“Watch,” he repeated, impatience tingeing his voice.
Kellsie looked into his face and frowned. Damn, he was so familiar. Like a dream long forgotten. She froze. Dream. He reminded her of the man in her dream. Not the scary-assed one with the smooth voice, but the other one. The one who’d held her in his arms and kissed her. The one who’d made her want him with no more than a touch.
Impossible.
Unless this was just another crazy dream.
She grabbed the skin on the back of her hand and pinched. Hard. She flinched and frowned. That hurt. She couldn’t be dreaming if it hurt. Could she?
God, she was so confused. Exhaustion pulled at her and she had to work to keep on her feet. Her knees were shaking and she was cold. Shivering, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms trying to make sense of everything. She felt like Alice in Wonderland when she fell down the rabbit hole. Nothing made sense.
“Kellsie.” His voice jerked her gaze back to him. Marko was massive and strong and, if she was honest, intimidating as hell. Not that she’d ever let him know that. “Watch,” he commanded in that low, raspy voice that filled her stomach with butterflies and made her think of long, hot nights between the sheets.
She shook off the sensual lethargy that threatened to overtake her. So he was hot. So what? So he made her body sit up and take notice. So what? He was just a man like any other. She’d figure out what to do. Somehow she’d get him to take her back to the carnival.
“I’m watching.” Impatience ate at her as her shivering got worse. Her legs were trembling and her teeth were beginning to chatter. An owl hooted off to her right and she jumped. God, what else was out there? All kinds of animals came out at night, didn’t they? She was a city girl who loved the outdoors, but she wasn’t stupid. She was no wilderness gal and certainly wasn’t prepared for a night in the woods. She had no water, food or supplies of any kind.
Marko raised his hands into the air. She could hear him whispering beneath his breath. The language was foreign but the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Suddenly, he fell forward onto his hands and knees. His pants were gone. When had he removed them?
Frowning, Kellsie took a step closer. Marko’s body twitched and began to change. His head contorted, reshaping itself. His jaw and nose area elongated. She blinked, rubbed her hands over her eyes and gave her head a shake, not quite believing what she was seeing.
Fur pushed out from beneath his skin. His entire body thickened with muscle, his hands and feet becoming massive paws tipped with razor-like claws. Her fingers automatically went to the necklace around her throat where the bear claw was biting into her flesh. The transformation only took seconds, but it seemed like a lifetime.
Marko was gone. In his place was a brown bear. No, that wasn’t quite right. This wasn’t just any bear. This was a monster bear. He was as tall as she was, maybe taller, standing on all fours. He’d be more than twelve feet tall if he stood on his hind legs.
He opened his mouth and released a blood-curdling roar. Kellsie stumbled back, almost tripping over an exposed tree root. His teeth were as big as daggers. Shit, she was in big trouble.
Reason tried to intervene. This wasn’t real. Couldn’t be real. Men did not turn into bears, especially not giant bears, the kind that hadn’t existed since ancient times. Impossible. She had to be dreaming or possibly drugged. Yeah, she was hallucinating.
Unfortunately, that realization didn’t help her out at the moment. There was still a big-ass bear in front of her, his warm breath puffing like smoke from his nostrils when it hit the cool night air. Maybe she wasn’t dreaming after all. Maybe this was real.
The animal lumbered closer. Her heart was racing so hard she feared she might have a heart attack. Her chest ached as she struggled to drag air into her lungs. Screaming was out of the question. It was all she could do to breathe.
The woods around them had gone strangely silent. Kellsie didn’t blame the other animals for running and hiding. She’d do the same except she was certain he could outrun her. For all his size and bulk, she knew he’d be fast. Because of her fascination with bears, she’d done research on them over the years. And she knew they could move fast when they wanted to. They were also superior trackers. She wasn’t getting away from him. Not unless he allowed it.
“Nice bear,” she whispered, her voice a low croak as terror tightened her vocal cords. She backed away slowly until she hit a tree, its bark rough against her spine. She glanced around for a weapon of some kind, a branch or rock. Not that anything short of a bazooka would stop him, and maybe not even then.
He grunted and huffed as he moved closer. He snuffled the air and glanced from side to side. She couldn’t see much in spite of the moonlight. It was too dark for her. She assumed he could see and hear everything. What he couldn’t see, he’d certainly smell.
Kellsie closed her eyes and prayed. She knew this job had sounded too good to be true. “When will I ever learn?” she muttered. She was going to die. Mauled by a bear in the middle of the woods and no one would ever find her mangled body.
Her hand was still wrapped around the necklace and she forced her fingers to open, letting it drop back against her chest. Some good her bear totem had done her. She’d attracted the bear that was going to eat her.
She still wasn’t quite ready to admit the bear was Marko. That was too crazy even for her. It was just like the script. But this wasn’t a movie set and the director wasn’t going to yell cut any second.
He was so close now she could feel his warm breath on her face. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, ready to face her fate. Huge brown eyes watched her. His massive head was tilted to one side and she could see his questioning expression. He leaned in and his cool nose pressed against the side of her neck. Kellsie jerked at the contact and struck the back of her head against the tree. She winced and blinked as tears of pain filled her eyes and an ache pounded in her skull.
He made a snuffling sound and withdrew, but continued to watch her.
It took a minute or two for the pain in her head to subside, and in that time the bear made no move to attack. Okay, so he wasn’t tearing her limb from limb. Maybe he wasn’t hungry. Maybe he was a vegetarian bear. She snorted at that thought. Yeah, like that was likely.
She licked her lips and raised her hand. It was shaking, which wasn’t surprising. She hoped like hell he didn’t decide that her fingers looked like a tasty snacks. “Nice bear,” she crooned, keeping her voice low and steady.
He huffed as though impatient and thrust his gigantic head beneath her hand. His fur was thick and surprisingly soft. Holy shit, she was touching a bear. “This is so not real,” she told herself as she buried her fingers deeper into his fur. “I’m dreaming or hallucinating or both.” But she no longer cared.
Emboldened by the animal’s calm demeanor, Kellsie stepped away from the tree and around to the bear’s side. He tracked her movements, his large head turning to keep her in sight. He was monstrous, yet familiar.
She stilled her fingers on his side. He was exactly like the bear on the carnival ride. She studied him closer, certain she had to be mistaken. But no, there was no doubting the markings on his fur or his size. He was the bear she’d sat on and ridden.
Disappointment flooded her. “Damn. This isn’t real. It can’t be.” She rubbed her tired eyes. She wasn’t crying. She never cried and especially not over something as silly as this. She hadn’t wanted the giant bear to actually exist. Not really.