“Having no electricity has its perks,” Bella said, looking around in wonder at the dozen or so candles lit up on the front porch. It was beautiful lighting and very romantic. They had just finished another great dinner after a fun day together and were relaxing on the porch watching the sunset and the stars come out.

“You shouldn’t be drinking,” Logan said, eying her cup nervously.

“Then why did you give it to me?” she asked, inching a little closer to him on the bench made of logs. She let the sides of her arm and leg rest against him. He didn’t move so neither did she.

“I just gave you a sip,” he said with his brow furrowed. “You’re the one who took the bottle and filled the glass up to the top.”

“It’s not my fault,” she said, taking a sip of the delicious wine. “You shouldn’t have made it so damn tasty.”

It turned out that Logan was quite resourceful and talented. He never went into town to get supplies so he made everything himself. The clay plates and glasses were all made by him, the furniture, house, even the soap. But the most impressive was the wine. He grew grapes in the garden beside his house and fermented them, turning the sweet grapes into a delicious wine.

“You recently had a concussion,” he said. “You shouldn’t be drinking alcohol.”

She took a long sip and grinned at him. “I shouldn’t be doing a lot of things. I shouldn’t be staying by myself in the forest with no survival skills, I shouldn’t be talking to a strange woodsman who claims that he’s so dangerous, I shouldn’t be hugging bears, I shouldn’t be studying stupid owls. I could go on.” She looked at the glass of wine in her hand and smiled as she took another long sip. “A small glass of wine is nothing to be worried about.”

But Logan looked worried. She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled. He was a sweet guy, no matter what his opinion of himself was.

They sat like that for a while until Bella heard a soft grumble escape from his chest. “Was that your bear?” she asked, sitting back up in shock.

“Yeah,” he said with a chuckle. “That’s Cliff. He’s quite taken with you.”

Bella smiled. He was using the name that she chose to refer to his bear. That’s so cute.

She rested her head back on his shoulder as she looked up at the spectacular pink and purple hues in the sky. “Tell him that I’m quite taken with him as well.”

They sat in a comfortable silence just enjoying the beautiful sunset and drinking the wine. Bella enjoyed having his large comforting presence beside her. It felt very easy, like sitting beside him was the most natural thing in the world.

Bella’s head felt much better already but she didn’t tell Logan that. The truth was she would rather stay here drinking wine, eating hot food, having fun days, and getting to know the sexy bear shifter than go back to her lonely tent and spend the days dreaming of being anywhere but there.

“The stars are so bright out here,” she said, looking up at the blanket of diamonds above their heads.

“Sometimes I miss civilization,” he said, gazing up at the night sky, “but I will say that the nights are spectacular in the wild. You can’t beat this view.”

He dropped his eyes to her and smiled. “Maybe you can.”

Would it be bad if I kissed him right now?

“Did I hear right?” she asked, taking a sip of wine instead. “You actually miss civilization?”

He sighed, wrapping a comforting arm around her and pulling her a little closer. “Sometimes.”

She wanted to know everything about him but he still wasn’t giving her too much to work with. She wondered if the answers to her questions were in the locked spare bedroom, but she wasn’t about to breach the trust that she had slowly built up with him to go and see.

“I do,” he said softly. “I liked my old life before it got turned upside down.”

“What happened to turn it upside down?” she asked, looking up at his face. The soft light and shadows of the candles danced on his face, making his scars glow.

His body tightened under her arm as he held his breath. “You can tell me,” she whispered. “It will be okay.”

He shook his head, swallowing hard. “It won’t be.”

“It might feel good to talk about it,” she said, taking his hand in hers. “To get it off of your chest.”

Logan looked down at the ground with sad burdened eyes. “There’s no getting this off of my chest.”

He didn’t want to talk about it and she didn’t want to push him so she just sat beside him and held his hand. If he didn’t want to talk about it, then that was fine, but she could still be there for him, still help comfort him.

The night took a lighter turn as the bottle of wine emptied, along with a second one, and they got a little bit tipsy.

“Hey, sleepy owls!” Bella yelled at the dark trees. “Wake the fuck up! You’re going to make me fail my dissertation paper!”

“Do you still love owls?” Logan asked, grinning at her.

“No,” she said with a laugh. “They are little selfish assholes. I mean, come on! Why are they always hiding from me? I’m awesome!”

“You are awesome,” Logan said, giving her a sexy smile.

Her chest was feeling nice and warm and the heat was starting to swirl in her stomach and settle between her legs as she slid her hand over his hard bicep. He was sexy as hell. She was really liking the whole mysterious, wild, shifter thing. It was a turn on, awakening something deep and carnal within her.

Logan wasn’t like the other boys she had dated with their perfectly gelled hair and designer clothes that fit tightly to their slim bodies. He was a real man. A strong, rugged, not afraid to get his hands dirty or to bleed for his girl type of man.

“I like it here,” she whispered, snuggling up to him.

His body loosened under her hand and she heard him exhale contently. “Really?” he asked after a moment of silence.

She looked up into his sexy brown eyes and smiled. “Really.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever speak with anyone else again,” he said, “let alone meet a gorgeous girl who liked being with me.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” she said. “Once you stopped yelling every two seconds, you’re really fun to be around.” And those abs…

“I’m sorry again about that,” he said, looking away with shame on his face.

“It’s okay,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I was a bit of a bitch too.”

He hadn’t raised his voice or spoken to her with anything but respect all day. The poor guy hadn’t seen another soul in three years so his communication skills were bound to be rusty on the first night that he had a hysterical woman come crashing into his house. Bella just let it go, choosing to not let it bother her.

She could tell that it wasn’t the real him anyway. This was the real him. Calm, sweet, protective. She liked this Logan a lot.

When the second bottle of wine was finished, Bella began falling asleep on his arm. She tried to stay awake to enjoy the night but her eyes were so heavy and they kept closing no matter how hard she tried to keep them open.

She opened them with a gasp as her legs flew into the air. Logan was carrying her to the bedroom, cradling her lovingly to his strong chest.

A smile was on her sleepy lips as he placed her on the bed and gently kissed her forehead. She wanted to tell him to come and lie down beside her, to hold her all night, but her eyes became heavier than ever as she sunk into his bed and she fell asleep instead.