Them.I should’ve saidthem, nother.I shouldn’t know her gender when all Sara said waspatient.I need to get my bear under control because I’m making mistakes.
“Right away, Doctor.”Before Sara leaves, she whips out a cloth and polishes away an invisible speck of something from the doorknob.There’s no dust in the entire clinic–everything is spic and span after the renovation, but it doesn’t stop Sara from buffing doorknobs with a smile.She’s proud of this place.
Residents of Bad Bear Mountain used to have to drive to Santa Fe for all healthcare needs until Bad Bear’s formidable old mayor, Daisy, and I helped found this place.She badgered someone to donate this drafty old house, and I volunteered my hours along with a part-time nurse.
Now the newly renovated clinic is staffed with a full-time manager and nurse practitioner, all made possible by generous donations from Lana Langmeyer and Paloma Castillo, our resident billionaires.
I lean against my desk and draw in a steadying breath as I wait for the Moon Cure to flood my system.My bear sends me a flood of fast-motion images–me rushing into the exam room, throwing my beautiful young patient on the table, and feasting between her legs.Me holding her down and marking her savagely with my teeth.Me shifting to bear form, picking her up, and carrying her off to my den for an undisturbed ravishment.
Not.Happening.I tell him firmly, as I do every time I catch Maisy’s sweet scent.
She’s my greatest torture.My longest trial.Lately I’ve been allowing myself to stop into the cafe to get coffee before the drive to Santa Fe for a morning shift.That’s when my willpower is at peak strength.
I don’t dare get close to her otherwise.But today, I have no choice.
When I decide I’m steady enough, I head to the exam room.The caramel apple smell grows stronger in the hall.
My mouth waters.
My bear thrashes beneath the surface.This is more than hunger.It’s a deep longing, a mad craving.
I won’t give in.
The antique floors creak under my feet.My steps slow, and I check over my blue scrubs to make sure they’re clean–I changed after my last shift, but it’s a habit in case there’s some blood spatter that might scare the patients.
I open the door and see the female I’ve sworn not to touch sitting on the examination table.Maisy Bennett, my impossibly young mate.
“Maisy?”
The beautiful human jerks in surprise.Her pink lips part with a gasp as she teeters on the edge of the bed and starts to fall.
I always have this effect on her, my beautiful little klutz.
I’m across the room in a blur, moving with shifter speed in time to catch her in my arms.She fits perfectly.I shouldn’t hold her so close, but I can’t help it.It feels so right to hold her.
I’ve never been so close to her before.I’ve never allowed myself to touch her, even though I want her more than my next breath.Even though I dream about her every night.Spend most of my hours avoiding her and my obsessive thoughts about her.
“Doctor?”Her already pale skin leaches color, as if she’s seen a ghost, but the scent of caramel and cinnamon blooms brighter.
My bear sucks it in like a drug.He tries to send the fast-forward images again, but I refuse to let him break the barrier in my brain.
“Are you okay?”I set her back on the patient bed, loosening my hold on her reluctantly.
“Mhmm,” she mumbles, with her beautiful blue eyes fixed on the floor, and I’m reminded why I don’t get close to Maisy Bennett.She’s intimidated by me.
I step back, forcing the doctor in me to take over.My shifter senses note everything about her.Her color and temperature seem fine.Eyes are a bit dilated, but within normal range.Her pulse has sped up since I entered the room–I can hear it booming in my ear.
Her hand goes to her abdomen, and pain ripples across her face.I’m dying to pull her back into my arms and comfort her, but I force myself to act professional.I clear my throat.“What brings you in today?”
“Nothing.”She tugs down her shirt, which is a cute crop top sweater the exact color of her eyes.“I should go.”She starts to slide off the table.
“Sit down,” I order a bit too harshly for an ordinary patient.Her cheeks flush with color, but she immediately settles and puts her hands in her lap.
“Good girl.”
Whoops.Did I really say that out loud?What am I doing?I can’t talk to a patient this way.
Especially not this particular one.The mayor’s granddaughter.The girl I’ve been avoiding for so long–otherwise, I’d have her marked and bred with ten bear cubs by now.
