A Bear For Christmas Read online

  This was the last thing she needed.

  She had come away to forget about her troubles, not walk into a whole host of new ones. She rubbed her forehead and swigged her beer. Alyssa nudged her on the shoulder and whispered in her ear.

  “Hey, don’t worry,” she said. “He’s just spinning a yarn. I bet it’s how he gets his kicks.”

  Megan took a deep breath and nodded her head slowly, trying her best to forget his words, but they still sounded out heavy inside of her head.

  This place appeared so perfect, it made sense that there would be something wrong with it somewhere. That was just Megan’s luck. She found something she liked, and it rapidly began to fall to shit before her very eyes.

  She took another sip of her beer and rested it down on the countertop.

  She could tell that her and Alyssa had attracted some attention when they had walked into the bar, and it was strange, she had also felt as if a pair of eyes had been on her the whole time, but she couldn’t really pinpoint where they were coming from.

  She shifted on the stool and motioned to the barman to get her another drink. Now her nerves were fried and all she wanted to do was calm herself down and forget about everything.

  This was her vacation after all.

  She suddenly sensed something, and the air around her felt electric. She felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, and her heart began to race. But this time it wasn’t because she was anxious or afraid, it was because she could feel something powerful around her.

  She felt something familiar, and right…

  Something intense…

  She turned her head to the side, and it was then, as if he had just appeared out of nowhere that she saw him.

  A man like no other.

  A man that made her breath falter and her heart pound. She felt her jaw sag open a little, but even without turning to look at her, he knew that he had her attention.

  “Don’t listen to all of that,” he said in a gruff voice. “He loves peddling local superstition.”

  Megan turned towards him properly, completely captivated by the voice, and its owner. The man was sat a few spaces down at the bar. He was big, with thick arms, and a mane of unruly black hair that trailed down past his ears. He had a smattering of rough black stubble on his cheeks and chin, and he looked unkempt and wild, but also incredibly well put together at the same time. Almost as if he were a well-heeled gent, trying to look as if he had nothing.

  Megan felt her heart pound, she smiled at him before she was even aware she was doing it.

  “That’s all it is girls, superstition,” the handsome stranger smiled wryly, still yet to look at them, before he sipped his beer.

  “See,” Alyssa pointed at the barman before she slammed her hand down on the bar top. “I knew you were fucking with us!”

  The barman shrugged and leaned in closer to talk to her. Alyssa had only had a couple of drinks whilst they were getting ready, but Megan could already tell that she was giddy and flirty with the wine, and she watched as Alyssa moved forward and started to whisper to the barman.

  She felt herself blush a little, and then she bit her lip and turned back to the stranger. He really was incredibly good looking, like Megan’s idea of the perfect man. He was tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome, but he also had a big, bulky look to him. He was like a tank. Like a force to be reckoned with, and it made her nervous and excited her at the same time.

  She imagined him picking her up in those huge arms and carrying her, laying her down softly on a bed, and she felt a twinge between her legs, and her face flamed red.

  He still had yet to look at her, but she could see a look in his eyes that she recognized. It was one of intrigue, as if he were waiting for her to make the first move. She sat forwards and tapped her fingers lightly on the counter, determined that she wasn’t going to play his game.

  He may have been verging on perfect, but she was still out of the dating scene. She didn’t want to fall into another man’s trap so easily, and so soon.

  When she didn’t speak she felt him bristle slightly, and then he shifted his stool so that he moved closer to her, and finally, after what felt like an eternity, he cleared his throat and turned to look at her.

  Megan’s heart began to race.

  It was as if he were holding her there and she didn’t dare move.

  “Well, I’m not used to that,” he said with a hint of humor.

  “And what would that be?” she mused.

  “Being made to work for it,” he said as he smiled widely and his deep brown eyes glinted.

  Megan raised her eyebrows and prepared for war. The last thing she needed was some complete jackass trying to act smart around her. She shrugged and sipped her drink.

  “I’m kidding,” he said. And she felt a rush of relief.

  He began to laugh and then he turned slightly so he was facing the bar again. Megan felt a rush of disappointment. She wanted to talk to him. Even after all she was telling herself… She didn’t want to lose his attention.

  “Are you from around here?” she finally managed to blurt out. The stranger smiled and turned back towards her, studying her with a smile, teasing her with his silence.

  When he’d had his fun he leaned over on his stool so they could talk properly.

  “Yeah,” he said genuinely. “I’m from the mountain,” he sipped his beer, “Are you girls on vacation?”

  “Yes,” Megan had butterflies in her stomach. “We just got here this afternoon…”

  He locked eyes with hers and she felt something shift right through her. This was such a bizarre experience, for her to feel so drawn to someone, but this man was like nothing she had ever known. She didn’t know him, and yet he felt familiar in some way. His eyes were deep and powerful, and she felt pulled into them. She felt as if she never wanted to look away. He smiled and reached across the bar. When he did, his arm skimmed hers and she felt a rush of something. A spark. A flare of excitement and need. She swallowed.

  He faltered for a moment and then he withdrew his hand from the mat he had been reaching for, and shifted even closer to her.

  “That guy,” he whispered as he motioned to the barman. “I hear him trying to scare people with that shit every week. It must make him feel like the big man. Either that or he has no other conversation.”

  “Yeah,” Megan laughed. “He did seem a bit strange. I mean come on… Vicious bears dragging skiers off the slopes, it all sounds a bit farfetched to me!”

  “Yep,” he smiled.

  His eyes glistened again, and his pupils were wide and open. Megan felt herself blushing.

  “I’m Mason,” he held out his hand.

  Megan reached forward and shook it, and as their palms touched she felt a surge between them. His skin was red hot to the touch and his grip was strong. She caught her breath and managed to speak.

  “Megan,” she grinned.

  “Can I get you a drink Megan?” he asked deeply.

  Megan looked around.

  Was he with others?

  Alyssa was already onto her second beer, and was knocking back a shooter. She was also outrageously flirting with the scaremongering barman, and it didn’t appear that she would be coming back to sit with Megan anytime soon.

  She looked back to Mason. He was so good looking she couldn’t believe for one second that he’d be interested in spending time with her and buying her a drink. He was the sort of man who could have anyone, why would he need to come to a bar like this and chat up a girl like her?

  She may have been beautiful, but she was damaged. And she was sure that it must have been written all over her.

  Her scars may not have been etched on her skin, but they were hidden behind her eyes. Surely, he would only have to look into them once to know that she had been hurt.

  Mason ran a hand through his hair and she couldn’t help but stare at his arms and at how muscular they were as they exploded from the sleeves of his rolled-up shirt.

&nb
sp; Muscles had always turned her on, and it was one of the main things Cody had lacked. Maybe she should have paid attention to that when she first met him. Maybe then it would have saved her all the heartache and trauma.

  “Oh,” she said as she brushed her hair behind her ears nervously. “Well, yes, thank you. As long as you don’t mind?”

  “It would be my pleasure,” Mason said.

  He stood up and dragged his stool closer to hers and sat back down. Now they were only inches apart and she could smell his masculine scent. It was a mix of mountain air, beer and his cologne. Her skin prickled with desire and she found herself fanning her face with her hand to stop herself from turning even redder.

  “What can I get you?” he asked, as he cast his dark eyes down on her.

  “Whatever you’re having,” she smiled.

  Mason clicked his tongue behind his teeth and scanned the rows of bottles behind the bar. “I could make you try something really gross here you realize,” he laughed. “Absinthe? Whiskey? Gin?”

  He tapped his chin with his forefinger as he mused on it.

  “Very funny,” she laughed. “If you want to see me throw up then go right ahead.”

  Mason grinned and held up his hands in defeat.

  “I definitely don’t want to send you home,” he said. “So how about a small vodka soda?”

  “Sounds good to me,” she smiled, before she tried to take a couple of deep breaths and calm herself down.

  She watched him order her drink, along with a whiskey for himself, and she realized how big he was. Every time he moved she caught sight of new angles of his body, he was so muscular and defined it was almost impossible. And she couldn’t help but imagine him without his clothes on. The thought of this huge hulk of a man naked on top of her, kissing her all over, was enough to send her over the edge. She had to stop!

  Get your mind out of the gutter Meg, she scolded herself internally.

  It had been a long time since she had been with a man. She had begun to resist Cody’s advances well before the violence started, and it had been one of the reasons he had used when trying to explain himself for his disgraceful behavior. He said she had driven him to it because she was neglecting him and making him frustrated.

  Megan despised him, he was pure evil.

  She thought back to the day she had to face him in court and testify against him. She had been terrified as sat in the dock, and she had shaken the entire time. When the judge ruled he would go to prison the relief was immense, but she knew he wouldn’t be there forever and as each day passed she knew it was getting closer to his release.

  She shuddered and closed her eyes before taking a deep breath. Pull yourself together Megan, she thought. You’re here to have a good time.

  “Here we go,” Mason bellowed, as he grabbed the drinks and slid hers across to her.

  “Bottoms up,” he held the whiskey to his lips.

  She grinned at Mason.

  In the mess of everything she realized that she had forgotten how to have a good time. And right then and there she decided that for once she was going to stop second guessing everything. She was going to act like she did when she had been younger, carefree, and up for anything.

  “Cheers,” she said as they clinked glassed before downing the entire contents.

  “Woo,” Mason said, blowing out a rush of air. “Here’s to a good night Megan… and to your first time on the mountain.”

  “Thank you,” she blushed.

  And already she knew that this holiday had far exceeded her expectations.

  Chapter Five

  “Your friend is insane,” Mason laughed as he shook his head and sipped his beer.

  He and Megan were sat watching Alyssa dance from man to man, twirling and grinding against anyone and everyone. And Megan couldn’t help but cringe inside and want to hide.

  “Yes, she is,” she agreed as she covered her eyes with her palms, wishing the ground would just open and swallow her whole.

  “Do you have a little bit of that in you?” Mason asked jokingly.

  “Not even a tiny bit,” Megan said sincerely.

  He stretched his arm up high and wrapped it around her and the back of the booth they were now sitting in, and Megan felt her herself grow warm inside.

  They had been drinking for a couple of hours, and they had talked about so much it was as if they were now old friends. Their connection had been immediate, and their bond was growing with each passing moment. It was hard for her to think that earlier in the day she hadn’t even known that Mason had existed, and yet there they were, cuddled up together in the corner of a bar. And Megan couldn’t remember a time when she had felt happier.

  She looked up at him and stared into his eyes.

  “This is the bad thing about living somewhere like this,” he said as he trailed a finger down the side of her face, brushing away a loose strand of hair.

  “What is?” she whispered.

  She could feel his breath on her face and her heart was racing so hard she felt as if it were about to burst out of her chest.

  “Because now I’ve met you, and I know you have to leave…”

  The words took her by surprise and her jaw sagged open slightly.

  His hand cupped her shoulder and he sighed.

  Alyssa started to whoop and cheer as she climbed up onto the top of the bar and began to drag the barman up with her. It was such a spectacle it broke their moment, and Megan suddenly felt shy.

  She looked across at Alyssa, and she honestly didn’t know where she got her confidence from. Alyssa could talk to anyone, and was so comfortable in her own skin she just oozed sex appeal. Megan had always wished she could be more like her, but after everything that had happened with Cody, her confidence had taken a nose dive. Now she was sat with a gorgeous man who was acting interested in her and all she could think was that surely there must be some mistake.

  Could he really want to spend all this time with me? She thought, as she looked up at him again and bit her lip.

  Mason’s eyes glistened, they enveloped her when she looked into them, and every time they locked with hers she got a tingly feeling all through her body.

  Underneath her low-cut top, she felt her nipples stiffen.

  She hadn’t come away looking to meet anyone. In fact, it had been the last thing on her mind, but now she was there with him, she felt as if anything could happen.

  Suddenly, anything seemed possible.

  “I…” she began, but she didn’t know what she wanted to say.

  Mason looked into her eyes and moved so that they were facing each other. They had been sitting close together, but now their lips seemed to be only millimeters apart… and Megan’s nerves had risen so much, her whole world seemed to be spinning.

  Everything around her fell away.

  The music, the people, the sounds of the bar… suddenly it all ceased to exist, and it was only her and him.

  Mason.

  How had he found her?

  Where had he even come from?

  He held her breath and he came closer, his lips skimming hers.

  She could feel an intense heat rising from him.

  Whoever he was, he was different. She knew that much.

  “Mason,” she whispered as he reached up and cupped her face with his big, rough hands.

  When he kissed her, it was as if the world stopped in that moment.

  Megan felt weightless, as if she were being pulled into another dimension. Her heart fluttered, her vision blurred, and her body was hot, electric, and full of desire and power.

  She was being rocked to the core.

  Everything was changing.

  It was a kiss like no other.

  A kiss that was about to change her life.

  When their lips broke apart and she stared into his eyes, she could see something different in them. Something strong, something almost… animalistic.

  “Mason…?” she whispered.

  She was sure a growl of
satisfaction escaped from him, and she gasped as she felt her entire body shake with lust.

  “I’m sorry,” he said gruffly as he rested his forehead against hers. “But I have to go… I can’t…”

  Megan’s stomach seemed to drop to the floor and she reached out for him, she clawed for his hand under the table, but he rose to his feet and ran his hands through his hair.

  “I…” he said as his deep brown eyes looked down at her. “I need to go… But I’ll find you. I promise, I’ll find you…”

  She rose to her feet too, completely confused, but also her whole body aching with desire.

  She had no idea what had just happened, or what he had done to her… but something inside of her had changed.

  Mason…

  What a man…

  A man who had kissed her and flipped her entire world.

  “What the fuck…” she whispered to herself as suddenly she seemed to snap back into reality.

  Mason had gone, but she could still feel him.

  He had left a part of him with her…

  Something she couldn’t name, had remained.

  Chapter Six

  The snow was deep, fresh and completely untouched. Megan stood at the top of one of the runs, watching Alyssa shoop, shoop down, side to side, with such grace and ease she made it look easy.

  I wish I could ski like that, Megan thought, fully aware that she had only just learned the art of the ‘snow plough’ move, and it was going to be some time before she was free, easy and experienced on the slopes.

  They had been out all morning, and the air was crisp and so clean Megan inhaled deeply every few seconds to clear out her lungs.

  “I could get used to this,” she said aloud, even though there was no one there to hear her.

  Alyssa reached a point on the run to stop where she turned and waved to Megan, encouraging her to begin her way down. It wasn’t a steep run and she knew that she could do it, she just wished she didn’t look like such a novice.

  “Here goes,” she said to herself.

  She squealed a little as she pushed her way off with her skiing poles, slowly sliding down the mountain run towards Alyssa. It was only the second time in her life she had skied, and although she was slow, she was beginning to become more confident and get the hang of it after only one morning out there in the snow.