“That Branson guy up at reception should never be allowed to book another thing ever in his life. Like ever-ever!”
“What. Happened!”
Being kept in the dark was getting old, and now it sounded like we were going to have more strangers, and thus, more scents invading our space, though I supposed it would be rather rude to drag our unexpected guest out onto the front porch for the medics to assess there.
“Wh-why am I on the floor?” The stranger muttered, groaning and sitting up a little.
His eyes were a deeper blue than mine, and he steadily blinked against the light shining through the window when he looked up at me.
“You fainted,” I explained.
His brow furrowed as scowl lines formed between his eyebrows. “I don’t faint.”
“You did today,” Briar explained. “I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that you’ve never encountered a shifter before.”
“A…a what?”
“A shifter,” I said. “Someone who can change between human and animal forms at will.”
“Like a werewolf?”
“Nope, sorry to disappoint, but we don’t have in-between forms. Just skin or fur in our case, though we’ve got friends with scales, feathers, and even quills.”
He studied me for a moment, taking the time to let my words sink in.
“I’m not dreaming this, am I? I saw you guys shift.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Briar explained, scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “It was the only way to be able to communicate with you. I’m sorry it was so overwhelming you wound up on the floor with a lump on the back of your head.”
“Yeah, it’s not the best feeling in the world, let me tell you.”
“There are medics on the way to take a look,” Briar said. “In the meantime, we’ve, um, got a bit of a problem we need to sort out.”
“Are you referring to what the two of you are doing in my cabin?”
“Yeah, about that, you see, we’ve got this cabin booked for the next two weeks too,” Briar explained. “I just got off the phone with the reception desk, and apparently there has been one hell of a mix-up with the reservations, and all of the cabins are double booked.”
“Wait, double booked as in there are no more cabins available?”
“Pretty much.”
“So, what the hell did he suggest?”
Briar actually squirmed when he met my gaze and shrugged.
“Yeah, Briar. What did he suggest?” I asked, though I had a damn good idea just from the look on Briar’s face.
“Getting to know one another and working out a way to share the space,” he replied.
“I see,” the guy said, sitting up a bit more. “Well, considering that you guys could have just shredded me with your claws and had me for supper while I was laid out on the floor, I guess I really don’t have anything to fear from you. Are you sure that you’re both okay with it, though? One of you was pretty snarly.”
“That was me,” I said, waving a hand at him. “Waking up to a stranger in the room freaked the hell out of me, and I don’t really do surprises well.”
“No, he does not, not even good surprises like birthday ones,” Briar chimed in.
“I’m sorry. I honestly thought you guys were part of the decor when I came in, or I never would have booped you on the nose,” the man said, turning his head to face Briar.
“No harm done; besides, I booped you back, so I’d say we’re even.”
