Husband Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #1)(68)

He dressed as quickly as his aching muscles allowed, then stumbled to the living room. He pushed the thin curtain back from the window and froze. The dog wasn’t unfamiliar. Miki was just grown. He stood in the middle of the yard, looking up at something with a dog grin, his tongue lolled out to the side. He was big, much bigger than Ian had ever thought a runt would grow. Strong legs, a straight back, and a thick black and white coat that had a healthy sheen. White eyebrows over his mismatched eyes gave him a humanlike expression as he barked again.

“Beggar,” a soft voice said.

The smile fell from Ian’s lips as he pulled the curtain back farther. Elyse chucked a big stick into the woods and laughed a tinkling, happy sound as Miki bounded off toward it.

Ian’s breath froze in his throat. A long red scar ran down the length of her cheekbone now, though she didn’t favor it. Her smile was still just as big. She looked different in other ways, though. Her hair was longer and hung around her shoulders in soft, pretty waves. She wasn’t rail-thin anymore. She was stronger, and her posture was straighter. Her laugh echoed through the homestead and warmed him as Miki danced proudly back to her with the stick.

Unable to keep from touching her another second, Ian pulled open the door.

Elyse’s eyes jerked immediately to his, and she let off a tiny shocked sound. “Ian.”

Unsteady, he strode down the porch stairs as she sprinted toward him. He wasn’t strong enough yet to catch all of her weight as she launched at him like a torpedo, so he fell backward with her, cradling her from the fall as he laughed. Back in the mud, he clutched her to him. She felt so damned good against him, all warm and clutching his shirt. She was crying, so he held her even tighter and kissed the top of her hair.

Miki was bounding around him, whacking him with the stick in his mouth, so Ian let go of Elyse just long enough to rough up the dog’s fur on his head.

Elyse eased back, her eyes rimmed with moisture and her cheeks damp. “Ian, say something to me. I’ve waited so long to hear your voice.”

He cleared his raspy throat and whispered, “I love you.” That should be the first thing she heard from him. And from this spring onward, he swore to himself he would always start their warm-weather life with those words.

“I love you, too.” She nuzzled against his neck and curled her body over him. “I love you, I love you, I love you. And also, you should know I had to tell Josiah what you are.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, how else do you think I dragged your big furry ass into the root cellar? We had to borrow a damned tractor from the Fairways just to get you to the porch. Oh my gosh, I have so much to tell you. So many stories. Books I read and all the trouble Miki got into and one of the cows had a late season calf and I snared a rabbit all by myself and Ian, I missed you so much!”

He chuckled under the tiny kisses she laid all over his face, but that wasn’t what he wanted. Holding the back of her head, he pulled her close and leaned up. Her lips met his, and he closed his eyes against how damned good she felt. It could’ve been minutes or hours before he eased back.

Above him, the sun was shining behind her head like a halo as Elyse smiled down at him. His mate was so stunning she stole his breath away. Gently, he ran his finger against the long, red scar on her face.

The smile slipped from her mouth, and she shrugged. Dropping her gaze, she whispered, “I’ve been nervous about you seeing me like this.”

“No,” he whispered, his throat tightening. He knew that feeling. He’d had the same insecurity about her seeing him right after hibernation. “Elyse, look at me.”

She couldn’t seem to, so he rocked upward and pulled her into a straddle across his lap, then hooked his finger under her chin and lifted her striking green-gold gaze to his. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And that scar? Sexy as hell. You got that protecting me, didn’t you?”

Her face crumpled, and her chin trembled with emotion, but she was holding his gaze now, his brave mate. She nodded once as a tear slipped to her cheek. “Yes.”

Ian closed his eyes against the heartache. She was marked forever because of him. But another emotion overwhelmed any sadness that would take away from her moment of triumph. She’d waged war on an entire pack of werewolves and won. And then she’d gone through something unspeakably hard in the aftermath—healing and dealing with the trauma all alone. And here she was, healthy and strong, filling their yard with laughter and gifting him easy smiles. “I’m so proud of you.”

Elyse laughed thickly and buried her face against his neck, hugging him up tight. She was crying again, but that was okay. It didn’t make her soft. He’d seen her go to battle for him and knew what she was capable of.

“I saw you standing over me, firing at any wolf trying to get to me. Bleeding and fearless. You stunned me, Elyse. My beautiful badass.”

She sighed a happy sound and snuggled into his embrace, as if she could never be close enough to him.

He smiled over her shoulder as Miki lay down and began gnawing on his stick. Ian inhaled deeply and looked around the homestead to the barn, then to the pasture where the small herd of cattle bawled occasionally, chewing on their hay. He looked to the horses’ corral where Demon was acting ornery as ever, bucking and nipping at Milo.

Everything and nothing had changed.

“Ian?” Elyse whispered against his throat.