by Amelia Jade
Bluff Bears
The Complete Collection
By Amelia Jade
Bluff Bears: The Complete Collection
Copyright © 2016 by Amelia Jade
First Electronic Publication: February 2016
Amelia Jade
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.
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Rogue Bear
A Paranormal
Shapeshifter Romance
By Amelia Jade
Rogue Bear
Copyright © 2015 by Amelia Jade
First Electronic Publication: July 2015
Amelia Jade
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the authors permission.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.
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Rogue Bear
Chapter One
Calan
Warm air thick with water billowed through the lowered windows of his truck as he meandered through the mountain road. A quick sniff of the air told him it was going to rain shortly, although he already knew that. The dark, ominous clouds in the distance told him the same story, even as he continued to head toward them.
His destination lay that way, and Calan Winters was not interested in a detour or setback. Like Pacific Ocean salmon, he was returning home, set on finding a mate. A smile tugged at his lips as he thought about what happened next to the fish. Although it wouldn't be the first time someone had attempted to end his life, Calan was hoping that the mate he sought wouldn't be so quick to shoot.
Cresting a small rise, the town of Bear Bluffs came into his view. With his goal in sight, his foot nudged the gas pedal slightly closer to the floor. He wondered if the Bear Bluff's Quencher was still in business. Until he had left town over a decade and a half earlier, the Quencher was the only bar in town.
The building was still standing, as was the old, hand painted sign across the top. There were only several cars outside at this time of day, which was unsurprising. Pushing his way through the swinging door, he took a deep whiff of the interior, memories washing over him.
The sweet, sickly smell of wood cleaner was mixed heavily with that of peanuts, beer and things best left labeled as 'other'. The few patrons that were in there looked over at him, assessing the intruder amongst their mix. Bear shifters were larger than normal humans, but even for them Calan was massive, reaching five inches over six feet in height, his massive tattooed arms bulging as he picked his way between two tables, headed for the long, faded wood of the bar.
"Gimme your finest house ale," he rumbled, the hardwood chair groaning under his weight as he sat down. The small, comely waitress gave him a big smile, her pupils dilating slightly as she took him in.
Calan was used to those looks, having had his share of women over the years because of it. The over-makeuped, low-cut shirt and short skirt look of the skinny brunette just wasn't his style anymore. He wanted something more, someone with some meat on her bones that he wasn't going to break when he had his way with her.
What Calan really wanted was a mate.
"You're sitting in my chair." The strong female voice sounded from behind him just as the bartender delivered his beer. He glanced quickly at the bartender, looking for his reaction. There was no worry, anger, or any other emotion there, simply the face of a man doing his job. Taking that into consideration, Calan took his time reacting.
Taking a long, slow sip of the delicious draft, the taste of barley, malt and hops swimming around his tongue, Calan turned around, his eyes hooded. Although he had lived a rough life, one thing he had always prided himself on was manners. Whenever someone was rude to him, he didn't like it.
The sun was shining through several streaky stained-glass windows, forcing him to wait a moment as his eyes focused on the icy blue orbs staring back at him. His dick hardened to the point of pain as she came into focus, giving him the best glare she could muster. The heat of it washed over him, barely affecting the thoughts going through his head.
She was tall, likely falling just shy of six feet, he told himself as he took her in fully. The plain white t-shirt she wore accentuated her large, round breasts, and soft, pleasant belly. The long, beautiful blonde hair that fell down past her shoulders may have been the only thing about her that screamed feminine, but she was all woman, and all his.
What the fuck?!
The last thought startled him at first, but Calan Winters realized he had found his mate. The thought itself was crazy, because he knew fated mates were just a myth, not something that actually existed. Still, he could not deny the way his body reacted to this woman. She caused a reaction within him simply from standing there that most women couldn't get without using their full skillset.
His first instinct was to surge to his feet, bend her over the bar and have his way with her. He couldn't though, despite the throbbing cock contained within his jeans. He tightened his fingers on the bottle of beer and gripped his chair with the other to keep himself inert. The roaring of his bear was so loud that he could have sworn it was audible to the others in the room.
"I said, you're sitting in my chair," she replied after a moment, though her voice had lost some of its gusto after their eyes met.
"My apologies," he replied politely, gracefully swinging himself out of the seat and down into the one next to it, never once breaking eye contact with this mysterious woman. His cock was straining toward her, dr
awn like a powerful magnet.
With a sniff of derision at his lack of willingness to leave, she took the seat and gestured to the bartender. The look did not go unnoticed by Calan, who understood that she was a regular here, enough so that whoever was behind the bar knew what she wanted when she came in at this time of day.
"Excuse me..." he left it open, hoping to get her name and strike up a conversation.
"Yes?" she replied brusquely, not looking over at him.
"Could you be so kind as to point out to me where on the chair I missed that it was yours?" If she wanted to play games that was fine with Calan. He was a master at playing games. There was an attraction between them, he had felt it immediately, and there was no way she had not. Now all he had to do was get her to admit to it. The first step was eye contact.
Rolling her eyes in disdain, the mystery woman turned to look at him briefly, giving him an 'are you for real?' type of look, before turning back to her now ready drink. Still, he had caught another glimpse of those beautiful topaz eyes, enough to set his body on edge as he fought down his bear.
Taking his time, he tested the air discretely, trying to get a better feel for her. The faint scent of smoke, along with something beneath it that bespoke of her natural aroma wafted over to him. It was enough to let him know she was a shifter, too, a bear like him. It explained her size relative to most, as bear shifters were large.
The smoke threw him off, forcing Calan to take another sniff to identify it. It wasn't tobacco smoke he realized, but something closer to that of burnt wood, charred trees or something similar. It was faint, but not something he would ever forget smelling after being trapped in a burning building several years back.
"I never did get your name, Miss," he started again, doing his best to get her to talk.
"No, you didn't," she replied gruffly. To his well-travelled ear, it sounded forced, almost as if she was trying to make him think she was angry when she wasn't.
"So, how're things going today, Harley?" The bartender spoke up nonchalantly as he came back over, wiping the counter clean of whatever imaginary dust only he could see.
"Not bad, Jet, not bad. Heading in to the station soon, see what's going on today. Hopefully those idiots at the campgrounds can keep things in check today."
"I hope so, for their sake and yours," he replied before moving away to wipe down an already clean section of the bar again.
It might have been his imagination, but Calan got the feeling that the bartender had asked her that on purpose to help him out. He was studiously cleaning the wood until it gleamed, not meeting either of the two gazes currently trained on him.
"I'm Calan, Calan Winters," he offered, holding out his hand though he wasn't surprised when she ignored it.
"So you work for the sheriff's office here in Bear Bluffs?" He was impressed even more, it took smarts and guts to be a sheriff in a shifter town, though he did worry a little for her safety.
"No." The single word was forced out through gritted teeth he could tell. Still, Calan was not a man to give up, so he pressed on.
"Well, what station did Jet mean then?"
"I work in the fire department, okay?" She finished her drink and slammed the glass down with more force than was necessary before gathering herself to stand up.
As she did, the front door opened, admitting several more bodies to the mix. He had no idea who, but the tension in the room instantly ratcheted up several notches. The low growl that emanated from his mate was all the warning he needed to watch his back, even though it wasn't directed at him.
"Oh ho-ho, what do we have here boys? If it isn't the baby bear? Get it? Cause she's definitely not Goldilocks!"
Three distinct hoots of laughter could be heard as footsteps grew closer.
"You better shut your trap, Dusty, before I do it for you," Harley growled at him, taking a menacing step toward the intruder.
"Oh, come now, babyface. We ain't done nothing wrong, so keep a lid on it." That was the leader, Dusty, speaking again, Calan noted. He still hadn't turned around, sipping slowly on his beer as he waited for the inevitable to happen. He could practically smell the booze dripping off of these jerks.
Although shifters were no longer hidden in the shadows, there was still a lot of mistrust from normal humans. Calan chalked most of that up to jealousy, but that did not prevent the ones with lesser intelligence from occasionally causing trouble with a shifter. It appeared this was not the first time his Harley had encountered them.
"Just leave Dusty, okay? I don't want any trouble." That was Jet behind the bar. He played nice now, but the scars and rippling muscles in his arms told Calan he wasn't about to back down from this, just like he hadn't from numerous scraps before. That was something he could understand, defending one’s territory. Perhaps Jet was a bear shifter as well, he mused idly.
"You know, I don't think I will. I'd like a beer, please."
"I'm not serving you, Dusty, now get out."
"I said," the man repeated, slower this time, "I would like a beer. Please." It was a fake politeness, doing nothing to diffuse the situation.
"You heard him, clowns, get the hell out of here." Harley was shaking next to him, one of her hands already closing into a fist.
"What are you going to do about it, sweetheart? Why don't you be a good girl and go get us some beer if he won't?
It was getting a little too close for comfort now, which meant it would be a good time for him to get involved. He set his beer down on the counter with a sigh of approval at the last taste of it. Smoothly, so as not to startle anyone, he stood up to his full height, towering over everyone.
"I believe," he growled deeply, the sound clear to the bar as a whole, "that the lady asked you to leave."
The men looked between each other, each seeing if the other was willing to go to bat with this unexpected giant amongst their midst. Tiring of the antics, Calan took a step forward to which they stepped back. After that, it was over, as Dusty gathered up his loyal followers and exited the bar.
"You didn't have to do that," Harley growled from his side.
"I know," he replied simply.
"I had that under control, I could have handled them."
"Yes, but you didn't have to," he said, turning to face her, putting out a hand to grip her shoulder as he looked into the twin blue seas of her eyes."Just like you don't have to walk to your car alone. Are you ready?"
"I can handle myself." Shrugging off his hand she grabbed her jacket and headed for the door. Sighing, he tossed some money on the bar, enough to cover his drink and a large tip as a thank you for the name, and went after her.
His long strides brought him to her side and past her just before she reached the door. She was going to have to accept that she needed to be treated like a lady starting with having him hold the door. Without saying a word, he pushed the door open and held it for her.
Harley gave him a weird look before exiting the bar, heading toward a faded, dirt-covered Jeep on the other side of the road. Dusty and his friends were nowhere to be seen thankfully. After safely escorting her to her car, he held the olive green door open as she tried to close it.
"Does Jack Hammond still live around town?" he asked.
The reaction she gave him could not have been more unexpected. Shock, anger and terror all ran through her face before she clamped down on her expressions.
"Yes, he does."
"Could you give me any clue as to where I might be able to find him?"
"If you let go of my door." He did so, stepping back so she could close it. The top was off the Jeep though, so he could still hear her reply as she gunned it down the road.
"He's the fire chief."
***
Chapter Two
Harley
I am so fucked!
The thought rocketed around in Harley's head as she flew down the road toward the fire station. With no roof, the wind was causing her neatly brushed hair to fly around wildly. She looked up at the sky
, wondering if the rain would actually arrive and reduce the humidity. The clouds moving in made it seem like it, but she knew better than to trust them. All too often the sky would look like it did now, before the clouds either passed on by or broke up over the valley. She would just have to wait and see.
The firehouse was on the outskirts of town, close to a campground that saw a lot of tourist traffic. The trees began to grow larger and closer together as she approached. All Harley wanted at that moment was to pull over, shift into her bear and roam amongst the giant oaks. Unfortunately for her, she was going to be on duty in twenty minutes.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get past her reaction to the giant bear who had rolled into the Quencher. She had been pissed that someone was in her usual spot, but the heat of her temper had quickly morphed into heat from her throbbing cunt as she had made eye contact with him. It had taken all of her own bear's willpower not to throw herself at him. She had felt her nipples harden as his gaze travelled over her body, evaluating all of her many curves.
Harley almost wanted to thank Dusty for coming into the bar. He and his ridiculous friends had given her an excuse to let off a little steam, focusing her attention elsewhere. Of course Calan had gone and stolen the show again by making them leave, but it had given her enough time to recover.
There was also that bullshit about walking her to her SUV, holding the door open and his desire to protect her. She wasn't sure what his game was, but nobody ever did that for her, she had learned how to do it all on her own. She was independent and damned if one suave move was going to turn her into quivering jelly.
Her clit ached for attention the more she thought about Calan, forcing her to take a deep breath and focus on the day ahead. She was going to see him again, and likely in a short period of time as well. Not because she wanted to, but because it was inevitable. He had asked about Jack Hammond, the man who happened to be not only her boss at the fire station, but also her father.
