Series: Lee Savino
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Fuck. Did I show my bear? Did my eyes change color when I settled beside Maisy? I’ve made it years without my family knowing my secret. I’ve always maintained my privacy with them, and with this matter, it’s no different. I don’t want them to worry about me going moon mad or to pressure me into claiming Maisy while she’s still in her formative years.
The Ferris wheel attendant finally finishes loading everyone, and we continue rising in a gentle arc through the air.
Maisy clutches her mittened hands together in her lap and looks out at the view of our quaint little mountain town. The snow falls in steady, soft flakes, blanketing everything and making it look like a gingerbread village. “It’s, um, beautiful, isn’t it?”
My chest constricts. It’s so precious how nervous she gets with me. My lovely mate may be human, but she feels the biological pull to me. Some part of her knows she belongs to me. Her body responds to mine. I’ve known she was mine since she was just fifteen–she was a late bloomer as far as puberty went.
If I didn’t have my mom’s illness and helping with the triplets to contend with, I would’ve quit my job and moved as far away from Bad Bear Mountain as I could have that very day. But I couldn’t leave. And I couldn’t claim her. So, I vowed never to touch her and came up with the Moon Cure.
The next time we sweep up to the top, the Ferris wheel lurches to an abrupt stop.
“What’s happening?” Someone beneath us asks.
“Just a little technical difficulties, everyone!” the attendant calls out. “We’ll have you back up and running in a few minutes–not to worry!”
I lean forward to peer down and see Daisy slipping him some money.
Aha! She planned this on purpose.
Maisy grips the bar in front of us. “I knew we shouldn’t have gotten this thing. Even with a ninety percent discount,” she mutters then winces when the car starts swinging in the cold wind. “What do you think is going on?”
I can’t stop myself from putting an arm around her. “It’s okay, beautiful. We’re perfectly safe.”
Beautiful?
Shit. Did I say that out loud?
Maisy turns her gorgeous face to mine, her blue eyes wide. She’s not breathing.
The urge to kiss her overcomes me.
I don’t act on it–of course I don’t–but my dick thickens, and a scratchy, feverish sensation travels across my skin.
Pain seizes my lower belly, simultaneously traveling down to my balls and up to my heart.
Fuck, I want to kiss her.
Those soft, pillowy lips were made to be claimed by me.
My vision changes to dichromatic. I’m looking through my bear’s eyes, seeing fewer colors. I blink rapidly, trying to force my bear back down. The physical pain increases. I’m not sure if it’s a side effect of the Moon Cure or simply how it feels to be close to my mate without claiming her.
“Are you okay?” Maisy asks.
My grunt sounds affirmative but barely human.
She rests a soft hand on mine. Her mittens are thin, and I feel the chill of her fingers beneath them.
“You’re cold,” I murmur. My bear settles as I focus on her comfort. Shifters have a slightly elevated temperature, and I’m grateful for it. With my arm around her, I will my warmth to seep into her.
As soon as I’m on the ground, I’m going to tell Daisy that a Ferris wheel in January is a bad idea. The health of my patient—my most important patient—is at stake.
I hear her pulse speeding up, but she lets me cover her mittened hands with mine. I’m so much bigger than her, and right now that’s a good thing—my warmth heats us both.
“How do snowmen pay their bills?” she asks, her voice a bit breathless in a way that makes my cock perk up.
It takes me a second to realize she’s telling a joke and remember how to play along. “How?”
“With cold hard cash.”
A chuckle rumbles deep in my belly. I knew the punchline would be silly, but it’s still funny.
“You like jokes.” I’m charmed by her. She’s utterly adorable.
She blushes. “I used to be afraid of everything. But I had this joke book I was obsessed with. And whenever I was scared or sad, I’d tell myself jokes over and over. And it worked. It still works.” Even as she says this, her eyes dart down to the ground, and she gulps. Being stuck up here is scary for her. And cold.
I love that she’s opening up to me. I rack my brain for any dad joke I know. I vow to learn a hundred by the next time I see her. The only one I can think of is painfully bad, but for her, I’ll tell it. I’ll do anything. “What do you call a cow with no legs?”