Note: This novella is a combination of short and sweet. Add in a handsome bear shifter, a sprinkle of danger, and you get a steamy romance with a happily ever after.
Bear shifter Bryson Cruise is a man of few words. He says what needs to be said when it needs to be said and lives his life the same way. Working security at a Colorado mountain resort is the perfect job and suits his loner lifestyle just fine.
Then he meets curvy Leah Jacobson, and for the first time in his life he’s speechless. He’s never been big on dating, never had lasting relationships, and didn’t know the first thing about courting a mate. Add in the fact that Leah is human, has no clue shifters exist, and things get way more complicated.
BRYSON
“Believe me Bear, I know how you feel.” Just looking at the quills protruding from the swollen flesh on the side of the dog’s muzzle made me cringe.
I’d been a cub, barely accomplishing shifts on my own without assistance, when I’d encountered my first porcupine. I knew firsthand what kind of pain having the skin punctured on your face could cause. I’d have thought after the last time Mandy brought the dog to see Mitch Jacobson, the local vet, he would have learned his lesson and left the prickly animals alone.
I guess some of life’s lessons are harder to learn than others, even for natural-born animals.
READ MOREThe dog thumped his tail on the truck’s leather seat, then whimpered. A noise I’d sympathetically endured for the umpteenth time during the drive from the lodge of the Seneca Falls Resort to Mitch’s neighboring home. I stretched out my arm, avoiding the cluster of sticklike protrusions, then scratched him behind the ears.
I glanced at the newly constructed entrance on the side of Mitch’s house. I’d heard he recently converted a portion of his home into an office by adding a moderate sized reception area near the spare bedroom he used as an exam room. Normally, anyone in need of his services during the week would have to drive all the way to Ashbury. With the new office opened on Saturday morning, those of us who lived nearby didn’t have to make the long drive down the mountain. Fortunately for Bear, it was the beginning of the weekend and Mandy had called ahead to make an appointment.
The last time I’d been here was when Berkley, Nick’s sister, had been out running in her wolf form and gotten shot by a guy hired by the psychotic girlfriend of an ex-boyfriend. It was a good thing Mitch was one of the few humans in the area who knew about shifters. He’d saved her life and earned the gratitude of her family, her mate, and me.
There was only one other car parked near the entrance, so I figured we wouldn’t have long to wait. “Let’s get this over with.” I made my way around the truck, then lifted the dog off the seat and cradled him in my arms. Most male bear shifters were big guys, and I was no different. I could have easily tucked the dog under one arm.
I hadn’t even made it two steps when Bear’s pitiful whimpers vocalized into louder moans. I didn’t care what anybody said, dogs were smart. He knew where we were, why we were here, and wasn’t happy about it. “Sorry, bud. You’ll feel a lot better once Mitch takes those out.” I pressed on the metal bar across the middle of the glass door and stepped inside.
“Good morning.” A female I’d never met before was sitting behind the reception desk. “You’re here for an appointment, right?”
“Yes, I—I…” Why was I stuttering? I was a man of few words, believed in getting straight to the point in most situations, but I never had a problem forming sentences. And I never, ever stuttered.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I’d been holding my breath from the moment my gaze locked with those dark eyes the color of ripened acorns. Or maybe it was because she had the most radiant smile I’d ever seen on a female and it had my heart revving faster than an expertly tuned engine in a race car.
I sucked in air, then gulped again when my lungs didn’t respond right away.
“Mitch is finishing up with his last patient, so it should only be a few more minutes.” She glanced at the computer screen on the desk in front of her. “Will you need shots today as well?” She tapped a few keys.
“Why would I need shots?” I asked, distractedly paying more attention to the way her soft brown curls framed her face and the subtle hint of lavender in her scent than to her actual question.
“I was talking about your dog, Bear.”
Being a male who could shift into a bear, I always found it amusing every time I heard the animal’s name spoken out loud. I couldn’t figure out if Nick, Mandy’s mate and the dog’s owner, was trying to be humorous or if he thought his pet really did resemble one of my kind. Though how an animal with mangy brown fur and a body that was longer than his legs came close to looking like a bear, I wasn’t sure. “He’s not my dog.”
“He’s not?” Suspicion furrowed her brow. “I could have sworn when Mandy was in a few weeks ago, she said he belonged to her fiancé…” She pointed at the screen. “I’m sorry, aren’t you Nick Pearson?”
“No, I-I’m…” I stammered. Again. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I make what I said sound coherent? It wasn’t as if I had a problem articulating or talking to females. I talked to the women who worked at the resort all the time. So why did this particular female with the full, kissable lips have my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth? And why was my bear, normally bored and uninterested in most females, suddenly rumbling and urging me to get closer to this one?
“Nick’s my boss. My name is Bryson, Bryson Cruise.” My voice sounded deeper and more gravelly than usual, thanks to my bear, but at least my tongue was no longer paralyzed.
She rolled her chair away from the desk and walked around to my side of the counter. “Nice to meet you. I’m Leah.” Her gaze flashed to the Seneca Falls logo on my shirt. “Do you work at the resort?”
“Security.” Though lately, my job description had taken on new parameters. With Mandy and Nick’s upcoming wedding, I’d gone from patrolling the property and keeping it safe to idea consultant for their new house, cake taste tester—no complaints on that task—and finally doggy caretaker. Since Mandy and Nick had a meeting with the contractor this morning regarding final changes to their new home, they’d asked me if I wouldn’t mind taking care of Bear.
The dog was back to whimpering pathetically, which was fine with me because it encouraged Leah to remain standing next to me.
“Poor thing. You’ve been playing with that nasty porcupine again, haven’t you?” She swept her hand along Bear’s flank, her fingertips grazing my arm. Her skin was warm, soft, soothing. So soothing that my animal was insisting I shift so he could rub all over her. Hell, I was ready to forgo seeing Mitch, toss her over my shoulder, and take her back to my house.
The females I’d been attracted to in the past, the ones I’d shared an occasional bed with, had all been shifters. None of them came close to eliciting the kind of response I was experiencing with this human.
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