Chasing His Puma (Big Bad Bunnies Book 3) Read online

  After getting back to the Peak, they’d taken Mari to Doc’s quarters, set up a room for her, and then settled down to have dinner and watch the live-action Cinderella. Beauty and the Beast was next but he and Doc had both been feeling munch-y so he’d gone to make popcorn, leaving both of the ladies on the couch.

  To his shock, Doc was no longer sitting next to a sleeping skunk kit; instead there was a pretty little girl with black hair curled up on the couch next to her, fast asleep. Doc was tucking a blanket around her, her eyes shiny with tears as she smiled so hard it looked like her face was about to crack open. Brock skidded to a stop and stared dumbfounded over the back of the couch at the little girl.

  “She shifted…” He managed to keep his voice hushed even though he felt like cheering. Or sinking to the ground in relief. Either one seemed like a viable option.

  His bugaboo cracked open an eye, grunted, and went right back to sleep inside Brock’s head. The animal side of him didn’t see what the big deal was about a shifter doing what she was supposed to do.

  Grinning, Doc carefully slid her hands under the sleeping girl and lifted her up in her arms. “I’m going to put her to bed.”

  “What if she wakes up and is scared and alone?” he whispered back, frowning.

  Doc paused, but only for a moment, looking down to study Mari’s face. She was a very pretty little girl with a snub nose, olive skin, and few freckles scattered across her cheeks. “I’ll leave the door open so she can come find us.”

  Right. That was logical. He knew he’d keep an ear out all evening for the sound of Mari waking up though. Just in case.

  A few minutes later he and Doc were settled back onto the couch to watch Beauty and the Beast, the bowl of popcorn in his lap as she cuddled up next to him. Although he was a little distracted knowing Mari was sleeping down the hall—and worried she might wake up frightened—he had to admit it was also nice getting to have some time with just him and Doc.

  They were about halfway through the movie, her leaning her head against his shoulder, when she spoke up.

  “So… it doesn’t bother you that I’m adopting Mari?” she asked out of nowhere.

  “Should it?” he asked back, more than a little confused.

  “Well, I kind of went from having no kids to having one traumatized eight-year-old overnight,” she said. Her head was still tucked into his chest so he couldn’t see her expression, but she sounded nervous. “That’s not exactly what you signed up for when you started dating me.”

  Frustrated that he couldn’t see her face, Brock scooped her up with the arm already around her, using his other hand to haul her across his lap so she was straddling him and facing him. Realizing she was completely blocking the television—not that he was going to be able to pay attention to it anyway—he grabbed the remote and hit the pause button.

  Now he could focus all his attention on the gorgeous woman on his lap, who looked both hopeful and worried.

  The worried was what he didn’t like. That didn’t seem like the Doc he knew. On the other hand, it also touched him because he knew it meant she cared that much about him.

  “I love you,” he said firmly. Her eyes bulged almost comically and her jaw dropped. Thinking she might try to interrupt him, he put his finger over her mouth until she closed her lips. Big, hazel eyes blinked, a furious pink of pleasure rising in her cheeks. “That might sound weird coming from me, because I didn’t believe in happily-ever-afters, but being with you… well, that’s how I feel. I feel things I haven’t felt in a very long time. Hope. Faith. I might not always look for silver linings, but when you’re with me I can’t help but see them and… oh fuck, you’re crying.”

  Look at what you did, his bugaboo chided, rousing so it could judge Brock.

  Panic welled up and he jerked his finger away from her lips, only to have her grab his hand and cradle it against her chest.

  “Don’t stop talking!” she demanded, even though her eyes were shiny with moisture and it was beginning to trickle down her cheeks.

  “I… I can’t keep talking while you’re doing that,” he said, his brow furrowing. Not into a scowl exactly… okay, maybe a little bit.

  Doc giggled, squeezing his hand. “There’s my grumpy Brock. For a minute there I thought maybe I was dreaming, I hardly recognized you.”

  He opened his mouth to protest being called grumpy and then closed it again. Even though he was less grumpy than he used to be, there was no use denying the truth.

  Releasing his hand, she took his face between hers, tilting his head back slightly. “I love you too. I was so scared that you wouldn’t want me and Mari as a package deal and now I feel like I’m getting everything I ever wanted. You have no idea how much I love you.”

  The frown slid from his expression, his lips curving up at the ends. “My dream wouldn’t be complete without you in it.”

  She gaped at him. “Did you just quote Princess and the Frog to me?”

  “Damn right.”

  And he pulled her in for a deep, hot kiss…

  Which ended thirty seconds later when they both heard a feminine wail from down the hall and ended up scrambling to reassure Mari she wasn’t alone.

  Ten minutes later they were laying down on either side of Mari, after having reassured her that this was her room, she wasn’t ever going to have to leave, and they were both right there with her. Glancing across the pillow at Doc, Brock smiled.

  It was a whole new world for him, but there was nowhere he’d rather be.

  ******

  Three weeks later

  For the very first time since she’d started living with Doc, Mari listened to her bedtime story, rolled over, and fell asleep without either Doc or Brock crawling into bed beside her. Almost shocked, Doc very quietly closed the book and turned off the light. She snuck out of the room, although she didn’t shut the door all the way.

  Moving as quickly and as quietly as she could, she hurried the little bit down the hall to the room she and Brock shared. He was on the bed, reading his own book. They’d been taking turns falling asleep with Mari every night, which was both tiring and rewarding.

  He looked up in surprise as she came into the room, shut the door behind her, and then launched herself at him. Like the sexy and amazing man he was, he caught her easily, dropping his book to do so. A small smile curved his lips as he lifted his eyebrow at her, his hands on her waist as she straddled him. Already she could feel his delicious cock rising beneath her.

  “She’s asleep. All by herself!” Doc said gleefully, bouncing slightly. Not just because it made his dick even harder. Although… mostly that.

  Having a needy kid who woke up in the middle of the night half the time if someone wasn’t right next to her had been a little hard on their sex life.

  Not hard on their relationship though. Brock had basically moved in with her and shared parenting responsibilities as easily as he breathed. He and Mari adored each other, just as much as she and Mari adored each other. The little girl had cried for her own parents several times, but she also seemed happy to be with Doc and Brock when she wasn’t actively grieving. She certainly didn’t miss the skunk surfeit. From the things she’d said, Doc and Brock were fairly certain her parents had been part of a different surfeit and had left for some reason the little girl either didn’t know or didn’t understand.

  Which was probably why Riggs had managed to get away with keeping her out of the circle of protection, if Mari and her parents hadn’t been part of his community for very long. He was now paying for it in the cells underneath Lakewood—and imprisonment was not easy for shifters to bear. Doc didn’t feel sorry for him at all.

  So Doc and Brock hadn’t at all minded Mari’s neediness, no matter how it had cut into them doing the dirty, but she was also really freaking excited that tonight Mari had fallen asleep all on her own. They could actually take their time! Maybe even be a little noisy…

  “Oh well that’s good to hear,” Brock said, his expression unchangi
ng as he slid his hands up and down her thighs, but not doing anything more than that.

  Sometimes he was such a tease. Doc narrowed her eyes at him, her puma clawing to the surface. He didn’t have nearly enough scratches on him as far as her cat was concerned, no matter how much their scents had mingled. She wanted to mark him up.

  Not just that, but she wanted to mate mark him.

  But he also deserved a little payback for his pretended nonchalance.

  “That’s all I wanted to tell you,” she said haughtily, and made as if to climb off of him.

  Instead, she found herself squeaking as she was suddenly rolled onto her back and underneath him, his hazel eyes sparkling above hers. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Nowhere apparently,” she said with a little wriggle that had her thighs sliding down the outside of his as her breasts jiggled enticingly under her tank top. Brock’s body settled between her legs and he rocked against her, making her gasp as her pajama pants rubbed over the swollen flesh of her pussy.

  Like she’d needed to be any more turned on.

  “Hey Doc… I’ve been thinking…” His lips trailed down the side of her neck, making it hard for her to concentrate on his words.

  “Mmhmm?”

  “I want us to mate.”

  “Yes,” she said immediately, joy surging up inside of her. Was it as good as his declaration of love? Not quite, but she liked Brock’s straightforwardness. Honestly, she’d never really expected the flowery declaration in the first place, this was way more his style.

  But when he hesitated, she blinked and let her head fall back on the pillow. “Is there a problem?”

  He sighed.

  “I feel a little weird about mating someone whose name I don’t know,” he finally admitted in a low voice.

  Okay. That was understandable. She still made a face. Brock got his Resting Brock Face on. Grumpy old Brock. Doc sighed.

  Her puma clawed at the inside of her head, not about to be denied her mate over something so silly as a human name.

  “You have to promise not to tell anyone,” she said.

  “I promise.”

  “Not your brother or your sisters.”

  Brock snorted. “They’d be the last people I’d tell.”

  She sighed again. “I wish you had something embarrassing you could tell me, so it would be a fair trade. Mutually assured destruction.” Above her, Brock froze. Doc’s eyes widened. She poked his hard stomach. “You do have something!”

  The wariness that entered his eyes was actually really reassuring. He totally had something.

  “Tell me your real name and I’ll tell you my… thing,” he said.

  Oh this had to be good. She hadn’t even known he had a thing, which meant he’d really been hiding it from everyone. And Brock didn’t lie—ever—so she knew he would tell her once she fessed up. So she took a deep breath.

  “Ermintrude.”

  He blinked, looking confused. “What?”

  Another deep sigh. “My real name is Ermintrude Harley Standish.”

  “That’s a real name? Ow!” Brock chuckled as she poked him really, really hard in his side. “Okay. I can see why you go by Doc.”

  “You can call me Harley if you really want to,” she said, still a bit reluctantly. She’d heard all the jokes growing up about that one. Lots of really terrible pick-up lines about Harley being a motorcycle brand. But the main thing was that her father and Becky had called her Harley and she could rarely hear the name without hearing their voices in her head.

  “I’ve gotten pretty used to Doc,” he said, stroking his finger down her face. “Bonus, it drives Bethany nuts that we rhyme.”

  Doc giggled. Typical younger brother, enjoying annoying his sister. “Okay, now spill. What’s your secret?”

  Now it was Brock’s turn to sigh.

  “My… beast…”

  “Your bunny-bear?” she asked.

  “Is that what you call it?” he looked down at her a little bewildered. “It’s also part turtle.”

  “Yeah, but that’s a mouthful.”

  “I’ll give you a mouthful,” he murmured, rocking his hips. A frission of need flashed through Doc, but she wasn’t going to be distracted.

  “Secret first,” she demanded, sliding her hands up his bare chest.

  “I call him a bugaboo,” Brock said quickly, the words coming out in a rush as if he was shoving them out of his mouth.

  “A bugaboo? Like Boo! We have to watch Monsters, Inc!”

  He stared down at her, brow furrowed. “What? That’s all you have to say?”

  “What? Bugaboo sounds cute, and he is.” Doc shrugged. She didn’t see why Brock was embarrassed by that.

  “He is not cute! He is deadly and vicious and… dammit Doc!”

  Laughing, she pulled his mouth down to meet hers. They kissed, hard… passionately… and then Brock pulled away again.

  “You’re not going to tell anyone, right?” he asked, sounding a little vulnerable.

  “I promise,” she said seriously. “And when I promise something, I never break that promise. Never.”

  Brock’s eyes narrowed. “Did you just quote a movie at me?”

  “Deal with it.”

  If he didn’t like Disney movie quotes sprinkled liberally into conversations, she wasn’t the girl for him. Plus, he didn’t have room to talk. Over the past month she’d learned that his siblings and he practically considered Monty Python and the Holy Grail a language all on its own.

  ******

  Too many clothes, Brock’s bugaboo grumbled.

  It had a point. Brock was still a little disgruntled over his fearsome beast being called adorable… but he supposed it was better Doc thought he was cute than be afraid of him. As long as she didn’t tell anyone else.

  Kissing her, drinking in her taste, he enjoyed her squeal against his mouth as he ripped her tank top down the center.

  They didn’t have to rush though, because Mari was sleeping. All on her own.

  And he was finally going to claim his chosen mate.

  Something which he’d never thought he’d even want, but with Doc everything was different.

  His bugaboo was filled with triumph at the thought, anxious to sink his teeth into her shoulder… but Brock wasn’t going to be rushed. This was too big a moment.

  Cupping her breasts, he massaged the sensitive mounds, his thumbs brushing over her stiff nipples as he rocked his cock against her. The fabric of their pajama pants were thin enough he could feel the dampness of her pussy, but it was nothing more than a tease.

  His hands stroked… squeezed… fingers pinched, and she arched beneath him with pleasure. Her nails clawed at his shoulders, leaving small marks that satisfied both of them with her expressions of possession on his skin. Although not as much as a mating mark would satisfy. He swore he could feel his own shoulder throbbing where her bite was waiting to go.

  The thought was intensely arousing, making his cock ache.

  Pulling away from the kiss, he moved his head down to her breasts, sucking and biting at her soft flesh and leaving a trail of lesser marks across her creamy flesh. Doc moaned, writhing beneath him as the scent of her arousal intensified, the rake of her nails digging deeper into his shoulders.

  “Brock, please,” she pleaded as he trailed his tongue down her stomach. He loved hearing her beg. The second he reached the waistband of her pajama pants, he yanked them down, kneeling up so he could pull them off completely.

  Her spread thighs settled back into place on either side of his knees, pink pussy glistening with invitation. Giving him an utterly wicked look, she pressed her hands against her hips and drew them up her body to her breasts, squeezing them herself and teasing him with the visual.

  Groaning, he quickly shucked off the pajama pants he’d had on and dove on top of her.

  “My breasts,” he growled at her, playfully, leaning down to nip and suck on her nipples.

  “Then you shouldn’t neglec
t them,” she teased back.

  Oh, he was going to make her regret that.

  Taking a wrist in each hand, he pinned them down on either side of her body and went to work with his mouth. Nibbling. Sucking. Avoiding her budded nipples. Leaving pink and red marks all over her breasts like she was some kind of oddly colored cheetah.

  “Brooooock,” she whined, squirming, trying to rub her pussy against his hard cock. Only the very tip of it brushed against her swollen lips because of their positions. She gasped, arching, as he finally sucked a nipple into his mouth, hard, his teeth dragging over the tender bud. “Oh fuck!”

  Switching his attention to her other nipple, he pressed her wrists down into the sheets as she started to struggle with him, her growing need making her desperate for more. Desperate for him.

  “Brock… if you don’t fuck me now, I’m going to kill you.” Hazel eyes glared at him.

  He released her nipple with a last lick of his tongue that made her whimper as he smiled lazily at her.

  “Hmmm… sounds like I’m in great peril.”

  They’d recently watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail and he could tell Doc recognized the quote immediately. Her lips pursed, eyes narrowed, and for a moment he thought he might have taken things too far.

  Then her eyes flashed.

  “Help, help! I’m being oppressed!”

  Laughing, he lowered his mouth to hers, his cock moving up to nudge against her pussy.

  “You are so perfect,” he murmured, just before their lips fused in a kiss.

  ******

  Brock had no idea how close he’d come to death… but Doc still couldn’t stop giggling a little as he kissed her. She loved his playful side, even if she was ready to smack him upside the head for his erotic torture.

  Her breasts were swollen and throbbing, her nipples so exquisitely sensitive after his ministrations they felt ready to burst with sensation as his chest hair rubbed against them. Now that her hands were free again, she raked her fingernails over his chest, just the way he liked it and lifted her hips to meet the thrust of his cock.