Bear Hugs by Laney Cairo

Author:Laney Cairo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, gay, paranormal, glbt, erotic romance, outdoors, shapeshifters, hiking, bears, new relationship

***

Eric was fifty meters ahead of Martin, easing his way down the wet and slippery track, using the saplings beside the track to steady his descent into the valley.

"Dear mother," Martin said out loud, releasing his hold on the tree trunk he was gripping and reaching out for the next secure handhold. "I've started dating a nice boy. You'll like him. He's very shitshitshit outdoorsy."

"You okay?" Eric called out as Martin picked himself up out of the mud.

"All good!"

"Track improves," Eric called back. "I'm coming back for you."

"He also turns into a bear when he's asleep," Martin continued, slithering down the next couple of meters of loose gravel and mud. "But only when I cuddle him."

Eric, who had clambered partway back up the slope, looked up at Martin in time to catch gravel in the face.

Martin and Eric both stopped, and Eric said, "Oh."

"Well," Martin said. "This is all a bit something or other."

"Rom Com?" Eric suggested.

"I don't think either of us are cute enough for Rom Com," Martin said, descending another precarious meter or so.

"Speak for yourself," Eric said. "I'm adorable. You told me so."

"You are," Martin agreed. "But that doesn't stop me from being cold and wet, and a bit scared about this fucking cliff you are making me climb down."

"Hill," Eric corrected. "It's a hill. Hills only turn into cliffs when we need specialist climbing gear to get down them."

Another slip, more mud and gravel, and Martin sacrificed some skin off his elbow.

"I don't think that's the technical definition," Martin said, skittering down the next few meters to where Eric was waiting for him.

"It's the hikers' definition," Eric said.

Martin leaned against Eric and took a snack bar out of his jacket pocket. "Refuel, then descend?"

"Agreed," Eric said. "Then we'll ford the stream at the bottom and tackle the main ascent of the day. I think it's loose scree."

"Is scree good? Am I going to like scree?"

"You'll love it," Eric promised.

Martin pocketed the wrapper from his snack bar and hoisted his backpack higher. "Excellent!"

Eric looked up through the tree canopy and frowned for a moment. "There's some weather coming in from the south. We should get down this hill before it rains."

"How do you do all this?" Martin asked, beginning the slither down the track again. "The bit where you know where we are going and that it's going to rain?"

Eric, moving smoothly from rocky foothold to stable resting place ahead of Martin, paused and looked over his shoulder at Martin.

"I can smell the rain and feel it in the air. Can't you?"

Martin shook his head.

"And I know where north is, and where the track begins and ends at the car park, so the path in between is obvious."

"That all sounds reasonable," Martin said. "I have a compass on my phone and I checked the weather forecast and rain radar before we left, so you just don't need to subcontract those skills."

Martin scrambled down another couple of meters of track, and stopped his slip by crashing into a tree trunk.

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