I sank down on the grassy knoll that separated our complex from the shifter reserve to the west, folding each piece of Dane’s clothing as he dropped them next to me. When he was naked, I allowed myself one peek at Dane, his skin glistening in the moonlight as he hesitated beside me.
“You’re sure you’re okay with this?”
I quirked a brow. “With what?”
Dane sighed. “With me shifting while you’re out here?”
My second brow crept up. “Why wouldn’t I be? It’s not the first time.” Hell, it wasn’t even the tenth time in the five years we’d been friends.
Dane shook his head, blowing out his breath. “I don’t know. I guess after tonight I thought maybe you wouldn’t want me too close.”
I huffed. “Please.” I gestured toward the meadow in front of me where four-legged forms were already starting to lumber into the moonlight. “Time’s awasting, Scooby.”
Dane still looked concerned but he knelt on the ground – something he’d told me made the transformation easier with his weak leg- and closed his eyes, his head back and nose lifted to the moon. Unlike some of the other shifters I knew, Dane’s transformation was easy to miss. The air around him stirred silently as his appendages stretched and morphed, the sleek two-legged human form giving way to the bulkier four-legged shape of his inner beast.
When the last of the human vestiges were gone, the bear stood in front of me, his snout lifted to the breeze, scenting the air as his intelligent amber eyes scanned the meadow before us. Satisfied with what he saw, Bear turned to face me, his nose twitching as he moved closer.
“Hey,” I greeted softly, remembering that his hearing was more sensitive than Dane’s.
Bear chuffed lightly, a warm, affectionate sound that tickled my skin when he pressed his snout to my neck. I wrapped my arms around his neck -as far as they would reach, anyway- and hugged him tightly. I pulled a handful of blackberries from the brown paper bag I’d brought out with me and held them out on my palm, smiling as the massive animal picked one at a time off my hand with his long tongue, his teeth never coming near my skin. When the berries were gone, I knelt up to kiss the almost invisible light-colored spot between his eyes and sat back down on the grass.
“Go on,” I encouraged, making a small shooing motion with my hands. “You don’t want to waste your full moon with me.” When he hesitated, clearly torn, I laughed. “You go play and I’ll talk to Dane about getting you more free time, hm?”
Bear chuffed lightly, pressing his massive head to my chest for a moment before ambling off into the moonlit meadow, the brindle ridges in his fur sparkling gold and red as he went.
I watched as he greeted the other bears, his body language clearly announcing which he considered friends and which he would have preferred to do without. Each time one ventured past the imaginary line Bear had deemedtoo closeto me, he would drive them off and then circle back to rub against me, marking me with his scent, something he’d never done before.
One of the females, a black bear with glossy fur and bright blue eyes seemed ready to take a mate, at least for the night. She began following Bear through the meadow, turning her teeth on the others who tried to approach her but Bear seemed oblivious to her presence.
After a few hours of exploring and playing, he ambled back to where I sat and collapsed to the ground beside me with a deep huff, nudging my hands out of the way so he could rest his head in my lap.
“Tired, huh?” I scratched his ears lightly, smiling when a deep rumbling purr made his pleasure known. I nodded to where the eager female had stopped a dozen or so yards away, watching us with wary eyes. “You know she wants you, yeah?”
Bear groaned, making me laugh. “Not feeling it tonight?”
Bear sighed and the air began to stir again. In a short time, Dane lay naked on the grass, his shaggy head under my hands.
“You done already? It’s still early.”
Dane rumbled his agreement. “Tired.” Language was one of the last abilities to return after he shifted, so I was used to monosyllabic responses.
“You want to go in or stay here for a bit?”
“Here,” Dane sighed, rolling onto his back to stare at the moon.
“Okay.” I continued to massage his scalp and like his bear, Dane sighed and moaned while I petted him.
The female continued to watch us but, like Bear, Dane didn’t even seem aware of her presence. When he finally sat up and reached for his clothes, I could tell his energy was drooping. I waited for him to dress and took his hand, leading him back to the condo. When we made it inside, I helped Dane out of his clothes and into his bed, dropped a kiss on his forehead, and crawled into my own bed to dream of my best friend and the sweet bear who’d purred in my lap.
ChapterTen
Dane
“Do you ever have sex in your bear form?”
My mouthful of coffee sprayed across the table in an impressive arc and I coughed spasmodically as the remainder was sucked into my lungs.
“What?” I croaked, pulling the hem of my t-shirt up to wipe my face, glaring at Shelly who was doubled over, laughing. “Are you trying to kill me?”
