Bearliest Catch

by Bianca D’Arc

  They weren’t that bad, usually, but the idea that Grizzly Cove was populated by a large majority of magical beings made it very attractive. Jetty thought most of her mer friends would fit right in. And a lot of the single women would find dates readily enough with all those hunky single men.

  Grizzly Cove was about to be invaded, and they really didn’t understand the full power of the tsunami that was going to hit them. Jetty almost laughed, thinking about it as she sat next to Andrew, in the passenger seat of his car. They were heading back to his place. She had an hour or two before her planned departure, and she wanted to spend the time with him.

  She’d been happy when he ushered her out of the bakery and suggested going back to his place. She’d liked the people she’d met today, but it was Andrew who really captured her attention. He was so very handsome. And sometimes, he looked so lost. So sad.

  That’s what had drawn her to his boat, day after day. She’d spied on him, watching him from the water. Wondering what drove him out there, rain or shine. She sensed something in him that called to her to help. To observe and devise a way to heal.

  She knew it sounded ridiculous. Even she had a hard time believing the silly thoughts that dashed through her mind at times. Still, the idea refused to let her go. And the more she was around him, the more she talked to him, the more she wanted—no, needed—to find a way to help him. He was in need. She just didn’t fully understand what it was he needed.

  She’d vowed to figure it out. Maybe not today, but at least she’d made a start. She’d befriended him, deepening their connection today, laying the groundwork. She would work on him until he let her in and allowed her to learn how to soothe him.

  Ridiculous, maybe, but it was her goal.

  Andrew was too special to leave in pain. Too handsome to ignore. Too honorable to deny.

  He pulled the car up in front of his house. From every angle, the structure was absolutely gorgeous. She loved his house, outside and in.

  “Do you have to go back right away?” he asked as he opened the door for her.

  “It would be best to leave after dark,” she replied. “I want to hug the shore as long as possible to stay within the wards, but parts of that path are shallow, and there’s a possibility, however slim, that someone could spot me from the air during daylight hours.”

  “After dark it is, then,” he agreed with a merry tone in his voice as they went into his house. “Does that mean I can interest you in some dinner?”

  She put one hand over her stomach, thinking about all the delicious pastries she’d eaten at the bakery. Luckily, she had a mer metabolism, which meant she was pretty much always hungry because she burned so many calories swimming all the time. Things were a little different on land, though.

  “Maybe in an hour?” she suggested. “I ate a lot at the bakery.”

  “That works,” Drew told her. “I’ve got some steaks marinating in the fridge. I can fire up the grill, and we can eat out on the deck. That’ll help us pass the time. I’ve also got a nice bottle of wine, if you’re interested.”

  She smiled at him. “I’m definitely interested.”

  She hoped he understood the full meaning of her words. She didn’t want to leave here tonight without at least one more of those stellar kisses of his—or maybe even a whole lot more.

  Chapter Five

  Drew bustled around for a bit, setting everything up. He brought out the wine and poured her a glass, insisting she sit down and put her feet up on the oversized chaise he kept out on the deck. He slept in the thing, at times, and knew it was comfortable. He wanted her to feel safe and relaxed while he took care of everything.

  He set the grill to warm up and got the steaks out of the fridge in the kitchen, transferring them to the workspace he’d built around the grill. He toasted her with his own glass of wine while he got things going.

  “So what do you think of the cove, now that you’ve had a chance to really look around?” he asked, wanting to make conversation.

  The way she was looking at him was making him think things that might just be a tad inappropriate. Or not. He’d try his luck after dinner and see if she was as receptive as he thought. But for now, he was on a mission to feed her before she left. He wanted her to remember how well he took care of her so that she’d want to come back.

  “It’s beautiful. The waters are still perfect—a safe place to swim and raise young. The pod will appreciate that. We have a few children living in the sea right now, but they’re reaching an age where they should probably start learning about life on land too. This looks like a good place for them to do it.”

  “There aren’t a lot of children in town yet, but there is one little girl who would probably love to have some playmates. She’s about five years old and a panda shifter.” Drew thought of young Daisy, who had come here with her mother after her father had died, back in China.

  Daisy was the sweetheart of the town and every heart melted when she held her arms out to be picked up. Daisy and her mother, Lynn, had known tragedy, but they were slowly healing and making a new life for themselves here in Grizzly Cove.

  “A panda? No kidding? She must be absolutely adorable.”

  Drew smiled. “You have no idea. She’s equally cute in either form. And her mother is a force to be reckoned with. I’m actually surprised you didn’t get a chance to meet them today. Lynn is usually in town for lunch, since she runs one of the galleries. Remember the one with all the bamboo?”

  Jetty laughed. “I should’ve guessed. Pandas love bamboo, don’t they?”

  “They do. I was surprised that Lynn wasn’t in today, but everyone needs a day off now and again, right?” He put the steaks on the grill, then walked over to refill her wine glass.

  Unable to resist her allure, he sat down on the edge of the wide chaise, facing her as they sipped their wine. The mood was intimate. Quiet. Charged.

  “What did you think of the town? The people?” he asked over the rim of his wine glass.

  “The town is charming. The people…” She paused, seeming to think. “The women were nice, the men, a little intimidating.”

  “Not to you, surely?” he asked, knowing his Jetty was made of sterner stuff.

  She laughed. “No. Not to me. But if you take all those men as a group, I can see where humans—and a lot of Others—would be somewhat intimidated. You’re a powerful unit.”

  “We were the best the Special Forces had to offer. When we were working all together, nothing could stand in our way.” He knew he was speaking no less than the truth, and he felt pride in what his friends and he had accomplished.

  Of course, he’d been sidelined well before the other guys. Personally, he thought maybe his injury had been the beginning of the end for his team. Right after he almost got blown to bits, the other guys had started thinking seriously about retiring. Oh, they’d brought up the idea once or twice over the years, but after Drew got hurt, it seemed like priorities had changed.

  They wouldn’t admit to it, but Drew knew. He could put two and two together. While he’d been healing, his team had been starting the process that eventually resulted in Grizzly Cove. He hadn’t asked John about it outright yet, but he would one day.

  John was a long-term strategist. He always planned things out—years in advance, sometimes. Grizzly Cove was one of those. John had revealed that he’d been quietly buying up the land around here for decades before he was ready to reveal his plan for the town to his men. They’d gone along with it, to a man, which said something about John’s leadership and the faith his people had in him.

  “Why did you all decide to retire?” Jetty asked, unknowingly opening an old wound.

  Drew sighed. He could gloss over it, but for some reason, he wanted her to know the truth.

  “In my case, it wasn’t a choice. I got blown up by a roadside bomb, and they had to send me back State-side to glue what was left back together.” Jetty was frowning, but she didn’t say anything, which was good. He wouldn’t be
able to get it out if she interrupted. “My mom took over my healing, and thanks to her stubbornness and determination, I lived. And I didn’t lose any limbs, though that was a close thing, she tells me.”

  She sat forward, putting her hand over his, but it felt like she knew not to say anything until he’d finished. They were in tune already.

  “I spent months healing from something that would’ve killed anyone else. Anyone without my mom pulling for them.” They both knew that for a shifter to take months in healing, the wounds had to be serious. Most shifters healed incredibly fast due to their accelerated metabolisms. “The mental scars were harder to deal with than the physical ones.”

  “Which is why you seek the peace of the ocean,” Jetty whispered, moving closer. Drew didn’t object when she reached out and put her arms around him, offering the comfort of her embrace. “I understand that. Perhaps better than anyone here.”

  She cupped his cheek in her palm and turned his face toward hers. And then, they were kissing. It was a gentle kiss filled with understanding and banked passion that threatened to overtake them given the slightest provocation. Drew had never felt anything like it with any other female. Jetty was special.

  Mate special.

  He drew back, and she let him go with a last lingering caress on his cheek. Her touch was like satin, her skin the softest he’d ever known. She was all things good in the world, and his thoughts were quickly racing into very serious territory.

  “You’d better turn the steaks,” she whispered, her smile inviting at the same time she pushed him away.

  But it didn’t feel like she was pushing him very far. He just had to rescue dinner, and she’d still be here, waiting for him. Possibly to pick up where they’d left off? He could only hope.

  “Yeah.” Drew slapped his hands on his thighs in order to keep them off her. She was in charge here, and he had to make that clear. He wasn’t some cave bear that couldn’t behave himself.

  He got up and worked on the steaks until they were done. They both liked their meat cooked medium well, so serving up dinner was an easy thing. She moved over to the table and chairs set up near the grill and took her seat while he served, then took his own chair.

  They ate and drank the wine, enjoying each other’s company. She talked about the town, asking questions about things and people she hadn’t yet discovered, and he enjoyed filling her in on the details. She revealed a bit more about her former life in LA. She’d been a high school teacher and yoga instructor on the side, he was fascinated to learn.

  “If we ever set up a school here, you’d have a job, no problem. Big John has plans for this town that are far-reaching. If we get enough families to settle here, he’s already discussed looking for teachers who are shifters.”

  “He’s quite the strategist.”

  “You have no idea.”

  When they finished eating, Drew tidied things away, refilling Jetty’s wine glass as she sat on the big chaise once more, looking out over the beach. The sun was setting on a gray evening, clouds rolling in, as they so often did in this part of the country.

  “Looks like rain tonight,” Drew observed as he finished clearing things away and came back out to sit with her.

  She smiled. “I love water in all its forms.”

  “So it’s not like in that old movie where if the mermaid gets wet, she shifts no matter what?” he challenged, grinning at her over the rim of his glass from much too far away. He was seated on the foot of the chaise, facing her.

  She laughed outright. “No. It’s not like that at all. I control the shift. Water isn’t necessary to shift, but it is necessary to move around once I’ve got a tail, so it’s wiser to wait until I’m in the water to change.”

  “A wise precaution,” he agreed, enjoying the intimate moment as the sun’s last rays began to fade.

  He scooted a few inches closer to her. When she made no objection, he moved closer still.

  She didn’t move away or make any other gesture that he could interpret as discomfort. In fact, her eyes had gone soft, her pulse increasing. She seemed as aware of him as he was of her.

  “I’ve never met anyone like you,” he whispered, raising one hand to brush a stray lock of hair off her brow. It was so soft. So sensual.

  “You’ve met Grace,” she argued with a little grin that told him she was teasing him, and enjoying it.

  “You’re not like Grace. Not in the important ways. You might both be mer, but you’re vastly different women. Grace is a sweetheart, but she doesn’t call to me—to my bear—the way you do. The way you have since I first laid eyes on you.”

  “Your bear likes me?” She swayed forward, coming closer, sliding her arms around his neck.

  “Oh, yeah.” Drew moved into the embrace, drawing her close. “He likes everything about you. And so does my human side.”

  “That’s really good,” she said breathlessly, her mouth only centimeters from his. “Because both sides of my nature have been stuck on you for months now.”

  Months? He would have pursued that thought, but she closed the gap between them, touching her lips to his.

  Like spark to tinder, that was all the encouragement he needed to take things to the next level. Drew kissed her with all the longing inside him, taking her mouth with the deep satisfaction he’d somehow known would be waiting for him in her arms.

  She was heaven in his arms, and when she twisted around in his embrace, he went with her. He’d let her steer the ship, if that’s what she wanted. Anything. He’d give her anything she wanted.

  Jetty liked that her big bad bear was willing to let her take charge a little. She rolled him over onto his back on the wide chaise, planting her hands on his muscular shoulders and one of her knees on either side of his lean hips.

  She kissed him the way she’d wanted to for a long time. He had intrigued her ever since she’d first caught sight of him in his little boat, months ago. She had spied on him from the water, watching his rugged face, his perfect body, as he fished.

  He’d seemed so sad, at times, she’d almost broken cover to talk with him. At other times, he simply seemed at peace with the ocean—the way she was—which seemed odd to her for a land shifter, but somehow beautiful. And then there were times when he drank all day, to the point where he was talking to the fish he pulled in, his words slurred, the emotional pain in him very close to the surface. At those times, her heart had yearned to go to him, to comfort him, but she could not.

  Through it all, there was the attraction. She’d felt drawn to him as she had never before been drawn to another male.

  She had known from almost the moment he’d called her name that first day they’d spoken that, somehow, they’d end up here. Not here—on his deck—in particular, but together. Kissing. Exploring. Learning each other’s bodies as they had begun to learn each other’s minds and personalities.

  She liked him even more than she’d thought she would. He was open-minded and caring. Considerate and strong. A warrior with a good heart, from all that she had seen so far. She respected him. And her respect was not something easily earned.

  She also had the hots for him, which was why she had taken charge for the moment. She wanted to be an equal partner in this—and in all things they did together. He might as well get a taste of that right now. Begin as she meant to go on, and all of that.

  Enjoying the feel of his hard body beneath her, she kissed him with all the pent-up longing that had built up over day and weeks…months, even…of watching him. She’d wanted to do this for so very long, and the reality was better than any of her imaginings.

  He was so warm under her, his skin radiating heat that spoke to her human side. She wanted to snuggle up to him forever. She had the fanciful notion that, even in the cold of the ocean, he would keep her warm.

  She pulled back slightly, licking at his lips. She wanted to see his expression as she lowered herself over him, making full body contact for the first time. There might be two layers of clothing still be
tween them, but the moment was significant to her. She hadn’t been this close to a male since she’d left land years ago. Opening herself up to Andrew like this was something special. She wanted to know it was special to him too.

  She met his gaze, watching him carefully as she rubbed herself against him slowly, in imitation of what they’d soon be doing skin to skin, if she had her way. She saw the flare of desire in his eyes, heard the sexy rasp of his breath.

  “If you’re trying to make me insane with desire, that ship has sailed, my finned beauty.” He raised one slightly shaky hand to caress her cheek as she smiled.

  “Finned beauty?” She didn’t want to admit how much she liked that.

  “I’ve been trying to come up with something original, since you’re like no other woman I’ve ever known. Fair warning—I’ve got a few more I want to try out.” His humor sparked hers, and she had to smile.

  “I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with.” All the while, she kept up her subtle torture, squirming against him, rubbing their bodies slowly together.

  She kissed him again, the passion rising like the tide.

  Within moments, she was pushing at his clothing, nearly mindless with the need that had come up so suddenly, it nearly stole her breath. The tempest was upon her, and all she could think of was getting him naked.

  Thankfully, he was having a lot more luck undressing her than she was with him. Within moments, she was bare, but he was still clothed. It wasn’t fair!

  A keening sound startled her, and she realized it had come from her. The frenzy was building, and she needed him to be naked. And then, she needed him to be inside her. Simple as that.

  Andrew seemed to know what she needed. While she fretted, he was busy undoing buttons and zippers, and tearing fabric when necessary to get them both naked. She felt more and more skin against hers, which made her smile, calming some of the frenzy down to a more manageable state.

  They lay there for just a few minutes, side by side, skin to skin, kissing as the night deepened and a soft rain began to fall.