“I have bear blood; it keeps me warm.” He breathed in the cool air and let it back out, making a small cloud of mist. “It certainly is colder up here. We’re in the shade of the mountain.”
He looked behind them, seeing the dense forest that clung to the lower slopes of the mountain. Then his eyes swept away to the south; the view of the Bluff was magnificent.
“Wow,” she said. “It all looks so different from over here.”
“Have you ever been over there?” he asked, pointing to the Bluff. “The view is worth the climb.”
“No. My grandma only walked along the gentle slopes. We used to go there on a fall morning looking for mushrooms. I remember the mist clinging to the slopes, and always being disappointed when a bear didn’t appear out of it.”
“So she told you about us?” Jed asked. They were walking around the ruined house. He figured before they got down to details he should assess what they were working with. Some of the old stone walls would have to be knocked down. Getting big machinery up here was going to be difficult, but half a day’s work with a large hammer should have it resolved.
“Her husband, my step-grandfather I guess you would call him, was a shifter. So I knew about them. Never saw one, though. My mom only allowed me to come here for short vacations on the promise that my grandfather would not change in front of me.”
“So you’ve never seen one of us shift?” he asked. He had stopped walking and stood, studying her.
“No. I used to dream of what it would be like. My room was in the eaves of the cabin, and sometimes at night, I would hear noises outside and know that there were bears outside. But the window was in the roof, so I couldn’t see.”
“Do you want me to show you?” he asked.
Her face lit up with excitement. Although she nervously pulled his jacket tighter around her shoulders, as if it would protect her from him. “I’d like that.”
Jed looked around. “We should go into the edge of the forest here.”
When he began to walk away, she didn’t follow. “Into the trees?”
He chuckled. “You are safe with me, Amanda. I only need to go into the trees so no one else can see me change. Shifters don’t exactly go out in public. So if I shift in the day, I have to be careful.”
“Right.” She hesitated again briefly and then followed him. “I’m sorry. It’s not you. My mom got kind of freaked out when she learned about her mom’s new husband. I know my grandma shouldn’t have told her. And she never told my stepdad. I only knew because my mom said I needed to be extra careful when I was here. She always made sure I carried pepper spray.” Amanda fished in her pocket and pulled out a small can of pepper spray.
“Great! At least you are armed if I get all bear crazy.” Jed hoped she didn’t get all freaked out when she saw him for the first time. He had never actually had that stuff used on him, but he had seen its aftereffects and it was not on his list of things he needed to experience before he died.
When they reached the edge of the trees, the ground sloped up steeply. Jed held out his hand to help Amanda. She glanced at it, and then the slope, and he knew she was going to tell him she could manage, but then changed her mind.
“Thank you.” She slipped her hand into his, and that first touch sent shockwaves through his body. Trying to keep himself together, he pulled her towards him, longing to take her in his arms and kiss her. He didn’t. Instead he put his mind elsewhere, a trick he had learned in his childhood days when hunger would scrape at his insides.
“You are welcome,” he said. He didn’t release her; instead, he led her through the sparse trees, looking behind them to check they were deep enough inside before he stopped and turned to her. “We’re safe here. No one can see.”
“So what do I do?” she asked, looking up at the lower branches of the trees around them. Did she think she would be safe in one of those trees if he wanted to attack her? His bear could climb; his bear could climb real good. But she didn’t need to know that.
“Just stand there.” He pointed to a tree with a big trunk, which must have been a hundred years old or more. “When I change, do you want me to come to you? Or shall I stay still?”
Amanda thought about it. “Just stay where you are.” He nodded and watched her move away, her back pressed against the tree trunk. “Can I stroke you?”
Yes, please, his bear replied.
Jed shook his head at his inner beast. We’re playing it cool. Right?
I guess, his bear said.
“Of course, stroke away. It’s whatever you feel comfortable with.” Jed reminded his bear once more to behave himself and then he cleared his mind, letting go of all the tension in his body before slipping out of this world. To return as a big russet-colored bear.
He heard her sharp intake of breath. Saw her eyes widen, and the way her hands went to her face. He scared her.
Standing perfectly still, he let her regain her composure, fighting his bear to keep his distance, when the beast wanted to run up to her with his tongue lolling out and lick her face.
Play it cool, Jed said.
His bear waited. A nervous energy built up inside him, as he began to think she would never move towards him, would never run her fingers through his fur. But then, she placed her hands on the rough tree trunk, took a big breath, and finally put one foot firmly in front of the other, to quickly cover the distance between them.
His bear quivered in excitement. When she reached out, he lifted his snout to touch her fingers, his warm breath caressing her skin, and he felt her tremble. Then she took one more step forward and her fingers curled around his fur, stroking him, patting him, as if to test he was real.
His bear nearly exploded with joy, shuddering with pleasure at their mate’s touch. Then, just to prove how cool he was, his bear flopped down on the floor, legs in the air, ready for her to stroke his tummy as if he were a playful puppy.
Nice work, Jed said.
His bear just grinned in ecstasy as Amanda knelt down beside him and buried her two hands in his fur.
What’s next? Jed asked. Are you going to ask her to throw a stick for you to fetch?
If it makes her happy, his bear replied.
And Jed had to agree, that was all that mattered.
Chapter Five – Amanda
He was a bear. It wasn’t as if this was completely new to her. She had grown up knowing shifters existed, but until the moment Jed turned into a real, living, breathing bear, she kind of thought it was one big hoax.
This changed everything. If the whole man-to-bear thing was real, then the fated mates thing was too. Right? It meant every word she had heard, about a shifter knowing who their mate was, was true. And the part about them never hurting their mate? That must be true also.
In that one shimmering, bear-fur-appearing moment, her life had changed. The weight of her past betrayal was gone. At least where Jed was concerned. She could trust him. This man, a stranger to her, was a person she could trust. At least with her heart.
The only question she needed answered now, was whether he was trustworthy in every other way. She couldn’t contemplate being around a man who stole from others. Could she believe him when he said that was in the past too?
She told herself to get over it and enjoy the moment. And what a moment it was.
Her hands were buried in the tummy fluff of a bear who could crush her with his two massive front paws. Not to mention bite her head off with his massive jaws. This bear didn’t seem capable of anything like that. The bear reminded Amanda of Jed; there was something about the eyes that was so familiar, but the bear side of this shifter was softer, as if he wasn’t tainted by the same hardships as Jed.
That made her happy. In a completely unexplainable way, she was happy this bear was a big, goofy fur ball. Right now, he was rubbing his back into the ground, tongue lolling out, looking halfway to crazy.
She smiled and then lay down by the side of him, her head buried in his neck, breathing in the scent of leav
es and damp earth. And bear. It was the most amazing thing in her life.
“Thank you,” she said, into his warm fur-covered neck. “Thank you for showing me. Thank you for trusting me.”
There was a buzz of electricity and the fur disappeared, to be replaced by the man who was Jed. “Thank you for not running.”
“You’d have chased me down. I can’t outrun you, can I?” she asked, a hidden meaning in her words.
“I can outrun you. And I can chase you down. But I never will. If you ever want to leave me, I would let you go.” The hunger and longing in his eyes made her heart twist in pain. This man wanted her, wanted to offer himself to her. Yet she felt so unworthy. Maybe it wasn’t so much that she worried Jed might cause trouble in their lives together, there was also her own past to consider.
However, she was not ready for that kind of unburdening. Not yet.
“We should get back to work,” Amanda said. “We’re both new employees and the last thing we need is to be fired.”
“True,” Jed said, getting up. “I sure do need the money.”
“Then we’d better make Dylan think you are the best employee a man can have.” Amanda slipped her hand into his; it felt so natural, his warm hand curled around hers. “Where do we start?”
“Get your notepad and the tape measure. We need to measure out all the walls, and begin to make up a plan.”
“A plan sounds good,” she said. And she didn’t just mean for the house.
“It does. But, baby steps.”
“Baby steps,” she agreed, happy he didn’t want to rush into anything. Of course, she had missed the fact that today—and meeting his mate—had come as much out of the blue for him as it had for her.
***
“Here are the details of everything we need to begin with. That should get the house watertight and then we can measure out for the inside.” Amanda placed the notes she had neatly made on Dylan’s desk.
“Great, thank you.” Dylan looked up from the computer. “How did you two get on?”
He looked from Amanda to Jed, and she couldn’t help but blush. “We got on OK. I think we have a better understanding of each other now.”
“I showed her my bear,” Jed said, and she found it strange that these two men were talking so openly about something that still shocked her. What magic must be involved for them to be able to shift!
“Ah, always an icebreaker,” Dylan said grinning.
“What do you want me to do now?” Jed asked.
Dylan looked at his watch. “It’s four thirty. There’s not too much time left. But I would appreciate it if you could go and clear out the back building. There’s some old scrap metal in there. If we load up the truck, I can drop it over at the scrap yard on my way home.”
“Sure.” Jed left the office, his eyes lingering on her body just enough to make her face flush red.
“So, he showed you his bear?” Dylan said, with a smile, but he left the innuendo in his voice. “Is that a first for you?”
“Yes.” She picked up Dylan’s coffee cup, not wanting to discuss bear tummy-tickling with her boss. “Coffee?”
“Yes. Then I wondered if maybe you would update the company website. It’s just bare bones right now. I thought it would be great to make it more personal. You know, pictures of the people who work here. Putting names to a face, particularly when we talk to people so much over the phone is a good idea. Don’t you think?”
Amanda clasped both her hands around the cup she was holding. No, that did not sound like a good idea. Not at all. Not for her.
“Sure. Although I never look good in a photo.”
“OK, stand there, and I’ll take one of you.” Dylan pulled his phone out and pointed it at her. She stood still, a forced smile on her lips, trying not to blink when the light flashed in her face. “There.”
A satisfied look came over Dylan, and when she looked, she had to admit, it was one of the best photos anyone had ever taken of her. Which was not saying much. She avoided them at all costs, the camera always adding so much weight to her already round face. However, Dylan had gotten the light just right, and she looked radiant. When she thought about it, she wondered how much of that radiance was due to the camera, or to having Jed in her life.
“Now I’ll go and take one of Jed, and then we can put them online. We don’t need bios, just a name, photo and role in the company.”
Dylan went out of the office, and she put the cup down on the desk, leaning on it heavily. She had kept all images of herself off the Internet, had taken on her grandma’s name and come here to live in relative isolation, all for nothing.
Overreacting, she told herself. What were the chances anyone was going to see her picture on the website? It wasn’t as if she were plastered all over Facebook or anything.
Grabbing a coffee, she sat down and did as Dylan asked, uploading the images he gave her of all the staff, and then adding job descriptions. It took her the rest of the afternoon, and when she left at five thirty, she groaned as she looked at her inbox, which was now fuller than when she had arrived this morning.
Going outside, she soon forgot about work, because there, waiting for her, was Jed.
“Hi there. I wanted to say goodbye and thank you for today. It has to be one of the best first days at a new job I’ve ever had.” He smiled, his face lighting up, and she longed to stand on tiptoe and kiss him. Especially when she saw the hint of a dimple on his left cheek. It reminded her of the adorable bear lying on his back, full of joy.
“You are welcome. And thank you for making my first encounter with a bear equally enjoyable.” She walked to her car and he followed.
“Yeah, sorry about that. He gets a little carried away.”
“I like that.” She unlocked her car and then turned to face him. “How are you getting home?”
Amanda didn’t even know where his home was, but she wanted to make sure he got there safely all the same. She had to admit, she was already starting to care for this big man, although making sure he got home safely was not one of the things she should be worried about with him. If either of them could take care of themselves, it was Jed.
“I’ll walk. It’s not too far.” He took a step back from her.
“Get in, I’ll drive you,” she said.
“No. Honestly, I can walk.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, and took another three steps back.
“Do you think I’m going to be put off if I know where you live?” she asked.
“No… OK. It seems weird that I’m going to ask you out when I still live with my parents.” His brain registered what he’d just said, and she watched the color of his skin change as he blushed.
“So you are going to ask me out?” she teased, liking that this tough man had a vulnerable side.
“I was. But I have to wait until after payday.”
“Ahh. Well, I could pay,” she said.
“No.” He put his hand up adamantly. “No. I couldn’t.”
She took a couple of steps towards him. “So you would rather put off going out with me, than accept me paying for a date? Maybe I got this mate thing all wrong.”
That did it, something in him snapped, and he closed the space between them, wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her to him, their bodies crushing together. He bent his head and claimed her mouth, his kiss awakening her body, and leaving her in no doubt she had not made a mistake about the whole mate thing.
Chapter Six – Jed
Jed wasn’t ashamed of his family. He never had been, no matter what anyone said about them. Luck just hadn’t gone their way. Resorting to stealing when he needed to hadn’t made him proud; he was not that kind of person. But he had done what he thought necessary, and when he was old enough to work, he had worked hard.
And that led him back to the real reason he couldn’t accept Amanda’s offer of a date. His pride wouldn’t let him. It wasn’t just the date; he didn’t mind her paying. However, it was everything else that having a mate involve
d. He was the provider, and he couldn’t provide for everyone, not on a laborer’s wage. At some time in the future, he might have to make a choice between Amanda and his family. Where would his loyalties lie, or would that question haunt him forever?
Every penny he could spare, ever since he had begun working, had gone back to his mom so she could put food on the table, and shoes on his brother’s and sisters’ feet.
“Hey, Jed. How did it go?” his mom asked as he walked into the small house he called home.
“Good. Thanks to Tilly.” Jed washed his hands and then kissed his mom on the cheek. “How are you?”
“I’m OK. I’ve made dinner.” His mom looked at him and then said, “Is everything OK? No trouble with Dylan?”
“No.” Jed said. “Do you need a hand with anything?”
“Jed,” his mom said, in that voice she used when she was about to pry information from one of her children. She had become an expert over the years, and Jed knew there was no way to fight it. “Please.”
“I met my mate.” His words weren’t meant to shock his mom, but they did. She took a step back, and went so pale he thought she was going to pass out. “Mom, it’s OK. I can still help you out, both around the house and with money.”
“No,” she shook her head. “You are going to have your own life and your own family to take care of. You need to think of yourself.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I am not going to just abandon you all.”
“Listen, you have done more for us than any son, or any brother, ever should have to. I appreciate that, and your dad appreciates it too. And I know for sure Ginny does.”
“Exactly, what happens to Ginny if I stop giving you money? It’s the only reason I swallowed my pride to go and work for Dylan. So she could go to college. I am not taking that away from her now.”
“We’ll find a way.” But he could see in her face she had no idea what that way was.
“It’s my decision,” Jed said.
“Not anymore, it’s a decision you have to talk over with your mate.” His mom came up to him and hugged him. “Let’s not let money spoil this moment. I am so pleased for you. First Tilly, now you, maybe this is a sign things are changing for us.”
His Bear's Necessity: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Return To Bear Bluff Book 2) Page 3
