Bearly Breathing (Werebears of New Hampshire #1)(15)

He had always been so smooth with the ladies, knowing the right compliment, supplying the witty joke, saying the exact thing that they wanted to hear. The thing that would make their panties slide down their legs.

But now he was stumped. When it finally mattered.

A wolf howled in the distance. Rebecca flinched.

“I guess I don’t have to worry about wolves if I’m sleeping next to a bear,” she said, trying to scan the dark forest. “I hope the other ones are okay.”

“Edwin and Sidney may be horrible kayakers and even worse conversationalists but they know how to take care of themselves in the forest.” He sat down in the chair next to her. “All werebears do.”


Rebecca leaned back and gazed up at the stars. Connor couldn’t help staring at her. A long, brown hair curled down onto her cheek. He almost reached out and tucked it behind her ear but stopped himself. Would the time ever come when he would be able to do that?

“You don’t get to see these from the city,” she said. “It really puts things into perspective. My life is really insignificant. Just a blip of a blip in time.”

Connor shook his head. “No,” he said. “You’re everything.”

She turned her head and looked at him.

He almost stopped and turned to the fire but his inner bear urged him forward. He let the Kodiak have his way. “The past is gone. You can never be in the future. The present is everything. It’s all we have. It’s all there is.”

She smiled and gazed back up at the sky.

Connor took a deep breath. “You are significant. You change the lives of the people who love you. You are everything to them.”

“You speak too highly of me,” she said with a sigh. “Maybe my parents once upon a time, but I only see them at Christmas now and they always seem more concerned with golfing and their lawn than their only child.”

A log fell over in the fire and a spark landed by Connor’s foot.

“I had Mark but now he’s gone. We shared a cat but Mark took him too. When I went to go get some stuff the cat wouldn’t even come near me.” She crossed her arms and inhaled deeply. “It’s nice to think like that but in reality I am totally insignificant.”

“You’re everything to me,” Connor said. It was out of his mouth before he could stop himself from saying it.

She laughed and smacked his hand lightly. “You’re sweet. But you’re in customer service. That doesn’t count.”

The roots were burning over the fire. Connor didn’t care. She would be gone tomorrow and this would be his only chance.

“Remember when I fell off of my kayak into the water?” he asked.

She chuckled. “Yeah.”

“That was you becoming everything to me,” he said. She looked at him with confusion. He took a deep breath. Fuck it. “I bonded with you.”

She laughed. “Shut up.”

“I’m serious,” he said, laughing himself. That was not the reaction that he was expecting.

“Is this how you get return clients?”

“Does that mean you’re going to return?”

She looked at him with a sideways glance, unsuccessfully trying to stifle a smile. “Maybe. It’s not everyday that a Kodiak bear wants to be your boyfriend.”

A lightness swept over Connor as all the tension in his body was suddenly released. A smile broke out across his face.

“I don’t have to kiss you in your bear form do I?” she asked. “I smelled his bear breath. It wasn’t pretty.”

Connor turned away and cupped his hand to his mouth. He breathed into his hand and smelled it. He never even thought about his bear breath before.

Rebecca leaned over her chair and grabbed his shirt. She pulled him towards her. “Let me be the judge.”

She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. He caressed her cheek, brushing the strand of loose hair behind her ear. Her lips were soft and full and her kiss made his whole body stand to attention. His inner bear purred a low and satisfied growl.

She pulled her lips back an inch, her nose still touching his cheek. “Tastes good,” she whispered, her warm breath tickling his upper lip. “But I’m still not kissing your bear. No matter how bad he wants it.”

Her hair fell on his cheek as she kissed him again. He caressed the inside of her mouth with his tongue as she leaned closer. His hand slid down to the back of her neck. He pulled her into him.

The homemade chairs creaked and then snapped under their weight. Rebecca screamed as she fell on top of him. They landed chest on chest and face to face. She lifted her head back and laughed. Her hair streamed down, tickling Connor’s face. He held her solid hips firmly in his hands.

“Too bad you’re not as good a carpenter as you are a kisser,” she said with a laugh.

“You can stay here all night,” he said, his bear’s purring causing his chest to vibrate.

She shifted her hips over his. “I may take you up on that.”

Connor lifted his head and kissed her again. Their tongues slid against each other as the roots burst into flame over the fire. He slid his hand up her shirt and over her damp bikini top. He squeezed her breast and she let out a moan into his mouth.

Connor had been with other girls before, a lot of other girls, but it was never like this. She was his mate, bonded to her with a force stronger than love, and it was incredible.