by Ruby Dixon
“How do you figure?” She brushes a few flakes off my arms but stops when she realizes that the darn specks of dust are going to stick to her.
I tuck her small hand in mine and head for the cabin. “You got me that commission over in Chicago, and it required me to pick up the chainsaw.”
“No,” she corrects. “You spent the winter looking at them on the Internet. The commission was your excuse to buy it.”
“True.” I look down at the top of her chestnut brown head, and my heart contracts. I wonder what I did before Ryann came along. It’s not just that she loves me but how she takes care of me. She makes sure I eat. She took over all my paperwork. I’ve got more work than I had before but, because she’s organized my life, I have more free time.
And I need that free time to love her up. Making love to Ryann is more than pleasure; it’s one of my life’s necessities. I need her more than I need food or shelter. And at times like these, when the sun is shining and I’m reminded what a gift life is, I can’t stop marveling at how good I have it.
“Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill still coming over tonight?” I ask, running a hand down her small back. She sighs with contentment at the caress.
“Yes, Aunt Mary’s bringing that honey lemon cake you love so much. Try to remember to save a piece for Uncle Bill.” She slides me a humorous glance.
“Uncle Bill has to move faster,” I retort. My hand lingers at the top of her ass. “Or talk less.” We’d made peace with Mary and Bill a few weeks after Ryann moved in with me. They missed her, and once they saw how happy Ryann was, they didn’t protest…much. They tend to visit a lot, which makes Ryann happy.
And I’d sit down at a meal with the devil himself if it put a smile on Ryann’s face.
Once Mary and Bill had accepted us, Eli did too. His main concern was making peace with the human element of Pine Falls, and Mary and Bill were well liked and respected in town. If they had decided I was bad news, that could have reflected poorly on all the shifters.
But there isn’t a human alive who could love Ryann more than me.
My hand drops lower to cup the bottom curve of one cheek. I hear her breathing hitch, and then the scent of her arousal fills the air.
“What’d you make for lunch, little one?”
“Soup.”
“That easy to reheat?”
She tosses a knowing look over her shoulder. “Yes. It’ll taste just as good warmed up. Why?”
I pinch her bottom. “I figure I should shower and get rid of this dust.”
“You need help washing your back?” she teases. “Your long arms can’t reach behind?”
“Nah, I figure I’ve done so much work today that I need dessert first.” I slap her ass, and she yelps and takes off running toward the cabin.
The blood in my veins heats up immediately. The bear under my skin loves the chase, and that minx knows it. I lumber after her, stripping off my clothes and not caring in the least that it’s barely above freezing. Ryann makes me hot enough to set the snow on fire.
I’m nude by the time I reach the back door—all my dirty, sawdust clothes lying in a haphazard trail behind me. Ryann yelps when she sees me burst through the back door. She leaps forward, but I catch her. In part because she’s slower than me, but mostly because she wants to get caught.
“How much time do we have?” I ask as I busy myself with divesting her of all her clothes. She wriggles in my embrace. I think she’s trying to help me, because soon we’re flesh to flesh. My favorite condition.
“For what?” she moans, tilting her head back as my mouth works its way from her collarbone up to the hidden space behind her ear that she loves to have licked.
“Until Mary and Bill arrive.”
My cold hands find her breasts, and she gasps slightly as I pluck her nipples into hard points. I swing her up onto the washer and push her torso back with one firm hand. Her legs fall open, revealing her pink, juicy center all ready for my cock.
“Um…ah…” She fumbles for the words but can’t quite find them because my mouth is stealing her air. I kiss her hard and long, trying to tell her through my caresses how much I love her. How grateful I am that she loves me back. How I’m lost without her.
“I love you,” I tell her when we finally break apart.
“I love you too, Mal.” She runs her fingers over my scalp.
I swing her up into my arms and carry her into our bedroom. On our bed, I lay her down and kneel between her legs. “I waited a long time for you, but it was worth it.”
Her eyes glisten as I lean forward and pay homage to the gift of her body, her love, and with every kiss and touch I promise that I will love her until the end of time and beyond.
GET YOUR SHIFT TOGETHER
I’ve been looking for a mate in all the wrong places. When the right one shows up in Pine Falls with a man in tow, I almost miss her. Caroline Abbott is a sweetheart of a city girl who is making one last stab at keeping her (dead) relationship together. When her fool of an ex takes off and leaves her alone in the forest, I’m more than happy to step into his abandoned shoes.
While I can make her shout with pleasure, I worry those screams will turn to fear when she realizes that my hidden half is a bear.
I can’t keep the secret much longer, but telling her might scare her off for good.
Chapter One
LEO
“Dude, come over here and solve a debate between my girl and me.” The shaggy-haired blond waves me over as if I’m his fucking servant. I drag my feet because the last thing I want to do is get in the middle of whatever he and his girlfriend have got going on. He’s been an asshole since the minute they stepped foot inside the Trading Store.
Ordinarily on a beautiful fall day like this one, I’d be hiking in the Superior National Forest or fishing on the Boundary Waters, but instead I’m manning my friend Cole Braxton’s supply store while he is off on some camping trip with his new girlfriend. I have serious doubts they are doing jack-all but fucking like bunnies. The two of them have been making cow eyes at each other for three years, and they just recently acted on their not-so-secret lusts.
I bet that they’re going to come back and she’ll be thick with his cubs. In fact, I have put money on that down at the Lodge. All the bear shifters got together last weekend, drank honey ale, ate some fucking amazing cookies the Lodge chef baked up, and then put down when we thought Cole and Adelaide would be popping out cubs.
Eli, our de facto leader, was sure the seed was planted on the couple’s first night, but I like to think that Adelaide fought it off until this weekend.
“What’s the dilemma?” I flash a quick smile at the surfer’s lady love. She’s a fine piece—full of curves, pretty brown hair, and doe-soft eyes. Everything I like in a woman and then some. But she’s taken, and I don’t poach. I can still look though. I give her a wink and her eyes flutter downward, too shy to flirt back. That’s good, though, because she’s with a man, I tell myself, even as I feel a tinge of disappointment.
“We’re fishing today and tomorrow, and I plan to catch the biggest-ass fish in the ocean.”
“They’re lakes,” she says quietly.
“What’d you say, Caro?” He looks as if he’s smelled something stinky.
Her eyes stay down, and her mouth stays clamped shut. Whatever she said before wasn’t meant for his ears.
“The Boundary Waters are all freshwater lakes and streams,” I answer for her. “There are no oceans up here.”
“Whatever. Tomato, tomato. Right? Water is water.”
The little brunette sighs at the dude’s mischaracterization.
“I think it’s ‘tomato tomahto’, but you’re not going to find fish up here that you’d find in the ocean, so it’s actually real different.”
The dude scowls. “Look. I just want to get kitted out. I don’t need a stupid geography lesson.”
“Yeah, okay. What do you need?”
“Everything.” The girl finally speaks up loud eno
ugh for us all to hear. “We don’t have anything. Just a tent and a couple of sleeping bags.”
“You fish before?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. Never.”
“I’ve done plenty,” her man boasts. “But Caroline here hasn’t. I’ve been telling her that we need live bait. You got any of that around here?”
“You’re in luck.” I direct my comments to her. I have no interest in helping this blowhard do anything, not even take a shit in the woods. “Fall is the best time to catch pike, and they’re probably the most aggressive fish we’ve got out here.” Nothing like standing in a stream and catching those suckers with your paws, and then eating the tasty suckers then and there. Although, I admit to having developed a taste for cedar-smoked pike and walleye. Not all cooked fish is bad. “You can use spinners instead of leeches, grubs, or nightcrawlers, but if you want to use the live bait, that’s down at the supermarket. Fred’s got some good stuff in a place behind the grocery store.”
I gather up two poles, a jig, some spinners and fishing line, and then throw in a couple of life jackets.
“This here will do you good.”
“We don’t need these life jackets. We’re just going to be in a canoe.” The dude looks disdainfully at the flotation devices.
“Bill, I think I’d feel safer with a life jacket,” Caro objects, when the dude starts to pull the life jackets off the pile and return them to the wall.
I place a big palm on top of the yellow safety devices. “Rule in this shop is you can’t rent the fishing equipment without life jackets.”
“That’s fucking bullshit,” Bill sneers. “It’s a way for you to ratchet up the bill. I don’t need any fucking life jackets.”
“Bill.” Caro tugs on his arm. “Let’s just get the jackets. You don’t have to wear one.”
“Goddammit, Caro! It’s the principle of the thing. I’m not going to be taken for a ride by this jack wagon.” He stomps out.
Caro winces as the front door slams shut. “I’m so sorry about this.” She pulls out a wallet. “What’s the total?”
“You sure you want this?” I tip my head toward the door. Hopefully she understands that I’m talking about more than the life jackets. “There’s a spa across the street.”
She gives me a rueful smile. “I’m pretty sure I don’t, but I don’t think it would be fair to bail now. I’m the one who convinced him to come up here in the first place. We’ve been having problems for a long time, but I have a friend whose marriage was in trouble, and she came up here and said that the time away from the city made them realize how much they loved each other. So I booked this trip thinking we’d reconnect, but all it’s done is show me that I’ve been hanging on to something that was broken far too long.” She sighs. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I suppose because I don’t want you to think badly of me for going on a vacation with him.” Caro jerks a thumb over her shoulder.
I don’t feel so bad about winking at her now. “One good thing about the North woods is that it clears your head. Come back after you’ve dumped him, and I’ll show you some good fishing spots.”
Caro presses her very kissable lips together. “I’d like that.”
“Do you need another tent?” I point to the rolled-up sacks of nylon behind the counter. The idea of her sleeping even one night in the same enclosed space as Bill raises all the hairs on the back of my neck. I don’t like that idea one bit.
She glances out the front windows where Bill is talking with great animation on the phone. “Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.”
“If you need anything, holler. There are plenty of folks in the woods who will help you out.”
“Really? I thought the campsites were fairly isolated.”
“Nah. There are always hikers, fishers, stuff like that.” I shoulder the poles and tent, and gesture for her to take the tackle and other gear. “You’ll be safe no matter what.”
She nods. “I appreciate that.”
I’ll be nearby if you need me, is what I’d like to say, but she doesn’t need to know that.
Caro and her asshole boyfriend, Bill, drive off, and I help suit up several other campers before closing the doors at around eight. My stomach growls, telling me I haven’t fed myself in at least three hours. The mac and cheese I nuked in the storeroom microwave for a mid-afternoon snack hadn’t been enough to satisfy a bird. I want to fill my belly before I go out into the woods and look for Caro.
The tavern serves decent mashed potatoes, gravy, and roast beef, and if I ask nicely, I bet there’ll be a piece of blackberry pie for me too. There aren’t too many people when I pull open the heavy wooden door to the restaurant/bar. I spot Sheriff Gant sitting in a booth by himself, and a couple of other locals. We exchange nods, and I order the special.
As I’m waiting, the door opens and in walks Bill, the asshole. I turn completely in my seat, and watch him stomp up to the bar.
“Vodka. Top shelf.” He slaps his hand on the bar top like he’s been waiting ten hours to be served.
Everyone in the establishment swivels to watch the show because although Sandy looks like a fragile girl, she’s tough as they come. She’ll eat him up and spit him out.
“It’ll be a minute.”
“Is this a bar? I need a motherfucking drink. If you’re too lazy to serve me, then why don’t you get the owner out here so I can talk to him?”
There’s a collective whoosh as we all suck in our breath. No one talks to Sandy like that, and not just because she’s a honey badger shifter and doesn’t take shit, but because her mate is the meanest, orneriest grizzly shifter around. And the fact he likes to hide in the kitchen all day doesn’t mean he doesn’t know exactly everything that goes on in his place.
I slide an amused gaze toward Sheriff Gant who leans back in his chair and puts his feet up so he can relax while watching this show.
With one hand on her hip and the other pointing toward the door, Sandy says, “If you think for a minute I’m going to allow you to drink my liquor after you’ve mouthed off like that to me, you’ve got another think coming. Now get out.”
“I’m not going anywhere, little girl. I’m here to drink, so serve me.” He turns his back on Sandy, and spots me. “Goddamned woman.”
“You seem to be having a bad day,” I goad, wondering what other fool things this guy can do. I’m pretty happy because I’m guessing his bad mood means Caro has dumped his ass.
“Women. All they’re good for is fucking, and even then, if they have to open their mouths, they pretty much ruin everything. The bitch I came with decided she didn’t want to fish because I wouldn’t wear a goddamned life preserver. Well, I showed her. I left her ass back at the campsite with a life preserver. See how much she loves it after a night out in the woods with nothing but that cheap-ass foam thing.” He cackles and slaps the bar stool next to him.
I’m on my feet and halfway to the bar before I know it. Sheriff Gant pulls me aside before I can get my two hands around Bill’s skinny neck.
“I got this,” Gant says. “You go get the girl.”
I wasn’t lying when I said that there are a shit ton of folks in the forest, but they aren’t all entirely safe for a tasty morsel like Caro, particularly if she’s alone. I hie out of the tavern, and have shifted into my brown bear form before the door hits me on the ass.
Behind me, I hear the squawking of Bill, proclaiming that Sheriff Gant can’t arrest him for doing nothing. It’s our town. Sheriff Gant can’t arrest him for being an asshole, but abandoning someone in the woods? That’s some kind of felony, for sure.
Chapter Two
CAROLINE
Next time I think about forgiving someone, I’ll listen to my gut.
When Bill said he’d changed, my gut said, “No, he hasn’t.”
When Bill said he loved me still and wanted to give us another shot, my gut said, “Bad idea. Run for the hills.”
When Bill said he’d stopped partying so much and was ho
lding down a real job, my gut said, “Yeah, right.”
Stupid gut, always being right.
I sigh to myself as I unroll the packaging for one of the new tents. Out flops a large tarp, some rustling material, a netty-looking thing that goes over the top, some poles, and an instruction booklet. I pick it up and stare at the pictures, but my mind keeps turning back to Bill.
I’m such a dummy. I know Bill is no good. In my heart, I know the type of person that Bill is won’t ever change. Bill’s a blowhard, and while it was fun at the beginning to date a guy who was so alpha and macho, it got old fast. I guess that’s why we’ve broken up seven times in the past three years. Actually, I think we’ve been off more than we’ve been on. And every time he apologizes, I take him back like an idiot. He says he’s changed, and I’m an optimist and I hope for the best, and so I give him another chance.
Actually, that’s not true. I’m not as much an optimist as I am lonely. I don’t have a lot of people in my life. I grew up a foster kid, bounced around between a lot of homes. I went off to college on the state’s dime, and met my best friend…who married a guy and moved halfway across the country. And then I met Bill.
I guess that’s why I’m clinging to him. I don’t have a lot of friends. Bill moved to Indiana for his job, and I followed him, and then we immediately broke up again. I didn’t want to lose the money on my lease, so I stayed. I don’t know anyone in Indiana, and I work from home doing medical transcriptions. I don’t have any pets because Bill’s allergic and the apartment doesn’t allow them. I don’t have anyone looking out for me.
It sucks, and it’s lonely. Sometimes I feel so desperate for human conversation I go to the grocery store and strike up conversations with the senior citizens in the produce aisle. I guess that’s why I agreed when Bill contacted me on Facebook a few days ago and said he missed me and wanted to try things again. I suggested the tiny resort town of Pine Falls in Minnesota, thanks to my college BFF’s suggestion. The pictures were beautiful—clear lakes filled with fish; thick, green forests filled with deer; and running streams with fat bears wandering through them. It looked like a fun vacation, and so I suggested it to Bill. He agreed, and we made plans.