Breakwater: Custer (BBW Bad Boy Space Bear Shifter Romance) by Becca Fanning Read Free Book Online Page A

waving his hands woozily as he tried to stand. Delphine let him flail for a moment, then kicked him in the head.

    Behind her, there was a strange ripping sound followed by a shout. She spun around to come to Custer’s aid and stopped short.

    He’d apparently decided that taking on three mercenaries in his human form was too much work because there, in the middle of a dingy bar on Saltos, was a huge, honey-colored bear swiping angrily at three very unhappy men. He caught one in the jaw with his massive paw and he dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, blood splashing across the floor. The other two got smart and quickly got out of his range, one in front of him and one directly behind him. Custer turned to keep them both in his line of sight, but they had the advantage on maneuverability. He thrashed, roaring and swinging his paws in wide arcs, and then charged forward when he failed to connect. The merc in front of him ended up pinned with his blaster sideways in Custer’s muzzle, keeping him from biting down. The second man took the opportunity to aim at the back of Custer’s skull.

    Delphine realized abruptly that this was her chance. She knew, one way or the other, Mason Corporation would see her dead. It was inevitable. But this was an opportunity to get away from the Breakwater crew, or better yet, catch them unawares while they didn’t think of her as a threat. She could tell them that Custer was delayed somehow and, before they realized what was happening, finish her job. She would still die, but she could do so erasing the stain on her impeccable record. She could prove that one good thing—one functional, successful thing—came out of her cluster.

    The thought didn’t have time to fully form before she moved forward. She didn’t want to be functional, she thought as she barreled into the mercenary, her bracelet seeming to radiate warmth that spread up her arm and gathered in her chest. She wanted to be happy and, if that was out of her reach, then she at least wanted to prove that for the last small bit of her life, she had been someone who helped her friends.

    The struggle was short. He hadn’t noticed her until it was too late, and she had her claws dug into his shoulder and ribs before he could move. He grunted in pain and tried to buck her off, but she was stronger. She slammed her forehead into his and he recoiled, dazed. Taking advantage of his surprise, she slammed an elbow into his jaw. Unlike his comrade, he didn’t take the hit well and his eyes fluttered shut immediately. Standing, Delphine turned to see that Custer had managed to get the better of his attacker.

    He made several low noises that Delphine, as a person who did not regularly associate with bears, had no way of interpreting. She raised an eyebrow and waited. Custer got the hint and shifted back. It was a jarring thing to see, but surprisingly not as jarring as having a naked Custer standing in front of her. The bar, suddenly, was very hot.

    “I said,” he told her, “we need to get back to the ship. We got our information, anyways, and I think the bar is out of service at the moment. Oh, wait a sec.”

    He dashed behind the bar and grabbed a blue glass bottle, then headed towards the door.

    “Okay, now let’s go,” he called over his shoulder.

    “What are you forgetting?” she asked just before he stepped outside. Custer paused, then looked down.

    “Huh,” he said. “Yeah, it would be really weird to get arrested for public indecency after the afternoon we’ve had. Also, Leo would kill me.”

    “I think our options are you running to the ship naked, me trying to explain why I have a bear with a mechanical paw, or we steal one of the mercenary’s pants,” Delphine said calmly as she failed to pull her eyes away from the angles and planes of Custer’s body. She managed to pull her gaze up to an acceptable height right before he turned around.  

    “Stealing pants it is,” he said, walking towards