Melted By The Bear: A Paranormal Shifter Romance by Amira Rain Read Free Book Online Page A

for just a split second before giving Cormack a polite smile. “Welcome home, Commander Blackthorn.”
    Cormack thanked her, then introduced this woman to me as Hazel Clark, head maid of the house, and introduced me to her simply as Aria English. Fortunately, he did not identify me as “frozen woman escapee I just retrieved from the woods,” and Hazel made no query as to who exactly I was.
    Once she and I had exchanged tepid pleased-to-meet-yous, Cormack asked her to please show me to my room. She then ushered me away from Cormack, and through the airy, polished wood-planked foyer, and then down a long, polished, wood-planked hallway to a spacious bedroom she said would be mine. Immediately spotting a clear, lidded pitcher of water and a glass on one of two nightstands, I asked if I could help myself, and she said of course.
    While I drained a glass of water, trying not to rudely chug it, she gestured to a wide dresser that looked like it was made of oak, polished to a high shine.
    “In the dresser and closet, you’ll find everything you need as far as clothing, shoes, accessories, and the like, and the bathroom is fully stocked with just about every kind of toiletry imaginable. Now, as far as dinner, I heard you haven’t had anything to eat since this morning, so I’ll bet you’re starving. Would you like a tray sent to your room, or would you like to eat in the dining room or the kitchen?”
    Cormack hadn’t called his house or anything to let staff members know we’d be arriving, and yet Hazel hadn’t seemed surprised at all when Cormack had shown up with me in tow. And now she’d somehow “heard” that I hadn’t had anything to eat since that morning. In order for her to have gleaned that info, I guessed that she had to have a pal or two at the hospital. And as far as her not seeming surprised that I’d arrived with Cormack, I guessed that maybe word had traveled fast when his men had returned to town ahead of us bearing news of finding me in the woods.
    In response to Hazel’s question, I asked if I could please have a tray sent to my room, and she immediately left to go get one, saying she wouldn’t be longer than ten minutes.
    She actually made it back in five, bearing a tray that she set on a caramel-colored polished wood writing desk that sat below one of several wide windows in the room. All business and zero small talk, she pulled out the desk chair for me, took the silver lid off the plate on the tray, and asked me if there was anything else I needed. I was getting so tired that I was having trouble thinking, but I said no, I didn’t think so.
    Hazel, who was a petite woman probably in her mid-fifties, dipped her head in a nod.
    “All right, then. If you do need anything, you’ll find a new cell phone in the top left drawer of the dresser, and you can call or text the number listed as staff , and whatever you need will be brought to you, day or night. As far as your dinner tray, you can leave it on the desk if you’d like when you’re finished, or set it outside the door if you prefer, and someone will get it tomorrow. Goodnight.”
    With that, Hazel turned and strode out of the room without so much as a hint of a smile. Her voice hadn’t held an iota of warmth at any time, either. I was going to need to find more Janes soon, hopefully at least one of them a member of Cormack’s staff, if I was ever going to survive in a house with such a chilly head maid.
    Realizing that I was hungry, despite thinking that morning that I wouldn’t want to eat for another day or two, I soon tucked into the dinner on the tray. The meal consisted of herb-crusted chicken, some sort of vegetable casserole, and buttery mashed potatoes with bacon, cheese, and chives; in a word, it was phenomenal. I’d dined in some of the finest restaurants in New York City and Paris, but I’d never before had chicken so perfectly tender, vegetables so flavorful, or potatoes so creamy. Even the plain white and wheat dinner