Bear Naked Read Online Free PDF Page A

uncomfortable. Then, he looked back up at me. “How old am I?”
    I bit my lip. “You were eighteen when you left, so that would make you thirty-four.”
    His brows drew down, as if he were surprised to hear that. “I see.”
    I wanted to ask him if he remembered why he’d left, but I couldn’t. What if he didn’t remember that Katja had died? What if it broke his heart all over again and he ran once more? I swallowed hard. “Do you remember…anything else?”
    “Not much.” He took another sip of coffee and shifted on his feet. I tried not to stare at his junk, dangling between his crouching legs. It was hard not to, though. It was just…out there. And prominent. Leif spoke again. “My memories are clouded. It’s mostly snow…and penguins.”
    I smiled at that. “That’s all this island seems to be.”
    He nodded. “I don’t think…” he blinked and looked at me, really focused. “I don’t think I like the way they taste.”
    I laughed at that, surprised at his rueful admission.
    Leif looked startled at my laughter, his muscles tensing. Then, he relaxed, and I watched his eyes crinkle at the corners, and his mouth pulled up into a return smile. “I like that sound.”
    That soft flutter returned to my belly, and I clamped my legs tighter together, though for an entirely different reason this time. This time, it was desire.
    He stared at me intensely for a long moment, and then his head tilted. “You are wounded.”
    I touched the long scratch on my cheek. It throbbed when I thought about it, so I was doing my best not to. “Not badly.”
    “Was it…me?” His mouth twisted, the smile disappearing. “Did I hurt you?”
    I gave a small nod. I didn’t want to lie to him.
    His face fell and he looked down at the coffee thermos in his hands. Very slowly, he set it down on the far side of the fire. Then, he stood, shrugging off the sleeping bag.
    “Wait,” I said, “don’t go.” We were making progress.
    But when I got to my feet, he loped away and began to change.
    Frustrated, I dropped back down to my crouch and stared at his retreating figure, already turning into his bear form within a few paces. Damn it. Leif’s psyche was fragile. I’d have to tread carefully with him. I needed to get him to return, and coax him into spending more time in human form with me.
    I picked up the coffee thermos and finished it off. Tomorrow, I’d brew more coffee and see what I could prepare in my supplies bag that might entice him back out for a visit.

    The next morning, the scent of were-bear shifter was heavy over my campsite. I’d slept in my tent after stitching back together the pieces of my sleeping bag, and the fact that Leif had been exploring while I slept but hadn’t bothered me was pleasing. It meant he was aware of who I was and was curious enough to keep returning.
    That was a good sign.
    Pleased, I broke out some of my supplies and dug through them, trying to figure out what I could make over a fire. I’d stashed some chocolate away - I was hormonal thanks to the heat, and so it had seemed like a great idea. I dug out some of the chocolate and made a new pot of coffee - a bit weaker this time, in anticipation of Leif’s return. And then, I stirred a bit of my precious chocolate into the coffee and let it melt, sweetening it.
    I didn’t drink it. I waited for Leif to show.
    And waited.
    And waited. While I waited, I pulled out my small sewing kit and tightened the stitches on my sleeping bag. I’d hastily stitched it last night but found that even the smallest gaps let the frigid air in, so I was busy re-stitching it and tightening it.
    Just as I was finishing my stitches, the wind shifted and I caught the scent of were-bear on the breeze. I dropped my sewing and lifted my head, just in time to see a large mass of brown moving in the snowy hills in the distance.
    “Leif?” I called out.
    No response.
    “Leif? I made some coffee for you again. It tastes better today, I promise,” I