Bear Naked For Christmas (Bear Oak Novella) by Edith Hawkes Read Free Book Online

to terms with all that had happened in such a short time, but my medical instincts kicked in. There was work to do and a patient who needed looking after, so I pushed my nerves to the side, took a deep breath and let myself into old Mr. Jenkins’ cabin.
    “Noah?” I called out. He wasn’t in the small front room or the kitchen.
    “In here,” he replied.
    I padded down the hallway towards his voice and found him searching within a large oak chest of drawers. While I was away he’d managed to find and put on a pair of jogging pants, though his broad chest still remained unclothed… the little tuft of hair just beneath his belly button caught my eye and was threatening to drive me crazy.
    Down, girl!
    “You shouldn’t be standing,” I said. “Sit on the bed.”
    He nodded and obeyed my instruction without any fuss. He held out his hand and passed me a wad of thick material. “For your feet. Put them on—they’re thermal socks.”
    “Thanks,” I replied and tried to hide the smile that involuntarily appeared on my face. “So, shall we talk about the bear in the room, or what?”
    Noah rolled his eyes. “That’s actually a pretty good one. I haven’t heard that one before.”
    “Don’t change the subject,” I said as I moved closer to him to investigate his injuries and stood in between his legs. Both wounds had surprisingly stopped bleeding, and upon closer inspection the one on his back looked to be healing over. No, it couldn’t be. But then I reminded myself that anything, especially after tonight, was possible.
    His shoulder looked the worst, though, and I concentrated on that. I cleaned the wound and began to dig out the embedded bullet.
    “Doesn’t that hurt?” I asked. It felt like I was pulling and prodding him every which way, but he wasn’t even flinching. His hands landed on my hips and he looked up at me.
    “Nope, not while I have you in my arms.”
    “You’re not helping. I need to get this out of you…”
    He pulled me closer, his fingers kneading the tops of my ass cheeks. “Noah,” I whispered. I shook my head; I couldn’t get distracted.
    Finally I managed to remove the hunk of metal from his shoulder. As soon as I did, I watched, mesmerized, as his skin knitted back together almost instantly.
    “But… how?” I muttered. “It’s not possible.”
    He ran his hands up my back, but I was determined to get answers. Although I was pretty sure I knew what was he was, I just needed him to say it out loud, to confirm that I wasn’t indeed going crazy.
    As if he read my mind he responded. “Please don’t be scared.”
    “I’m not,” I replied instantly. “I just want to know.”
    “I’m a shifter.”
    “Part human… part bear?”
    “Essentially, yes.”
    I think he expected me to bolt. His green eyes searched mine, watching me carefully for any sort of reaction.
    I tilted my head to the side, my hands still on his chest, palms down. “Can you change at will?”
    “Sometimes… depends on my mood and my emotions. Sometimes I can’t help it, and he, my bear, demands to be let loose.”
    I nodded. I could understand that, or at least I tried to.
    “And this Jake guy, he obviously knows about all this—the bear thing. And he’s a friend?” I continued, trying to work it out in my head. Noah nodded.
    “The mountain, the sale… he’s like your leader, right?”
    “God, you’re quick. You probably should’ve been a detective instead.”
    But I wasn’t listening. My eyes widened as I stumbled upon a realization. “Was Mr. Jenkins like you, too?”
    Noah nodded again and pulled me even closer into his arms. My brain wanted to push back and play everything over in my head again, to study the possibilities and the outcome of such a discovery, but Noah’s hands had other plans in mind. And so did my body.
    Noah rose to his feet and lifted me up effortlessly with him. I wrapped my legs around him almost without thinking. He was so strong, and I probably should’ve