Aww, he thinks I’m pretty.
4
She wants me. I can smell it. That sweet, pungent scent burning between her legs, abundant and creamy, just for me.
I lick my lips, deciding it’s best I not make her privvy to my heightened sense of smell, and my ability to scent out a mate’s arousal. She’s already white as a sheet and trembling.
Tugging the blanket around her more tightly, Esther blinks up at me with wide, blue eyes, looking tiny in my oversized wooden chair.
“I hate to ask you for a favor, since we hardly know one another,” I begin, setting down a mug of hot tea as I join her at the table. Once I carried her inside, and wrapped her up, I snuck away to put clothes on, despite the fact she definitely took in the sight of me naked. Still, the next time I’m naked around Esther Basquette, it’s going to be because she wants it, not because I can’t control myself.
She watches me sit, gathering my own mug in my hands. “No one knows?” she guesses astutely, which earns her a nod from me.
“Right. No one knows. So if you could keep it to yourself…” I start, realizing that she’s most definitely going to tell her sister, at the very least. “Or, make sure your sister doesn’t tell…” I let the sentence hang, because I don’t want to explain what’s at stake. Not unless she makes me go there.
She takes a sip of her tea, chamomile with honey and fresh squeezed orange, which is better than lemon in my opinion. “This is good,” she says, blowing on the surface, causing it to ripple. In the tea moving surface, I see her face and mine, a reflection of sorts. We’re smiling and happy, white ears perched on her head as I nuzzle into her, kissing her cheek and neck. The image disappears, and my stomach clenches as I caution a glance at her.
“Thanks. I thought you’d like it.” Lie. Iknewshe’d like it, because her scent tells me everything I need to know. What she likes to drink and eat, when she’s hot and bothered, when she’s aching and needs me, when she’s hurt or alone… now that Esther is here in Carrot Creek, I’m fully aware of all of her needs.
Esther watches me closely, still sipping her tea, and I realize I owe her the complete truth. Not because I shifted in her armsbut because she will be mine one day, and we need to be honest with each other for it to work.
“So Esther, the cat’s out of the bag. I’m a were-bunny.”
She blinks. “Am I dreaming?”
I shake my head. “No, were-real,” I reply, smiling, but maybe it’s too soon to joke.
Another slow blink. “I thought that was just something in romance novels.”
I smile, fighting the way my thigh bounces beneath the table, my body grappling with the urge to hop. After years of being single, finally, my mate is here and the urge to bounce around in glee is overwhelming.
She reaches out, bracing her hand on my knee, putting a gentle end to the bouncing, smiling softly.
“Sorry,” I say, “I’m just… really excited to have you here, even under the strange circumstances,” I admit.
Her eyes drop to my lap for a half second before coming to my eyes again, and a pretty pink spreads through the apples of her cheeks. I look down to find that I am excited in more ways than one. Usually, taking care of this is my priority, but now with Esther here, in the flesh, my heart is so happy, I temporarily forgot my dick is very pleased, too. I drag a dish towel off the counter nearby, and place it in my lap, shielding my erection despite the fact I already have pants on. “Sorry.”
She smiles. “It’s… I don’t know what’s going on. Am I on drugs? Did all the chocolate get to my head and this is just some fever dream amalgamation of fantasies?” Esther shakes her head, absolutely rattled by the series of events unfolding at her feet.
I clear my throat, and tell a story I haven’t told in quite some time. “My family is from Carrot Creek, we came here years ago to celebrate Easter. This place was perfect, because of all the carrot fields. Enough to feed our bunnies for generations to come.”
She nods her head, still with me.
“Carrot Creek has been a great place for were-bunnies to hide in plain sight, you know? So that’s why I’m here. Although, I’m not doing a great job of hiding if you saw me shift. But you’re the first one. The only one that I know of,” I admit.
“Has any of your family members been spotted shifting? Where are their cottages?” she asks astutely.
“I’m the last one left. My brothers and sisters all married their mates, and left me behind.”
“Where did they go?” she asks, inquisitive.
Letting out a long breath, I start naming off cities, knowing there’s no way I can name them all. After all, my parents went at it like… well, you know. I’ve got eighteen siblings. “Minnetonka, Hayward, Easton, Corpus Christi, Soulsbyville—” Esther stops me.
“Why didn’t they stay here after they… found their mates?” she asks, and I’m both surprised and excited to see she’s invested in this, in me.
“To start a new life, somewhere else.”
She blinks at me, looking a little sad. “Do you miss them?”
