Page 46 of Awakened By the Guardian

He gave her a quick shake of his head.

“Sometime,” she repeated. “I get that you don’t want to do it now. But maybe tomorrow? After we find out Jesse’s been…handled?”

Gary nodded, his big grizzly head bobbing beside her.

“Okay, Mr. Bodyguard. But I want to spend tonight in my own bed⁠—”

He pushed her toward her door.

“Got it. Okay.”

They went into her loft and she locked the door. Gary plopped down on his bottom in the center of her floor, the best place to guard. Honestly, he was like a huge dog or something, though bigger, stronger, and everything she’d grown to think of as Gary’s natural characteristics. And when she moved to his side, absently sinking her hand into his ruff, he turned his head and swiped a long lick up her forearm.

“Ew!” she huffed, and then looked closer. He’d licked where Jesse’s claws had marred her skin. She’d been lucky, she realized, because the cuts weren’t deep. A couple Band-Aids would take care of the worst of it.

Gary whimpered in concern as she chuckled. “I’m fine. But I don’t want bear slobber all over me.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Actually, I need a shower. That okay?”

He nodded, and she almost laughed at his grave expression. Here she was, talking face to face with a grizzly bear, and it felt kind of normal.

“Okay, then,” she said, leaving his side to grab clothes from her dresser before heading to the shower. He angled his head to watch, then rose and followed her to the bathroom. When she made to shut the door, he shoved his paw forward to block it.

“You just want to see me naked,” she accused.

He gave a low whining sound that she couldn’t interpret, probably a grizzly version of a plea. Or a threat. Or just a sound to confuse her. “There’s no earthly reason you need to watch me shower,” she complained, but she only half meant it. It was nice to know that he found her so attractive—and even better to know the feelings were mutual.

He blew out a breath and turned deep soulful eyes on her. Wow. Even as a bear, he knew how to turn on the charm.

“Fine. You win.”

She showered with the door cracked, and he stood outside. She wasn’t sure if his nose poked in or not, but when she came out she felt better for him being there. This huge grizzly bear was in her living room…and she’d never felt safer.

Still, how long would he stay a bear? And what would he be like when he changed back? He had to be wondering. She certainly was.

“I’m hungry. Want anything?”

Gary grunted and shook his head, so she said, “Suit yourself.”

She went into the kitchen and made herself a sandwich, grabbing potato chips and then dropping onto her couch. As she settled, he adjusted his position. He still guarded the door, but now he was next to her, his dark grizzly eyes watching with a steadiness that felt different. Simpler. More accepting. Was that Gary in bear form, or just at the new place in their relationship? Either way, it was quieter and more comforting.

Yup. She’d just called a grizzly bear comforting.

She ate her sandwich and tossed Gary potato chips that he caught out of the air. Or he tried. The resulting antics had her laughing hard enough that her sides hurt. Then she turned on the TV and searched for something for them to watch.

Nothing caught her attention. Her mind was going too fast, memories popping up, thoughts spinning around. Eventually she turned the television off and looked at Gary, and somehow his expression got her talking. This was why people had dogs, she decided. Because they were great listeners. It was so easy to just let the words flow.

She burrowed her fingers into his fur and told him the rest of her secret—something so hidden that she hadn’t thought about it in years, though maybe it had never really been far from consciousness. It was about her next-door neighbor when she was a child, a boy who was in the same class and who’d delighted in tormenting her. He was a big kid with a mean dog, and he’d terrorized whomever he could. She’d lived next door to him for most of her early childhood.

Big body, big jerk. He’d yanked on her hair or knocked her backpack off her shoulder. His dog would bark in her face, and he’d snickered when she ran past crying, headed home as fast as she could. He caught her several times, trapping her against his chest. That big body suffocated her until he laughed and let her go. Her asthma had started about that time, too.

Eventually he’d moved away. He was out of her life by the time she was in middle school, and she’d shoved him out of her mind until now. Until she started seeing how she avoided big men. Until Gary had made her realize that she never would have talked to him if he’d been able to stand.

Weird, how something she hadn’t even thought about for years had shaped so much of her life and she hadn’t even realized it.

She told Gary the grizzly all about it. About how she’d felt then, and about how clear it was to her now. And when she eventually got too tired to talk, she got ready for bed, climbed under the covers and looked at the mattress. Would it hold him?

She gestured him over.

“Might as well test it, huh?”