His stomach rumbled. Suddenly he was ravenous. “You know what? Hurry up, I want my strawberry pancakes.”

She made a face. “Ew.”

“What’s wrong with strawberries?”

“Real strawberries? Nothing. That syrupy crap they put on pancakes? Blech.” She shuddered delicately and handed him his toothbrush. “Here. You can join me in the shower when you’re done.”

“I can? Really? May I borrow my shampoo while I’m at it?”

She chuckled and stepped under the spray. “Maybe. We’ll see.”

He grinned and brushed his teeth. He stepped into the shower a few minutes later and thanked God he’d decided to stay in a nice hotel. No tiny little shower stall in this place. It had a full-size tub.

And that meant he could have some fun with his wet, naked mate.

Tabby squeaked when a large set of paws landed on her ass. “Behave, Alex.”

“Since when am I Alex?”

She was wondering when he’d ask that. She was the only one who called him that other than his brother. “Since I decided there was no way I could moan “Bunny”

while you’re fucking me. Especially when you’re fucking me.” She glanced behind her at his lengthening cock. “You may be furry, but you sure ain’t cute.”

His lips quivered. “Why, thank you, ma’am.” He leered down at her, his soapy palm skating across her nipple. “I aim to please.”

She tilted her head and decided to keep playing. She cupped his balls, rolling them in her palm before letting them go. “And these are not rabbit ears. They don’t vibrate or anything.” She then tapped the head of his cock with her fingernail. “Although, come to think of it, it does kind of look like his little nose is quivering.”

His hand stopped. His chin dropped down onto her shoulder. The leer had turned into a wide grin. “That’s because he smells something delicious.” He grabbed hold of her hand and dragged it back to his hard flesh. “Have I mentioned he loves to be petted?”

She curled her hand around his shaft, but refused to be coaxed closer to the head of his cock. “Are you sure it’s safe? He’s drooling an awful lot. Has he had his shots?”

She giggled madly when he picked her up and pinned her against the wall.

“Drooling?” He palmed her thighs, spreading her wide. She didn’t fight him. She wanted this just as much as he did. She wrapped her legs around his waist, let her heels rest on the top of his truly amazing ass. “I’ll show you drooling, you little witch.”

She wasn’t afraid of him. How could she be? He was smiling down at her, his hazel eyes gleaming with laughter and something else, something it was too soon to put a name to. At the most, she was willing to call it affection. It was a good start, one they could build on.

An even better start was when he began to kiss her, the minty taste of his toothpaste mingling with his own heady flavor. His palm slid down her body. His fingers paused at her nipple ring, twisted it until she was gasping into his mouth.

Tabby tightened her legs and tilted her hips, an invitation he accepted. His hand wandered south again, curled around her pussy until his fingers were stroking her clit in easy circles. He slid his cock between the wet folds of her pussy, teased her until she was damn near ready to beg. “Alex?”

“Tell me you want me.”

She gulped. His eyes were bleeding to brown, his fangs descending. The mark on her neck throbbed in time with her clit. “I want you, Alex.”

The head of his cock slid home, stretching her wide. His lips brushed against hers, kept them in an almost-there kiss. He ignored her attempts to deepen it, to bring him into her mouth the way he’d entered her body. He rocked them together with lazy motions, their gazes locked together. It was a coupling completely unlike what they’d done the night before. Last night had been about staking a primal claim on each other.

This was…something else. Something she hadn’t known was possible. The hurried fucking she’d done with her teenage sweetheart, the one-night stand she’d had since rejoining the human race, hadn’t prepared her for making love with Alex.

She clenched around him. She understood what this sweet, lazy fucking was.

This was just as much a claim on her as the other, but where last night had been about her body, this morning was about her heart.

His lips pursed and he took the kiss his mouth had promised. The hot water beat down on his back. His buttocks flexed beneath her heels as he thrust over and over, the sweet slide dragging her closer and closer to orgasm. His hand left her pussy to curl around her hip, the strength of his hold almost bruising. “Tabby,”

he breathed into her. His eyes closed and she knew he was close.

She wanted, needed to come with him. Her hand reached down and took off where his had left off, stroking herself. She was so damn close. “Alex. Bite me.

Please.”

His eyes flew open. His chin brushed against hers, his mouth nipping its way down to her shoulder. She felt her own fangs descend and knew she’d mark him when they came.

His teeth pierced her, throwing her into her orgasm. He groaned as she bit into him, marking him once more. She rode his cock and the never-ending orgasm that flowed through them both.

They were both quivering at the end. Less intense than last night, it was nonetheless just as profound. She’d never had an orgasm last that long before, the sweet flood of pleasure going on and on that way.

She wanted that again, that feeling of belonging.

She licked his wound closed. Her head dropped back against the tiles. The only thing she wanted to do was crawl right back into the bed in the other room, wrapped up in her mate.

He lifted his head from her shoulder, a thin line of blood trickling down her chest.

The wound was already closing. He rested his forehead against hers, his lips taking hers in a gentle kiss. “Good morning.”

She smiled. “Yes indeed.”

His answering smile matched hers.

Bunny walked into the hospital, still torn about leaving Tabby with the other girls at Living Art. She’d insisted on it, saying that she had to work and he had to check on Chloe. She was right, damn it. He almost called his father to ask him to go protect his mate, but with Chloe still unconscious and her attacker still on the loose, there was no way he could divide his family’s attention that way. He frowned. Maybe he could enlist Julian or some of the Pumas to keep a surreptitious eye on the place for him. But first he needed to know how his little cousin was doing before he went to see Sheriff Anderson.

That part of his day he hadn’t discussed with his mate. He had every intention of finding out just who the fuck Gary was and what kind of a threat he represented to Tabby. If he found out the fucker was the one who’d hurt his mate, Halle would be short one asshole. There would be nothing that could stop him from ripping Gary apart.

He entered Chloe’s hospital room to find Ryan, his father, Aunt Laura and Uncle Steve already there. “How is she?”

Aunt Laura looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks, her eyes red-rimmed and weary. “No change. She won’t wake up, damn it, and I’m at my wits’ end.”

Uncle Steve placed his hand on his mate’s shoulder, his own expression full of fear and grief. “She could wake up at any minute, sweetheart.”

“Then she needs to.” The determination in Aunt Laura’s voice came as no surprise. The tiny Fox female had to be strong, surrounded as she was by Bears.

“Dr. Howard suggested we find something to stimulate her with. Can you think of anything that might trigger a response?”

He sighed. “No, I…” He blinked. “Wait.” The sheriff had said something the first time they met, when Bunny was still shocked over finding his mate.

Mate.