I kiss her back and hug her. “Thank you.”
Chapter 16
Present Day
Sin
The day after Gael moves in with me, Phin comes home from work shaking—trembling—wide eyed with a growl in his voice that I’ve heard many times during his orgasm but never otherwise. Under the skin on his cheeks, the bones shift, and I nearly step back from him when his mouth opens wide to accommodate his lengthening incisors, catching myself before I do anything to make him think I’m rejecting him in any way.
“Phin,” I gasp, watching his body shift under his skin. I knew he was a shifter, but theoretical knowledge barely touches reality.
“Help,” he rasps, reaching for his clothes and stopping because of the curved claws sprouting from his fingertips.
I freeze for a second, not sure how to help, but then my instinctual need to take care of this man spurs me into action. I reach for his coveralls and unzip them to his knees, helping him take them and his boots off. As soon as I get those off, I openhis jeans and pull them down with his underwear. Bare from the waist down now, I help him out of his t-shirt and kick his clothes to the side. His entire body vibrates as his skin moves. Bones shift and reshape, his hips break, which sends him down on all fours, and long fur replaces the curly body hair all over him. His body grows, forcing me to step back as the shape of him changes slowly in what looks like an agonizing transformation.
As the form takes shape, I realize this man is shifting into the biggest bear I’ve ever seen, as ginger as he is in human form but bigger. So much more massive.
He barely fits in the entryway, and when he finally stops trembling and the shifting seems to finish, he collapses with an exhausted whimper.
“Phineas,” I whisper, agog at the bear before me. I’ve never seen a real bear closer than at the zoo, and American black bears aren’t that big. This guy is huge. Maybe as big as a polar bear? I don’t know, because I don’t know how big polar bears are.
Phineas whines again, but he opens his eyes and looks at me. Blue eyes, ginger hair. He’s beautiful. Stunning.
“Look at you.” There’s no mistaking the awe in my voice. “You’re beautiful.”
Phineas chuffs and closes his eyes again.
I pull out my phone and call Gael. He’s at work, so he might not answer if he’s busy, but if he’s not, there’s a good chance he will.
“Hey,” he greets me softly with a smile in his voice.
I have always loved how he sounds like I’m the most important person in the world when he answers the phone—as if my call always makes his day. The last call we had, he didn’t sound like this, and it’s only now that I’m hearing it again that I realize how much I missed it last time.
“Hey. Phineas came home and shifted into a bear. He’s taking up the entryway, and he’s massive. I’m not sure he’s fullyconscious. It—it took a long time and it looked like it hurt a lot. Do you know what I’m supposed to do?”
Phineas looks up at me again, but he’s still not moving.
“I know very little about shifters, but the rumors say that the animal is fully its own person, so don’t get too close, just in case. I’m coming home, but I’ll come in through the back so don’t push him to move. I’ll be there in half an hour.”
I guess he has some things to finish up at work before he comes home. He doesn’t work that far away, certainly not a half hour drive. “Thanks. And thank your bosses for letting you come home.”
He laughs softly. “I’m not working today. I’ll explain when I get there.”
He left the house in my car as soon as I got home from class. If he’s not working…? “Alright. See you when you get here.”
We end the call, and I pocket my phone, looking at Phineas again. The animal isn’t Phineas? According to Gael, the animal is separate. I hope he’s at least friendly with Phin’s boyfriends.
“Hello, Phineas’s Bear. I’m Sin, his boyfriend. Please don’t hurt me; I’m fairly certain that would devastate Phin.”
The bear stares at me and then very deliberately rolls his eyes.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Fine. Blink three times in a row if Phin my boyfriend and Phin the bear are not separate individuals like Gael said, and blink twice if Phin my boyfriend and Phin the bear are different individuals.”
Phin blinks three times and huffs at me.
“So you’re you, just in bear form. Got it. I’ll let Gael know. It’s so stupid that we know nothing about you because the species don’t talk to each other,” I grumble again, studying my boyfriend. “Can I touch you? Two for yes, please.”
Phin blinks twice and yawns, widening his mouth so I can see all his very sharp teeth.
