Shifter Spring Fever, Part Two

*** Please Note: This is Part Two of the Shifter Spring Fever story. If you're looking for Part One, CLICK HERE!

Emily was having far too much fun, considering she was spending all her time doing extra work. She should have been exhausted after working full shifts at her bookstore and then coming to the kayak shop to help out her friend Julia, whose boyfriend Andy was currently recovering from a really bad fall off a roof.

But even though she was spending more time than anyone reasonably should on work, she felt energized and excited every time closing time came at her bookstore and it was time for her to head over to the kayak shop.

How could she not, when time at the kayak shop meant time with Eric?

Emily had fallen hard for him. It was a problem.

A problem she had decided to just ignore. She knew that somewhere down the line, when Andy had recovered fully and the time came for Eric to go back home, her heart was going to break into a million tiny pieces.

But that was a problem for future Emily.

For now, she had already let herself get far more invested in Eric than she should have. Since there was no way around the fact that it was going to hurt like hell when she no longer saw his handsome, smiling face every day, she might as well just enjoy whatever time she did have left with him.

Emily knew Julia was hoping that a true romance would spark between Emily and Eric, but Emily was firm about one thing: whatever happened between her and Eric was limited to mere flirting and fun. Emily absolutely did not want to start anything that implied a serious relationship. She didn’t want to lead Eric on, and she didn’t want to make the eventual break from him any worse than it had to be.

Julia, ever the hopeless romantic, didn’t understand that. No matter how many times Emily tried to remind Julia that real life was not a romance novel, Julia persisted in telling Emily that her Prince Charming was out there.

Emily smiled, thinking of Julia with affection, despite the fact that she knew Julia was wrong. Julia was one of those rare people who truly had found her Prince Charming, so she thought everyone else would, too. Emily knew better, but she mostly just tried to avoid having the discussion with Julia. No sense in raining on her friend’s parade any more than she had to, especially since Julia had been through so much in the last few months, since Andy had injured himself so badly.

Emily chewed her lower lip, feeling a small wave of worry about Andy. He was doing much better than he had been, but he was healing much slower than both he and Julia had hoped. Emily didn’t mind having extra time with Eric, who would be leaving as soon as Andy was well enough. Still, as grateful as she was to have met Eric, she didn’t like the circumstances that had brought him across her path. Andy was a good guy, and he truly didn’t deserve the bad stroke of luck he’d suffered recently.

“That’s quite a frown,” a deep voice said as Emily walked into the kayak shop.

Her frown instantly melted into a smile as she looked up to see Eric standing behind the counter. He’d only been in Wood Canyon a few weeks, and yet he’d spent so much time out in the warm spring sunshine that his skin had already deepened into a nice tan. He looked even more handsome than he had when Emily had first met him, which she wouldn’t have thought possible that day she’d first laid eyes on him.

He just gets better and better, she thought wistfully. If only a fairytale like him truly could last.

Emily pushed away those thoughts, and shrugged in Eric’s direction as she realized he was waiting for her to explain the reason she’d been frowning.

“I was just thinking about how Andy didn’t deserve to get so badly hurt,” she said.

Eric’s smile dimmed just a bit at those words. “No, he didn’t. But I think he’s turned a corner. And on the plus side, it brought me here for an extended period of time. It is nice to get to spend time with him. And I wouldn’t have met you if I hadn’t come.”

“No, you probably wouldn’t have,” Emily replied. The smile never left her face, but in her heart she wondered if maybe she would have been better off if she really had never met Eric, only because then she never would have had to say goodbye.

Eric’s smile widened again. He never seemed to stay down for long, and Emily found his optimism rather contagious. Her own smile grew stronger, and she reminded herself of her resolve to just enjoy whatever time she did have with Eric.

“How were things here today? Any big tours?”

Eric shook his head. “I rented out quite a few kayaks, but surprisingly no one wanted a guided tour today. I guess the weather is so warm and gorgeous that the tourists today all just wanted to float aimlessly and enjoy the spring sunshine.”

“It is a really beautiful day,” Emily agreed. “And now that I’m here you should go out and enjoy it yourself.”

“I should,” Eric said, but he didn’t sound convinced, and Emily had to keep from grinning widely at his obvious reluctance. The whole point of her coming to the kayak store was to give Eric a break from his duties with helping out at the shop, but as the weeks went on and he and Emily got to know each other better, he’d been more and more reluctant to leave right away when she got there. He wanted to stay and flirt with her, and she definitely wasn’t complaining about that.

But today, he really did look more tired than usual, and she thought she should probably encourage him to actually go out and get some fresh air. He wouldn’t do Andy or anyone else any good if he burned out and never took a break.

Of course, she should follow her own advice. But she justified all her extra work by telling herself that coming to the kayak shop didn’t really feel like work, since Eric was there.

She wondered, with a hopeful little thrill, whether he felt the same way about her.

The way he was looking at her right then certainly implied that he did. He was looking at her with that intense gaze of his that always filled her stomach with butterflies. When she came around the counter, he leaned in closer to her, and the butterflies went wild.

“Why would I want to go out there when you’re in here?” he asked in a deep voice.

Emily bit her lower lip in an attempt to keep from smiling like a complete lovestruck fool. Warning bells went off in the back of her mind that she was again letting her heart become too involved with him. But how could she help the happy flutters she felt when he looked at her that way and spoke to her in that tone of voice?

“While I’m flattered that you like me enough to want to stay inside with me on such a gorgeous spring day, I really must insist you go get some fresh air.” She tried to look stern, but it wasn’t much good. How could she not break into a smile when he looked at her like that, like he wanted to pull her into the backroom where no one could see them and then kiss her silly.

Emily felt her cheeks heat, and she coughed, trying to give herself an excuse to turn her head so he couldn’t see that she was surely blushing.

But he wasn’t letting her off so easily. He moved toward her with such silent grace that it reminded her of a predator. She shivered, but not from fear. More from awe that a man so incredible seemed interested in her.

He took her chin in his hand, and she felt the electric connection between them sparking. She tried to look away, but he firmly turned her head toward him.

“I’ll go outside, if you insist. But only if you promise you’ll come join me for a walk later when you’re done your shift here. You need fresh air, too.”

Emily felt her stomach swoop with pleasure as Eric looked deep into her eyes. “It’ll be dark by the time I get off,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “There’ll still be fresh air, but no more sunshine.”

He gave her what she could only describe as a feral grin. “That’s okay. The dark will give us more privacy when I do this.”

And then, he tilted his head forward and pressed his lips against hers. Emily let out a surprised squeak, which was probably the complete opposite of sexy. But it didn’t seem to dampen Eric’s enthusiasm any. He pressed harder against her, moving his entire body closer to hers as he slipped his tongue in her mouth for just an instant. Emily felt the searing heat of desire rushing through her, but before she could really think about what was happening. Eric pulled back and turned to start walking toward the door.

“Come join me for a walk when you’re off,” he said. I’ll wait for you out front around quitting time.”

Emily didn’t even have time to respond before he had slipped out the front door. She watched him go with a pounding heart, then put her fingers up to her lips to feel where his lips had been moments before.

He had kissed her! He had actually kissed her!

Since the day they met, they had been dancing around the fact that they obviously had feelings for each other. When he’d started telling her to come meet him for a walk later, she’d been thrilled. It had seemed he was finally daring to admit that they wanted each other. Even though Emily knew doing anything with him was a bad idea, she couldn’t fully hold back the excitement of knowing he wanted her. Sure, they’d never be able to have each other long term, but just knowing she was wanted was a thrill in itself.

But then, he’d quickly moved beyond just words. He’d kissed her!

She had never imagined he would actually do such a thing, at least not on a random Tuesday afternoon in the middle of the kayak shop. She’d been hopelessly unprepared and had acted like a ridiculous schoolgirl who’d never been kissed, but he hadn’t seemed to notice. Instead, he’d hinted at more kissing if she went for a walk with him later.

And oh, was she ever going to go for a walk with him. It didn’t matter how late she got off, or that the prudent thing to do would be to go home and get some rest. She wasn’t going to ignore a direct request to spend time with a man as mesmerizing as Eric.

Yup. I’m in so much trouble, she told herself as she watched his broad back through the window. He disappeared into the forest a few moments later, but she kept staring after where he’d been moments before.

She could hardly wait until later, when she’d be walking into that forest with him, to see if he’d make good on his promise to enjoy the privacy a dark forest would offer them.

* * *

As soon as Eric was sure he was deep enough in the forest to be out of sight of the kayak shop, he broke into a run. He picked up speed, going faster and faster until the trees and bushes around him were a blur, and his lungs began to burn with the effort.

What had he been thinking, kissing Emily? Yes, he had wanted to do that since basically the moment he’d met her. And yes, it had been the best kiss of his life, by far.

But he should know better than to do rash things like kiss a woman his bear wanted to claim when that woman had no idea he was a bear shifter. Not only that, but he was going to be leaving Wood Canyon sometime soon, and if he’d learned anything about Emily over the last few weeks, it was that she was not the type who would ever move away from Wood Canyon. She loved this town, and her bookstore, and all her friends here. He couldn’t ask her to give all that up for him.

Which meant if he wanted to be with her, he’d have to stay in Wood Canyon, and he didn’t think that was a realistic option. Sure, he could work from anywhere. His normal job as a freelance graphic designer gave him a great deal of flexibility. But still, his house and his friends and everything else familiar to him was back in his hometown.

But your brother is here, a little voice inside his head said. And you’re making new friends in Wood Canyon. Besides, SHE is here.

Eric couldn’t keep help thinking that the reasons to stay in Wood Canyon were continuing to grow. In addition to how much he loved spending time with Emily, he also loved spending time with his brother’s other friends. Dane and Max were loyal, all-around good people, and their lifemates Lola and Tasha were a lot of fun, too. Eric almost felt like the small group of Wood Canyon shifters had formed into its own little mini-clan.

A clan he kind of sort of wanted to be a part of.

Okay, fine. A clan he really wanted to be a part of.

But he didn’t want to make any rash decisions about moving. Not when he did have so many things tying him back to his actual home, far from Wood Canyon.

Besides, the biggest reason he would want to stay in Wood Canyon was Emily, and he had no idea if she would want a long-term relationship with him if she discovered his shifter side. Sure, she was all flirty with him now, but would that continue if she learned how different he was? If she learned that being with him would mean forever being part of something different, something other. Something that a lot of people didn’t understand and would never support. Something that would mean any kids they ever had would be shifters as well, since shifting was a dominant gene.

Would Emily want to be a part of that?

Eric sighed and let out a low growl. He was getting way ahead of himself, thinking about having kids with Emily when he hadn’t done any more than steal a kiss from her. Sure, she’d been really receptive to that kiss. But it was a huge jump to go from kissing her to thinking about having kids with her. No matter how much his inner bear thought she was his lifemate, the fact of the matter was that he still had no promises or commitments from her. He had no indication that she would be willing to spend her life with him, even if he couldn’t stop thinking about how much he wanted to spend his life with her.

Eric growled again, then looked up at the sky. The spring days were steadily growing longer and warmer, but they definitely weren’t reaching the length of summer days quite yet. Already, the sun was getting lower in the sky and the shadows were growing longer.

Eric didn’t mind. The later it got, the closer it was to the time when Emily would finish up at work and would be able to join him in the forest. A shiver of delight went up and down his spine at the thought of kissing her again. Would she let him? She had seemed to like the kiss a great deal, and he hoped that time to think about it would make her want another kiss rather than regret the kiss.

He didn’t usually spend so much time worrying over how a woman would react to him, but then again, he had never wanted a woman the way he wanted Emily. He was surprised, really, that she hadn’t yet realized he was part bear, given how crazy his inner bear went every time he was around her. Surely, she must see how wild he was. Did she really not suspect the reason for it?

He supposed she didn’t. How could she, when she didn’t know that shifters existed. To him, shifting seemed the most natural thing in the world, but he’d been told many times that full humans who had never heard of shifting would never dream up such a concept on their own.

Eric sighed, and wished he could shift right then and let his bear run free through the forest for a while. He hadn’t shifted since the day he’d arrived in Wood Canyon, and the stress of keeping his inner bear cooped up for too long was beginning to wear on him.

He glanced at the sky again, then glanced around. Maybe he could shift, just for a little while. It would be a few hours still until it was late enough for Emily to come looking for him, and, as far as he could tell, he was utterly alone out here. He breathed in deeply, testing the air to see if he could smell anyone nearby. The only thing his keen bear senses picked up on was the slightest of scents that smelled like Emily, but Eric didn’t worry about that. He knew she wasn’t actually out here, since she had taken over the kayak shop for the day, and it didn’t close for a few more hours. He must just be smelling her residual scent on his own body from where he’d leaned against her when he kissed her.

He smiled again at the thought of kissing her, then turned his attention back to the present moment.

He would go ahead and shift, he decided. He should have shifted days ago, if not weeks ago, and when he really thought about it, he should be perfectly safe to shift out here without anyone seeing him. He was fairly deep in the forest by that time, and was utterly alone as far as he could tell. And, he reasoned, letting his inner bear out for a little while would help him to be less of a total wild beast when he did see Emily later that night.

Hopefully he could then be calm enough to not make a total fool of himself or scare Emily off completely.

Feeling confident in his decision. Eric stepped slightly off the path to strip his clothes off. He didn’t necessarily care if anyone saw him naked. Shifters were no prudes, after all. How could they be, when shifting required one to either remove clothes first or have them destroyed by the force of shifting?

But on the off chance that Eric was mistaken about his belief that he was alone out here, he didn’t want to startle any full humans who might be around by stripping himself naked smack dab in the middle of the trail.

In the relative safety of the thick foliage, Eric took off his clothes, once again catching a whiff of Emily’s scent as he did so. His heart thrilled at the familiar scent, and he almost changed his mind about taking his clothes off and shifting, since getting rid of his clothes also meant getting rid of Emily’s scent that still clung to them.

But no, he told himself. He needed to stop being ridiculous. He’d be able to put the clothes back on later, and letting his inner bear burn off some pent-up steam was much more important at the moment then savoring a few more moments of Emily’s scent.

Once he was fully naked, he found he was shivering just a bit. The spring afternoon wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t exactly warm, either, and Eric definitely felt the loss of the warmth his clothes had been providing for him.

Oh well, he thought. I won’t be cold for long.

And with that, he closed his eyes and gave his inner bear the control it had been grasping for all afternoon.

As he threw back his head and roared, his whole body began the wonderful, familiar transformation. His skin thickened and began sprouting thick, dark brown fur, even as his arms and legs morphed into the long, muscular legs of a bear, ending in gigantic paws tipped with razor sharp claws. He roared again as his head morphed into the shape of a bear head, and his teeth grew into the fearsome teeth of a bear. He felt power rush through him as his bear form continued to take over, until moments later he stood there as a large, magnificent grizzly.

He breathed in deeply, letting the fresh spring air fill his lungs. And then, he threw back his head and roared. He almost never went this long without shifting, and it felt so good to be a bear.

When he really stopped and thought about it, he felt sorry for people who weren’t shifters. How mundane it seemed, to only be able to walk around in human form. To not be able to feel wild bear blood running through one’s veins. Even though Eric had dealt with his fair share of judgment from those who didn’t understand shifting, he wouldn’t trade who he was for anything. He loved his inner beast.

He was just about to take off running into the woods to stretch out his giant grizzly legs, when he caught a very strong whiff of Emily’s scent. He frowned, and glanced toward the pile of his clothes that he had folded neatly next to a nearby tree. He didn’t think the scent of Emily on them had been quite that strong, but perhaps his bear nose was picking it up better now that he was actually in bear form.

He huffed, and turned back around intending to begin his run through the trees, but he stopped short at what he saw.

Emily.

She was standing a little ways down the path, but with a clear view of where he had tucked himself away into the trees. Her jaw hung open, and all the color had drained from her face.

Eric wasn’t the type to panic, but he immediately felt himself starting to panic. How much had she seen of his shifting?

From her pale, shellshocked appearance, he was going to guess she’d pretty much seen all of it.

They stared at each other a few moments more, and then, she turned and ran.

He had never seen a human running so fast, and he suspected she must be terrified. Either she thought she had just encountered a grizzly in the wild, and was panicking because of that, or, worse, she had actually seen him change from human to bear and was panicking over the shocking discovery that shifters existed.

Either way, he needed to talk to her, and calm her down. But, of course, he couldn’t talk while in bear form.

Damn it, damn it, damn it, he thought, as he hurriedly began shifting back to human. But shifting back immediately after shifting to bear form wasn’t easy. Shifting took a lot of energy, and back-to-back shifting required a level of strength Eric barely had. Still, he had to try. He focused all his attention on transforming his body back from its hefty grizzly form into his full human form.

He managed it, but by the time he was once again human, he knew there was no way he was going to be able to catch Emily. She’d had quite a head start on him, and he felt so weak at that moment that he didn’t think he’d be able to run very fast. Certainly not as fast as she’d been running. Nevertheless, he gathered as much strength as he could and tried. He stumbled down the path, calling out her name but not expecting any answer.

This had definitely not been the way he wanted to reveal his shifter side to her. But how could he have known that she had followed him into the woods? She was supposed to have been working for hours yet!

As he attempted to run, Eric berated himself for being so careless. He should have realized that he was smelling her because she was actually nearby, not because her scent still lingered on his clothes. But he had been too caught up in the beauty of the spring afternoon, and now he had blown the chance to introduce shifting to Emily in a calm, reasoned way. He could only hope that once she had a chance to process everything that she would accept him for who he was.

If not, he wouldn’t be able to bear the heartache.

Eric tried not to think about it as he stumbled down the path.

It took him far longer than it should have to reach the kayak house again. By the time he did, the shadows had grown quite long, and the parking lot was empty. It looked like all the customers had gone home by that point, and it looked like Emily had left as well, even though she was supposed to have been working until closing. Eric stumbled through the front door, expecting to find the shop empty but hoping against hope that Emily would still somehow be there even though her car was not.

She wasn’t there, but Julia was.

“Hello, Eric. I’ve been wondering when you would show up.”

“Uh…hi,” Eric said cautiously. Julia’s tone was flat and exhausted, and he couldn’t quite tell whether she was angry with him. He supposed she had a right to be. He’d revealed shifting to one of Julia’s best friends without giving Julia any warning. Emily must have run back here and gone straight to Julia, expecting her friend to be just as horrified as she had been that shifters existed.

Julia, of course, would not have been horrified, since she already knew about shifting and had a shifter lifemate.

“I suppose you’re looking for Emily,” Julia said wearily.

“Yes. And I suppose she told you that she saw me shifting.”

Julia nodded. “She was really shaken up. It took a long time for me to calm her down enough to even explain what shifting is.”

Eric’s heart fell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shift in front of her. I thought I was alone out in the middle of nowhere.”

“I know,” Julia said. “There’s no need to apologize. I suppose I’m as much at fault as you are. I’ve known about shifting for months but have never told Emily, not even when it was clear to me she was falling for you.”

Eric’s heart skipped a beat at the idea of Julia seeing that Emily was falling for him. But his joy was shortlived. Emily probably wasn’t falling for him anymore. She probably never wanted to see him again. “So you did explain it to her? How did she take the news?”

Julia shrugged. “She seemed okay with the idea of shifting, once I had explained it to her. But she was really mad at me for not telling her, and I suspect she’s really mad at you, too. You should try to talk to her.”

Eric felt himself deflating. “Do you think it would actually do any good? I really effed up, and knowing how stubborn Emily is, I’m worried she’ll never forgive me.”

Julia gave him a tired smile, and Eric felt even worse for putting this burden on her. Julia had so much on her plate already without having to deal with an angry friend. He’d messed up royally by letting his carelessness create this whole situation.

Really, he should have just told Emily about shifting from the start, but he’d been afraid the news would drive her away, and he selfishly hadn’t wanted to chance that. He’d wanted to enjoy flirting with her a little longer before being brave enough to tell her the truth.

What a fool he’d been.

“You owe it to her to at least try to talk to her,” Julia said.

Eric nodded. He couldn’t argue with that. “I’ll go look for her. Are you okay here at the shop, and with Andy? I hate to leave you alone when you were supposed to have help until closing.”

Julia waved him away. “I doubt we’re getting any more customers tonight, and I can take care of Andy by myself in between closing everything up here. He’s been doing a lot better the last few days, anyway. I’m hopeful he’s turned a corner.”

“I’d noticed he was looking stronger,” Eric said. “I’m glad to hear you confirm that feeling. At least one thing is going in the right direction around here.”

To his surprise, Julia laughed and gave him a fairly wide smile, the exhaustion temporarily receding from her eyes. “Don’t think things with Emily aren’t going in the right direction just because she got a bit of a shock today. She’s not the type to let people’s differences scare her away, so maybe if you talk to her, you two can smooth over her anger.”

Eric sighed. “I hope you’re right. Only one way to find out.”

With a heavy heart, he bid Julia goodbye and made his way out to his truck. Time to find Emily and hope she hadn’t written him off just because he had completely botched the job of revealing shifting to her.

He wasn’t holding his breath.

* * *

Emily sat in the backroom of her bookstore, trying to summon the energy to put away some of the boxes of books that were sitting in front of her. She’d come here in hopes that throwing herself into work would somehow ease the pain of discovering that Eric, Julia, and all her other closest friends had been keeping a huge secret from her.

So far, though, all she’d managed to do was to make her bottom lip bloody from chewing too hard in her attempts to keep from crying.

Thankfully, the bookstore had been closed for well over an hour by that point. The whole place was quiet and empty, with no one around to see her fall apart.

And despite her best efforts not to, Emily was falling apart. How could she not? She’d been so excited to surprise Eric on his walk. Julia had spied them kissing, and Emily had been embarrassed at first, but then glad because Julia had urged Emily to take a break and go join Eric. Julia had insisted that it was no big deal to take a shift at the store, and Emily had decided for once to be selfish and take the free time that was being offered to her. Now, Emily wished she hadn’t. If only she’d insisted that Julia shouldn’t be working and stressing herself out, Emily would never have seen what she saw.

She’d never have learned what she learned: that shifters were real, and that not only was Eric a shifter, but Andy and Dane and Max were as well. And everyone in their little friend group had known it but her.

Emily had never felt so hurt in all her life. She didn’t care if Eric was a shifter, or if the other guys were all shifters, too. Actually, she thought the concept was pretty cool. But the fact that Eric had kissed her without trusting her enough to tell her, and the fact that Julia had known her for so long without telling her, had left Emily feeling cold and alone.

So alone.

She gave up on pretending that she was going to shelve books, and instead let her head fall into her hands. She should just head home. At least there she could change into pjs and drown her sorrows in a pint of ice cream.

But just as Emily stood to head out the back door, she heard a banging at the store’s front door.

“Emily! It’s me, Eric. Can we talk, please? I know you’re mad at me, and you have every right to be, but please at least give me a chance to explain.”

Emily froze and stared in the direction of the front door. Part of her wanted to run away and hide, acting like she wasn’t there. Part of her wanted to open the front door and let a volley of angry punches loose on Eric. And another part of her wanted to fall sobbing into his arms, hoping to find comfort despite the fact that he’d hidden the truth from her.

In the end, she settled for opening the front door with a stoic look on her face. Let him make the first move in this conversation.

“Yes?” she demanded, doing her best to look stern despite the fact that she was actually heartbroken and on the verge of tears.

Eric had a hopelessly lost expression on his face. “Hi,” he said softly, running his hand nervously through his hair. “Can I, uh, come in?”

She frowned at him. “Why? Do you want to kiss me again? Because I’m not sure I want to kiss you again. I’m not into guys who hide who they really are, and you should have been honest with me from the beginning about who you are.”

Eric looked crestfallen, but Emily kept her face stern. If he didn’t see why it was a problem that he hadn’t been open with her before reaching for her heart, then he didn’t deserve her heart.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Truly sorry, more than I can say. Can I at least come in and try to explain?”

Emily shrugged and stepped out of his way. He quickly made his way inside, as though afraid she might change her mind if he hesitated for even a moment.

“Come on,” she told him, stepping away from the front door and toward the back room. I’ll make some coffee or tea or something, and you can say your piece.”

Emily wasn’t necessarily in the mood for coffee, but she wanted to get away from the front windows. She feared she might start crying, and she didn’t want anyone passing by on the street to witness that. Eric, followed her quietly, apparently eager not to annoy her or give her any reason to decide not to let him stay. But as soon as she started reaching for the coffeepot in the small breakroom, he reached for her hand and pulled it back.

“Stop,” he said in a calm but firm tone. “Don’t distract yourself from the difficult conversation we need to have by making coffee. Let me say what I need to say, and then see if you can forgive me.”

Emily paused, her whole body feeling electric and alive at the spot where his skin was touching hers. She told herself to say something that would make it clear that he couldn’t just come in here and order her around, but she found forming words difficult with him holding her hand.

“Fine,” she managed to say. “Out with it, then.”

To her dismay, he moved his hand away. She wanted to tell him to put it back, but she couldn’t do that without making it obvious how very much she still craved his touch, and that was not something she was going to admit to at that moment.

“Julia told me she explained shifting to you,” he said cautiously, interrupting her thoughts.

She nodded.

“Do you, uh, have any more questions?” Eric asked. “I’m happy to try to clarify anything you still don’t understand."

Emily let out a long sigh. “I think I got the gist of it. Shifters exist, and you are one. A bear shifter, to be exact. It’s a dominant genetic trait which means it’s not ‘contagious’ and can’t just be passed on the way a werewolf bite passes on werewolf traits. But that also means that any children you have will likely be a shifters as well. You can change back and forth at will, but shifting does take a good deal of energy. And also ruins clothes if you’re wearing them when you shift. That about cover it?”

Eric’s eyes widened and he nodded. “I’d say that about covers it. Julia was very thorough.”

“Yes, she was,” Emily agreed, a note of bitterness creeping into her voice. “I just don’t understand why she couldn’t have explained all that to me months ago, when she first learned that Andy was a shifter. Or why you couldn’t have explained it to me weeks ago, when it became clear that some sort of chemistry was brewing between us.”

Eric sighed, a long weary sound. “I should have. I didn’t because, well, because I’m an idiot first of all. But more specifically, because I worried you would want nothing to do with me once you learned what I was. Full humans don’t necessarily have the best track record of accepting shifters.”

“Yes, Julia told me that,” Emily said bitterly. “But I’m not just any full human. I’m one of Julia’s best friends. I’m someone that you liked enough to want to spend time with and to kiss. You all should have trusted me more.”

“You’re right,” Eric said. “And I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you because I thought that I was leaving anyway. I didn’t intend for anything to happen between us, because I thought we were going to be long distance from each other.”

“But you kissed me,” Emily said flatly. “Did you think it was okay to kiss me and then leave?”

Eric shook his head, then took a step closer until he stood inches in front of Emily. He took her hand again, and she did not pull away. She didn’t want to, when he felt so good. He leaned in until his face was right in front of hers, and her heart started pounding so loudly she was sure it was going to pound right out of her chest.

“I didn’t think it was ok,” he said in an earnest, low voice. “And to be honest, I’ve been trying for weeks not to kiss you because I knew if I did I wouldn’t be able to stop, and I would have to figure out a way to make a relationship work between us. After I kissed you, and went for that walk, I was trying to think of what to do next. Of how to explain everything to you. Of what I could possibly do to make things work between us.”

“And? Did you figure it out?” Emily asked, her whole body trembling at his nearness.

He reached down to cup her chin in his hand, looking at her with his intense gaze. “Here’s what I figured out: I want to be with you, now and always. I want to show you all of me, holding back no secrets, and hope that you’ll still have me. I’m so sorry I bungled telling you about my shifter side, but I promise I’m an open book to you. I will answer any questions you have about me. I will keep no secrets from you. And I will move to Wood Canyon to be with you, if you are open to the idea.”

Emily’s jaw dropped. “You would do that for me?”

“I would do anything for you.”

Emily forced herself to hold eye contact with him. Her heart pounded as she felt she was on the precipice of something big. “You know I don’t believe in fairy tales.”

“I know. Neither do I. But what I do believe is that when two people care deeply about each other, things don’t have to be perfect. All that matters is a willingness to work hard to take care of each other and learn from mistakes. And I can tell you that I learned from my mistakes today. I will never hide anything from you again. Will you give me another chance, Em? I swear I won’t let you regret it if you do.”

Emily looked deep into Eric’s eyes and tried to decide what to do. Her brain screamed at her not to be an idiot, but her heart spoke louder, telling her there was nothing idiotic about taking a chance on true love.

Perhaps it was time for her to stop claiming that fairytales didn’t exist in real life. Perhaps it was time for her to give in to the overwhelming love and passion she felt for Eric, and to see if things really could turn out better than a storybook ending.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Okay?” he asked, his voice impossibly hopeful.

“Okay. I understand why you didn’t tell me about shifting. I’m still not happy about it, but I understand. And I’m willing to give you another chance. I’m willing to give us a chance.”

“Oh, Emily.” He put his palms on her cheek and drew her in, kissing her deeply and hungrily. There was a certain desperation and need in the kiss that hadn’t been there back at the kayak shop, and Emily realized she rather liked it. She could get used to having someone want her so badly that it bordered on desperation.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he told her as he pulled back from the kiss for a moment.

“I’m right here,” she said softly. “I’m not going anywhere, and, according to all the promises you just made me, neither are you. So let’s see how this thing between us develops.”

She ran a gentle finger down the side of his face, and he groaned. She could feel the hard length of him pressed up against her, and she felt herself going wet in response. She thrust her hips forward invitingly, rubbing against his erection.

“If you keep doing that I’m going to want to do so much more than kiss you,” he panted.

“It feels like you already want that,” she teased, then reached a hand down to rub against his erection through his clothes.

He pulled back, though, his face serious. Emily felt a moment of panic. Had she misread the situation. Was he, despite being obviously turned on, not actually interested in taking things further? She felt her cheeks heat. Had she been too forward with him? Did he think her ridiculous, claiming one moment to be angry at him for not explaining shifting and then in the next moment making it obvious she wanted him to make love to her?

“What do you want?” he asked, his eyes dark and searching.

Emily swallowed hard, feeling foolish. Should she tell him? She bit her lip, then looked up at him with determination. He had promised to always be honest with her, and not to hide things. If they were going to try to make this work, shouldn’t she do the same? If she really was going to break her no romance rule for him, shouldn’t she be all in?

“I want to sleep with you,” she said in a small voice. “I know it probably sounds crazy, because I was so mad at you about the whole shifting thing. I’m still mad, but…I forgive you. And I want you. All of you. We’ve been dancing around this for weeks. We’ve been ignoring the chemistry, but it’s there. I want to embrace it, and have you inside me.”

She held her breath, waiting for him to laugh at her. But instead, his eyes went even darker, and he let out a low growl.

“Oh, thank the heavens,” he said. And the next thing she knew, he was wildly reaching to strip her shirt off.

The coffee pot had been completely forgotten at this point. If Eric was all in, she was, too.

In a frenzy, they tore each other’s clothes off. Emily could not get him naked fast enough, and he seemed to feel the same about her. Vaguely, Emily thought that it probably wasn’t very professional of her to be using her shop’s backroom as a place to bang, but in that moment, she didn’t care. All she cared about was having Eric inside of her.

It seemed to be all he cared about at that moment, too. He kissed her all over as he bared more and more of her skin, paying special attention to her breasts. He ran his fingers over them, then his tongue, and finally his teeth. Emily’s body was on fire, and if she’d been listening to her mind at all, she would have heard all its thoughts about how this was a bad idea and she was moving too fast.

But she wasn’t listening to her mind. She was listening to her heart. And as Eric positioned himself to slide into her dripping wet entrance, her heart was screaming yes, yes, yes!

“Is this okay?” Eric said, his tip pressed almost into her. “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” she panted. “I want you. I need you.”

He nodded, and she closed her eyes as he slid into her.

Her bear.

She did have more questions for him. Mostly, she wanted to ask him to shift again so she could watch. Far from scaring her off, the process fascinated her. She loved that he was part bear. She only wished he had trusted her enough to tell her, but as he moved in her, sliding back and forth against her sensitive inner walls, she forgave him completely. He hadn’t lied. He just hadn’t figured out how to tell her yet, and she understood. And he was telling her now, with every delicious thrust of his penis into her body, that he was all hers.

He was so large. A side effect of being a shifter? She didn’t care the reason. All she cared was that her body was lighting up with heat and tingling pleasure. It was building to a crescendo faster than anything she’d ever experienced before, and she squeezed her eyes shut tighter and just let herself enjoy it.

Her core felt like it was on fire as he moved faster and faster, his body pressed against hers as she pressed up against the wall of her office. The pleasurable pressure built and built and built, until she felt like she might literally explode.

“Oh, god, Em,” he panted. “I can’t hold back much longer.

Her only response was to explode around him, her orgasm hitting her hard and fast as her inner walls clenched around his dick over and over. Impossible heat and pleasure flooded her body, and she let the ecstasy of the moment wash over her.

Eric roared as well, finding his own release and pulsing into her, the two of them tangled up together in the most wonderful feeling Emily had ever experienced.

It took a long time for her rapidly beating heart to begin to slow to a normal pace, but Emily didn’t mind. She leaned against Eric, feeling his own rapid heartbeat and enjoying the secure feeling of having his arms around her.

She knew they had a lot of things to figure out, but in that moment, Emily had faith that they would. She also had faith, for the first time in a long, long time, that she could actually trust a man when he claimed to care for her.

After all, Eric was a literal bear, fierce and strong. He wasn’t the type to shy away when things got difficult.

Emily snuggled closer to Eric. “Promise me we’ll make this work somehow,” she whispered.

He held her tighter, and kissed the top of her head. “I promise. Whatever I have to do to make a life with you work, I’ll do it.”

Emily smiled and felt any remaining tension in her shoulders relax. He had promised, and that was good enough for her.

She didn’t know all the details yet, but she did know that her bear was going to take care of her. Fairytales just might come true after all.

*** Thank you for reading! CLICK HERE to read Part Three of the Shifter Spring Fever story! ***