Dane’s chest began to vibrate as Bear purred. “Well,” he chuckled, “that made him happy.”
“Which part?”
Dane paused for a minute and I could tell by the look of concentration on his face that he had taken the question seriously and was trying to get a read on his other half. “Um, I think all of it,” he said finally. “He loves knowing you’re ours and us being close, but he also really likes the idea that you want to spend time with us in his form as well as mine.”
“So, yes?”
“Sure,” Dane agreed easily, kissing the top of my head. “If we do that early enough, we’d still have time to go out, though.”
“Okay,” I agreed, rubbing my face against the thick fur on his chest. “First, let’s just lie here a few more minutes though. I still can’t feel my legs and I think I might need them for hiking.”
When Dane dragged me higher on his chest to nuzzle into my neck, I got the impression that our start to the day might be a fair amount later rather than sooner, regardless of the plans we’d made.
~*~
It was well after lunchtime when Dane pulled his car into the visitor center parking lot of the shifter-friendly state park where we like to wander the trails. Our picnic lunch was neatly packed into my backpack and the weather was perfect, warm with a slight breeze.
“Do you want to shift now or after we walk for a bit?”
“I think now, if you don’t mind,” Dane said a little bashfully.
“Why would I mind?” I asked, quirking a brow at him. “Wasn’t that the whole reason we came up here was so you could?”
“Yeah, I just didn’t know if it would bother you.” I cocked my head in confusion and Dane sighed. “I thought it might bother you if I didn’t at least try to hike for a while, you know, until my leg needed a break.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I huffed, rolling my eyes. “You seriously think I expect you to hurt yourself to prove how macho you are?”
Dane had the grace to laugh. “No, I know you don’t. I..it’s just hard for me to believe that my disability doesn’t bug you.”
I sighed theatrically. “I’m starting to think the leg isn’t really the biggest disability you have.”
Dane was just taking a swallow from his water bottle and he choked on it, blowing the water out onto the ground as he coughed. “Is there some reason you make me laugh every time my mouth is full?”
I winked. “Skill, but seriously, go ahead and shift.” A sudden thought occurred to me and I grabbed Dane’s arm as he started to pull his t-shirt off. “Uh, is Bear going to beexpectinganything from me?”
Dane looked at me quizzically. “Well, you usually bring him snacks, so he’ll probably assume you brought him some,” he said slowly. “If not, just give him whatever you packed for me. We share the same stomach, after all.” When I didn’t laugh, Dane frowned. “I don’t understand what you mean, baby.”
“Uh,” I gulped, not sure how to verbalize my concern but apparently the flames burning my cheeks triggered understanding in Dane.
“Oh! You mean is he expecting anything sexual from you?”
I nodded, staring at the ground.
“No, of course not,” Dane said firmly. “Even if you were a bear, he wouldn’t even think about it unless you were shifted and there was either a heat or rut cycle. He loves physical contact from you, but because you’re human, he doesn’t even think about you like that, okay?”
I blew out a breath. “Sorry, It hadn’t occurred to me before and I wasn’t sure…”
Dane pulled me to him and pressed a kiss firmly to my lips. “No worries, baby. I promise, I’m the only horndog you need to fight off.”
At that, I laughed out loud. “Right, because I spend so much time pushing you away.”
“We good?”
“We’re good,” I confirmed, holding out my hand for the shirt he’d stripped off. “Now hurry up and get naked so Bear and I can talk about you while we walk.”
Dane’s laughter was still echoing off the trees when Bear’s massive head and cold nose butted up against me in an effusive greeting.
“Hey, you,” I said quietly, pressing a kiss to the light spot between his eyes. “You ready to go for a hike?”
