Alpha Bear by Bianca D'Arc Page B

protective
action. Honey, you almost bought it earlier today. I don’t want
anything else happening to you before we do the deed tomorrow
morning.”
    Okay. First, he’d called her honey. After
that little endearment slapped her upside the head with an
unexpectedly erotic velvet caress, he’d said the words do the
deed , and her mind had gone straight to the sex place. With
him. The mayor of freaking Bear City, USA.
    Okay, it wasn’t called that. Only in her
mind, maybe. But it was definitely the shifter-iest place she’d
ever been in her life. And every single one of them she’d seen had
tasted of bear to her magical senses.
    Most mages couldn’t differentiate between
animals, but she had shifter blood, so she had a little edge. And
her shifter blood was bear, so she recognized her own even better
than the others.
    And bears loved honey. And he’d just called
her honey. Something he loved…
    Oh, get a grip, Urse!
    “Well, uh…” Much to her chagrin, she had to
clear her throat before she could actually speak. “That’s mighty
neighborly of you.”
    Dull, Urse. Way to go.
    But he hadn’t been talking about having sex
with her. No matter where her wayward thoughts had taken her. He’d
been talking about her doing magic while he did his best—with his
team of bear shifter commandos around him—to protect her from a
giant freaking sea monster that wanted her blood…and her magic.
    So dull was good. She was fairly certain he
wasn’t thinking about sex and her in the same universe. Why such
thoughts were suddenly popping into her mind was beyond her. Except
maybe it was that kind of thing where when you have a near-death
experience, suddenly you want to celebrate life by grabbing the
nearest hot guy and boinking like bunnies? Maybe?
    Although…Urse had been in some pretty tight
spots from time to time as she learned her craft. She’d come closer
to dying than she was comfortable admitting a time or two. And she
hadn’t felt like jumping the nearest stranger and doing him ‘til
the sun rose.
    So what had changed? Why now? Why him ?
    They walked down Main Street side by side. It
was only a short distance from the town hall, which was on one end
of the small strip that was considered the center of town, to the
bookstore, which was just past the bakery, which was at the
mid-point.
    “Do you have enough provisions in your
apartment or do you want to stop at the bakery and get something
for dinner?” he asked solicitously as they walked along.
    “I set up a pan of lasagna this morning.
Mellie’s probably cooked it by now. There’s plenty, if you want to
join us.”
    Holy crap. Did she just invite John to
dinner? Where the hell had that come from?
    Probably from the same instinct that had sent
her mind straight to the sex place at the least provocation.
    “Real Italian lasagna?” John actually smiled
at her, and her heart went pitter-pat without her permission. “How
could I refuse?”
    Sweet Mother in heaven, he’s going to come
to dinner. Her inner teenager stood up and cheered, then
squealed with excitement. Yeah, right. Real mature,
Urse.
    They made it to the bookstore without mishap,
only to find that Mellie had already invited the guy John had sent
over to keep her company to join them for lasagna too. Seemed like
little sis wanted to get to know more about the big Russian named
Peter Zilakov.
    Urse was glad she’d made the big pan full of
lasagna. They’d intended to freeze what they didn’t eat, but with
two big strapping bear shifters joining them, there weren’t going
to be any leftovers. That was okay. Urse liked cooking. She could
always make more.
    Peter owned the butcher shop. It was an
old-fashioned establishment that catered to eclectic tastes. Urse
had been able to get veal and mutton in addition to bison, regular
pork, beef, and poultry. He also had some more specialized meats
always in stock, such as alligator, ostrich and even rattlesnake.
He apparently ordered some of the more