Shelly Laurenston

“if I were you, I wouldn’t try and track her down.” “Why not?” “Because when it comes to Dee, you’re better off not knowing where she’s going or what she’s up to. You’ll only have to lie to the authorities later.”

“Dee-Ann came back in the hallway and both men stopped and stared at her. “Just came back to get some water out of the fridge.” When neither man said anything to her, she asked, “Somethin’ wrong?” Ric stepped forward. “How many children do you want?” Lock grabbed Ric by his hair and yanked him back, slamming him into the front door. “Ow!”

“Mitch waved his hand in front of his nose. “Christ almighty! What is that funk on you?” Gwen smirked. “Eau de Grizzly.”

“The cutest little girl with big blond curls turned and yelled, “Mommmmmmm! Bearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

“Take your winnings and go, feline.” “Where did the love go?” Gwen pouted. “It went with our money,” Nevin muttered.”

“Because Patty Anne can’t handle living on her own. She can barely handle not setting herself on fire when she makes soda bread. My Gwenie doesn’t have that problem.” “Because she hates soda bread?”

“Gee, is that my broken heart lying on the floor? Yes. Yes, it is.”

“Marry me.” Hiding his immense relief, Lock replied, “Shouldn’t we get to know each other better?” “What else is there to know?” she asked, her eyes gazing hungrily on his mouth,”

“I’m merely pointing out that the gene that controls intelligence skipped a generation in the Van Holtz household.”

“Oh, my God!” Gwen suddenly burst out, startling the bears in the room, which made the rest of the predators nervous.”

“A cry for help that only Ma and someone else’s apple pie—” because Christ knows Ma can’t bake “—can fix.”

“Do you want to come inside for a drink?” she softly offered. “No. No. No, no, no, no. No.” Gwen stared at him. “One ‘no’ would have been clear.” “Those ‘no’s’ weren’t for you. They were for me. I was simply saying them out loud.”

“I’m sure. I do not need to hear about my ‘frisky’ father.”

“Now listen up, you Navy-loving son of a bitch! If my friend wants that bear, she’s gonna get that bear. And neither hell nor you nor some big-haired, twenty-hour-sleeping king of the idiots is gonna stop me from making sure she gets that bear!”

“The husband got in front of his wife but Gwen never understood the whole waiting-for-a-guy-to-protect-you thing. She was a runner and hopefully the guy could keep up.”

“Uh…could you leave him here? He kind of comes with the place.” Frowning, Lock glanced down. “Oh, jeez!” Oh, jeez?”

“He made it to the front door before he looked back at her. Then his eyes grew wide. “Oh! I almost forgot.” He came back over to her and handed her a card. “These are my numbers, e-mail addresses, business URL, physical address, and mailing address. You know…if you need to get in touch with me.” Get in touch with him? But he left out his social security number, his date of birth, and his high school GPA.”

“Lock grinned at Gwen. “He’s fun,” he said, reaching out and cuffing Mitch without even looking at him. “He just keeps trying to get back up.” Bam! “It’s great.” Bam! “Like ‘The Little Lion Who Could.’” Bam!”

“Like heavy-duty Tupperware, Blayne kept bouncing back.”

“The entire floor teeming with full-humans watching their children skate, all of them hoping to be the breeder of the next gold Olympian.”

“Lock reached for the French toast first, but Ric slapped his hand away and placed a carefully prepared plate in front of him. As Lock waited, Ric went to the counter and returned with a small strainer. He tapped the side, covering the French toast with powdered sugar. Somehow the wolf managed not to get any on Lock’s bacon or sausage. “There. Isn’t that nice?” “I have to say our relationship is getting stranger and stranger as we get older.”

“Gwen was kind of amazed. A mother with several degrees and a prestigious position at an Ivy League college did not ensure that she’d be any less embarrassing to her child than a mother who became a nurse through night school. Gwen knew this when Alla launched into her “unfortunate changes in my vagina after the birth of Lachlan” discussion.“No. It was his shoulders. He’s always had very large shoulders. I mean look at him. Even as a baby they were freakishly long.” “Freakishly?” Lock snapped. “They stretched me right out.” “Mom!” Brody shrugged and reached for more moo goo gai pork. “I didn’t mind.” “Dad!” “Well, darling, you were always quite large, so it made things a little easier for both of us when it came to sex.” “Mom!” Alla shook her head. “I don’t know what happened to you, Lachlan MacRyrie.” She turned to Gwen. “I’ve always insisted on being quite open about human bodies when talking to my children. There’s no shame in a woman’s body. And like everything else in the world, it ages. So while you still have the exquisite body you’ve been blessed with, Gwen dear, and that prebirth vagina— enjoy it.” “Is there any way to get you to stop?” Lock begged.”

“I have iced tea, dear. Or beer?” “Maybe a saucer of milk?” Gwen and Alla looked over at Lock and he immediately pointed at his father. “It was him,” he lied.”

“Exactly! What kind of plumber has pristine nails?” “A smart one.”

“She uses that shampoo,” he sighed. “What shampoo?” “The one with honey in it.” Ric’s eyes crossed. “Oh, my God.” “She was sitting in that tree, her leg bleeding out, and all I could think about was how good her hair smelled.”

“Who am I kidding? What am I going to do with a girl like her?” “We had this talk when we were fourteen. I even brought my brother’s Hustler for visual assistance.”

“Gwen was fighting really hard not to get caught up in Blayne’s excitement. She’d done it before, gotten caught up. And that way laid madness…and jail time.”

“What did the cat look like?” “I don’t know. He was a little thing. Tiny. Lion…I think. You know, the breed with all the hair.” “Tiny. Right. The world is filled with tiny lion males.”

“What’s wrong?” Blayne finally asked. “Nothing,” Gwen answered. “I’m just sitting here. Staring.” Maybe hoping a bear would wander out of the woods to say “hi and I’m sorry I broke my promise.”

“It was a hate crime.” Jess looked at Ric and back at Blayne. “You mean they attacked you because you’re bl—” “A hybrid. Exactly!”

“Like all the Van Holtz males, Ric was tall, well-built with a slightly overdeveloped diver’s body, and handsome. Yet handsome was only the first stop on the beauty train for Ric, who managed to head all the way into the station for The Land of Gorgeous.”

“Do you really think I’d let anything happen to you? That I’d let anyone hurt you? After everything I’ve done today to keep you breathing?”

“Hey, hey!” Gwen said excitedly. “Look at this! Look at this!” She extended her arm and gave him the finger.”

“Look, I’ve got her, I’m carrying her, and I’m taking her to the hospital. So you can back off and let me do what I’m going to do, or you can get your ass kicked and I’m still going to do what I’m going to do. Your choice.”

“Give her to me.” Turning away with his prize, Lock shook his head. “No. Get your own cat.” “She’s my sister.”

“Mister?” she snapped. “Paddington?” he shot back.”

“He should hate those nails. He normally considered that sort of thing tacky or gaudy, but damn if that look didn’t work on her. And because it worked on her —it was really working on him.”

“Well, so you don't get too cocky, I myself often complete the TV Guide crossword puzzle." He puffed out his chest. "In pen.”

“I think we're avoiding the most important question here. What matters most. What means the most to men like us." Conall growled at Billy Dunwich's sincere face. "I am not telling you if she swallows."Dunwich smiled. "Just tell me if she's a good girl...or if she's a very good girl?”

“No more Karaoke for you!JessicaApologize or your out!But...but you love me!And we'll learn to live without you, too. unless you apologize.”

“Strike One!""You never even saw it did you? She wolf with shoulders like man?""He is so fast that one. But not in bed. There he takes time. Like good vodka take to develop”

“I'd rather have rabies than be in love.""Why?""Because at least you can get over rabies with some shots.”

“Whispering against her ear, he confessed, "When I'm really stressed out...I play with my toes."Gwen leaned back a bit and stared at him. "Seriously?""It's really relaxing and very bearlike."And very weird. And yet..."I'm oddly comforted by this information.”

“Understand?”“Sure.”“Good.”“’Cause I always love a challenge.”He’d caught her with that when she was halfway in the cab. With one foot in and the other still braced against the curb, she stared at him. “What challenge?”“You’re challenging me to get you back into my life.”“No, I’m not.”“Your exact words were ‘I challenge you, Bobby Ray Smith, to get me back into your life.’”“I never said that.”“That’s what I heard.” The beauty of wolf hearing. You heard only what you wanted to, made up what was never said but should have been, and the rest meant little or nothing.”

“I'm a whore!"Miki hit the brakes...her hands.. gripping the steering wheel, glanced at Sara. "You're not wearing any underwear, are you?"Sara let out a strangled squeal...”

“Miki took her hands away from her ears. "Yup. I'm a very good girl."Craig grimaced. "Don't say that.""Why?""Because to guys it just means you swallow.”

“Now let's go into this pharmacy and get you some god-damn tampons. My treat!”

“Have you realized" MacRyrie asked her, "that you're just like Novikov but with more charm and no OCD?""The direct thing?""Yeah," both bear and wolf said at the same time. "I like being direct. Then no one can hold shit over your head. Like when I got pregnant in high school. I ran around telling everybody. The nuns were horrified. But no one could shame me because I'd already put it all out there. For everybody!”

“I'm always happy- it annoys people.”

“Didn’t have much choice. Couldn’t handle the whining.” “She whines?”“Not her, but a teacup poodle.”“Canines have teacup poodle shifters now?”