On his first night renting a cottage on the Cornish coast, widower John Tennant comes face to face with, of all things, a grizzly bear. Fearing for his life, John tries to convince the animal he isn't worth eating, and is relieved when the bear ambles away. Maintenance man Mitch Benjamin is two hundred years old but doesn’t look a day over forty. As a werebear, he needs to stay under the radar. The new renter is making that difficult. Not only is John attractive, but his vulnerability triggers all of Mitch’s protective instincts. If that wasn’t trouble enough, Mitch is struggling with his inner bear’s desire to befriend John. He knows what his bear is up to, but Mitch doesn’t want another mate. His last one was murdered ninety years ago, and he’s still grieving. John is confused by Mitch’s mixed signals. Physically, Mitch -- with his bulging muscles and hulking frame -- is a gay man’s wet dream come true. But emotionally, he keeps closing down. John discovers more comfort with the magnificent grizzly bear he occasionally meets on his evening walks along the beach. In an effort to help, Morwenna, the owner of the cottages, uses her psychic gifts to give John a message from his dead lover, George. Far from helping, it adds another layer of strangeness to what’s already turning out to be the strangest summer John can remember. Can a well-meaning medium and a determined grizzly bring John and Mitch together? Will Mitch come clean about his werebear nature? If he does, can John accept that a man and bear exist in the same body?

Summer's Lease

“I should do the washing up, but…” John sighed and rubbed at his own stomach. “It can wait until later.”


“I’ll give you a hand.” Mitch picked up his plate.


“No, no.” John waved his hand. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”


They argued good-naturedly, Mitch getting his way eventually.


Gathering up the dessert things, Mitch carried them into the kitchen, John following with the candles.


As they did the dishes, the kitchen frequently illuminated by bright flashes of lightning, Mitch had to admit they worked well as a team, never seeming to get in each other’s way. The evening had been a huge success; Mitch couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so relaxed around a stranger. Okay, when they’d first sat down to eat, some of John’s questions had been a little too personal, but the man had seemed to sense this and had backed off.


Chapter 22