Battle with Bearskin

RETELLING OF THE GRIMM BROTHERS TALE

 WARRIOR BEARSKIN

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BLURB:

 

“You're tougher than a little sting, aren’t you?”
“Is this how you talk to the animals when you tend to their injuries?”
I like her. I like her too much. “I try to avoid their teeth.”
“So, you don’t think I’ll bite?” The thought of being bitten by her sounds downright tempting.

I served my country for years, but don’t remember a single day of it. After spending months recovering, I return home to family and friends I no longer know and who all want me to be the old Zane they remember. The frustration and anger build until I can’t take it any longer and leave.
With no place to fit in, I turn to fighting in the underground network, living on the streets near the Wichita campus and that is where I meet the sweet and tempting Hannah. Where most people ignore me, she seeks me out and not as just a friend.
I try to keep my distance because I am leaving, but she keeps reeling me back until our passion explodes into one night of total bliss. And then…I’m gone.
Leaving Hannah behind was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I must make something of myself. A woman like her deserves more than just a shell of a man and I need to shed the skin of the bear I had become.
Now, my contract is up for renewal, but before I sign, I’m returning home to visit my family. I never imagined I would run into Hannah and discover that she is, in fact, my younger stepsister.
I’ve changed since the time she knew me as Bearskin, but the sparks between us haven’t. I’m waiting for the right moment to tell her who I am, but when I discover the truth about Hannah and our past, the bear inside me erupts once more.
I now face the biggest fight of my life, to claim who I am, the woman I love, and the family I left behind. The battle with Bearskin is on and this time, Zane must win.

This is an MC romance based on the retelling of the Grimm Brothers fairytale, Bearskin.

 

 

EXCERPT:

“Bearskin!” I gasp and look away, crying out as I step on a piece of glass. In the next instant, I feel myself being lifted and pressed firmly into the form I was just admiring. The water from his body seeps into my nightshirt as I grasp his wide shoulders.
Bearskin carries me from the broken glass, and I stare, not believing it is him. He sits me in one of the lawn chairs, kneeling down in front of me. “You’ve cut your foot good. Let me see if there is any glass in it.”
He lifts my leg to inspect the bottom of my foot and I finally look away from the unfamiliar face before me and see the blood dripping onto the concrete.
My nightshirt has risen and gasp as I reach down to cover myself. His focus seems to be on my foot as he reaches forward and pulls out a piece of glass and I wench in pain. Gently he runs his hand down the soul of my foot, blood coating it as he does so.
“Do you feel anything else in it?”
“What? No.” I answer quickly, very much aware of how close he is.
“It doesn’t look to need stitches, but a thick bandage at least.” He lowers my foot and for the first time, looks at me. Our eyes lock and time stops until he speaks again. “Do you have anything in your apartment?”
“Yes, I do.” I look away, embarrassed that I am staring at him so. What must he think of me? “I umm. I’ll take care of it.”
“I can carry you down if you like.” He says softly. “You’re going to get blood everywhere if you walk and I’m afraid I have nothing to wrap around it.”
Bearskin in my apartment? Bearskin in my home?
“Umm… What were you doing up here?” I ask instead of answering him.
“I was bathing,” He answers, looking away from me. “I have an interview for a job, and I needed to clean up a bit.”
“A bit?” I ask, thinking this is more than cleaning up. “Your beard…”
“A friend helped trim my beard today.” He moves away, going to a bag on the ground. “I got some new clothes and tomorrow I was going to go in to see a barber and have my hair cut.”
“Oh.” I feel a rush of air as he moves to me again and pulls a tag from a new shirt.
“You can use this to walk down to your apartment,” he says, folding it as he kneels in front of me again.
I pull my foot away as he reaches for it and shout. “Don’t ruin your new shirt!”
His eyes pop up to me. “You shouldn’t walk on the dirty floor, and this is all I have clean to offer you.”
I didn’t answer him before about carrying me down and he must have the impression I don’t want him in my apartment. Do I? I mean, he is a man, and we would be alone.
Stop being such a scared cat. He wants to help me. The least I could do was be grateful for him tending to me.
“How about you come down to my apartment and you can take yourself a real hot bath?” I offer him.
Surprise registers on his face for a moment before he speaks. “I would like that. But only after I bandage your foot.”
I smile at him, and he stuffs the shirt back in the bag before standing and reaches down to pick me up. I feel every inch of his hands and arms touch me along my back and legs as he lifts me once more to his chest. My hands come around his shoulders, very much aware of how strong he truly is.
Oh god! What the hell am I doing inviting him back to my apartment to bathe?