, looking away at the crisp white bed sheet.

"Why didn't you say something?" Clarice wondered out loud. The whole situation was bizarre and confusing.

"I didn't think it made a difference. In another week, you'll go home..." Derek left the rest of his thought for Clarice to fill in for herself. So he did like her? He'd only kept the misunderstanding alive to avoid awkwardness when she left?

Her heart beat even faster, and an awkward silence spread through the room. Clarice had a million and one things she wanted to say and not say at the same time. She wanted to wrap her arms around Derek's shoulders and kiss him, to show him somehow that she wouldn't have just packed up and left if he indeed did have feelings for her.

Bizarrely, she could no longer believe that the attraction she felt towards him was just a childish infatuation. She'd had those before, but this... it ran deeper somehow. Not that she had an explanation for it at all.

Only, she didn't get the chance to do any of it, because the unusually large bedroom door flung open without warning, and there he was: the big brown bear she thought she had seen in the woods on her first day. The one that had wormed its way into her confused dream while she was passed out. She let out a shriek, and in a panic crawled backward against the headboard until she could crawl no further.

"What the!" Derek's voice boomed around the room, distracting the bear, whose gaze darted back and forth between Clarice and the edge of the mattress where Derek had just sat.

She looked over at Derek, hoping desperately that this was indeed his bedroom in the main house, and he had stashed a hunting rifle nearby, or at least something - anything - to protect the two of them against the wild animal that had just entered. But he wasn't sitting beside her anymore. Instead, his already imposing form had made way for an even more impressive one. Another bear, standing squarely in the middle of the room, mere feet away from the intruder.

Clarice didn't know what to do, whether to scream or cry, close her eyes and wish the two scary intruders away. Maybe she had never woken up. Maybe this - as well as the preceding conversation with Derek - was all still part of a crazy dream conjured up by her subconscious. A crazy dream turned terrible nightmare.

She started to feel faint, but the overwhelming sense of panic didn't let her consciousness wane again. Faced now with two bears instead of just one, it was only a matter of time before they'd pounce on her, ripping her to shreds with their huge, sharp teeth.

"Aidan. Bad timing," a voice that sounded more like a growl spoke from Derek's direction.

"Well... This is awkward," the other bear seemed to say, with an equally rough, deep voice.

Clarice felt herself calm down a little bit. There was a voice in the back of her mind, Derek's voice, which told her she was safe. She believed it without question. Now that she was faced with two
talking
bears, it was obvious her mind was just playing with her.

I'm safe.

Her only regret now was that her intimate chat with Derek earlier probably hadn't been real either.

"A word, please?" Derek said to Aidan, all the while eyeing Clarice, who continued to be stunned into silence.

Aidan nodded, and both the bears exited the bedroom, leaving Clarice behind.

Aidan's timing couldn't have been worse, Derek thought. Throughout his conversation with Clarice, he could tell that she did feel strongly for him. He could sense her mood: a mixture of yearning and affection. Her hormone levels suggested a physical reaction to his presence. He could smell the pheromones in the air. As she looked at him, her pupils dilated, her cheeks turned flush, and her entire body seemed to invite him in.