Page 49 of Bears Behaving Badly
Just as suddenly, he drew back, leaving her gasping. “Sorry.”
“That bad?”
He shook his head. “Christ, no. But I should’ve asked.”
“Is that an apology?”
“No.”
“Well then. This serves you right.” And she kissed him back. She was pressed up against him, more blood smearing all over her sweater, and he was right—it shouldn’t be so exciting. But it was. It didn’t matter that she’d never shifted so as to get to the guns (three cheers for opposable thumbs!). Some urges were difficult to deny. For example, the urge to slide her hands down from the small of his back to the springy muscles of his ass, because for some reason men often had the most wonderful asses and David was walking around with a top-notch booty. It wasn’t fair.
He slept here last night. He’ll sleep here tonight. He doesn’t have to do it alone. Be bold, dammit!
She broke the kiss. “Dammit.”
“Yeah, our timing sucks. And I’m glad you’re okay, and you were right to go for the shotgun, but…” He trailed off, then added shyly, “I was kinda hoping to get a look at your beast.”
“Next time.” She took advantage of their proximity to take a closer look at his wound, while resisting the urge to stretch up and taste the spot behind his ear. “Not deep, at least. But you’ve definitely got more holes in you than you did this morning.”
“I’m fast, not infallible.”
“Noted.” Fast was an understatement. It hadn’t been two minutes since they’d gotten out of the car. “Let’s go check on the—”
“Okay, okay! I get it. Caro, you were supposed to drag me clear of the fight. Well, fight’s over, so it’s okay for me to leave the room, so you can just… Oh, goddammit!”
Annette turned in time to see Pat limping into the kitchen while Caro gently clamped her teeth around his calf to hinder his momentum. Which was adorable and only slightly nerve-racking, given what she’d done to Lund’s leg the other night.
“Annette, will you tell her to step off, for the love of all that’s annoying?”
She went to one knee and stretched out a hand to Caro’s wolf, a beast the color of midnight with eyes like hurricane lamps.Such unusual coloring for a gray wolf Shifter.“Thank you so much. You did exactly right. You can let him fend for himself now.”
Caro dropped the bite—not that it was much of one—and made a noise that sounded suspiciously likeHmph!
“Pat, are you okay?” She went to her roommate, helped him up, started feeling him for injuries. “Does this hurt? Does this? How many of me can you see? Does…Ow!”
“I’ll slap your hand again if you keep that up. You know I’m hyperticklish. Why is there blood on your face? You didn’t shift. Were you so hungry you just started biting them as a biped? Because yuck and I’ll have to get to work on an intervention. There’s gotta be a line, Annette, and I’m the one to draw it!”
“It’s just back spatter from the shotgun,” she replied in her most soothing voice.
“On your face? In the shape of fingers? Like someone grabbed your face? With their fingers? And snogged you silly?”
“Don’t say ‘snogged’ like you’re British, and can we please realign our priorities?”
“You want to talk priorities? Bad enough I’m ruining my favorite apron to shield the eyes of the tender minors in our care—”
“Pat,” she said, exasperated, “literally no one cares about your dick.”
“My Instagram begs to differ.”
“And your apron covers precisely zero percent of your ass,” she continued, “so what’s the point? And what is it with men having wonderful butts?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Pat glanced around the kitchen and living area. “And speaking of butts, where’s theotherpain in our collective ass?”
A small red-and-white bundle of fur raced toward them, which was either fortuitously timely or proof that Dev knew when to make an entrance. The werefox hit Caro square in the ribs, and she let him bowl her over. The adolescent Shifters tumbled all over the floor, mock-growling while they tussled.
“Huh.” From Pat, retying his “I put out (cookies for Santa)” apron. “Is it possible they know each other?”
David snorted. “Ya think?”
