Bear Necessities (11 page)

She
clenched around him. She understood what this sweet, lazy fucking was. This was
just as much a claim on her as the other, but where last night had been about
her body, this morning was about her heart.

His
lips pursed and he took the kiss his mouth had promised. The hot water beat
down on his back. His buttocks flexed beneath her heels as he thrust over and
over, the sweet slide dragging her closer and closer to orgasm. His hand left
her pussy to curl around her hip, the strength of his hold almost bruising.
“Tabby,” he breathed into her. His eyes closed and she knew he was close.

She
wanted, needed to come with him. Her hand reached down and took off where his
had left off, stroking herself. She was so damn close. “Alex. Bite me. Please.”

His
eyes flew open. His chin brushed against hers, his mouth nipping its way down
to her shoulder. She felt her own fangs descend and knew she’d mark him when
they came.

His
teeth pierced her, throwing her into her orgasm. He groaned as she bit into
him, marking him once more. She rode his cock and the never-ending orgasm that
flowed through them both.

They
were both quivering at the end. Less intense than last night, it was
nonetheless just as profound. She’d never had an orgasm last that long before,
the sweet flood of pleasure going on and on that way.

She
wanted that again, that feeling of belonging.

She
licked his wound closed. Her head dropped back against the tiles. The only
thing she wanted to do was crawl right back into the bed in the other room,
wrapped up in her mate.

He
lifted his head from her shoulder, a thin line of blood trickling down her
chest. The wound was already closing. He rested his forehead against hers, his
lips taking hers in a gentle kiss. “Good morning.”

She
smiled. “Yes indeed.”

His
answering smile matched hers.

Bunny
walked into the hospital, still torn about leaving Tabby with the other girls
at Living Art. She’d insisted on it, saying that she had to work and he had to
check on Chloe. She was right, damn it. He almost called his father to ask him
to go protect his mate, but with Chloe still unconscious and her attacker still
on the loose, there was no way he could divide his family’s attention that way.
He frowned. Maybe he could enlist Julian or some of the Pumas to keep a
surreptitious eye on the place for him. But first he needed to know how his
little cousin was doing before he went to see Sheriff Anderson.

That
part of his day he hadn’t discussed with his mate. He had every intention of
finding out just who the fuck Gary was and what kind of a threat he represented
to Tabby. If he found out the fucker was the one who’d hurt his mate, Halle
would be short one asshole. There would be nothing that could stop him from
ripping Gary apart.

He
entered Chloe’s hospital room to find Ryan, his father, Aunt Laura and Uncle
Steve already there. “How is she?”

Aunt
Laura looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks, her eyes red-rimmed and weary. “No
change. She won’t wake up, damn it, and I’m at my wits’ end.”

Uncle
Steve placed his hand on his mate’s shoulder, his own expression full of fear
and grief. “She could wake up at any minute, sweetheart.”

“Then
she needs to.” The determination in Aunt Laura’s voice came as no surprise. The
tiny Fox female had to be strong, surrounded as she was by Bears. “Dr. Howard
suggested we find something to stimulate her with. Can you think of
anything
that might trigger a response?”

He
sighed. “No, I…” He blinked. “Wait.” The sheriff had said something the first
time they met, when Bunny was still shocked over finding his mate.

Mate.

“She
has a mate.”

The
uproar that followed was loud. “What?” Uncle Steve’s voice was full of hope.

“Since
when?” Ryan bellowed.

“Is it
Sheriff Anderson?” Aunt Laura asked. She stood, somehow towering over the men
in the room, though she barely topped five foot three.

“She
knows who it is, but from her scent I’d say she hasn’t claimed him yet. And no,
it’s not Anderson. The man already has a mate.” Bunny pulled out his cell
phone. Right after the attack on Chloe, he’d programmed Dr. Howard’s number
into it. He knew Dr. Howard had Anderson’s phone number, and Bunny needed it.
“Let me make some calls, see what I can find out. Maybe if we get her mate in
here it will be just what she needs.”

And
maybe he could get some of his own questions answered while he had the sheriff
here.

“Speaking
of mates, how’s yours?”

Bunny
grimaced. “She got attacked yesterday.”

“What?”

“By
who?”

The
family chorus of outrage was strangely soothing. “I have no idea.” He breathed
deep, afraid he would accidentally shatter the phone in his hands. “By the time
I got to the shop, she was on the ground, a lump on the back of her fucking
head.”

Ryan’s
hand landed on his shoulder. “Do you need help?”

He
stared at his cousin, knowing what Ryan was offering and what it would do to
them both if Bunny took him up on it. One of the ways they sometimes blew off
steam was by fighting each other. The way Bunny was feeling, if he took Ryan up
on that offer, one or both of them would be lying in the bed next to Chloe’s.
He shook his head. “Nah. I’ll make sure to do an extra twenty minutes of yoga.”

Ryan
rolled his eyes. “You have to get over that some day.”

Bunny
shrugged, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going. “I need
to call the sheriff.”

“You
need to remember you were sixteen when it happened. Let it go, Alex.”

The
soothing sound of his father’s voice did nothing to help. “I have. I make sure
it’s never going to happen again.” Nearly killing someone because you’d lost
your temper was a sure-fire way to teach you how to control yourself. He’d done
everything in his power to see to it he’d never hurt another living soul.

Still,
there were times when he longed to roughhouse with his cousins without the fear
that he’d hurt them. He was large and strong in his human form, larger than all
of his relatives, except for his father. He was even more so in his Bear form.
And even his father didn’t have the depth of rage Bunny had learned to conquer.
His father was one of the most even-tempered men he knew.

Bunny
dialed the phone. If he had his way, he’d never fight again. He couldn’t live
with the consequences if he did.

“Are
you sure you’re all right?”

Tabby
shoved Cyn’s hands away from her head. “I’m fine, okay?”

“No
headache?”

“Other
than the one you’re giving me? No.” She snapped on the rubber gloves and smiled
weakly at her nervous client. If Cyn didn’t knock it off, Tabby was going to
lose her customer.

Cyn
glared at her. “Fine. I’ll let it go for now.” She smiled down at the nervous
college boy. “So, what are we having done today?”

The
boy gulped. If he didn’t calm down, he was going to shake apart from nerves.
“Um, I want a wolf, a timber wolf.” He held out a picture. “Just like this.”

Tabby
frowned down at the wolf. It looked familiar. “Where did you get this?”

“Gary
gave it to me.”

Tabby
put the picture down on the counter and leaned back with a sigh. “Why did Gary
tell you to get a wolf tattoo?”

The
boy shook some more. “He said it was cool.”

This
kid is what, eighteen? What the fuck is Gary up to?
She took a sniff.
Nope,
he’s human.
“Do you like wolves?”

The
boy nodded eagerly. “Oh yeah. I contribute to a bunch of charities trying to
save endangered species and their habitats.”

Her
brows rose. He didn’t look like he had the money for an Egg McMuffin, let alone
donations to charity. “Where are you from?”

“Ph-Philadelphia.”

She
stroked a finger down his arm, trying to calm him down. “Okay,” she glanced at
the form he’d filled out, “Tim.”
How do I explain to you that Gary wants his
own ugly face tattooed onto your body?
Talk about claiming someone! “If you
had a choice, what tattoo would you get?” She held up a hand when he opened his
mouth to speak. “Remember, whatever I ink in will be on your body
forever
.
I mean old and wrinkly forever. They’ve found intact tattoos on mummies. So
make sure it’s what
you
want before I do this, okay?”

“What
about Gary? He said I couldn’t join his fraternity without it.”

She
nearly growled.
Son of a bitch.
“Did he give you the money for the
tattoo?” She’d already explained that she charged by the hour, and how much.
The complex tattoo she’d have to make from the picture would wind up costing
him almost three hundred dollars.

“No.”

“Are
you paying for it?”

“Yes.”

She
sighed and decided to fill this poor kid in before he became a Wolf snack.
“Gary isn’t the nicest person in the world, Tim.”

Tim
scowled. “He’s been very nice to me.”

“Yeah,
well, he’s been less than nice to me.” She fingered the picture again,
wondering how to get through to this poor guy. “Gary’s threatened me more than
once. He’s egged the shop. We’ve had to call the cops on him a few times.” She
frowned. “Did Gary tell you to come
here
for the tattoo?”

Tim
shook his head. “No, he told me to go to the place on Fifth.” Tabby exchanged a
glance with Cyn. That place was a dive. “But I asked around. A lot of people
told me you guys were the best, and that your prices were fair.”

That
explained a lot.
No way was she letting this kid out of here with Gary’s mug a permanent fixture
on his body. “If I pick up that phone there and call Sheriff Anderson, will you
listen to him about Gary?”

He
gulped nervously. “The cops? Why would you call the cops?”

“We’ve
had to call them out because Gary won’t leave us alone.”

He bit
his lip and frowned, obviously thinking.

She
picked up the phone and handed it to him, rattling off the number for the
police station.
C’mon, Tim, make the right decision.

His
expression cleared. He was familiar with the phone number, which raised a whole
host of other questions she didn’t have the right to ask. “Can I take another
look around the shop, please?”

She
smiled and nodded, getting up off the swivel stool she sat on when she worked.
“Sure thing, Tim.”

She
watched him walk with a bit more confidence into the front of the shop.

“Good
job.”

“Thanks.”

“What
made you question him?”

She
picked up the picture of the wolf and showed it to Cyn. She could hear the
murmur of voices and knew that Glory was talking to Tim. She would ease his
fears better than anyone else. “That’s Gary as a wolf.”

Cyn whistled.
“Damn. Is the little bastard building a club or something?”

Tabby
jerked.
Could
he be trying to build a Pack? She took another look at
Tim.

Damn
if the boy didn’t have Omega written all over him, and not in a good way.
“Fuck.” There was no law against changing a human against their will. If there
was, more than one mate would be in big trouble, including the current Halle
Pride Alpha. But a prick like Gary with a Pack of handpicked assholes? “That
would be bad.”

“I’ve
decided.” They turned to find Tim standing there, a smile on his face. Glory
stood next to him. She winked at Tabby. “I want this one.” He held up a piece
of flash.

Tabby
looked down at the stylized dragon and grinned. “Good choice.”

She
set up the inks, pleased that Tim had relaxed. She began the tattoo and did her
best to hold back the smirk.

Gary
was going to shit a brick when he saw it. She just hoped Tim would be
protected. She made a mental note to let Gabe know all about Tim. If anyone
could protect the boy, it would be a Hunter like Gabe. Gary didn’t know what
train was about to hit his pompous ass, but he was definitely pissing on the
tracks.

She
hoped it hurt. A lot.

Bunny
stood as the sheriff entered Chloe’s room. The man’s eyes went immediately to
Chloe. He didn’t even try to hide his wince. “Still no change?”

Bunny
shook his head, watching closely. The sheriff approached Chloe’s bed. He took
one of her pale hands into his and bent down, his hat nearly falling off. He
grabbed it before it could land on Chloe’s face. “Hey, little vixen. You need
to wake up now. Sarah’s threatening to bake cookies, and you know how she is in
the kitchen.”

There
was no response, not that Bunny had expected to see one.