Page 48 of Baby and the Beast

Casimir glanced at him, and Nash winced. “Shit. Sorry. That was awful. None of my business. You saved our lives—I didn’t mean to sound so…”

Casimir met his eyes. “Wasn’t how I thought my life would go. But circumstances change.” He glanced down at the baby. “Am I right in thinking you being alone is unusual? Especially for shifters?"

Nash smiled. “I’m from the Cascades. Our animal species is rare—endangered. And the shifter version even more so.” He looked at his daughter. “When my father found out, I was pregnant with a hybrid shifter species, he calmly informed me she would be killed as soon as I gave birth.”

Casimir didn’t comment, but Nash saw his eyes darken to stormy gray.

“And the dad?”

“Hook-up,” Nash said with a shrug. “He was human. Or close. I didn’t consider I could get pregnant. He probably didn’t even know he had shifter genes. Odds of running into someone like that were so low, I didn’t even think about it.” Nash hesitated. “Did you know you can’t use butter with a condom?”

Casimir blinked. “What?”

“It dissolves the latex,” Nash explained. “Same with baby oil. Petroleum jelly. Whipped cream. All the stuff you might have in a house when you weren’tplanningto have sex but needed lube because it was your partner’s first time.”

“That’s real?” Casimir asked.

“Totally. Weakens the latex, makes it more likely to break.” Nash blushed. “You’d be amazed how many books get that part wrong. Vegetable oil from the kitchen? Nope.”

Casimir looked stunned, then back down at her. “Copper.”

Nash blinked. “What is?”

Casimir nodded at the baby. “She’s going to be a redhead. Like you.”

Nash smiled. “You mean her name?” Casimir busied himself at the stove, clearly embarrassed. Nash looked down at her. “It’s a lovely name.”

Later, when she was back in her makeshift crib, Casimir brought over a plate with rolls and two bowls of steaming vegetable stew. Nash was going to tell him he didn’t mind if he ate meat—but one taste of the stew distracted him entirely.

“This issogood.”

Casimir looked quietly pleased.

Nash ate three rolls, two bowlfuls, and then—predictably—needed a nap.

Casimir took his empty bowl, and Nash tilted the chair back, closed his eyes, and drifted off to the smell of snow and stew and safety.

Baby and the Beast

Chapter Four

It was easy to get comfortable with Nash, Casimir thought gloomily two days later. Maybe he understood Casimir wasn’t one to talk much, although with Nash it might be more that his body was recovering. He’d eaten, fed Copper, and done a lot of sleeping while the storm had raged outside.

Casimir was plenty comfortable in the large armchair.

Casimir had ventured outside a couple of times to make sure everything was okay, but the cabin was built to last through these winters, and he had done his preparations. Casimir stood by the window and waited for the kettle to boil. He heard Nash turn the shower on about five seconds before he heard the first wail from the bedroom. Casimir glanced at the bathroom and wondered how long Nash was going to be, before heading to the bedroom. Maybe she would go back to sleep?

The second wail told him that ship had sailed, and he walked inside, trying to keep his face straight at the sight of somethingso small making so much noise, and pulled the blanket down from her neck. Maybe she had gotten too hot?

He picked her up and gazed into the brown eyes staring at him, and his heart did a funny clenching thing. What would his baby have looked like? He’d never know.

“It suits you,” a quiet voice whispered behind him, but Casimir turned and just about blindly pushed her into Nash’s arms. He needed to stop. This would only make it worse when they were gone. He had his coat and boots on and he was outside in less than five minutes.

He walked a little way away from the cabin and turned back to study it. It wasn’t like he was unhappy exactly after all this time. He wouldn’t say happy either. He just was. He spent the winter up here and a lot of the summer in the cave. He—shit.The cave.

Casimir swore loudly and called himself all sorts of utter fool. He’d never even given a thought to going back and securing the cave. All his focus had been on Nash and Copper. And he’d left the dead snowshoe hares lying on the ground by the entrance like some sort of damn welcome mat.

It was no good. He had to go back. If wolves had found it, there was a chance he could still chase them away, but in another month or so the females that were with pup would be looking for their nest ready to give birth in early spring. If he was going to make that cave impossible for them to claim, he needed to do it now.

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