Contents
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Leeward Bear Title Page
Leeward Bear
Leeward Bear
Leeward Bear
Leeward Bear
Leeward Bear
Leeward Bear
Leeward Bear
Leeward Bear
Leeward Bear
Leeward Bear
Stick Around!
The Becca Fanning Kindle Unlimited Library
Edward Title Page
Edward
Owen Title Page
Owen
Colby Title Page
Colby
Jacob Title Page
Jacob
Holden Title Page
Holden
Alec Title Page
Alec
Rock Title Page
Rock
Jackson Title Page
Jackson
Clay Title Page
Clay
Rust Title Page
Rust
Breakwater: Leo Title Page
Breakwater Leo
Breakwater: Rick Title Page
Breakwater: Rick
Breakwater: Custer Title Page
Breakwater: Custer
Breakwater: Hyde Title Page
Breakwater: Hyde
Breakwater: Dom Title Page
Breakwater: Dom
Adam Title Page
Adam
Sam Title Page
Sam
Winston Title Page
Winston
Ian Title Page
Ian
Joel Title Page
Joel
Dietrich Title Page
Dietrich
Ben Title Page
Ben
Kurt Title Page
Kurt
Hart Title Page
Hart
Reinicke Title Page
Reinicke
Daxton Title Page
Daxton
Knox Title Page
Knox
Amir Title Page
Amir
Beck Title Page
Beck
Slade Title Page
Slade
Matthew Title Page
Matthew
Mark Title Page
Mark
Luke Title Page
Luke
John Title Page
John
Bartholomew Title Page
Bartholomew
Bear Chopper Title Page
Bear Chopper
Bear Anchor Title Page
Bear Anchor
Bear Anchor
Bear Anchor
Bear Anchor
Bear Anchor
Bear Anchor
Bear Anchor
Bear Anchor
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Leeward Bear
FisherBears III
by
Becca Fanning
CHAPTER ONE
A bear trundled into Joanna Killfeather’s path, and she stopped short, steadying herself against a tree.
Joanna was an experienced hiker. She’d grown up on this mountain, swimming in Blue Lake, rock climbing, picking wild currants and berries in summer. She knew every trail, every stream, every hunter’s cabin up here. She’d come across more wildlife than she could ever begin to count. This wasn’t the first bear she’d seen in these parts. She knew it was likely more afraid of her than she was of it, but she still needed to be cautious.
The bear stopped a few feet away, rooting around in a bush, probably looking for insects or cloudberries. It was a large black bear, close to six feet in length, and it came up to the top of her ribcage. Probably a male, if she had to guess. She took a cautious step forward to get a better look, and a dry twig snapped under her boot.
The bear froze, its head swivelling to her, watching her with wary eyes. Eyes that were the color of honey, golden and warm. Not like the typical dark eyes of a common black bear.
She let out a surprised huff. Not a bear, then. A shifter.
The bear-man rose onto its hind legs, trying to intimidate her. She couldn’t help it - she chuckled. He growled loudly, just short of a full roar. She grinned.
“You’re not going to scare me away. You might as well just change back so we can talk, like two normal people.”
He fell back onto his front paws with a dull thud. He made a noise like a snort, more human than bear, and lumbered off into the trees. She stood, leaning against the tree, and waited.
A few minutes later she saw a tall man approaching slowly, hands up, like he was trying not to spook her. Silly, really, considering she’d met him in his bear form, which could have swatted her down as easily as if she were a fly.
She looked up at his face as he came closer. Dark horn-rimmed glasses framed those honey-gold eyes, which were now watching her with a combination of curiosity and caution. She gave him a quick once-over, noting the contrast between his neatly-trimmed hair and beard and work-worn clothes. The hands he held up had rough, callused palms and fingers. He must have some sort of blue collar job. Probably a fisherman, judging by the stains on his fitted tee shirt.
He stopped a few feet from her, leaning against another tree, mirroring her pose. Neither of them spoke for several moments.
“So,” he said. He crossed his arms over his chest, which flexed his thickly-muscled arms. Yes, he was definitely a man who worked for a living. And his body clearly reaped the benefits of it.
“So,” she echoed.
He took a deep breath. “You know what I am?”
She nodded.
“How?” His voice was a rich, deep bass, and she leaned forward a bit, as though her body were unconsciously reaching for him. Joanna had always been a sucker for a deep voice.
“You’re not the first shifter I’ve come across,” she replied. Her people had known of shifters for thousands of years. Stories of them had been passed down from mother to child for as long as the Tlingit people had lived on these islands. “Your eyes gave you away. Bears might love honey, but their eyes aren’t the color of it.”
He exhaled noisily, looking off into the trees with a slight frown on his face.
“I’m not going to tell anyone,” she assured him. “If that’s what you’re worried about.”
He narrowed his eyes at her thoughtfully. “You’re not going to tell me that I shouldn’t have to hide who I am, or that it’s illegal to discriminate against shifters now, or that I deserve to be treated like everyone else?”
She flashed him a sardonic smile. “You don’t need me to tell you those things,” she said. “You already know that to some people, they’re not true.”
He frowned. “Their opinions don’t change facts.”
“Change?” She shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. But our opinions will always influence the way we see things.” Her tone was more bitter than she might have liked, thinking of her mother.
His eyes widened, and he took a step closer, and another, until he was standing right in front of her. She could smell him now, the sharp, dry scent of cedar combined with human musk, and underneath it all, the faint s
cent of salty sea air. She inhaled deeply, revelling in it.
“You a student of philosophy?” he asked, his voice pitching somehow even lower. She shivered in the warm summer air.
She smiled again. “No, just a student of my grandfather’s old stories.” She touched the carved wooden pendant at her throat almost unconsciously. “His forefathers were shamans.” She chewed the inside of her lip. She wasn’t sure why she was telling him this. He was a stranger, and not Tlingit. Her mother would have a fit if she thought Joanna was sharing sacred tribal knowledge with the bear-man. Even if she gave next to nothing away.
Maybe it was the fact that he had revealed his secret to her, that he seemed to trust her to some measure. She supposed he deserved something in return, something she didn’t share with just anyone.
Or maybe it was that she felt drawn to him, in a way she hadn’t been to any other man before him. He was sexy and a little bit mysterious, and utterly masculine. She felt herself leaning toward him again without even realizing it.
His eyes locked with hers, darkening slightly. “The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard held similar views,” he said, his voice rumbling. “He believed that how one views oneself in relation to objective fact is the real truth.”
His breath hitched. “And how will you act on those facts?” she whispered.
He smiled, and her lips parted at the sight. He had a beautiful smile, his full lips framing straight, white teeth. His eyes shone a deep amber in the dim light filtering through the trees. He raised a hand to her jaw, rubbing his thumb along her chin before sliding the hand back behind her neck. He seemed to be silently asking for permission, and before she could think twice about it, she nodded.
And then he leaned into her, closing the distance between their lips.
CHAPTER TWO
This kiss was a first for Joanna for a number of reasons. It was the first time she’d kissed a stranger. She didn’t even know his name, yet here she was, pressing her lips to his, kissing him back for all she was worth. It was also the first time she’d kissed a man outside of her tribe. Her mother would be outraged to see her right now.
That thought made her smile into his mouth as she wound her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She might never see this man again, might never get to feel his plump, chapped lips moving against hers again. But she could savor this impulsive, out-of-the-blue moment. Something that was hers and hers alone. Something she did just because she wanted to.
He licked along the seam of her lips, and she opened for him. His tongue glided along hers, silky and seductive, and she was pulled under, drowning in sensation. He tasted like the berries that his bear self had just been eating, and she almost giggled.
But all mirth vanished at the feel of his big, rough hands on her. They ghosted down her side, settling on her waist, fingertips brushing against the patch of bare skin where her tank had ridden up. He pulled her forward, pressing his hips against hers. His hard length teased her through the layers of fabric separating them, creating an ache in her that was fast becoming urgent.
Her head spun. She’d never had this before, this dizzying, knee-wobbling attraction. In the past, sex had been nice enough, but never this. Never so vital, so necessary, as though she needed him more than she needed her next breath.
She gave herself a mental head shake. It was probably just the suddenness of all this that was making her crazy. Ten minutes ago, she'd been hiking her favorite mountain trail, enjoying the unusually warm October day, the sunshine and greenery and fragrant woods. Five minutes ago, she was facing off against a bear and realizing that it was more than meets the eye.
And now. Now, here she was, kissing a stranger. And yet it didn't feel strange at all. No, it felt like she was exactly where she was supposed to be, doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing. It felt familiar and thrilling all at once.
He broke the kiss, but seemed unable to separate from her for long. He planted small, soft kisses on the corners of her mouth, skating those full lips across hers. He rested his forehead against hers.
“I've never done that before,” he whispered, sounding reluctant to admit it. “Kissed somebody I just met.”
She smiled, pressing her lips to his for a moment. “It's crazy,” she whispered back.
He pulled away, frowning slightly. “Yeah. I guess it was too much.” He looked away. “We don't even know each other.”
She shook her head, bunching his shirt in her fingers, pulling him back into her space. “It's crazy because it doesn't feel crazy. It's crazy because it feels right.”
He smiled again, and she felt a little sad to think she might never see that smile after today. But she pushed that thought away, pulling him back down to her for another kiss.
The minutes marched on, and still they kissed and kissed, neither one taking it any further, despite the growing ache between her legs and the rather obvious evidence of his need pressed into her hip. It was as though neither of them wanted to break the spell. This was so unexpected and so wonderful that Joanna almost felt as though she was dreaming.
Noisy footsteps interrupted their blissful haven, but he seemed not to hear them.
“Sherman!” a male voice shouted. He definitely heard that, because his shoulders tensed beneath her hands, and he slowly pulled back, like he was being dragged. She smiled softly to know that he was as reluctant as she was to end this.
“Sherman, man, where the hell have you been?”
She held still, knowing she was hidden, sandwiched between the trunk of a spruce and the huge bear-man. She wasn’t ready to face whoever it was just yet. She wanted to stay here in this little bubble a moment longer.
He turned slightly, glancing over his shoulder. “I’ll be there in a second, Matt.”
“What are you doing, taking a leak?” the other voice called out. It sounded like the bear-man’s friend was about ten feet away, and his footsteps were coming closer.
She almost giggled at the absurdity of it all. Here she was having a passionate interlude in the woods with a shapeshifter she’d just met. What did it matter if his friend was about to discover them? But his eyes widened, imploring her to be quiet.
“Yeah, gimme a minute, will ya?” he called back to his friend. “Can’t even get some damn privacy out here in the woods.”
“All right, all right. I’ll meet you back at home, okay?” The other voice seemed to be retreating now, and the bear-man - Sherman, his friend had called him - visibly relaxed.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered, when the other man was out of earshot.
She shrugged, smiling up at him. He was several inches taller than her own five-eight. She loved that. So many of the men she knew were barely taller than herself. “It’s okay. You couldn’t have known he would show up right this second.”
He frowned. “No, I mean, I’m sorry about… this.” He gestured between the two of them. He let out a resigned sort of sigh. “This was a mistake. I can’t do this with you.”
She narrowed her eyes, annoyed by his abrupt change in demeanor. He’d just been devouring her mouth, and now it was a mistake? Okay, so she’d also just been thinking this was something that couldn’t last. But for some reason, the fact that he suggested it first made her want to dig in her heels a bit.
“You married?” she asked. He shook his head. “Engaged?” Another shake of his head. “In a serious relationship?” The barest movement, but a no nonetheless. “Casually dating?” No. “Friend with benefits?” Another beautiful smile as he shook his head no again. “One night stand?”
He laughed. “No. There’s no one in my life right now.”
She stepped into him, crooking a finger and sliding it in his bel
t loop. “Would you like there to be?” She looked up at him, raising one eyebrow. “Because for me, what we just did was about as far from a mistake as anything could be.”
Her heart was racing and her breathing was shallow and labored. She’d never felt so bold, so confident. She’d never been the one to pursue a man. But something was urging her not to let him get away so easily,
“Maybe not a mistake.” He closed his eyes, looking almost pained. “I just… can’t. I’m sorry. I just can’t do this right now.”
Before he could step away, she pulled him back down for a sweet, lingering kiss. “Well, I hope I’ll see you around, Bear Man.”
He looked bemused. “I just told you it can’t happen.”
She wiggled her fingers in a goodbye as she sauntered away. “I heard you. But I’m looking forward to another chance to convince you otherwise.”
CHAPTER THREE
Joanna leaned back against a bookshelf, settling in for a long, boring evening. God, she hated these kinds of things.
All the elders of her tribe, as well as other notable residents of Sitka, were gathered here in the Sitka Public Library to view an exhibit of traditional Tlingit art. Tonight was the opening of the exhibit, and there was a cocktail party atmosphere that typically made Joanna feel like puking. Her stomach was a little queasy now, in fact.