by Jo Penn
Bears weren’t subtle, after all.
“Yes. Most shifters scent their mate. I’m a bear shifter. I scented you as mate. But, I’ve seen you around for a while which has set off a—how to explain it?” Tripp tapped the steering wheel with his thumb while turning a corner. “I guess it’s like an alert on your phone. You have a dozen different musical tones that you can attach to various alerts. When I saw you in the city, an alert would go off with its own tone, but it wasn’t one that said ‘hey, mate alert!’ It was just an aware alert. By the time I could manage to get close to you, I pretty much knew you were my mate.”
Eddie mulled that over quietly as they drove to a bistro Tripp liked, but didn’t often come to during a work day as it was too far out of his way. As they pulled into a parking space and Tripp turned off the car, Eddie undid his seatbelt and shifted in his seat so they were facing one another. The man was pretty darn hot. It wouldn’t have mattered if he were average, stunning, or plain. A paranormal would always be attracted to their mate and lust after them. There wasn’t any divorce or separation, the unique connection between mates ensured they stayed together and mostly happy. That didn’t mean there weren’t problems from time to time. Tredd and Trent were a good example of difficulties and miscommunication, but being mates, having that mate pull and joining when they bonded, helped ease a lot of the problems other couples had to contend with. The bond, the mating pull, brought them closer emotionally and mentally as they could feel what the other felt, unless one blocked or closed off from the other.
“I talked to a lawyer this morning. He gave me a rundown on some of the paranormal laws pertaining to mates, and how my rights are limited.”
“That’s true.” Tripp didn’t believe in lying over important shit like this. “It seriously harms a paranormal to be apart from their mate, but your lawyer would have said the laws are there to protect both parties in the mateship. No one can force us to mate. In the end, it’s our choice, but the law is there to make sure that both of us give it a go. I’ll tell you what, mate. As I don’t believe in forcing anyone to do something they don’t want, and as you’re human with nearly no creature biology—”
“Wait, what?” Eddie gasped.
Tripp grinned and winked, tapping his nose. “I can scent different creatures, and you don’t appear to have any in your ancestry, except possibly a wizard too far back to give you any type of gift.”
“Really? I have wizard ancestry?”
“Probably your great grandparent seven times removed.”
“Oh.” Eddie frowned, nodding. “I guess I never considered I might actually have a paranormal relative…of sorts.”
“It’s rare for humans not to have at least one in their biology somewhere along their lines. Anyway, how about we do that thing humans like to do, and shifters don’t bother with.” Tripp took the teal scarf that Eddie was winding around and around his hands, and straightened it before looping around his mate’s shoulders. “We date. If after two weeks you really can’t stand me and don’t want to mate, then I’ll bow out ungraciously.”
Eddie looked dazed. Then those lovely eyes of his narrowed. “Did you say ungraciously?”
“Well yeah.” Tripp laughed, getting out of the car. “I’m a bear. We don’t take rejection gracefully, cutie. And you’re my mate.”
Chuckling as he opened the passenger door and got a disgruntled look and comment about not needing to be helped out of the car, he waved Eddie ahead of him just so he could check out his mate’s damn fine ass.
Yeah, that was one beautiful ass. Tripp didn’t go for creatures that were small as he was concerned about breaking them. He was very glad to see Eddie was solid with some flesh on his bones. At five foot eleven, Eddie had a solid physique with a well-rounded butt Tripp wanted to grab and enjoy. The man was solid in all the right places, and with his fiery, somewhat snappish attitude, Tripp found himself sporting a very hard, throbbing cock, and wanted nothing more than to bend his mate over one of the tables in the bistro and claim that fine, rounded ass. While he could clearly see Eddie wouldn’t appreciate Tripp doing that at this time, he noted that the anger over being paired up with a paranormal had faded from Eddie’s scent, and there was actually a little interest if Tripp was interpreting the quick little looks he was receiving correctly.
Leaning forward, he pushed the door open for Eddie to walk through first, and received a slightly exasperated look which Tripp just smiled over. Humans were always so hung up on equality and not looking weak that they forget about taking care of each other at times. It was a simple courtesy, something nice to do, so why did men and women alike get antsy when someone opened a door for them? Hell, Tripp never minded when a date held the door open for him. He thought it was a sweet gesture.
Brushing neatly trimmed, glossy chestnut hair back from his face, Eddie scanned the bistro’s eating area.
“There’s a table free over there…or we can go where you decide.” Tripp chuckled as he followed his mate to a table by the window and sat.
A waitress immediately came over and took their drink orders and set up their table with cutlery and napkins. By the time she left, Eddie seemed to have settled down from his ordeal. Tripp guessed the human suffered a few shocks today so had a right to be prickly. He didn’t mind prickly, it could be fun and a bit of a turn on. Tripp was usually relatively easy going, and while he didn’t mind drama, he was sort of hoping his mate knew how to chill down, too.
“So.” Eddie fiddled with the cutlery. “You’d do that? Walk away after two weeks if I don’t want to mate with you?”
Well, no, but Tripp never pushed himself where he wasn’t wanted. But he knew a bit about the mate pull and connection between those the fates decided should be together. Tripp had witnessed a few matings that were unsure in the beginning, and how quickly, like a matter of hours to days, the pair were going at it like bunnies and bonding. He had great faith he could win his mate over, and quickly.
“Yep. I’ll be wanting two dates a day, unless we’re both working, or an emergency comes up.”
“Ground rules.” Eddie nodded, eyes meeting Tripp’s handsome face thoughtful. “That’s fair. You’re a cop, so I’ll trust you to keep your word, or we can go back to that lawyer I saw this morning, and have a contract, or whatever is needed, drawn up.”
Well damn! Tripp couldn’t help but smile. He was impressed by his thorough mate, and curious about exactly why Eddie was like this. First not liking paranormals, now a bit stringent in making a deal.
“If that makes you comfortable. I will keep my word, though.”
Their drinks arrived, a big ginger beer for Tripp—he’d eaten a bagel earlier, and his stomach was still complaining about the fake filling—Eddie ordered a juice. A fancy one, a dozen freshly squeezed fruits mixed together with a dash of this and a dash of that, and mint tossed on the top artfully.
Tripp liked it. After his ginger beer, he might get one. Maybe he and Eddie had something in common after all. Freshly squeezed, artful drinks. Tripp smirked at himself.
“I believe you.” Eddie nodded decisively. “Look, thanks for coming to the bank and getting me out of there.”
“I want you safe, Eddie.” Tripp didn’t want his mate dwelling on the robbery and what happened there so flicked to another subject. If Eddie had nightmares or needed to talk, he’d certainly be there for his mate, but right now he needed to give the man time to process. “What lawyer did you hire?”
“David Proctor.”
The ginger beer Tripp had just taken a sip of went down the wrong way at the mention of the activist lawyer.
“He’s an activist, protests anything paranormal!” Tripp exclaimed once he’d finished choking.
“Yeah, I found that out during the hour-long lecture and video he put on for me.” Eddie flicked a smile.
And Tripp’s cock sprung right up and waved. He liked the way the human’s handsome face lightened up with the smile, and the humor in his lovely eyes. There were even a fe
w freckles the same color as his hair scattered across his nose and cheeks. Tripp wanted to lick them.
“What do you do at Stenhouse Finance?” Tripp cleared his throat and thought of things other than stripping his mate, spreading Eddie’s legs, and burying himself deep inside the man. The image made his mouth water, and he quickly wiped it with the napkin before draping the cloth over his lap to hide the straining bulge.
Man, was his mate sexy! And Tripp had seen a lot of sexy, gorgeous and beautiful creatures in his time, and enjoyed a number of them. Not all, some were like little brothers to him, such as Luka Charmers, Ran Markson, and Linc Sanchez. And Tripp was selective, unlike Tredd had been before his brother mated Trent Sanchez, and Trekk just found everyone delicious in some way or other.
“I’m an accounts clerk.”
Their food arrived, and neither spoke for five minutes. Tripp had a salmon risotto, his favorite here. Eddie ordered a BLT and was impressively devouring it. After meeting Eddie this morning, Tripp had taken some time to run a background search on his mate, best to know upfront what he was dealing with, but it had been basic. He wanted to get to know his mate the old fashioned way. So while he knew where Eddie worked, his job title, home address and where he was born and went to school, even a jaywalking ticket five weeks ago, he didn’t know much else.
“You enjoy that?” Tripp asked.
“I do. I like numbers, making the columns total.” Eddie smiled slightly, shrugging. “Not everyone does of course, but it’s something I’m good at. I study online, handed in my last assignment two weeks ago.”
Tripp was impressed. “Finance?”
“Yeah. I studied a Bachelor of Commerce and finance. In a few weeks, I’ll be a certified accountant, which should earn me a better position at work and a pay rise. Unless they sack me.” Eddie frowned, eyes narrowing briefly.
“Why would they sack you?” Tripp was baffled.
“Apparently, the bosses did that to the last two account clerks who got their degree and were ready to move up a position.” Eddie shrugged. “Just what I heard. Could be a rumor.”
“That’s illegal,” Tripp growled.
Eddie’s eyes widened. For a moment, Tripp worried he’d alarmed his mate. He was surprised when instead, Eddie smiled and reaching over, patted Tripp’s hand. It felt nice. He rumbled a little at the contact and resisted the urge to drag his mate across the table and into his lap for a more intimate type of petting.
“You’re very honest.”
“Lying doesn’t get anyone anywhere, but a lot of rotten karma. And bears aren’t subtle so lying wouldn’t help me.”
Eddie gave a lopsided smile. “Karma?”
“Well, yeah. Bears are big believers in karma. The good and bad kind…” Tripp caught movement through the bistro window across the street and cursed. Reaching into his pocket, he snagged his phone and made a quick call. “Excuse me.”
“Hey, Boss,” Jack Petersen, always relaxed, answered the phone. “Having a good lunch with your hot human?”
Tripp growled at the officer for perving on his mate. The cutlery and crockery on the table rattled. Eddie’s eyes narrowed in irritation and suspicion, and his lips thinned. Tripp grimaced and concentrated on his call.
“I’m at Dover’s Bistro. There’s a convenience store across the road being robbed. Send backup.” Disconnecting the call and jumping up, Tripp winked at his mate. “Won’t take long. Wait for me.”
“What? Wait for you?”
Silencing his mate’s grumbled, prickly response by covering the human’s soft lips with his own, Tripp couldn’t help the little growl of appreciation at the feel and taste of his mate’s softness and unique flavor. He groaned with need, his body flushing with cravings for this man who tasted like male and bacon, such a fucking good combination. What was even better was Eddie kissing Tripp back, and damn! It was the hottest kiss Tripp had ever received! And not just because Eddie was his mate, and anything they did together was going to be better than any lover before.
Nope, Eddie had lip and tongue skills, which left Tripp panting when Eddie, with a bit of strength, nudged Tripp back, breaking their kiss.
They stared at each other, breathing heavily.
Until Tripp caught sight of the stick up happening across the road at the convenience store and with a grumbled complaint, stormed out of the bistro and hurried across the road. He’d deal with this kid committing a crime, then get right back to his mate, maybe coax another one of those dynamite kisses from the hot man.
Storming into the convenience store, Tripp snarled a bear roar. Bottles exploded in the industrial fridges, and the perp dropped the fake gun he was waving around. Yeah, this wouldn’t take long.
Chapter Five
Edward was confused. One minute Tripp Croggen was seated across from him enjoying lunch and having a get to know you chat, when suddenly the police captain said he was going to stop a robbery and kissed Edward like he meant it.
And Edward had kissed Tripp back. As soon as their lips touched and he got a taste of that big bear of a man, Edward couldn’t help himself. He wanted. He needed. He had to have Tripp, and on his knees would be awesome.
The damn man had gotten Edward more than interested. Then he left to go play hero! Creatures were always going off to conquer the world.
Sighing, Edward continued with his lunch. He didn’t waste food. Having suffered through being poor and starved, living on stale bread and expired cans of soup, he enjoyed his food and wasn’t wasteful. With anything. He was an avid recycler. He loved second hand stores, and had often bought great quality clothes there, and items he needed before it become fashionable and everyone was doing it to save the planet. He even purchased phones and computers second hand, and found ways to reuse items around his apartment. There was the wooden crate he’d turned into a pretty cool coffee table, and cups he’d painted and made into pots for his herbs that now sat on the window sill.
He probably shouldn’t have expected Tripp to stay, the guy was a cop after all and saw a robbery in progress, wasn’t that the television lingo? Anyway, he couldn’t help being a bit annoyed about it. After all, Tripp was off duty, and this was the first time they were having a proper conversation…fine, he was being selfish and a bit negative. Still, he was entitled to a bit of a grumble.
When Edward’s phone rang, he answered it as a distraction. He’d rung work after being confronted by Tripp and his pals this morning at the office building, and his boss had squealed with delight and gushed at Edward for five minutes. In the end, he’d vomited out a diatribe of everything bad about being mated to a paranormal. That’d shut the woman up pretty quick, though she did snappily retort he had issues and should take a chill pill.
It surprised Edward that the caller was David Proctor, the lawyer he’d had an appointment with this morning. David informed Edward the papers were ready to sign and lodge to stop the mateship, as was the claiming document, a restraining order and Affidavit against Second Croggen for manhandling Edward when removing him from the elevator. Edward was left gaping and a little alarmed.
When he explained he wasn’t going to pursue any of those legal issues at this time, and in fact, was having lunch with Second Croggen right now, David tutted and went on and on about Edward being foolish, and to take a moment and consider. The conversation got pretty heated in the end. There may have been a few swear words used, a description of what the lawyer could do with the documents and his ass and in return, a chilling warning that this wasn’t the end of the matter from Proctor.
By that time, police cars with flashing sirens arrived at the store across the road. Tripp had returned and resumed eating his lunch, eyebrows rising whenever Edward snapped at the lawyer, his hands flying about in a temper and jabbing in the air as though the man was there and he was poking in him the chest.
“What a whack job.” Edward put his phone aside and sighed over his now cold chips. He detested cold chips.
“Proctor tends to get caught up in hi
s campaign. He’s harmless though and has helped humans out. What’s up, Officer?”
Edward glanced up at the officer hovering by the table, probably waiting to be acknowledged by Tripp.
“You!” Edward decided this day was a nightmare.
The officer tugged at his collar and flushed, looking at Tripp. “Ah, Boss, just needed you to sign off on transporting, as it was your arrest.”
“Sure.” Tripp took the tablet and electronically signed, handing it back to the officer. “How do you two know each other?”
The question was asked in a mild tone, but both Edward and the officer tensed. Yeah, the bear could get cranky, that was apparent. The officer paled and looked like he was going to faint away. Edward could have watched the creature do that and squirm, but he’d been learning he wasn’t very nice at times with the whole bitterness clouding his perspective and consideration of others during his therapy sessions, and huffed an annoyed sigh.
“He booked me for jaywalking five weeks ago.”
“I saw that on the basic report I ran.” Tripp glanced between them. “I didn’t read the report. Did something happen between the two of you?”
“Sure. I called your officer a bunch of names and threatened to shove him in front of traffic,” Edward said. “He got the ADA to press for anger management sessions. After I mouthed off at the judge, therapy sessions were tagged onto the anger management classes. It’s all his fault.”
Tripp turned his lips in and bit his bottom one. He waved the officer away. The man looking relieved and ran so fast he was a blur. Edward only just managed to refrain from saying something scathing about creatures and super speed.
“So…how are the sessions going for you, cutie?” Tripp chuckled.
“Great,” Edward said sarcastically and pushed his now empty plate away. “Look, I’m going to bail, okay? Today’s been a bit…yeah.”
Nodding, Tripp tossed a bunch of dollars on the table, and quirked a brow when Edward glared. He snatched up the bills and shoved them back to the big man who took them, and together they went to the cashier and settled the bill equally. Tripp said something about humans being hung up on money and not sharing.
