Bearliest Catch (3 page)

“Times like this?” She looked adorably
confused. “You mean the monster you call the leviathan?”

“That, and the
Venifucus
. They’re back
in a big way, in case you didn’t know. They’ve been targeting
shifters and Others for years now, and actively trying to breach
the barriers between this realm and the one where their leader is
imprisoned. Some say, they might have already succeeded, though
we’re not sure about that. We only know it was probably a
Venifucus
cell that freed the leviathan and brought it back
to this realm.”

“Why in the world would anyone unleash that
monster on us?” She sounded truly dismayed.

“To screw with us, mostly,” Drew answered
truthfully. “While we’re preoccupied dealing with this situation,
who knows what they’re up to?”

“Bait and switch?” she asked, both intrigued
and horrified if her expression was anything to go by.

Drew nodded. “You got that right.”

The bear was incredibly good looking up
close, just as Jetty had dreamed he’d be. But his words were giving
her pause. He had lured her onto his little boat, but rather than
the seduction scene she’d almost wished he’d carry out, he was
giving her news that freaked her the freak out!

She had to stay calm, though. She was a
rational being. She needed to tell her hunting party about this as
soon as possible, but first, she had to know everything the
handsome bear was willing to tell her.

The safe harbor offer was welcome news, and
judging by his words and actions to this point, she felt she could
trust him. The information about the
Venifucus
was appalling
and downright scary. But she still needed to know exactly what had
happened to Grace. The others would want to know.

“About Grace…” she prompted him, hoping he’d
tell her what she wanted to know.

“She’s good now, though it was a close thing.
She encountered the leviathan and ended up beaching—which probably
saved her life in the long run. She was hurt real bad, but Jack
found her and patched her up. They mated soon after and are very
happy. It was Grace who told me your name. Jetty, right?”

She realized she’d been rude. She still
hadn’t confirmed her identity, though he’d been very forthcoming
with his information—and his lunch.

“Yes, sorry.” She extended her hand for him
to shake. “Jetty Silver. And you’re Andrew…”

“Andrew Legine.”

They shook hands, and damned if she didn’t
feel a spark of awareness sizzle right up her arm and into her
heart. Was this it, then? Was the attraction mutual? She didn’t
really want to know for sure, because then, she’d feel obligated to
act on it. Better not to know. Better to stay safe. At least for
now.

She pulled her hand back.

“Um…why hasn’t Grace been out to see us?”
Surely, they weren’t holding her prisoner?

Andrew chuckled. “They’re newly mated.”

“Yeah, so?” She didn’t understand what he was
getting at.

“They’re still in their honeymoon phase.
Probably will be for a while. From what I’ve observed, the urge
to…uh…be together, among the newly mated, is something you don’t
ever want to mess with. Plus, Jack is super protective of her. He’d
flip out if she went into the ocean by herself with the leviathan
out there. And though I’m sure she doesn’t want to admit it, I
personally think her previous run-in with the creature was enough
to scare her off. She almost died, Jetty. I don’t think she wants
to give that creature a second chance at her. Even after she’d
recovered, she was still being lured by it.” He let out a gusty
sigh and ran one hand through his sexy long-ish hair. “Our shaman
had to do some serious magic to break the creature’s spell over
her. It was a close thing, from all accounts.”

“Really?” Jetty hadn’t thought this
through.

Newlyweds would want to stay close. The
mating urge, it was said, was very strong. To the point where they
wouldn’t let each other out of sight for long. There were jokes
among the mer about that sort of thing. Apparently, it was the same
for other shifters.

And if a shaman had been called on to perform
magic to break the creature’s hold over Grace, Jetty could
understand why her friend wouldn’t want to chance another encounter
in the open sea. She’d been lucky to escape with her life once.
Going back would be tempting fate a bit too far.

“Grace told me to look for you. She told me
your name and that you often saw me while I was out fishing.”

Jetty felt a blush rushing toward her cheeks
and decided a quick change of subject was in order.

“Why do you do it? Why do you still come out
here when it’s so dangerous?” She thought about it for a moment.
“And why has the creature left you alone?” Suspicion reared its
ugly head, but she didn’t want to believe he was a bad guy.

He sighed heavily, dropping his head as if in
defeat. “I can shield,” he said softly, then raised his head to
meet her gaze. “This isn’t something everyone knows, so I’d
appreciate it if you kept it to yourself.” She nodded, and he went
on. “I can shield my magic from detection, and I can sense what’s
around me. I know generally where the creatures are, and I go the
other direction. I can avoid them for the most part, and shield
myself so they don’t find me.”

“Can you shield others, too?” She’d heard of
such magics, but they were rare, indeed.

He nodded. “If they’re near enough, yes.
Right now, you’re under my shield, so you’re as safe as I am. But
if you swam away, at some point, you’ll be out from under my
protection and vulnerable again.”

“Wow,” she said, letting her feelings reign,
sensing he needed to hear how impressed she was with what he’d just
revealed. “That’s pretty amazing.” She got the impression he hadn’t
opened up about the extent of his abilities to anyone before, which
made her feel special that he’d done so with her.

He shrugged off her praise. “Bears have a lot
of magic, generally. This is just something I can do that’s a
little different from my friends.”

She thought it was probably a lot more than
that, but she let it go. He was obviously uncomfortable talking
about it, and she found she didn’t want to distress him. She was
actually coming to like the big bear shifter.

She had been intrigued by him from the first
moment she saw him, dangling his fishing lines in the water from
his little boat. He hadn’t really seemed to care if he caught fish
or not, and she had been perplexed enough by his behavior to stop
and take a look. And a second look. And a third.

Before she knew what was happening, she was
stalking the lazy fisherman, trying to figure out what made him
tick. Why did he return to the sea, day after day, not really
seeming to care if he caught fish or not?

He did catch a few, of course. More than a
few, actually. He seemed to have the gift. The fattest fish
continually sought to drown themselves on his hooks, and he took
them aboard his boat, taking them back to town at the end of each
day. Although, sometimes… Sometimes, he stayed out on the water for
days. Living on his boat. Bathing in the sea in human and bear
form.

The first time she’d seen him shift, her
heart had raced. He was magnificent, both in bear form and in the
human shape he had bared to take his beast visage. Tall, sleek and
built for speed, he was well-muscled, in the way of Olympic
swimmers. His hips were narrow, his butt firm, and his manly parts
much
more
than adequate. She had blushed, even in her mer
form, when she’d seen him naked for the first time…and every time
since.

Truth be told, that was why she kept watching
him. She’d been hoping to catch another glimpse of his perfect bod.
And somehow…she just couldn’t stay away. She had felt drawn to him
for some reason. She didn’t pretend to understand it, but she had
been living on instinct ever since she entered the ocean, and so
far, it hadn’t steered her wrong yet. Some primal intuition pushed
her to seek out the bear fisherman, and so she did.

And now this.

He’d just given her the most amazing news.
Not only was the bear Alpha offering safe harbor to her people, but
Grace—if Andrew was to be believed—was happily mated. A true cause
for celebration. There were so few mer in the vast ocean. It was a
definite reason to party on those rare occasions when one found
their true mate.

Jetty would have to verify all this
independently, of course, but she thought she was a pretty good
judge of character. He seemed on the level to her, and she
suspected he hadn’t said anything today that she’d discover later
was false. Still, it was good to be cautious.

She’d long since finished her sandwich and
the beer. Both had been a treat after all the months at sea. She
missed the land sometimes, but she’d run to the sea to escape for a
bit—as most of her people often did—and it had helped. She was
almost ready to face land life again. But it would be on
her
terms this time. Nobody was going to dictate how she lived ever
again.

She stood and loosened the tie on the robe,
but didn’t take it off. Since she was in her human form, she had a
bit more modesty than when she wore her scales.

“I’d better go and tell the others what
you’ve said.” She walked toward the stern of the boat slowly.

“Is it safe to swim after a meal like that? I
mean, most humans have to wait a bit before they go swimming after
eating. How does that work for you?” He looked adorably confused
and genuinely curious, so she humored his question.

“Once I shift, the mer characteristics win
out, so it won’t be a problem.” She sent him a smile as she walked
farther away.

It was hard to leave him, which surprised
her, but she couldn’t stay. She had responsibilities to her people,
much as she would have loved to spend the rest of the day with the
sexy bear shifter. He followed her, and they both stood at the
stern of the boat, his hooks picking up nothing during their meal
and continuing to just drift with no action.

“If you go a little northwest, you’ll find
some big sturgeon and halibut. The fishing is much better in that
direction right now,” she offered, hoping to help in some small
way. “I might as well give you a solid tip on where to find dinner
since you fed me part of your lunch.” She turned to him, laughing
lightly.

“The tip is appreciated, but you don’t owe me
anything, sweetheart.”

The breath caught in her throat at his use of
the endearment. He also stepped right up to her, not a foot between
their bodies as he looked down into her eyes. She almost forgot to
breathe.

“But…” She didn’t know what she was objecting
to as his head drifted lower. Was he going to kiss her?

“Ssh,” he soothed her, drawing her under his
spell. “If you really want to repay me for the sandwich, all I ask
of you is a single kiss.”

What?
Alarm bells sounded in her mind,
but they were drowned out by the nearness of him. She could feel
his warmth only inches away from her, and she wanted to snuggle up
against him. She’d been so cold for so long…

Which was an odd thought for a mer to have.
Mer didn’t feel cold. The oceans were their home. So what had
gotten into her now?

And why was she suddenly so eager to snuggle
up to a land dweller? Oh, he was a shifter—they had that in
common—but he still lived on land, and she in the sea. Though she
could survive very well on dry land too. In fact, she’d spent most
of her youth on land, with her family, doing the normal things that
humans and shifters did. She’d gone to school, had friends, drove a
car, had a job, and even moved in with her boyfriend.

But the situation with Dirk was what had
driven her into the sea. She refused to go down that path again.
Dirk had been human, a little voice inside reminded her. Andrew was
a shifter. Maybe things would be different with a shifter.

Did she dare try to find out?

As his lips touched hers, all thoughts fled
in the face of his passion. What started as a simple kiss turned
into something much more profound within a single heartbeat.

He took her into his embrace, and she did get
a chance to snuggle up to his warmth, basking in the feel of his
strong arms around her. He kissed her lightly, at first, then
gradually deepened the kiss when she made no move to push him away.
His tongue danced with hers, showing her new patterns of pleasure
even as her knees threatened to give way.

He was holding her up, his hands around her
waist, supporting her, not imprisoning. And that was the key. He
held her firmly, but lightly. She could break free any time she
wanted…which was why she stayed.

How long she stood there, swaying with the
swells that rocked the boat and rubbed their bodies together, she
would never know, but it was Andrew who finally broke the kiss.
When she would have gone back for more, he frowned at her, his eyes
seeming almost as dazed as hers for a moment, before he seemed to
regain his footing.

“It’s coming this way. The leviathan. I feel
it.”

Dread washed over her, replacing all the warm
emotions of moments before. “We have to run.” She clung to his
arms, fear making her voice shake.

He seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.
“Do me a favor and reel in that line slowly. Don’t jerk it. Don’t
draw any attention to us. Just move slow and steady.”

He was already doing the same on the other
side of the boat where another rod had swayed lazily in its holder.
She moved to comply, trying to regain some sense of calm. His
competent stance helped her focus. For just a second, she felt
like, if Andrew was there with her, nothing bad could happen.

It was silly, she knew, but that was the
impression he gave. He was so tall and strong. He seemed to know
exactly what to do at all times and had a plan to lead them to
safety, while all she could really do was panic.