Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,63

this development might change my plans a little.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to try a mind control spell?” James said, he bit his lip and smiled. He did try awfully hard. She had to give him that.

“If I have to,” she said, sighing. “But, first, we have to deal with this bitch. I’ll teach her to mess with my mark. I want you to keep an eye on her. Find out exactly what’s going on between them.”

“Ooh,” James wagged his eyebrows, “a cat fight.”

“You’re such a dumbass, James.”

20

Lydia

That didn’t go as planned, Lydia thought wryly.

The nice part about getting rejected from her (sort of) childhood sweetheart at the Black Bear Lake Lodge was that she had a luxurious suite to herself and endless access to the spa, comped meals, all the amenities. She hadn’t even begun to spend the gift card money.

She would’ve felt some pride about it all, except that she was all too aware of just how rich Eric Strauss was. It was a pittance to him.

Following her fight with Eric, she went back to her own suite in her stocking feet and carrying her shoes. She took off her bra, crawled into bed, and cried herself to sleep.

She was bothered by another nightmare about Eric. The same old thing yet again. He was in his bear form, getting torn apart right in front of her by some unseen monster. Blood gushed from everywhere. It was viscerally real and terrifying, and at this point, the nightmare seemed to be taunting her.

Lydia slept in and when she finally did wake, she stripped, and took a long hot bath in her jacuzzi tub, accompanied by a mini-bar mimosa. The bubble jets and heat were relaxing. She couldn’t say she was happy but, at least, she was physically feeling good.

After her bath, she ordered crab Benedict for breakfast and ate to her heart’s content in her fluffy white bathrobe with the lodge logo of a black bear on the pocket. The food didn’t taste quite right. It was as if her tongue was numb. She ate dutifully and without joy.

When she heard the knock at the door, she thought it must be the maid.

It felt very odd to have a maid cleaning up for her as she’d worked as a motel maid in some much less impressive places than the Black Bear Lake Lodge, more than once.

“Should’ve put up the do not disturb,” she muttered to herself. Rookie mistake, she thought.

She was about to politely ask the maid to come back later, but when she opened the door, there was Eric.

“Oh,” Lydia swallowed.

“Hey.” Eric was in one of his concierge suits. It made her miss the younger version of Eric she had known, the one who wore jeans and sweatshirts. Even if he did look fantastic in a well fitted suit. One lock of his perfect sleek hair had fallen over his eye as if foretelling that something was amiss. Before Lydia could ask why he’d come, he said, “I owe you an apology.”

She could have laughed. There was an original sin between them - her leaving. Even if she’d had her reasons. It was hard to get her head around him apologizing to her.

But she only nodded and said, “Okay…”

She opened the door wider, letting him in, and he nodded curtly, keeping his hands shoved in his pockets. She thought she saw him sniff slightly as he turned his head toward her, as if seeking her scent. She could sympathize. Eric wore just a dash of some fancy but masculine cologne and that combined with his natural bear’s scent that humans could never make out, and just the hint of sweat that her sensitive shifter’s nose could sense, was a sexy combination.

“Look, I know enough about the fates and lore and all that to know that certain kinds of nightmares are no joke,” Eric said slowly. “They can mean something. I guess.” He chuckled, running a hand through his hair.

Lydia felt weak in his presence and drew herself up a little, clasping her hands in front of her. Her hair was still wet from her bath and she was naked under her robe. She hated feeling so vulnerable while he wore his suit and yet it also turned her on a little bit.

But none of this was about that. It was just her bear...her bear who had never been more turned on by anything than by Eric Strauss.

“Thanks,” Lydia said simply, and cleared her throat. “I mean thanks for