Page 7 of Bearly Breathing

He was proud of Mrs. Leeds. She’d been an unemployed housekeeper when she came in for the interview. Older than what he would have liked, she was proud and determined.

He’d been dubious about her skill, but he soon found that she not only had a head for business but in the kitchen, her fingers were pure magic.

Later, she brought on two grandsons, a daughter, and her brother, to work for him. He liked the idea of the place being run by a local family, and he readily hired each one of them.

In just a few days, the Leeds family learned how to run and operate the small branch of Bear Claw Bakery. Marcus and his brothers had been thrilled!

They were loyal, hardworking, and, they were Shifters, not unlike him and his brothers. The Leeds were Cormorant Shifters, a type of bird native to the island that evolved to be expert fishermen.

Mrs. Leeds and her kin were excellent additions to the Bear Claw Bakery family. Marcus was more than happy with their performance. He paid well, unlike most jobs on the island, and he offered benefits too. Yes, indeed, Marcus liked his new hires.

He lingered in the shop a few minutes until Mrs. Leeds went back to the ovens. He sipped his coffee and stood up to head for his room.

Shit, he thought and patted his pants pockets. He never got his key! Ugh. With a sigh, he yelled goodbye to Mrs. Leeds and headed back towards the concierge.

He took a deep breath, shaking his head in the process. A hauntingly sweet aroma filtered into his nostrils, stopping him suddenly in his tracks.

What the-? His Bear stood up in his mind and roared. Loudly. The fuck, dude?

His Bear was not hearing him. The more than eight-hundred-pound beast was literally doing somersaults and roaring so fucking loudly that Marcus almost fell to the floor with the force of it.

What was the source of that amazing fucking smell? Like honey and flowers, a sweet heady musk that made everything else pale in comparison. This scent was everything!

He needed to find it. Now. Must. Want. Need. The elusive source of the fragrance was driving him nuts. He inhaled a great deep breath. He took it down inside of himself and savored its flavors. Warm and sweet. Sexy as hell. MINE. That one word had his knees buckling.

He turned towards the head concierge. The scent was stronger in that direction. It was like heaven. All his favorite things. Honey buns and lavender. It was like home and warmth, sex and need, possession and sweetness all rolled into one.

His head turned and he stilled. A predator that had found his prey. The source of that delectable honey and lavender mix. The fount of that tantalizing scent was very near.

Perhaps behind the large plant that obstructed her from his view. Need to find her now. And it was a her, that much he knew.

His blood thundered in his ears as he sought the source of his torment. Yes. It was a woman. At least he thought so, but it was hard to tell under that hideous frock she wore.

He frowned as he took her in from head to toe. This was the cause of his heart pounding so hard he thought he was having an attack of some kind? WTF? He breathed in again, yup, it was her.

At first look, she was nothing special. She was in her late twenties, medium height, but what stood out besides the tendrils of blonde hair that escaped the ugly ass bun she’d tortured her locks into, and the no-nonsense set to her shoulders, was an outfit so utterly unflattering that the words butt-ugly would be a kindness.

The woman was talking to one of the hotel greeters, but he missed the sound of her voice as he pondered why someone would wear that? Did she have no sense of style? Was she color blind?

“Hello, welcome to Moongate Island!”

“Thank you, um, can you help me?”

Marcus was staring. He couldn’t help it. The woman smelled like heaven, but she looked like hell. She wasn’t ugly, well, not that he could really make out her face, but her outfit was decidedly unattractive.

Mine, his beast growled. Apparently, his Bear didn’t give a fuck about her lack of style. She’d be naked most of the time anyway. Naked he could do. He supposed he could live with it. If he had to. He frowned at her.

Puke-green slacks hugged her legs and hips, long legs and well-rounded hips, he was happy to note, but the color was hideous. Thankfully, she somewhat covered the glaring pants with an oversized, long-sleeved blouse.

Unfortunately, said blouse was printed with huge flowers in pink, orange, and that same puke-green. Whoever designed the shirt must have stolen it off a 1970s sofa reject. Yikes!

He started to turn away, he’d best think about how to approach the unfortunately dressed woman. but he’d moved too slow. She spotted his blatant interest. Fuck, now I have to talk to her. He was pissed as hell at the thought, but then he saw what the plant and her sunglasses had hidden from him.

Startling blue eyes in a heart-shaped face met his. Holy shit! He was a goner. Fucking beautiful. She glared at him and her lips pressed into a thin line before she ignored him. His Bear roared at her disinterest.

Had she just dismissed him without a second glance? No fucking way. But that was exactly what she’d done.

She turned back to talk to the concierge. Marcus growled and stared at her even harder. Turn around and look at me, he willed, but she did not budge.

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