Free Beck (BBW Bear Shifter Moonshiner Romance) (120 Proof Honey Book 4) by Becca Fanning

had woken her from her reverie. She strained in the dark, listening to the sound of something shuffling nearby. Jane tensed, knowing that the sound was behind her, and that there was nothing she could do to turn and see who was approaching. For all she knew, there was someone raising a gun to her head right now behind her.

    No shot came, but she did jump when she felt warm fingers against her own numb digits.

    “Shhh,” soothed a low voice. “Don’t you dare scream. I spent half an hour digging underground to get here.”

    “Hart?” Jane whispered in amazement. “It can’t be you.”

    She felt the painful tug of the tape as Hart worked to free her from the bonds. They had to be slow and methodical about getting it off, both fearful that the ripping sound might alert any gunmen nearby to what was going on. When Hart had unwound the first length that constricted her chest, Jane found herself looking down at his dirty body.  

    “So… you didn’t bring the clothes bag this time?” she observed.

    She was trying, really trying, not to look at the shaft, half-erect between Hart’s legs, but it was totally impossible. Even in the shadowy light of the farm, he was magnificent to view. He looked up at her sheepishly, then went back to his work with the tape.

    “I lost it whilst I was digging the tunnel into this place,” he admitted quietly.

    “I’m not complaining,” Jane replied.

    Her breath was returning, and the numbness faded from her extremities as she began to be able to move again. When she tried to get up, however, she collapsed into Hart’s arms, and he led her to the doorway which would take them out into the open. He set her down there, rubbing her arms and legs back to life with vigorous strokes. She reached for him, touching his face.

    “How did you know I was here?” she asked.

    Hart paused, looking deep into her eyes. It was only now that she noticed his usually jolly presence had faded away. He was serious, the most serious a man could ever get, and he bit back a lump in his throat before he could reply.

    “It was me that called you when Carter answered your phone,” he revealed. “I put two and two together pretty easily.”

    “Clever,” Jane said, “but how do we get out now?”

    “You stay here and rest, ‘til everything’s clear,” Hart told her. “The boys are all in position. You want to know why it is that I can always be so relaxed?”

    Jane nodded, tracing Hart’s lips with her fingers as he spoke.

    “Because,” the golden-eyed ranger replied, “when I transform, I’m the wildest beast of them all. I’m going up there to get this rage out of my system. Stay safe.”

    He leaned in and kissed her, a deep kiss that lingered on her lips even after he had gone. That was when the noise started overhead, and Jane heard the roars of bears intermixed with the sudden, panicked cries of humans. Clan Best had definitely taken the Boys in the Wood by surprise, and when Jane managed to crawl up the entryway to see what was going on outside, many of Carter’s boys were already heaped together, surrounded by fur and claws.

    It was Carter himself that was the problem. Jane clocked him at once because he was only a few feet from where she lay on the ground, crouching and pulling his gun from its holster. Before him was a bear that Jane recognized, his back turned as he dealt with another assailant. Carter was readying his weapon, lifting the shaft to line it up right at the grizzly bear’s back.

    Jane amazed herself with her own strength, a rush of wild energy propelling her forward. She grabbed Carter by the feet and took him totally by surprise, his gunshot firing uselessly into the air above as he fell over. The shot alerted Hart, who spun as fast as a creature of his size could manage, and was soon pawing down on Carter to keep him pinned in place. Jane got to her feet, leaning on Hart’s strong body for support. Carter looked up at her, then the bear, then back to