Page 7 of Bear for the Holidays

He set a tiny cup of espresso down in front of her with a peculiar kind of reverence. It should have been funny to see his large hands handling such a delicate thing, but something about it made her breath catch in her throat.

“I was thinking that maybe makes this a bit easier.”

She picked up the cup and blew away the steam. It smelled like the blend they used at Delmonico’s, and she took a tiny sip.

“Make what easier?”

“You’re my true mate.”

Deanna choked on the espressoand she set the cup down before it spilled. She pushed away from the table so she wouldn’t cough all over it. When she managed to sit up again, she found Nik pressing a glass of cool water into her hand, and she drank it down gratefully.

“Thanks,” she croaked. “Come again?”

His dark brows drew together.

“I take it you haven’t heard about the true mates thing?”

“No! Is there, like, a pamphlet or something I should have? I thought I was done being surprised when Marisol’s kid turned into a wolf puppy in my lap and then couldn’t turn back for two days.”

To Deanna’s surprise, that made Nik smile.

“That means he trusts you.”

“That’s also what it means when he falls asleep on my lap, when he wants me to carry him around and when he wants to play tag until the cows come home.”

“Hey, he’s a trusting kid, but he has good taste. I look at you and–”

“And you would fall asleep in my lap too?”

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and from Nik’s wide-eyed gaze, he hadn’t been expecting them.

“Ugh, no, I’m sorry, I–”

“Please don’t take it back,” he blurted out. “At least, I would like it if you didn’t. And yes, I would love to.”

Deanna almost saidall right, sounds great.Because it did sound great. She wanted to lie down on that big bed she had glimpsed before, pull him close, pet his hair, his cheek, God, hismouth.

She laughed at herself, shaking her head. “Okay. So we’re both just a little nuts right now, huh?”

“Is that what you would call it?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

He shook his head slightly, suddenly looking very disappointed, and Deanna had to resist the urge to reach over and put an arm around him. She didn’t want him to be disappointed, hated the fact that he was sad, and then she blinked.

“Oh,” she said with dawning realization. “True mates. Does that feel like, I don’t know, I want to beat up everything that might possibly make you upset?”

Nik brightened, and now he took her hand between his. In the back of her mind, she noted how gentle he was, and how wonderfully warm he was.

“Yes! Yes, that’s exactly right. You feel it too, then?”

“I feel a lot of things,” she temporized.

“We should probably talk about that,” he said, and she started to respond, but then there was a loud, rather terrible sound, a cross between a broken mechanical can opener and the shriek of tearing metal.

They both looked over and saw the gray cat sitting there, watching them with a distinctly impatient look on her little face.

“Her highness looks hungry,” Nik muttered, and Deanna laughed.

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