Some Bear to Love: BBW Bear Shifter (BWWM) Romance Standalone (2 page)

He laughed again. It was a mean sound. At least it was to her, after he’d left her so completely disappointed. Just one kiss from those perfect lips and she felt like she probably could have been satisfied forever.

Just one kiss from a hot pirate.

The breeze came in a gust as they changed directions slightly, and she caught his scent. He smelled like ocean plus lilies plus sand after a storm. She wanted to breathe it forever.

She leaned back against the railing, eyes closed.

“Remember, princess,” he said. “My boat, my rules. I may not be captain, but I’m still first mate.”

She nodded, still enjoying his scent. It was so alpha, so intoxicating. First mate? She wanted him to be
her
mate. She wanted to make him mad again just to feel him close, threatening. She knew he was a good person, the type who could never really hurt her.

But there was a harshness to him she found sexy. An element of danger. He didn’t let anyone fuck with him, and she knew he’d probably make an awesome protector.

She wished briefly she could have a chance at something like that.

“Hey,” he said, and she opened her eyes to see him looking at her with a worried expression. “You’re leaning back too far. Don’t—”

She startled and looked behind her, catching herself on the railing before she could lose her balance. “Phew, that was close.”

He shook his head in a huff, making all that beautiful golden hair dance around him in the wind. “Don’t you even have the slightest bit of self-preservation?” He eyed the railing next to her and then put a hand out as he walked forward. “You better come forward.” He looked up ahead of the bow of the boat. “There are some waves coming from another boat’s wake. You shouldn’t be by the edge. One good bump and—”

She rolled her eyes and stayed where she was. Her knees were so weak from his pheromones and him being so close that she didn’t think she could move if she wanted to. Besides, did he really think she was the kind of ninny that would—

BUMP. The boat rolled, hard, and then made a thump as it went down. She held on tight, screamed only a little bit, and then righted herself.

His eyes were wide and then angry but relieved as she settled back against the rail. “Don’t take your hands off the—”

“I’m not as stupid as you seem to think I am,” she said, waving her hands at him. “Mister—”

She didn’t get a chance to finish because a huge wave hit, and with a roll and a thump, the boat shuddered beneath her, she slipped off her feet and went tumbling back over the railing.

The last thing she saw before falling was his angry blue gaze as he lunged to catch her.

She had a brief second to anticipate the landing. This was gonna hurt.

T
he little
—! He guessed he was the only person around who could probably call her little, but just once, he wished the frustrating woman would take his advice on something. He swiped the rescue ring and yelled for Bart to stop the boat. He didn’t even think about it, just jumped off the back of the boat into the water to find her.

Luckily, Bart had slowed their speed when he saw the boat wake they were about to hit, so her impact wouldn’t hurt as much as it would have if they were going full speed and the water were harder.

Still, he braced for impact, knowing it was going to sting and needing to get to her as soon as possible. He didn’t know how good she was at swimming.

The water slapped him as he entered, tucked so as to not go too deep. He surfaced quickly and whipped his hair out of his face, looking for her.

She was sputtering a ways away, since she’d flown off the boat before he’d gotten off. She seemed to be able to tread water, and his heart finally stopped trying to pound out of his chest when he realized she was going to be okay.

They both were.

As he swam to her, the rescue ring over one shoulder, it occurred to him he’d never been this tense, this worked up, this… scared, as he’d been when she’d looked at him with shock and regret in those wild, beautiful gray eyes before she’d gone overboard.

Nothing in his life had ever affected him like this. Over the years he’d grown cold, methodical. But ever since she’d walked onto that dock, she’d been turning things upside down.

He swam forward with sure, quick strokes, and when he reached her, she locked her arms around him, gasping. He had to admit he liked it. He liked the way she clung to him, liked the way her body felt in the cool water. Liked knowing she was safe.

He had no right to feel that way, but he did. He handed her the safety ring and started pulling them toward the boat.

“I had no idea,” she gasped. “What on earth were you thinking backing me up against that rail if it could be so dangerous?”

“Well,” he said hoarsely, trying to swim and talk at the same time as he cut his way through the rising and falling swells left behind by the boat. “I’m not used to customers sailing off with my boat. So I don’t usually have to call them topside to yell at them. And then usually, if I tell them to hold on to the rail, I don’t expect them to do the opposite and wave their hands like a lunatic.”

She grumbled something under her breath but hung on to the safety ring and let him tow her.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “Thanks for rescuing me.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “All part of the job. Now don’t sue us.”

“I could, you know. I’m a lawyer.”

He groaned as they were nearly to the boat. “I should have known.”

They had an audience as he pulled up to the ladder that would pull them onto the lower deck leading inside to the cabins. He helped her climb up first. “Nothing to see here, folks. Bart, if you could lower the anchor and help people get into their snorkel gear, this is a good place to stop for lunch and swim if people would like.”

He climbed out behind her as she collapsed on the carpeted deck. Rough carpet was necessary or the sun burned the client’s feet. He heaved himself out behind her, feeling exhausted as the adrenaline wore off.

But then he looked out at the ocean. Enjoyed the feel of being out here, isolated from land. Rocking gently. There was a lot to be grateful for. They were both okay. He had his ship back, and hopefully after that stunt, the frustrating, beautiful woman next to him wouldn’t be doing anything to provoke him again.

“Look,” he said as she stretched her neck and checked her limbs to make sure she was okay. “You might be in charge back in whatever big city you’re from. You might be the top in your cycling gym, whatever.” Her body was curvaceous but also fit and muscled, so he knew she worked out. A lot. “But here on the island, dangerous things can happen. You need to learn to take commands.”

She grinned, tossing her gorgeous black braids over her shoulder and winking at him mischievously. “I’ll take your commands any day, captain,” she said. And then before he could stop her, she leaned forward and planted one right on his mouth.

Heat sizzled straight to his groin, and then the kiss was over too quickly and she was standing and swaying those delectable hips as she walked into the cabin to get dry.

He just sat there for a moment, then raised a hand to touch his lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been kissed. No,
he
was the one who did the kissing, he thought indignantly.

But all he could think of was those full lips on his. Those mischievous gray eyes coming closer. His cock hardened and he growled at the thoughts flooding his head. Her in his cabin, her hands tied above her head as she took his every command.

Her screaming his name and calling him captain.

His lips between her legs as she writhed beneath him.

He shook his head. He had a job to do. He’d do it. And he wouldn’t succumb to his dad’s stupid matchmaking plans. The sea was his mistress, master, and wife all in one. He needed nothing more.

Besides, things should be less complicated now that she’d said she’d take any of his commands.

He narrowed his eyes. Somehow, he didn’t believe her.

K
im rushed
to her cabin and flopped on her bed. Her heart was still stammering, her limbs shaking. She was still coming down from the rush of falling off the boat, seeing him jump in after her like some freaking super hero. Seeing how he moved in the water.

Seeing his chest, all wet and sexy like.

Damn. And then she’d kissed him. Had she said something about obeying his every command? Only in the bedroom maybe. She’d just been trying to think of a way to get closer, to put her lips over his perfect, seemingly carved-out-of-granite ones.

And oh, what a kiss it had been.

And what a mistake.

Because when she kissed him, she knew for certain. This was her mate. And she wasn’t allowed to have one. Her whole life, she’d been groomed to take over for her father as head of his law firm, hopefully after picking a suitable mate from the kids of one of his friends.

She didn’t get to choose, and she didn’t think he’d care about fated mates, if he even believed in them. But when her lips touched Sebastien’s—no, even before that—when he’d rescued her, she’d felt something so right. Felt the animal in her respond and say,
This is your mate
.

Damn. Now it would be ten times harder to go back.

She’d just wanted a few more weeks of fun before settling down. Her father had picked a suitable candidate with bear blood, and though she hadn’t met him, he was everything her family expected. She’d been wild growing up, and she’d been allowed as long as in the end, she met their rules.

So here, she’d just be wild, as she’d always been, a little longer. A hot fling with the ship’s captain would have been fun. Now it was doomed to just end in heartbreak.

Now when she walked away, it wouldn’t be from a hot captain. It would be from her mate.

At least she thought he was. Why else would she have felt a swirl of cold from his animal and known instantly he was pureblood polar bear? A large, fierce predator. A perfect mate and protector for her young.

But it wasn’t to be.

At least she understood her obsession with vexing the man and getting his attention. Sure, he was gorgeous, but it was more than that.

He was hers. Her wonderful, grumpy, fabulous longhaired pirate rescuer.

And now she needed to keep her distance.

She went to change and then realized the others were out with their snorkels. Why should she miss out? She put on a short black swim skirt, because her sarong had been lost when she went overboard, and tidied her braids in their ponytail before going back out as if nothing had happened.

As if she still didn’t feel slightly shaky.

Maybe she should get something to eat. She walked into the small kitchen at the end of the bedrooms. It was curved due to the shape of the boat, and there were coolers set on the table full of various sundries. She picked two coolers and headed upstairs.

She wanted to keep busy. If she stopped, she’d end up thinking, and that wouldn’t be good. Not when all her thoughts revolved around what she wanted to do to her delicious mate.

She walked up on deck and people were seated here and there on deck chairs. She set down the coolers and pulled out a sandwich for herself, which she unwrapped and began to eat as she stared out at the ocean.

She wasn’t sure what people found so magical about it. Yes, it was big. And blue. And wet. And it could kill you if you approached it wrong. And there were fish in it.

And it could be the most beautiful color, sort of like Sebastien’s eyes. She looked up and saw him talking to the married couple. He was still soaking wet but was walking around like it was business as usual, like he had to jump off his boat to rescue wayward black women every day.

He was all calm and presence, and just being on ship with him made you feel more confident.

He seemed to feel her eyes on him because he slowly turned and met them with his. Damn, those blue irises seemed to sizzle into her. That wet hair that fell around his face begged to be teased back into place.

She was just the one to do it. She’d felt his response when she’d kissed him. He hadn’t been against it. Would it really hurt that much more to leave after experiencing as much as she could with him for two weeks, rather than just staying distant and leaving after?

She didn’t think so. On top of that, she didn’t think she could stay away if she tried.

“Captain,” she called out, gaining his attention again. He rose to full height, as he tended to do when he faced her, as if he wanted to remind her he was bigger and taller and in charge.

“Yes?”

“Will you be snorkeling with us today? I’m not sure we should be out there on our own,” she said, one corner of her lips pulling up in a playful smirk.

He frowned. “Bart is captain on this trip.”

She pursed her lips. She kept forgetting, because it just seemed like wherever he was, he should be in charge. It looked like he felt the same. He looked put out by having to correct her about his title. “What should we call you, then?”

“Mate,” he said, flashing white teeth. “As in first mate. Or Sebastien.”

She gulped and tossed back her hair. It was a habit, one that made her feel powerful. Sebastien it was, then. She wasn’t about to go calling him mate and reinforcing in her stupid brain that she should somehow think of him that way. Things would be bad enough as it were.

“Sebastien, will you be snorkeling with us today?” she asked, tossing her braids over her shoulder against the wind that insisted on pitching them forward.

He looked her up and down again, and she stood firm and tall. Maybe he was trying to make sure she was really okay after falling off the back of the boat. Maybe he was just checking her out, which made her body heat head to toe.

But maybe something else went on behind those Caribbean-blue eyes. There was really no way to know. Not unless he told her, which he didn’t look likely to do anytime soon based on the clenched state of his jaw and the slight purse to those sculpted lips.

Oh well. They didn’t need to talk about their feelings. He just needed to get in the water with them so she could snorkel behind him and hopefully look up his swimsuit.

Ha-ha. Just kidding. Probably.

“As captain, I should stay with the ship,” Bart said helpfully. “So I guess you’ll need to supervise the guests on this one.”

At the betrayal, Sebastien turned to him with a glare, and she thought she saw a faint gleam of satisfaction in the smaller man’s eyes. “Bart…”

“I’ll need you to check the anchor anyway,” Bart said, reaching into a compartment under the seat and handing Sebastien a snorkel and mask.

Sebastien looked at them in distaste. “I like to be on the ocean. Not in it.”

She laughed. “Okay, pretty boy,” she said, putting an arm around him and pulling him toward the back of the boat where the others were climbing down to the small deck to get off. Several were already in the water.

“Don’t call me that,” he muttered.

“But you are,” she said.

He muttered something else under his breath, but she ignored him. He could be grumpy if he wanted, but she intended to enjoy the day.

Wilson was walking out below them and putting on his mask as he went.

When he saw them, he gave an appreciative stare and a whistle, and Sebastien’s sharp gaze whipped to him in an instant.

“Not appropriate,” he said.

“Fine,” Wilson said. “It wasn’t for you anyway.”

Sebastien took a long, slow breath, and Kim felt a slight sense of impending doom. Right before a long leg reached out, kicked Wilson right in the ass, and, with a slightly girlish scream, sent him flying into the ocean in front of them.

She stifled a laugh, waiting to make sure Wilson was okay when he came up coughing. But he gave her a big grin and a thumbs-up, seemingly unruffled.

“You aren’t getting in with that idiot, are you?” Sebastien said, pulling her to the side. “We could just eat lunch.”

“Are you kidding?” she asked, putting on her mask. “This is the vacation of my life. No way I’m going to waste a second of it.”

He tilted his head, like the concept of vacation were foreign to him. After all, this was his job, not his vacation, and he didn’t seem like someone who relaxed very often.

But she had a feeling he’d get in the water if she did. So she put on her fins and walked awkwardly to the edge and jumped off in a sloppy back roll.

The water was the perfect temperature, cool enough to be refreshing, warm enough that you didn’t need a wetsuit. It was such a beautiful color; it had to be the most beautiful water in the world.

She whipped back to look at Sebastien, who was still glaring at the snorkel and mask, which looked hilariously tiny next to him. It was easy to forget the sheer size of the man, due to his gorgeous hair and pretty boy face.