Jake Read online

  “Hi there.” His sad, faded eyes misted with tears. “It’s good to see you.”

  “Hi.” Harry waved awkwardly while Kiki froze and stared at her grandfather.

  “Harry, what’s going on?” Kiki looked at her mate, looking for answers from the man she trusted more than anyone in the world. Harry was her anchor, her constant in a world that was less than two years old to her brain. “I know these people, don’t I?”

  “Just relax and see if anything is familiar to you,” Harry instructed. “You know what the doctors said, you can’t force it and it’s better if you make the discoveries on your own.”

  “I just want to know. I just want to remember.” Kiki’s face grew pale and she inhaled deeply as she reached out for Harry. “I need some fresh air.”

  “I’ll help you.” Lana rushed over and put her arm around her daughter. “This way.” She led her toward the back door and opened it wide. “There, breathe deeply. I find the mountain air always makes me feel better.”

  “I don’t remember the mountains,” Kiki said as she placed her hand to her temples. “But you. There is something about you. Something familiar.”

  A shrill laugh traveled across the back yard from the barn and Kiki froze, her attention fixed on the sound.

  “You’re shaking.” Lana’s arms tightened around her daughter, but Kiki pulled away. “Wait.”

  “I know that sound. My little she-bear.” Kiki yanked free from Lana, who hurried after her daughter.

  “You can’t let her see you.” Lana caught hold of Kiki and pulled her back into her arms. “You can’t.”

  “Why?” Kiki asked, searching Lana’s face for an answer. An answer she found. “We have the same eyes.”

  Lana swallowed down her tears as she nodded. “We do.”

  “My parents didn’t die in a car accident, did they? That’s why I can’t remember it. I can’t remember that night.” Confusion covered her face. “I don’t recognize Jake. Is he my father?”

  “No, honey, he isn’t. He’s just a friend.” That was a lie. “He’s my mate.” Her forehead wrinkled. “Or I’m his mate. It’s all so new I’m not sure how it works.”

  “So you are my mom?” Kiki’s intense stare bored into Lana. “I… I said I’d come back, that I was just going to help a friend.” She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. “I never came back.”

  “No, honey, you didn’t. I looked for you, I searched for you.” Lana sobbed loudly. “I didn’t know if you were dead or alive.”

  “All I remember is Aunty Doreen. She told me I’d lost my memory.” Kiki took a huge sobbing breath. “She told me my parents had died. She lied to me.”

  “It sounds as if she just wanted a family of her own.” Lana let the anger bubbling up inside her dissipate. “Let’s focus on the present for now, shall we? You have a wonderful man who loves you very much.”

  “Harry.” Her mouth turned up at the corners and her face brightened as if the sun had burst through the clouds on a rainy day. “I love him so much. But something has been holding me back.” Kiki turned toward the barn. “Now I know what it is.”

  “Do you remember her name?” Lana asked.

  “Ursula. My little she-bear.” Kiki smiled and pulled away from Lana. “Sula!”

  The sound of children playing ceased and then Ursula came running out of the barn and stopped, her face crumpling as she sobbed. “Mommy!”

  “Sula.” Kiki ran forward and Lana followed, although she gave mother and daughter the space they needed to become reacquainted.

  “A happy ever after,” Jake said as he came to stand beside her, and Harry followed the woman he loved across the back yard and out through the gate that led to the barn.

  “A happy ever after.” Lana slid her arm around his waist and held onto him as she cried silent tears of joy. Kiki and Ursula were hugging and crying, the young girl unable to contain her emotions at finally being reunited with her mom. Harry hung back for a moment or two before Kiki turned to him and held out her hand. Harry took it and knelt down beside mother and daughter.

  “I had given up hope of a happy ever after until we came here to Bear Creek,” Lana admitted as the small family embraced each other. Harry would welcome Ursula into the family and love her as if she were his own. Jake had explained that was the way of shifters and Lana was grateful Kiki would never have to choose between her old life and her new.

  “I had given up hope, too. Until you came to Bear Creek.” Jake slipped his arm around her shoulder as she walked toward the barn. “I believed I’d be alone forever. That happiness was for everyone else. And I’d come to terms with it.”

  “You foolish man.” Lana placed her hand on his chest and turned to face him. “Happiness is for everyone. I firmly believe that.”

  “Does that mean you’ll marry me?” Jake asked as he slipped down on one knee and pulled out a small box.

  “Wow, I’m living in one of the stories we print in Revealed,” Lana joked. “I’m the woman who tamed confirmed bachelor Jake Harrison and got engaged in a whirlwind romance.”

  “There is nothing wrong with a whirlwind romance.” Jake opened the small box and showed her the ring.

  “My mother’s engagement ring.” Lana looked over her shoulder, back toward the house where her father and Rosemary were watching, arm in arm. A lump formed in her throat and fresh tears flowed.

  “Your dad said he’s been holding on to the ring in the hope that one day you would meet Mr. Right. I’m honored he thinks I’m that man.” Jake looked at the ring and then at Lana. “I suppose I should have waited. Having Kiki back and everything else…”

  “No!” Lana cupped his face in her hands. “No, this is the perfect time.” She leaned down and kissed his face before she straightened up and said, “My answer is yes. Just in case you needed to hear me say it.”

  A grin spread across Jake’s face. “I did need to hear it. Just to be sure.” He took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her outstretched finger. “Perfect.” He kissed the back of her hand before standing up straight and threading his arm around her waist. “I love you, Lana. With all my heart.”

  “Not quite all,” Lana said as Milly came toddling toward them.

  “Daddy!” she called out and held her arms out to him.

  “Hey there, my sweet girl.” He picked her up and held her in his arms. “You must be the luckiest girl in the world. Soon you’ll have three mommies and three daddies.”

  Milly clapped her hands in delight. “Mama.”

  “Mama.” Lana nodded and wrapped her arms around Milly and Jake. As she looked over Jake’s shoulder, she saw Harry pick up Ursula and swing her around. Lana’s granddaughter laughed uncontrollably as the world spun around her. Then Harry, Kiki, and Ursula embraced. “I should pinch myself to check that I’m not dreaming.”

  “Would you want to wake up if you were?” Jake asked her as he gazed lovingly into her eyes.

  Lana smiled and shook her head. “No. I don’t think I would. This is about as perfect as it gets.”

  Jake kissed her cheek and held her against his broad chest, and she inhaled his now-familiar scent. As he took a deep breath, he sighed. “First thing tomorrow I’m going to trade my Porsche in for a family car and start hunting for someone to take over my company. I might even sell completely. It’s time I learned to enjoy life and everything it has to offer. Isn’t that right, Milly?”

  Milly nodded and hugged her daddy. Jake might have taken some persuading that taking in a child was a good idea. But now he was a family man surrounded by people who loved him.

  And always would. Thanks to a certain baby named Milly who entered their lives and captured their hearts.

  Epilogue

  “I’m so nervous.” Jake sat up in bed and looked at the sun streaming in through the window.

  “Why are you nervous?” Lana asked as she pushed herself to a sitting position and placed a comforting hand on her husband’s back. “You aren’t the one adopting
two children.”

  He turned his head to face her. “I always feel responsible for everyone. For every member of this family. And today we’re going to have two new members. What if they don’t settle here?”

  “Everyone settles here.” Lana leaned forward and kissed his shoulder. “You just need to let go.”

  “Max and Josephine have been waiting for this day for so long. They’ve worked so hard to get the house ready for the children…” Lana leaned forward and kissed Jake’s lips. If only she could kiss all his cares away.

  “Do you think your worry is partly because you have let go of your business?” Lana asked.

  “You think I’m transferring my fear of not working my ass off seven days a week onto worrying about my family?” Jake’s brow creased and then his expression cleared. “You might be right.”

  “Haven’t you realized yet?” She leaned forward and kissed his lips before murmuring, “I’m always right.”

  Jake chuckled, his fear over Josephine and Max broken like the pieces of a shattered mirror as he pulled his mate into his arms and snuggled down under the bed covers once more. “I have realized many things over these last couple of weeks. The main thing I have realized is just how much I love you and how you have made my life complete.”

  “Isn’t that two things?” Lana teased as Jake inched the strap of her nightgown down over her shoulder. His lips pressed against her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

  “Who is counting?” He nipped her hardened nipple through the fabric of her nightgown, robbing her of any smart retort she might have made. Who needed words when a mouth could give so much pleasure in so many different ways?

  Tugging on his shorts, she pushed them down over his slender thighs. Jake relinquished his hold over her as he wrestled them off his feet and threw them aside. Lana sat up and pulled her nightgown over her head, before threading her fingers through her hair and neatening it up. Mornings had long ceased to be the best time of day for a natural look. Her hair inevitably looked like one of Ursula’s dolls. All messed up and impossible to brush.

  “You are perfect just the way you are,” Jake told her as he took hold of her left hand and kissed it. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

  “You are a flatterer, Jake Harrison.” She smiled a half-smile. “How you wound up with me, I’ll never know.” She held up her hand. “I know, fate and all that mumbo jumbo, but even so…”

  “Stop questioning why we are together and make love to me.” He slid down beside her on the bed and claimed her lips with his. Lana gasped as he nipped her bottom lip and Jake slid his tongue into her mouth. She sucked on it, grazing it with her teeth.

  “Damn, you drive me insane,” Jake ground out when their kiss broke, leaving them both breathless.

  “Don’t blame me. You must already be crazy to have so many relatives living in such close proximity.” She smoothed her hand down his cheek. “And I love you for it. I love your sense of family. Of loyalty.”

  “Now who is flattering who?” Jake’s voice croaked as emotion welled up inside him. Over the last few weeks, he’d let his walls down, he’d let her in and was willing to let her see the softer side of the man who had worked so tirelessly to give his brothers the security they craved.

  Jake hovered over her before nestling between her thighs. “It’s not flattery if it’s the truth.”

  Lana wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his mouth as he guided himself into her. Each time they made love was more special than the last. It was as if each time he entered her, they learned more about each other and the bond between them deepened.

  As he moved in and out of her, the connection between them blossomed as tendrils of desire unfurled in her belly. Lana trailed her fingers down his back while she nuzzled his neck, inhaling his scent. No stale deodorant smells. Jake smelled of fresh pine forests and the honeysuckle which grew in the back yard, which he’d brushed against last night as they’d walked in after watching the stars come out one by one.

  He pulled back his hips and then thrust forward harder, the friction between their bodies growing in intensity as they raced toward their climax. Jake cupped her breast in his hand and lowered his head, sucking her nipple into his mouth. Her body tensed, her inner walls tightening around him and he groaned, the fingers of his free hand curling around the pillow beneath her head as he fought for control.

  But she didn’t want him to be in control. She wanted him to let go.

  Lana wrapped her legs around his thighs and changed the angle of her body so that each sweep of his body over hers brushed her mound. As her orgasm rushed toward her, her inner muscles tightened around him, increasing the friction as he thrust deeper into her.

  Jake groaned, nearing his climax and Lana pushed him closer as she nipped his neck, her hands trailing through his hair as his mouth tortured her nipple.

  She came. Sensations overwhelmed her as if she’d shattered into a million pieces. But as quickly as those pieces flew apart, the closeness of her mate pulled them back together again. Jake made her whole.

  “I will never get enough of you.” Jake cradled her in his arms, her head resting on his chest as the sun rose higher in the sky. They should get up and get out of bed, but neither of them wanted to move. Not yet.

  Not ever.

  “I wish we’d met sooner. That we’d had all of our lives together.” She sighed. “But then I would not have had Kiki and you would not have adopted Milly.”

  “We have plenty of time to create a new life together and watch the children and grandchildren grow.” He sighed in contentment.

  “This is just the beginning.” She lifted her chin off his chest and looked down at him. “We should get up and get dressed. Max and Josephine are collecting their children at ten. I promised Heather I would help with setting out the food for when they get back.”

  “One more moment.” Jake pulled her back down by his side. “I just want one more moment alone with you before the day begins.”

  “Are you okay?” Lana stroked his chest as a shuddering breath passed through him.

  “Yes.” He sighed again. “We came so close to losing it all because of Elliot. I just want to take a moment, a snapshot in time so I never forget how lucky I am. It’s taken me a long time to feel that way. When our parents died and during all the years that followed, before you came into my life, I thought our luck was gone. My luck was gone.”

  “I’m here. Your family is here.” Lana cupped his face in her hands. “And we will be happy for the rest of our lives. Or fate will have me to answer to. I’ve had enough pain and drama to last this lifetime and the next.”

  “And now we have enough love for this lifetime and the next.” He brushed her hair back from her face. “This is the image I want to remember forever. My mate. In my arms. Right where she belongs.”

  “And right where she is going to stay.” Lana kissed his mouth. “I love you, Jake.”

  “I love you, Mrs. Jake Harrison.” He kissed her, sealing their love.

  Sometimes it was hard to see the destination along the winding road life traveled. However, as Lana held him close, she knew this was where she was always destined to be. In the arms of a man she could love and honor for the rest of her life.

  And the next.

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  READING ORDER FOR

  Bear Creek Clan and Bear Bluff Clan

  Complete Box Set

  Or available individually

  suggested reading order

  (each can be read as a standalone

  but why not start at the beginning and get to know all of the characters?)

  Rescued by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book One)

  Finding Her Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Two)

  Tamed by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Three)

  Snowbound With The Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Four)

  Biker Bear Billionaire (Bear Creek Clan Book Five)

  Bound To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Clan Book One)

  Doctor Bear (Bear Bluff Clan Book Two)

  Stranded With Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Three)

  A Bride for the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book Six)

  Home Or Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Four)

  Fated To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Five)

  Lonely Bear (Bear Bluff Book Six)

  Wolf Valley Raiders

  Complete Box Set Out Now!

  Or available individually

  suggested reading order

  Redeem the Wolf

  To Catch A Wolf

  Reclaim the Wolf

  Awakening the Alpha

  Biker Bears

  Forbidden Bear

  Secret Bear

  Christmas Bear Brothers

  Complete Box Set Now Available

  Or available individually

  suggested reading order

  Santa Paws

  Christmas Catastrophe

  Bear Humbug

  Fated and Mated

  Love at First Site

  Her Scars To Bear

  Her Choice To Bear

  Her Russian Bear

  Who’s the Daddy?

  Complete Box Set Available

  Or available individually

  suggested reading order