Werebear’s Baby Girl

by T. S. Ryder

  Ginny stuck two fingers in her mouth and started wriggling around, turning her face towards him. She was getting hungry, apparently. Rex got to his feet, pinching the cellphone between his ear and his shoulder, while he grabbed the diaper bag. The phone ringed several times.

  Relief flooded him as the phone clicked, indicating it was answered. That relief disappeared instantly the moment he heard the voice on the other end. Tyrell Jarvis. His muscles tensed and his bear snarled.

  “What are you doing at the alphas’ house, Jarvis?” he snapped, making Ginny jump in his arms. He flinched and adjusted her. Her little body remained tense, though. “I need to talk with Noel.”

  “The alphas are busy at the moment.” Jarvis’ voice had that infuriatingly calm tone that it always seemed to have. That sort of I’m better than you because I can keep my cool while you go flying off the handle type of calm. “What do you need help with?”

  Rex almost hung up right away, not about to share his problems with Jarvis. He stopped, though, thinking hard. Jarvis was a dad. He had two kids, he might be able to help him out.

  On the other hand, Jarvis was just the type of guy who, on hearing this story, would call the law down on them. Especially if Rex let it slip that Mindy wasn’t back when she ought to be. After all, Jarvis didn’t think Rex should be allowed around his own niece for any length of time. He’d probably assume that Rex was bathing Ginny in toilet water or something.

  In any case, with his bear huffing and slapping against his chest, Rex decided that it would be best if he didn’t tell Jarvis anything.

  “Rex? You got a message for the alphas?”

  “No. I’ll call back later.”

  “Rex—”

  Ginny whimpered. Rex quickly ended the call, before Jarvis could hear anything else. He checked to make sure that Mindy hadn’t called, then dropped the phone on the counter as he started pulling out everything from the diaper bag, looking for the bottle and formula.

  I’m no good for this, he thought, his heart sinking. If Mindy has left . . . if she doesn’t plan on coming back, what am I going to do? I can’t raise a child!

  He gazed down at his little daughter, who was squirming again with a pained expression. Tears unexpectedly burned in his eyes. If Mindy was gone, he’d have to give the baby up. For her own good. He was no good to be a father, he couldn’t even be an uncle!

  Ginny let out a cry, and then a stink filled the room. Rex could feel her diaper filling like an explosion was coming out of her tiny body. At the same time, Ginny’s mouth opened, and a mouthful of half-digested milk came out of it. It splashed over him, smelling of sour milk, and Rex froze. Ginny started to wave her fists in the air and cried.

  “Shhhh.” He tried to soothe her as he grabbed the diaper bag again. Her poop was so runny and had come out with such force that it had gone up her back and was leaking through her onesie. Panic beat at his chest—was she sick? He cleaned her up quickly, using the shower at a low setting with warm water to rinse everything off her small body before he dried her off and dressed her again.

  Was she a little warm? Did she have a fever?

  Rex held her close to his chest as he slung the diaper bag over his shoulder. He couldn’t take the risk. If she was sick, it could be something serious.

  He didn’t even think about writing a note as he left the apartment.

  ***

  The ER room wasn’t as busy as Rex had expected. By the time they got there, Ginny had stopped crying. She napped in his arms as he sat, waiting for a doctor to come see them. The pounding of his heart had calmed and returned to a normal pace. Part of him felt embarrassed about panicking so easily, but he wasn’t going back until he knew for certain that Ginny was okay.

  When the doctor finally came, and Rex explained what had happened, Ginny woke up. She smiled and kicked her legs as the doctor checked her. Touching her cheek, Rex thought she still felt just a little bit warm.

  “How long have these symptoms been showing?” the doctor asked.

  “Uh . . . just today, I think . . . I only got her yesterday.” Rex rubbed his forehead, his bear pacing and growling again. Ginny hadn’t seemed sick yesterday, and she had been fine earlier today.

  The doctor hummed and glanced up at him with a smile. “First time father?”

  “Yeah . . .”

  The doctor chuckled and pulled Ginny’s PJs shut. “Well, she seems to be perfectly healthy. Her temperature is good, and she’s very smiley which is always good. I’d keep an eye on her to make sure that she doesn’t have any more instances, but it was probably just a one-off thing. You’ll want to watch for dehydration. If she’s acting sluggish or doesn’t get very many wet diapers . . . I’ll print off some things for you to look for.”

  Rex nodded. He found his hands shaking slightly as relief washed over him. “But she’s okay?”

  “Yes. You’re doing an excellent job.” The doctor patted his arm. “You said that you just got her yesterday. Do you mind telling me what you meant?”

  “Her mom . . . we were together a year ago.” No point in telling the doctor all the dirty details. “She tracked me down yesterday. I didn’t even know . . .”

  “I see.” The doctor nodded. “Well, you don’t have to worry quite so much. There are a lot of community resources, I’ll get you a list of those, too. But you’ll be fine, Mr. Tesla. Your little girl is healthy and bright. Just keep an eye on things, but I’m sure she’ll be fine. I’ll get you a number you can call for any further concerns you may have.”

  Rex nodded his thanks and gathered Ginny back up into his arms. The doctor left briefly and returned with several papers containing the information that she had promised him. Slowly, the restless pacing of his bear eased.

  He cradled Ginny in his arms and headed back home. She felt a lot heavier walking back to the apartment than she had when he had been running to the hospital—he didn’t have a car seat so he couldn’t drive—and his mind turned to Mindy. He wouldn’t have panicked so badly if she had just called him!

  Just as he thought this, his phone rang.

  “Where on earth are you?”

  The instant relief at hearing Mindy’s voice quickly dissolved into anger, especially considering that she started screaming at him.

  “Where have you taken my daughter?” Mindy howled, so loud over the phone that Ginny jumped and started to cry. “You have no right to take her away without telling me, bring her back right now!”

  “I didn’t have your number.” The stress and worry from the hours of silence crashed down on him, making his voice come out far angrier than he had intended. “And you don’t damn well have a leg to stand on, yelling at me when you should have been back three hours ago! Couldn’t you have—” He choked back his words. Ginny was screaming, upset with the noise, and people were staring. “We can talk when I’m back.”

  He hung up at once and adjusted Ginny, putting her on his shoulder so he could pat her back. Frustrations mounted inside of him, but he fought them down, concentrating on calming his daughter. He took a longer route home, skirting around a small park where he finally got Ginny settled. Her crying had taken it out of her, and by the time he got back to the apartment, she was sleeping.

  Rex didn’t look at Mindy as he took Ginny to the bedroom and put her in a nest on the bed, making sure things were propped up properly so she would neither roll off the bed nor be smothered.

  When he went into the living room, an accusing shout was already on his lips. It died there, though, when he looked at Mindy.

  She sat on the couch, eyes red, nose running. A large bruise was rising up on her cheek, and her lower lip was split. She clutched a bag of peas to her wrist, and he saw welts rising on her other arm. Every accusation and curse he had been ready to fling at her evaporated.

  His bear snarled, smashing into his ribs. He had to fight off the urge to shift right there. He wanted to find whoever had hurt her and rip them to shreds, but he wasn’t even certain someone had hurt her.
Maybe she had been in an accident or something. Every urge in his body told him to pull her into his arms, hold her tightly and shield her from the world. When he stepped forward, though, she flinched, and he moved back again.

  Dropping to one knee, Rex looked her in the eye. “What happened?”

  Tears streamed down her face. With a cry, she threw herself at him. She clung to him, her body shaking. Rex held her as tightly as he dared. He wanted to reassure her, to tell her nobody would hurt her again. To apologize for every fear he’d had about her abandoning her daughter. His voice wouldn’t work, though, and all he could do was hold her. His bear grunted, annoyed with the lack of action he was taking, but he pushed that aside.

  “What happened?” he asked softly when her tears started to ease.

  Mindy shivered. “I owe someone money.”

  She told him everything about the loan shark. How she had ended up in debt to him in the first place, and the two years of misery that had followed. Today, after her interview he had cornered her and told her he didn’t think she was taking her debt seriously enough. He tried to take her car. When she refused to give it up, he had slapped her around.

  “He pinned me to the car and told me that he didn’t like my attitude. Said that he was doing me a favor by taking the car. I told him that I needed it for work . . . He said I’d better find a different mode of transportation and took it.” Mindy buried her face into his chest. “I don’t know what he’ll do next, Rex. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put this all on you. I just . . . I don’t know what else to do.”

  Rex smoothed her hair back and kissed her forehead gently. “You don’t have to do anything. I’ll take care of this, Mindy. You don’t have to be afraid, I’ll protect you. I promise.”

  Mindy pulled back, her eyes wide as she looked up at him. “Really?”

  Rex stared back, not understanding why she looked so startled.

  “You’d do that . . . when you don’t even know me? You don’t even know if I’m telling the truth!”

  His bear grunted, and he pulled her closer. “I know enough. I know you need help, and I will not allow this man to terrorize you any longer.”

  He kissed her, gently, mindful of her injuries. And Mindy grabbed him by the neck and brought him back down for a deep, passionate kiss with tangled tongues and desperation behind each movement. Rex couldn’t resist the wave of passion that came over him and sank into her embrace.

  Chapter Seven – Mindy

  Her lip stung slightly as it pressed against Rex’s, but she didn’t care. Mindy pressed her body as tightly as she could to his, the heat from his muscled body seeping through their clothes and into hers. Every inch of her fired to life. From Meyer’s first blow, she had gone numb. She thought he’d do so much worse than beat her. But he hadn’t. When she walked back to the apartment in her high-heels, she had felt like she was in a daze. Muffled.

  Only now, with Rex’s mouth against hers, did everything finally feel real. The terror over Meyer’s actions swept through her even as the desire to wrap herself in Rex’s strength washed over her skin. As he broke from her mouth and delved into her neck, her skin burned and shivered.

  “Rex,” she sighed in pleasure, adjusting herself, so she was straddling him.

  She pulled back ever so slightly so she could look down into his eyes. The fierce protectiveness in his gaze made her heart clench. He hadn’t even questioned her story. In her head, she had come up with so many lies to cover up what had happened, fearing he wouldn’t believe the truth, but he had. He heard her out and believed her. Even after she had screamed at him on the phone in her terror of finding Ginny gone, he was still here with her, still trusting her.

  Rex’s hands ran down her back gently. They passed over her ass, and she pressed back into them, enjoying the sensation through her slacks. Rex grinned, moving all the way to her knees before he started back up again. When he got to her hips, he grasped her and thrust them forward. She felt him beneath his jeans and a gasp of desire caught in her throat.

  “What do you want?” he asked her, his voice so low it was almost a growl. “Do you want me inside of you?”

  Mindy closed her eyes and let her head fall back as his hands continued to drift over her body. Rex’s mouth focused on her neck, making shivers run up and down her spine, and then he followed the edge of her shirt to flick his tongue over the tops of her breasts.

  “Do you want me?” he repeated.

  “Yes,” Mindy moaned in response. “I want you inside of me.”

  She ground her hips against him, closing her eyes as she let out a breathy groan. Her core tightened as she continued to move, soft, then hard, then soft again. She squeezed his thighs with her knees. As his hands moved under her shirt, lifting it up and out of the way, her hands tightened on his shoulders. The fabric dropped and he unhooked her bra.

  “Wait,” she blurted out.

  Rex grew still. He gave her a quizzical look.

  “I, uh . . . Ginny is three months. I’m still breastfeeding. My period hasn’t started again since giving birth . . . Chances that I’d get pregnant again so soon are really low.” She chewed her lip. “But do you happen to have condoms? Just to make sure?”

  Rex flinched. “Uh . . . no. I don’t. I’ve been abstaining. It’s because of a . . . personal reason.”

  Mindy frowned and moved back, but he held her tightly. “I don’t want to make you start something you don’t really want.”

  “I want it,” Rex growled, his gaze darkening as it moved over her exposed breasts. “I want you. Let me have you, please.”

  “Why have you been abstaining?”

  Rex’s hold on her released slightly. “Because I thought I needed to get my head screwed on straight. I didn’t want to start obsessing over someone who didn’t want me.”

  “Right.” Mindy trailed her fingers down his chest, enjoying the sensation of his hard muscles underneath his clothes. “But you’re good now?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Rex pitched her to one side and lay her on the couch. She smothered a shriek, glancing worriedly at the bedroom door. She didn’t have much time to worry about waking up Ginny, because Rex started on her pants at that moment. He tossed her pants and panties to the floor, then pulled off one sock. When he pulled off the other, he glanced at the pea bag that was lying on the floor by now and frowned.

  “Are you sure you’re up to this? You’re not hurting, are you?” He peered at her, his gaze raking over her form, but with worry in it rather than lust.

  Mindy shivered at the reminder of what had happened earlier, but smiled at him and shook her head. “It’s over. I want this, Rex. I want you.”

  And oh, boy! Did she want him! His touch was electrifying, even just the skimming of his fingers over her arms until he grasped her hands. It was like there was a furnace under her skin and he was the one stoking it to life. His hesitancy melted away as his gaze continued to roam over her, seeing that there were no hidden bruises. He clasped one of her hands to his chest while he bent over her, kissing her passionately again. He suckled on her lower lip, the sensation of his tongue moving over the cut soothing the sting. His free hand moved between her legs, bringing her closer with gentle strokes. A shiver ran down her back as she gasped into his mouth.

  Rex moved from her mouth to her neck, then to one of her breasts. It was swollen with milk, and he kissed the top of it before moving lower, sliding his big body down the couch until he was between her legs. There, he kissed the inside of her thigh and made his way up. When he reached his target, he let out a soft moan of satisfaction, like he liked the taste of what he found there.

  Her core twisted, and Mindy arched her back, her lips parting slightly as she increased the contact. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she was taken back to that night on the island. Her heart beat faster, and her hands tightened into his hair. Rex made little grunting noises as he continued his work, suckling, and lapping at her clit hungrily. Her stomach muscles clenched, her legs moving
on their own accord as the pleasure grew to a fuller strength inside of her.

  Just when she thought she might burst, Rex moved back. He licked his lips, grinned at her, and pulled his shirt off. Mindy stared up at him, panting with the exertion of the pleasure he had given to her. She enjoyed the view he gave her of those taut muscles and licked her own lips, wanting a taste of them. When he undid his belt, she let out a soft moan.

  Rex chuckled as he pulled off his pants. “Eager, are you?”

  “So are you.”

  He glanced down at himself, already hard, and shrugged. He took himself in his hand, pumping himself a couple of times and everything in Mindy clenched. The sight was just so hot she could hardly handle it. Rex gave her a wicked grin and draped himself over her so that he pressed into her stomach. His mouth captured her again, hard and demanding, while he slid a hand between her legs to test her readiness.

  “I want you,” Mindy whispered when he opened his mouth. “I want you, Rex.”

  He rested his forehead against hers as he eased himself into her, achingly slow. Mindy bucked her hips, pulling him down, so he was fully seated. Rex let out a grunt and a laugh of surprise before he put a hand on her hip and eased himself out again. He wagged a finger in her face and gently entered again. Once he was comfortable, he began to rock his hips, taking it so slowly that Mindy thought she might lose her mind.

  “Faster,” she whined, thrusting her hips upward.

  Rex caught her wrist in his hand and kissed the inside of it. “We have all day, Mindy. Let’s take this slow.”

  His steady rhythm soon had her forgetting to argue. He built such heat under her skin, a thumb on her clit while he continued to move, that Mindy could do nothing but cry out over and over again. Rex dropped over her, pressing her into the couch, his mouth catching hers again as he increased in speed. Her core twisted into a knot, his panting in her ears. Mindy clung to him, rocking her hips while at the same time wrapping her legs around his.