by J. K Harper
She bubbled out more laughter that seemed to sparkle in the crisp late January air. Something about it seemed so free, so open, that his heart thumped again. He needed to be careful here. A date with a pretty, badass woman was one thing. Any more than that, though, was treading on dangerous territory. Everyone in town didn't call him Bang 'Em Beckett for no reason. He did one night, and no more. More was too dangerous.
His bear huffed deep inside, the sound bracketed with a growl. Beckett pushed back at the beast, hard. Fucking hell, he just wanted to ski and enjoy the day with Pix. Just one day, damn it. One rad day and hopefully one awesome night.
Then it was time to move on, since his bear would freak her the fuck out otherwise. Little human woman like her, she'd never be able to handle how rage-y he could get when he just couldn't control his bear. Which was more days than not.
He lobbed an easy grin at her, forcing himself to keep the day light and fun. “So why is your name Pix? Did your parents hate you or something?”
She reached down, grabbed some snow, and chucked it right at his face. He ducked in time to the sound of her cute cackling. Shit, she was adorable. He could tell she had a streak of fierceness in her, though. Something about her was sort of powerful, weird as that sounded. She might be little, but he bet she packed a punch, both literally and figuratively.
“No, they didn't hate me. But I hated my real name and every possible nickname you could come up with from it. My older brother always called me a little pixie, saying I was a tiny little pain in the ass pixie.” She shrugged. “I finally just made everyone call me Pix. But my mom still refers to me as Penelope.”
Beckett's eyebrows shot up. “Penelope? Damn. They did hate you.”
She snorted as she pulled her goggles down firmly on her face, then checked her boots to make sure the heels were well locked into her skis. “They wanted me to live up to that name. I decided not to.”
Before he could respond to that, she gave him a flirtatious little ass wiggle that about caused a riot out here in the middle of nowhere. Beckett blinked rapidly several times, talking down his suddenly very interested dick. He was too busy staring at her sweet body to pay attention to her sneaky next move.
"Ready yet, slowpoke? Last one down is a cheeto-head!" She abruptly shot down the mountain, launching into graceful turns on the thick blanket of fresh powder. "And it's not going to be me!" she called back, another peal of gorgeous laughter with a streak of something wild and hot running beneath it hanging on the air as she sped downhill.
Fuck yeah. He had no idea what a cheeto-head was, but he liked her style. Fun, quirky, sexy, and as daredevil as he was. Beckett quickly double-checked his own bindings and shoved off after her. This was more like it. A hot, interesting woman who knew what she was doing. A woman, he quickly realized as he watched her expert moves, who not only could keep up with him going up the mountain but might actually pose a real challenge in beating her down to the bottom. She moved like she'd been born on skis. He might have to put in some serious effort to stay close on her tail.
And what a sexy tail it was, he thought as he admired her ass while they caromed downhill. His bear rumbled with approval. At least they agreed on that.
The run went by in a thrilling blur of bright blue sky, dazzling white snow, and laughter. She was amazing. When they reached the bottom, Pix in the lead, Beckett could honestly say he could have beaten her down—but just barely. She shushed to a stop just as gracefully as she skied. Beckett smoked a fancy circling stop around her, sending up a little rooster tail of snow as he did.
"Show off." Giggles still trembled in her voice as she said it. Her smile was big and bright, and definitely appreciative of his move.
Beckett doffed an imaginary hat and sketched her a half-bow. "For you? Absolutely. Going all out on my best today. I'm working hard to impress you, Pix." His tone was easy, but he felt some tension inside him as he said it. He meant his words.
Her expression got equally serious. "I don't impress easily," she admitted. Her cheeks were full of color from the exertion and the bright chill of the day. "You're doing a great job so far."
As she still studied him with that intense gaze, Beckett thought she might have more to say. Instead, after another silent moment filled only with the stinging sharp air and her pretty lips slightly parted, she suddenly shrugged. “Race you down the next one?”
Beckett huffed a grin, his breath showing white. “Let's do it.”
Eyes sparkling, Pix turned her head to search the trees ringing their little snowfield. "Okay, badass Beckett. Which way to our next run?"
Beckett let his laugh echo over the trees. Damn, this girl was flat-out amazing. He tried to remember the last time he'd had this much fun with a woman, genuine fun that didn't mean only a tumble in the sheets. He couldn't think of one single time. As she swung her head back to look at him, thick braids swishing over her jacketed shoulder, he tipped his chin to the right. "There. This run's got some more challenging terrain, and there are a couple sections where we can do a little jump. You game for those?"
In response, Pix immediately glided off in that direction. "You better bet I'm game!" drifted behind her.
With a laugh that happily busted up out from his gut, feeling as genuine as anything ever had, Beckett slid behind her and into the lead to show her the start of the run. When they got to the section where the trees opened up slightly, exposing the swishing flash of dazzling white snow blankets below interspersed with dark pockets of trees and a couple of drop-offs that were the jumps, he glanced at her. He suddenly felt crazy daring. "Last one down has to give something to the other one."
Pix's grin was still wide as she looked at him. "Like what?"
Beckett shrugged, pushing down a flash of nerves at what he was about to say. Be bold, dick, he muttered to himself. This chick's cool. Even if it would be just for a day and a night. His bear grunted inside him, the sound indecipherable as to whether it was in agreement or irritation. "An answer to a question. A real question about the other person. Something you wouldn't necessarily tell someone you just met." Fuuuck, he couldn't believe he'd just said that. But he had.
Everything fell silent as the world seemed to hold its breath while he waited for her answer. He didn't know why it was so important that she agree to it. It just was. The skin crinkled up above her goggles in the tiny strip visible beneath her helmet. She must be raising her eyebrows at him. Finally, she nodded. "Sure. And what about the first one down? There should be an incentive for that too, shouldn't there?"
Beckett opened his mouth to answer, but Pix suddenly plunged on. "I know. First one down gets to ask about two things from the other person. Two real things." Her voice was soft as she said that.
Without waiting for his answer, she whipped her head back, slightly bent down, and shot off into the unknown. He grinned and raced right after her. One way or another, he planned to catch her and her sexy ass.
3
Beckett shoved off after Pix in the space of half a heartbeat, racing ahead to guide her down. Damn, if he got to ask for two things from this crazily intriguing woman, he'd work his tail off to get there first. His bear flipped him an image of the barely-there tail of a bear, accompanied by a gruff rumble of bearish laughter. Huh. His bear seemed to be in good humor. That was weird, but nice. He’d take it.
The cold air whipped by as he skied like a fiend to keep up with Pix. He could tell she wasn't pulling her punches at all. He made a mental note to ask her if she'd ever been on a ski race team, because the girl knew what she was doing out here. Her small, lithe form whipped in between the trees so easily it was almost as if she flew.
There was a slight leveling out before one of the areas where they could jump, or turn more to the right to stay connected to the earth while they kept hurtling downhill. He looked at her, all beautiful, fearless woman that he didn't even know but wanted to get to know more than anything he'd ever wanted in his life. "That's the jump," he called out, slowing slightly as
he waited for her decision.
Without missing a beat, she called back, "Let's do it! Your lead."
For some completely stupid reason, the fact that she wanted him to show her the way made him ridiculously proud and puffed up. Focusing on the jump, he aimed for the best takeoff point. When he reached it he easily leapt into the air, crouched over his skis, letting the short, light blast of wind whistle over him. Aside from making things with his hands, skiing was Beckett's favorite way to feel completely alive. He let out a whoop as he landed, looking back to see how Pix did. Before he could even turn his head all the way, her own happy holler burst out, joyous and laughing. She thumped down seconds after him, her laughter still dressing the air.
The rest of the way down was just as awesome. Beckett felt buoyant and excited as he skied with a woman who could keep up with him, one who seemed just as thrilled with this wild country as he was. As they zipped downhill, he furrowed his brow together for a moment. He really liked her, and he barely knew her, but he was already wondering how she would react if she found out he was a bear shifter. But that was crazy talk right there. She wasn't from Deep Hollow. The humans in town knew about shifters. Outsiders didn't. That was a secret that had to be kept. He couldn’t tell her he was a shifter. And this was a one-day, plus hopefully one-night, thing only. Shaking his head, he pushed away his dumb thoughts of sharing everything with this amazing woman and just leaned into the wild moment on the mountain.
At the bottom of the hill, they went into an all out race for the copse of trees Beckett pointed out. He hollered, "Finish line, baby!"
"Then you'd better give it all you have!" Pix hollered back. She skied hard and surged ahead. Hell, yeah. Now it was a flat out battle to win, even with Beckett's bear shifter strength. She was just that good of a skier.
Right at the end, Beckett paused for a split second, weighing the options of the outcome. Let her win and get the two questions, like something called a "gentleman" would do? "Hell, no," he muttered to himself, watching Pix's sexy ass just ahead of him. She wasn't giving any quarter. Neither would he.
They raced across the flat, the momentum of their downhill trajectory zooming them along. Beckett whipped past the first tree in the little grove a hair's breadth ahead of Pix. But she was right on his heels. He hit the brakes, turning his feet and sliding to a crisp stop. With a whoop, Pix slid to a halt beside him and thrust her fists into the air. She yodeled out, "I declare there's no such thing as second-place! There are no losers! We are both winners!"
Beckett laughed for what must have been about the fiftieth time so far today. His face felt funny. Oh, right. His muscles weren’t used to smiling so damn much in one day. "That's crazy talk, woman. If we're both the winners, how do we know who gets one question and who gets two questions?"
Pix's smile seemed brighter than the sun. Beckett figured he might end up getting burned by it, standing so close. To his surprise, he didn't care. He was still having too good of a time with her.
"Well, I just made it the rule that there are no losers, so I can also make up the rule that we both get two questions each." She settled her fists on her hips and turned her head, taking in the rolling view of the mountains. "Whoa. Pretty stellar, Beckett. You definitely know how to take a girl on a good date."
He lifted his eyebrows. "Huh. This a date? Most girls would complain about there being no fancy food, no bouquet of flowers, shit like that." Beckett took a step closer towards the slope in front of them that had a killer view of Deep Hollow and the San Juan Mountains flinging out in every direction. "But yeah, there's some pretty stuff to see from here. I thought you might like it," he added. He felt bashful for a half second.
Bashful, for fuck's sake. What the hell.
Pix laughed again. It sounded like it was made up of crystals, of snowflakes, of beautiful shimmering things. She smiled at him, still carefree. "I'm a girl, you're a guy, we met at the bar, you asked me out to do something." She lifted one shoulder and spread her hand out, palm up. "So yes, this is a date. Although it's kind of a funny date so far because we don't know the most important things about each other yet. But now," she drawled, "it's time for two questions."
Quirking his brows back down, Beckett went for a sort of goofy response. “So we play this like twenty questions, but not, right?"
Boom. She laughed again. He thought he might want to make it his full-time mission to hear this woman laugh every day for the rest of his life. He'd never get tired of it. Her laugh defined the word beautiful. Open, free, and purely unaffected. "You're really real, you know that?" Aw, shit. He'd just said it without even thinking. It was as if he wanted to get all open book with her.
His bear growled. Yeah. Right. No open book here. Not his style. Even so...he really wanted to know more about her. To know everything about her. Which was batshit insane.
Pix cocked her head at him. "It took me a long time to get here." Her voice was suddenly serious. "Sure, I'm just barely twenty-nine, so I'm not ancient yet. But even so, it's felt like a long lifetime to figure out who I am.”
Whoa. Deep time now. “And who are you exactly, Pix Camden?" Beckett's voice was low. Suddenly wanting to see her eyes, he shoved his goggles up on his head. Despite the bright sunlight, it was worth it. Slowly, Pix pushed her own goggles up. She was squinting too hard for much of her irises to show, but he caught a glint of their pretty blue-green.
"That's your question number one, Beckett North," she said softly. "You sure picked a big one."
She went quiet for a moment, waiting for him to respond to that, but he hardly dared breathe. He didn't want to miss a single word she said in reply. After another moment with them just looking at each other, both all squinty-eyed from the sun, she raised her eyebrows and made a small noise like she was thinking about how to say everything.
"I'm… I'm a wanderer." Her voice slowly got firmer with each word she said. "An explorer. Explorer of life.” She waved a hand. “Yeah, that's kind of woo-woo, but I am. I never felt like I fit into the family I was born into, ever since I was a little kid.” He thought maybe a tiny splinter of pain stung her words, but she went on too quickly for him to be sure. “I was always trying to figure out who Penelope Adelinda Tanith Camden really is.”
Beckett cringed back in horror. “Fucking hell. It should be criminal to saddle someone with a string of names like that. Even if they're kind of pretty.” He himself had two names. Beckett, and North. Simple. He liked simple.
She nodded. “Damn right it should be criminal. But that's how it is where I came from. Anyway, when I finally figured out I was a Pix, and always had been, a lot of other things fell into place for me." She gave a little shrug but didn't break eye contact. "I was a rebel as a kid.” She flashed him a quick grin. “A wild child, for sure.
“A rebel, huh? What did you rebel against?”
Grinning, she shook her head at him. "That's question number two, Beckett."
"Hey, dirty pool—" he began, though he couldn't help grinning back at her.
Cute little Pix, strong little Pix, shook her head. "Nope. You accepted my made-up rules by agreeing to them. You have to abide by this. But I’ll admit I was an angry teenager."
"Are you still angry?" Beckett kept his eyes locked on her.
Carefully, as if she was really considering the question, Pix shook her head again. "No. Not really, not anymore. Honestly, if anything, these days I'm more restless than angry. Restless Pix,” she said softly. “Anyway. The anger got taken care of by running away from everything my family wanted. Instead, I created my own life. With my own rules. It worked.” Something dark flashed over her expression, gone almost before he caught it. “I know who and what I am, and I accept it. My question now," and suddenly her eyes were tight on his, her head now tipping to the side in a way that was half playful, half challenging, "is do you know who and what you are?"
That was easy. He was a wild mountain man who liked small town living. He knew enough about how hard it was to control his bear tha
t he stayed away from anything serious with a woman. Inside, his bear rumbled and muttered at him.
Before he could open his mouth though, Pix gave him a smile that matched her stance. Playful, provocative, challenging. "Wait, Beckett. I actually have a really good guess about what you are."
"Oh, yeah?" By this point, she'd probably easily pegged him as the broody mountain man who would be fun for a weekend fling. "Sure, go ahead. Tell me what I am."
Pix suddenly leaned a little closer, the smile dropping from her face. As serious an expression as Beckett had yet seen made her features still, her eyes now more adjusted to the sun and wide enough that he could see bright green flecks sparkling in their blue.
Then she said the last thing in the world he'd ever have thought.
"You,” she pointed a steady finger at him, “are a bear shifter, Beckett North. I know you are."
4
Fucking fried shit on a shingle. It was a favorite expression of Beckett's best friend, for who knew what reason. He'd used it so often over the years that it stuck with Beckett. Right now, it fit the situation.
How in the fuck did Pix know about shifters?
His mind churned for a long second, his bear for once quiet. He stared at her so hard he knew it probably was making her squirm. But she stood quietly, seeming unconcerned with the big-ass guy she'd just called out as a bear shifter standing a mere foot or so away from her.
“What did you call me?”
She raised her chin up a bit. “A bear shifter. Because you are one.” Her voice was calm but firm.
"How the hell do you know about bear shifters? We don't talk to humans about it." His voice came out a little more of a growl than he planned. He winced, but Pix didn't seem that worried. She didn't look remotely scared of him.
She shrugged, still staring at him with a steady expression. "I just know about them. Were you gonna tell me?" She unsnapped her chin strap and tugged her helmet off her head, which was covered with a thin purple fleece hat. Woman sure had a thing for purple.