The Bear King's Captive: Curvy Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance by Milly Taiden Page A

feet. “What the hell happened to you delaying the departure? Now, we’re prisoners to men who…” She glanced toward the boy and swallowed. “Why are you holding us? We’ve done nothing to you.”
    His mind scrambled for a false but plausible story. The lie wouldn’t form. He simply stared into her squinted eyes. His animal roared in his head, telling him to take her down and bite her now. What the hell? Bite her? Another reason he needed to squash whatever was inside him. He wasn’t about to snack on a human.
    Then again, she looked damn fine and smelled delicious. This new need to mark her had never risen in him. He had a feeling the beast was controlling that side and there was nothing he could do about it. Leah was special to the animal and to himself.
    “Mister, when we dock in Spain, you will immediately take us to the U.S. Embassy. We are Americans and won’t put up with this crap.”
    Hannes leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “How did you know we’re going to Spain?”
    Her fists landed on her cocked hips. “Seriously? All the words I’ve seen are in Spanish. And you said ‘gracias’ five seconds ago. Only an idiot wouldn’t figure it out.”
    “Hey,” the boy crossed his arms, one hand holding half a sausage. “I’m not an idiot. I was hoping we were going to New York. Where’s Spain? Close to Florida?”
    Tantalizing images came to Hannes’ mind. “Florida would be nice. We’d get to see your girlfriend in a bikini.” Paska . Shit. He didn’t need movement below the belt right now.
    Leah smirked. “A bikini? Really? Men.” She rolled her eyes. “You seem awful smart, for a deckhand.”
    His eyes narrowed. He’d been through hell and worse which led him to where he was today. Being called the equivalent of a piss ant didn’t settle too well.
    She grinned. “A little sensitive about your station in life?”
    A flash of anger quickly turned to humor toward the young pretty woman. He remembered she had no idea of his station. To her, he was a crewmember. He let out an uncontrollable laugh. She studied him with angry eyes; a lioness measuring her prey, contemplating the kill. Another tingle jolted below his belt, and with her smell... He pivoted, giving Leah his back. If he didn’t, she’d get a good view of how much she affected him.
    Enough of this play, time for answers. He needed to pull his paska together. He was out of sorts. Steel wrapped his emotions. “Eat before it gets cold. You will not eat again for several hours.”             
    “So, the commander plans to keep us around for a while?” She backed to the wall next to the kid.
    His head popped up. “How do you know about the commander?”
    “A bald headed monster whispered in my ear.”
    Did she mean his lieutenant? When he informed Lieutenant Korhonen about the “guests,” he didn’t mention keeping the team’s identities secret. But for now, it didn’t matter. He was a lowly laborer, wanting answers. After sitting against the door, he pulled out a small plastic container of raisins from his pocket.
    The woman grimaced. “We didn’t invite you to our little party.”
    The boy smacked her arm and they shared a look. She snatched up a sausage and glared into far shadows. The kid turned to him. “She didn’t mean that. She has a hard time making friends.”
    He laughed and slid his finger under the raisin container’s rim, popping off the lid. “So, kid, what’s your name?”
    “Ivan Lindsay, sir.”
    Both lid and plastic bowl fell from Hannes’ hands. He hadn’t heard that name in a long time. “How is it spelled?”
    The kid dropped his chin to his chest. “It’s European for I-V-A-N.” 
    Paska . In silence, he picked up the raisins that fell onto the lid. “Do you have relatives in the Baltic region?” He tossed a handful of tiny fruit into his mouth.
    “Yeah, I think my grandparents are from Baltimore.”
    A raisin caught in his throat and he coughed, launching it