tell you and don’t want to lie to you.”
“But you’d lie to your friend.” This female baffled him. She wasn’t cowed by him and wouldn’t lie to him, yet wouldn’t trust him with the location of her den.
A part of him hurt.
It shouldn’t. He barely knew her.
Somehow, it didn’t matter that he’d only just met her. She was already his.
“Well, and we’ve covered that particular talent of yours to smell a falsehood...” She began to squirm in his arms. “You don’t have to hold me up like this.”
He tossed her up in the air, getting a satisfying squeak, catching her easily then cradling her in his arms again. That was beginning to be his favorite game. “More comfortable?”
“You really have got to stop doing that.” But there was laughter in her voice beneath the admonishment.
He liked the feel of her—maybe held her a touch too close. But she didn’t seem to notice.
Especially since she still wiggled against him. “I didn’t mean for you to toss me about like a stuffed doll. I meant for you to put me down.”
The examination room was most familiar, so he headed for it as she continued to grumble. At least one of her crutches was in there. “Not likely to happen, I’m afraid.” The cinnamon-and-honey scent of her hair teased his nose. Made him want to taste her skin and see if it held the same spicy sweetness.
She beat at his chest with a small fist. He gave her his laziest smile.
She hit hard for a female.
“Fine then. It’s not far.” Exasperated, maybe a bit desperate. He had her at bay now, with nowhere to dodge to.
“Then you be still while I carry you there.”
Her response was both pithy and anatomically impossible. He laughed, and wondered whether she had the experience to know it wasn’t possible.
“I’ll need to bring my crutches so I can get back down here in the morning.”
He raised an eyebrow. It’d be an exercise in the ridiculous for him to carry the one crutch and juggle her, all while he dug up the other one. That is, if she even told him where she kept it.
Point to her.
“I’ll set you down here if you promise to stay while I get them. Otherwise, I’m taking you home and then I’ll come back to get them.”
She narrowed her eyes, visibly assessing where she stood in their verbal sparring match. Well fed, the color had returned in her complexion. She’d already proved to be exceptionally nimble in thought. “Fine. I promise.”
He placed her on the stretcher where he’d sat only an hour or two prior and caught up her crutch in one hand. “Where’s the other one?”
Her lips twisted in a rueful grin as she acknowledged his foiling of her plan. “Behind the front reception desk.”
Little chit had planned to try to scamper off on the one. As if she would have gotten very far. He could run down any human, much less catch up to her, well fed or no.
Still, he was having fun playing.
Danny wouldn’t hesitate to yank his tail over this if he’d seen it.
Violent, temper-driven Seth, pack alpha, playing games with a bitty human girl and enjoying every minute of it.
How long had it been since he’d been free of anger for any significant period of time? Yet with Maisie, he’d smiled more in the space of a few hours then he had in a year or more.
Since he’d lost Sarah.
He retrieved the crutch in short order, returning to find her perched right where he’d left her with wide, grey eyes and a supremely innocent look on her face.
“What are you up to? And why haven’t you got a coat?”
“It really isn’t all that far.”
“It’s cold outside.” He growled at her.
She shrugged. “When I went out earlier in the day to cool my head, I didn’t notice the cold.”
“Harder to draw your gun?” He took a guess.
She shook her head. “I’ve been meaning to get one. When I do, I plan to put holes in the pockets for easier access and have an extra reinforced pocket in the front that acts as a spare holster.”
Nice.
“Let’s get
“But you’d lie to your friend.” This female baffled him. She wasn’t cowed by him and wouldn’t lie to him, yet wouldn’t trust him with the location of her den.
A part of him hurt.
It shouldn’t. He barely knew her.
Somehow, it didn’t matter that he’d only just met her. She was already his.
“Well, and we’ve covered that particular talent of yours to smell a falsehood...” She began to squirm in his arms. “You don’t have to hold me up like this.”
He tossed her up in the air, getting a satisfying squeak, catching her easily then cradling her in his arms again. That was beginning to be his favorite game. “More comfortable?”
“You really have got to stop doing that.” But there was laughter in her voice beneath the admonishment.
He liked the feel of her—maybe held her a touch too close. But she didn’t seem to notice.
Especially since she still wiggled against him. “I didn’t mean for you to toss me about like a stuffed doll. I meant for you to put me down.”
The examination room was most familiar, so he headed for it as she continued to grumble. At least one of her crutches was in there. “Not likely to happen, I’m afraid.” The cinnamon-and-honey scent of her hair teased his nose. Made him want to taste her skin and see if it held the same spicy sweetness.
She beat at his chest with a small fist. He gave her his laziest smile.
She hit hard for a female.
“Fine then. It’s not far.” Exasperated, maybe a bit desperate. He had her at bay now, with nowhere to dodge to.
“Then you be still while I carry you there.”
Her response was both pithy and anatomically impossible. He laughed, and wondered whether she had the experience to know it wasn’t possible.
“I’ll need to bring my crutches so I can get back down here in the morning.”
He raised an eyebrow. It’d be an exercise in the ridiculous for him to carry the one crutch and juggle her, all while he dug up the other one. That is, if she even told him where she kept it.
Point to her.
“I’ll set you down here if you promise to stay while I get them. Otherwise, I’m taking you home and then I’ll come back to get them.”
She narrowed her eyes, visibly assessing where she stood in their verbal sparring match. Well fed, the color had returned in her complexion. She’d already proved to be exceptionally nimble in thought. “Fine. I promise.”
He placed her on the stretcher where he’d sat only an hour or two prior and caught up her crutch in one hand. “Where’s the other one?”
Her lips twisted in a rueful grin as she acknowledged his foiling of her plan. “Behind the front reception desk.”
Little chit had planned to try to scamper off on the one. As if she would have gotten very far. He could run down any human, much less catch up to her, well fed or no.
Still, he was having fun playing.
Danny wouldn’t hesitate to yank his tail over this if he’d seen it.
Violent, temper-driven Seth, pack alpha, playing games with a bitty human girl and enjoying every minute of it.
How long had it been since he’d been free of anger for any significant period of time? Yet with Maisie, he’d smiled more in the space of a few hours then he had in a year or more.
Since he’d lost Sarah.
He retrieved the crutch in short order, returning to find her perched right where he’d left her with wide, grey eyes and a supremely innocent look on her face.
“What are you up to? And why haven’t you got a coat?”
“It really isn’t all that far.”
“It’s cold outside.” He growled at her.
She shrugged. “When I went out earlier in the day to cool my head, I didn’t notice the cold.”
“Harder to draw your gun?” He took a guess.
She shook her head. “I’ve been meaning to get one. When I do, I plan to put holes in the pockets for easier access and have an extra reinforced pocket in the front that acts as a spare holster.”
Nice.
“Let’s get
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