Having put it to the back of my mind, I’d completely forgotten my shifter biology lessons. I hadno idea what this sort of thing even looked like. Hell, I rarely shift around others, so I’m just glad I remembered how to talk in this form.
“What are we supposed to do?” I ask, howling on the last word.
Poe lets out a long breath and shakes out his gorgeous blue-black feathers. “I’m going to need to close my shop for the day. And we’re going to need a bed.”
2
POE
“We’re going to need awhat?” Thorin asks, his voice pitching up and down as he shifts back into his human form. He’s completely stunned and enticingly nude.
“A bed,” I respond, shifting back into my naked human form.
“Why?”
“If this is anything like what happens in my family, we aren’t going to have a lot of control over our impulses for the next day or two, and this couch is going to get hella uncomfortable.”
“I have work to do,” he growls, still unable to fully control his vocal cords, his hands flaring out into sharp-nailed paws and then back to hands again.
“So do I,” I say, gesturing toward my shop. “Neither of us has much choice in the matter, I’m afraid.”
When I was younger, I loved hearing everyone’s fated mate stories. When I came of age, I was ready, wondering with every new encounter if that personwas my mate. By last year, after ten years without a mate, I stopped hoping and tried to act like I was okay with being unmated. Instead of waiting for fate to arrive, I decided I would open my business and start living my life.
It’s been hard work, accepting myself as an unmated shifter and starting a new business, and I’m damned proud of myself for doing what I needed to do to make myself happy. Only, now that things are finally settling and I’m getting a handle on this reimagined life, a fucking wolf shows up and throws a wrench into everything.
None of this is as I thought it would be.
Taking a deep breath and ignoring the awful disappointment creeping around the edges, I grab my clothes and head toward the staircase. “Come on. My apartment is upstairs.”
“Um, what about your customers?” Thorin asks, pointing at the two cars that just pulled into the parking lot.
Fuck. It’s a good thing my family lives out of town.
Covering my bits with the wadded-up clothes, I flit out to the front and lock the door, turning the open sign to closed.
Miss Geraldine, a sweet owl shifter, frowns at the sign, then steps back when she spots my less-than-dressed state.
“I just mated, Miss Geraldine,” I explain through the glass. “Probably going to be a couple of days.”
“Oh, congratulations, honey! Enjoy!” she says, fluttering her hand at me before turning back to tell Mr.Harbinger about my situation. No doubt the entire Bee Cave shifter community will know by lunchtime.
I shake my head and turn to the back, giving my customers a spectacular view of my ass. Pushing through the beads, I can’t help but notice the wolf is still sitting on my couch, bare-assed and stunned.
“Come on,” I say, gesturing for him to stand up. “This is only going to get worse the longer we put it off.”
“The longer we putwhatoff?” Thorin asks as he carefully lifts himself off the couch, then pulls his jeans up around his hips. He manages to avoid his painful-looking erection, letting it stand out from his pants like a beacon.
I use my wad of clothing to motion between our two extremely obvious situations.
“So, what? Wehaveto have sex now?” he asks, sounding, frankly, a little put out. Even though our bond is new, I can sense his unease under all of the attitude.
Trying to keep a positive outlook, I put on a cheery grin. “Wegetto have sex now. Lots of it.”
He narrows his eyes, subconsciously stroking his swollen cock, either uncaring or unaware of the fact it’s leaking all over my pristine floors. “I have shit I have to do.”
“Better tell your bosses you won’t be coming in today.”
Shaking his head, he attempts—unsuccessfully—to zip up his jeans over his whole dick-and-ballssituation. “No fucking way. This is ridiculous. I’m outta here.”
