Dr. Quail laughed. “Well, it certainly sounds like you have your hands full taking care of him.”
“Not at all,” Dane disputed loyally. “He’s very easy to care for.”
I had to hold back a laugh of my own. Between handfeeding me poached salmon, sushi, brie, raw snap peas, and the bushels of othermust-havefoods that I craved, Dane spent the week gently bathing me, massaging my sore muscles, rubbing my feet, and catering to my every whim in-between bouts of fucking me into the mattress -and every other surface in the condo- and I still knew that he absolutely meant what he said. Dane reallydidbelieve that I was easy to care for.
Is it any wonder I was stupidly in love with him?
“Well, that’s fine,” Dr. Quail was all but beaming at us as he popped the cap off my contraceptive hypo. “You two make a wonderful pair.” He slid the needle beneath my skin with a flick of the wrist. “And you know, if you ever decide to lay off these shots, I imagine it wouldn’t take long for you to add a cub to dote on.”
“Oh, yeah,” I coughed nervously. “We, uh..”
“We’re not there yet,” Dane said smoothly, stroking my shoulder, “but if that changes, you’ll be one of the first to know.”
ChapterSix
Dane
“So, how was it?”
I flipped my middle finger in the direction of Myke’s voice without taking my eyes off the essay I was reading. I’d left my students with a detailed assignment while I was out, and they had not disappointed.
“That good, huh?” Myke was chuckling when he dropped his happy butt into the chair opposite my desk, but it quickly turned to a grunt when he hit the hard plastic. “Fuck, that stung.”
“Good.”
“Cold, man,” Myke groused. “Especially after I watched over your cubs and cubettes while you were gone.”
“You only covered one class and they’re not all bears,” I said automatically before his words sank in and I slowly raised my head. “What the hell is a cubette?”
“A girl cub, of course,” Myke said, smirking when I rolled my eyes. “Like Smurfette is a girl Smurf.”
“Dumbass.” I tapped the page on the desk in front of me. “Did you read through any of these? This is some good stuff.”
Myke nodded, his expression turning thoughtful. “These kids have some pretty deep thoughts.”
“They do,” I agreed. “I was surprised by just how deep when I started working with them.” When Myke made a noncommittal humming noise, I looked back up at him. “Something on your mind?”
“No,” Myke said quickly before heaving a sigh. “Well, yeah, actually.”
I waited while he hesitated.
“You and Mitch have beenfriendsfor awhile,” Myke said finally, the inflection making me roll my eyes.
“And?” I prompted when he seemed to be stuck.
Myke blew out a breath. “What I’m trying to ask is how you got to that place? You’re adamant that you’re nottogethertogether,” he hesitated until I nodded. “But you still spend all of his heats together. So, how do I get to that place?”
“To what place?” I was starting to think I needed to get some more sleep. “A heat partner?”
“Exactly.” Myke blew out a relieved breath. “I’ve never done that before.”
I felt a brow inch up. “Seriously? How old are you?”
“Thirty-six.”
“Thirty-six and you’ve never been with an Omega in heat?”
Myke shrugged. “I always thought it was kind of a relationship thing, you know? Until you and Mitchel, it never occurred to me that it could be a fuck buddy thing.”
