Dana Bell - Bear Necessities

Mr. Sin held out his paw, the condom miraculously gone. “Bunny.” She wondered if he’d dropped it or shoved it into his pocket for later.

Wait. “Bunny,” she repeated carefully.

“Alexander Bunsun, but everyone calls me Bunny.” He grinned.

She sniffed. Nope, his scent is definitely Bear.

“Are you laughing at my name?” Bunny’s hands went to his hips, but she could tell he wasn’t pissed by the way his lips quirked up.

She blinked. “Yes.”

He coughed, but she could tell he was trying not to laugh. “Dinner?” He held out his arm.

She gave him her sweetest smile and took it. “Yes.”

“Hold on.” Glory stopped them by placing her hand on Bunny’s arm, her expression worried. For all that Glory liked to flirt like mad, when it came down to actual dating she could be a real worrywart.

Bunny chucked her under the chin. “I’ll take care of her. My word on it.”

Glory studied him, and Bunny stood still, allowing her intense scrutiny. Glory relaxed and nodded, looking relieved. Tabby wasn’t sure she felt the same.

“Tabby? Seriously?” Bunny shook his head and helped her off his bike. “And you’re making fun of my name?”

“At least I can blame my seriously screwed up parents. What’s your excuse?”

Tabby nodded at Bunny regally as he held open the door to Noah’s. He’d asked Anderson to recommend a restaurant in the area and from his enthusiastic endorsement he had decided to give Noah’s a try. He’d made the reservations and requested a nice, private table.

“It’s taken from my last name. It’s a nickname.”

“It’s a sucky nickname for a shifter to have,” she muttered softly. “Bunny. Geez.

Might as well call you Food.” She shuddered delicately as they waited for the hostess to seat them. “Who came up with that anyway? And why didn’t you tell me to wear pants?”

Bunny grinned, knowing it looked predatory. “I enjoyed it.” She’d ridden on the back of his bike, those long sleek legs of hers bared almost to the point of indecency. The heat of her had been intoxicating.

Tabby rolled her eyes and followed behind the hostess. “Are you sure you aren’t a Wolf?”

Bunny began singing “Little Red Riding Hood” under his breath, that deep, gravelly voice sending shivers down her spine. But when he reached the point about being everything a big, bad wolf could want, Tabby had to stop for a moment. She shook her head at him, amusement lighting her face. “Don’t you mean big, bad Bear?”

Bunny held out her chair, a wolfish grin on his face. She allowed him to seat her, shaking her head. Lime green strands drifted across her face. And damn, what a face. She had the exotic good looks of a woman who had some Mediterranean blood somewhere in her gene pool. She was golden-skinned and full-lipped, with big brown eyes and lashes a mile long that perfectly framed a strong nose and determined chin. She wasn’t classically beautiful, especially with her hair the way it was, but Bunny was already hooked. He could almost taste her. Like a ripe golden apple, she’d be tart and sweet on his tongue, a craving that would never go away.

This was going to be fun.

“Well? Out with it, Bunny. Who, what, where, why and how badly did you mangle them afterwards?”

He chuckled, trying to hide how uneasy the word mangled made him. She had no idea. “My cousins. I have five of the little shits. Ryan, Chloe, Keith, Heather and Tiffany are all my first cousins. They’re the ones who gave me my nickname.”

“Wow. Your aunt must have been churning them out.”

“Don’t make me order you a bowl of milk.” Bunny didn’t even flinch when Tabby punched him in the arm. She, however, got a very pained look on her face and surreptitiously tried to shake out her hand. “Ryan and Chloe are brother and sister and the children of my dad’s first cousin, Uncle Steven. Keith, Heather, and Tiffany are my Aunt Stacey’s kids. Aunt Stacey happens to be Uncle Steven’s twin sister.”

“Big family. Must be nice.” She looked sad for a moment then shook her head. He wondered what that was all about. “You have any brothers or sisters?”

“Eric. He’s my younger brother. He thinks, like you do, that Bunny is a stupid-ass nickname. He refuses to call me that. He mostly calls me Alex.” And that meant something to him, that only those closest to him called him Alex. He’d never tell the cousins that, though. They loved the nickname they’d given him and, frankly, he was amused by it.

“Good for him.”

“He also calls me SFB.”

“SFB?”

“Shit For Brains.”

She choked on her water. “Seriously?”

He nodded, and waited for her to stop laughing. It took longer than he’d thought it would.

“So? Why Bunny?”

He shrugged. “I hate fighting. They’d try to get me to fight and I’d do my best not to. After a while, they started calling me Bunny because, and I quote, I’m ‘soft, fuzzy and completely harmless’.”

It had taken him years to shrug off the fury that sometimes rode him with vicious spurs. Meditation, yoga, even avoiding certain foods helped him keep control of the anger that had been his bane as a teenager. Now he wore the nickname Bunny as a badge of honor, a way to remind himself of where he’d been and was now headed.

That direction now included the woman toying with her water glass across from him. He couldn’t wait to get started.

“So, what do you do for a living?” Tabby took a bite of her twelve-ounce steak and moaned. Bunny damn near came in his jeans at the sound. She opened her eyes to find him staring at her mouth. “What?”

“Nothing.” Bunny took a bite of his own seafood alfredo. “This is good. Remind me to thank Gabe.”

“So. What do you do for a living, Bunny?”

Bunny swallowed another bite of alfredo. “I’m a landscape architect.”

She stared at him. He waited for the question most people asked him. “What’s the difference between a landscaper and a landscape architect?”

“It means I have a Bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. I’ve worked in a corporate environment for years designing landscapes, both soft and hard. I understand the horticulture of the area I work in, and what laws need to be followed where. I design for people who have pools, need stonework, or want their landscape graded but have to deal with county restrictions on water drainage. I design structures to code, and help them deal with regulatory boards. In other words, I’m fully licensed and accredited in the state of Oregon, and I’m usually in a suit.”

His mate stared at him like he’d grown a second head. Finally Tabby gulped. “Is that Bunsun with an ‘e’ or a ‘u’?”

He smiled. He was surprised. She didn’t look like someone who would have dealings with corporate landscaping. Maybe she had a relative working for him?

They had branches all over the United States, and he’d pegged her accent as Deep South right from the beginning. “U. My parents are Will and Barbra Bunsun.”

“Holy hell.” Tabby sat back and stared at him. “I thought your name sounded familiar.”

Bunny held up his hand. “Before we go too far, I live off my wages, not my dad.”

He put his hand down. He’d been thinking about this for a while. “And not even that right now. I’ve decided I don’t want to do corporate anymore. I want to start working residential.”

Tabby stared at Bunny in shock. “Bunsun Exteriors. Damn. Never thought I’d meet one of the Bunsuns this far north.”

“I’m surprised you’ve heard of us.” Most people not in the business didn’t even know who Bunsun Exteriors were. From the sound of her accent, she had to know his name from someplace other than their Oregon branch. They had some southeastern branches, but they were small. His father was looking at expanding further up the east coast, but it was going to take time.

Tabby’s face closed up tight. “I have an uncle who works for your company.”

Bingo. From her southern accent, she had to be from Georgia, or one of the Carolinas. Maybe Tennessee? All of them had a smallish Bunsun branch, nothing like the corporate offices they had on the west coast. “Dad’s company.” Bunny leaned back, wondering why she’d suddenly gone cold. “Tabby?”

She blew her bangs out of her eyes. “Guess you should know. I’m Outcast.”

Bunny paused. Being Outcast was a serious thing among those who lived in Pride or Pack families. Bears, not being pack-minded, didn’t have nearly the same reaction to that sort of thing. Bears were more into small family groups and, unlike wild bears, the males stuck by their mates. “Mind if I ask why?”

She bit her lip, that small hint of vulnerability waking every protective instinct Bunny had. “I was seeing the son of the Alpha. Micah. He was…sweet, and kind, and liked being around me. The Alpha didn’t approve, he thought I was trouble.”

She shrugged. “Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. I liked to dye my hair different colors, I had some trouble in school, and I had a tattoo.”

She had a tattoo? He couldn’t find one on her arms, legs or shoulders. He’d definitely have to explore that later.

“But I never broke anything that belonged to someone else,” she continued, “I never hurt anybody who didn’t throw a punch first, and I never stole anything.”

The fierce way she said that last had Bunny growling. “You got Outcast for stealing?”

She winced. “Yes.”

Bunny was already shaking his head. “You’re not a thief.”

Her eyes went wide. “You believe me?”

“Yes.”