Don't Moose With Her (Bearbank Book 1) (14 page)

“Ethan!” she wailed. She could feel her moose trying to assert itself and she clamped her mouth shut, determined not to bite. She wouldn't go there. Not yet.

“Come for me, little moose,” Ethan panted. She could see his fangs flash. Clearly his wolf was as impatient as her moose. “I’m not coming until you do.”

He reached between them and firmly rubbed her clit as he continued his thrusts. The added stimulation was the last straw and she hurtled over the edge, screaming as she came. Dimly she was aware of the heat of Ethan spurting into her as he joined her in bliss. His head was back, his face strained with both his climax and the fight to keep from biting her, claiming her. He had kept his promise. Another little piece of her heart thawed.

Ethan held himself over her, keeping his weight on his arms but resting his forehead against hers. They gasped for air, trying to calm their rapid heartbeats. Dana felt that she should say something. Something deep. Something affectionate. All that came out was, “Fucking hell.”

Ethan snorted in laughter, burying his face into her shoulder, nipping gently at the skin there, making her shiver.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “My thoughts exactly, my articulate little moose.” He rolled them over, lying on his back and pulling Dana onto his chest.

“Hey, mister,” Dana mock scowled, poking his chest. “If you fuck my brains out, you have to expect a drop in wordyness.”

“Duly noted,” Ethan smirked, running his hand down her back and kissing her forehead. He looked far too pleased with himself. “By the way, we’re still not finished.”

She squinted up at him. “What?”

He tugged her hand downwards to feel that he was still semi-hard. “I’m a shifter and we’re mates. Give me a minute to stave off having a stroke and I’ll be good for round two.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

She giggled into his chest. “I think round two might kill me right now. Better give me ten minutes.”

He snickered at her before assuming a suspiciously serious expression. “I would never have guessed that you’re a screamer.”

“I am not,” she answered.

He snorted at her. “Really? Because my ear is still ringing. There was a scream. Trust me.”

Thinking back, she realized that she had in fact screamed. Loudly. She groaned, burrowing her face into his chest. His chest which was moving as he laughed. Stupid, smug wolf.

A knock sounded at the front door. She froze, looking at her mate. Ethan disentangled himself and jumped from the bed, pulling on his jeans. “Stay here,” he said.

She heard him pad to the front door and after a pause, she heard the door open.

“Everything okay in there?” a male voice asked. “We haven’t seen any trouble but we heard a scream.”

Oh fabulous. The patrol outside the house had heard her and thought she was being attacked. Stupid shifter hearing. She could hear Ethan assuring them that everything was fine. He even lied for her, saying she’d seen a spider. It was pointless as the police were shifters and would be able to smell the scent of sex clinging to Ethan. Stupid shifter noses. Still, his attempt to spare her blushes was sweet and she felt herself falling for him. Hard. At some point she had accepted that they were mates and that they would eventually claim each other. With every minute she spent with him, it became more obvious that it was only a matter of time and she didn’t mind at all.

Ethan returned and climbed back into bed beside her, pulling her back into his arms. It felt so right.

“Ready for round two, sweetheart?” he asked.

Ethan woke to the sound of his phone buzzing. The room was light and glancing at the clock, he saw that it was 8.30am. He carefully disentangled himself from Dana who was still asleep. He felt some measure of masculine pride that he’d managed to tire her out so thoroughly. Round four had ended only about an hour ago and he was still up for a round five. He had spent the night making love to his mate, his true mate, and nothing could ever top that. Well, except for one thing.

As much as he had enjoyed last night’s activities, one thing had been missing. They still hadn’t claimed each other and his wolf wasn’t happy about it. Honestly, neither was Ethan. It was primitive but as shifters, they retained part of the wildness of their animal sides. Part of that was the instinctive need to claim their mates and Ethan’s wolf didn’t understand why they had not yet claimed theirs. It was all his own fault. His behaviour had made Dana doubt him and delayed the claiming. Now it would take time to fix that.

Ethan followed the buzzing sound to his phone. The display showed that the call was from Leo. He answered it as he walked to the door.

“Hey,” Ethan said softly, as he slipped out of the bedroom to let Dana sleep. He padded down the stairs to the living room.

“We’ve got him,” Leo said.

“What? The Shifter Stalker?” Ethan asked. “Just like that?” So easily? He squashed down the irritation that he hadn't been there.

“Yeah, surprised the hell out of us too,” Leo said. “His body was found late last night. His phone has pictures of every victim. We actually found a couple of fingerprints on the things sent to Becca. They match the fingerprints of the body. We’re waiting on the forensics but we have him.”

Ethan let out a shaky breath. “Dana’s safe?” He sagged against the wall.

“Yeah,” Leo agreed. “It’s over.” He paused. His voice grew hard. “We were right, Ethan. It was one of us.”

Ethan swore. “Who?” he demanded, straightening up and walking to the window. Looking through the blinds, he could see the patrol car still sitting outside.

“Eric Matthews,” Leo sighed. “One of the human cops from the next town over. I’ve never met him but I spoke to him on the phone a few times. Seemed pleasant enough. Alex says that he moved here around the time the first victim went missing. He’s moved around a fair bit and has always been in the same place as the Shifter Stalker. Everything just suddenly came together. It was him, Ethan.”

“What happened to him? How did he die?” Ethan asked. Not that it mattered. The most important thing was that he was no longer a threat to his mate. Still, his suspicious cop nature made him ask. He wasn’t familiar with the man which explained why he hadn’t recognised his scent.

“Murdered,” Leo said. “No prizes for guessing what we’re investigating next. He was found out in the woods by a wolf shifter out for a run. There’s evidence of a fight, but in the end Matthews appears to have been stabbed through the heart. Working theory is that someone fought back.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Ethan said, frowning. He caught a movement out the corner of his eye and turned to see Dana, wearing his t-shirt and nothing else. It was a good look. Not as good as Dana naked but he did like seeing her in his shirt. He held out an arm and she walked over to him, hugging him close. He breathed in the scent of Dana mixed with his own scent and sex. His new favourite smell.

“I know,” Leo agreed. “He’s always been strictly one victim at a time and we know he was after Dana. But whatever happened, someone had a problem with him and settled it permanently. It’s him and he’s dead. He won’t be abducting anyone else.”

“Thanks, Leo,” Ethan said, hugging Dana tightly, pleased at how easily she had accepted his touch. “I’ll be in later.”

Dana looked up at him as he ended the call.

“What's going on?” she asked, her forehead creased in a little frown.

He kissed her forehead. “It’s over, sweetheart. They identified the Shifter Stalker and he’s dead. You’re safe now.” The huge knot of worry he'd been carrying around began to unravel. The fear that he might fail his mate. That he might lose her. Now he could concentrate on winning her over completely.

She smiled at him and then sighed. “I’m a horrible person. I’m actually happy that someone is dead.”

“I think under the circumstances, it’s normal,” Ethan said, squeezing her gently. “I’m pretty happy too. I won’t judge if you don’t.”

“I guess we both need to go to work then,” Dana said. “Now that you don’t have to stay with me.” Her tone sounded a little wistful. She sounded like she would miss him. Good.

He tipped up her chin and kissed her. “I don’t have to but I’ll still be around as much as you’ll let me,” he assured her. “And I still plan on talking you into claiming me.”

She smiled at him. Her pretty green eyes sparkled at him. “At some point, I’m going to let you convince me.”

Grinning, he picked her up, loving her little squeak of surprise. He carried her to the bathroom and set her down in the shower, peeling off the T-shirt she wore. Turning the water on, he grabbed the soap and proceeded to wash his mate. When she started to wash him back, his good intentions fled.

***

“I love that uniform,” Ethan grinned at her. Smart ass.

“Shut up.” She glared at him. It only made his grin widen. “We both know it’s hideous.”

“It’s so hideous that it’s cute,” he said, smirking.

“That makes no sense,” she pointed out. “It’s just awful and it has no redeeming qualities.”

She reached for the handle of the car door but before she touched it, Ethan gently turned her around.

“Forgetting something?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

“I’m already late,” she protested. “I knew it would have been quicker to shower separately.” Not as much fun though, she admitted that. It had actually been her first bout of shower sex and it had been much more enjoyable than she would have guessed. Of course, she suspected that any kind of sex would be enjoyable with Ethan.

“There’s always time for a kiss,” Ethan insisted, leaning in.

He kissed her thoroughly, leaving her feeling a little dazed and more than a little turned on. With no time to do anything about it. She just might have to kill the wolf.

“Remember,” he said to her, his expression serious. “Be careful and don’t go off anywhere by yourself. The Shifter Stalker is gone but we still have some unanswered questions. We need to stay vigilant a little while longer just to be certain.”

“I know,” she said. “I promise I’ll stay right here until quitting time.” She still didn't feel safe about wandering off by herself.

He nodded. “I’ll pick you up later. Wait for me.”

Another kiss and then Dana got out of the car, waving to her wolf. He didn’t drive off, waiting for her to go inside first. She smiled and went in, accepting a hug from Tara. She looked for Fiona before remembering that she wouldn’t be here. She had been discharged from hospital but was recovering at home. Another girl, Hannah, was filling in for her. She was a pleasant enough girl but tended to keep to herself. Dana missed Fiona already.

“Thank goodness you’re okay,” Tara said, hugging her again. “And I’m so glad you’re back.”

“It’s good to see you too, Tara,” Dana said, hugging back. “I actually missed this place.”

“Are you sure you’re well enough to be here?” Tara asked, eyeing the bandage around Dana’s arm.

“I’m fine,” Dana assured her. “Everything has mostly healed and I can use all my limbs. It only hurts if I poke it.”

“Then don’t poke it,” Tara laughed.

“Then how will I know if it still hurts?” Dana winked at her.

The day passed relatively quickly. They had a steady stream of customers which kept her busy. Dana felt light hearted and couldn’t stop the grin from forming on her face every time she thought of Ethan. Which was most of the time. Life was good today. Her stalker was gone and things were going well with her mate. Everything was going to work out.

By mid-afternoon, Dana was getting a little tired and she was impatient to finish up and see Ethan again. She’d reached that annoying point where what she wanted was within sight but it just wasn’t quite time yet. It was too close to quitting time for her to settle and yet not actually time to leave. She found herself checking the time every five minutes. Every time the door opened, she looked to see if it was Ethan arriving early. Yeah, she had it bad. Would it get easier if they were mated properly? Or would that just make her even more insatiable?

The shop was quiet now. Only a couple of customers sat at the tables. A good time for a bathroom break.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” she called to Hannah, who simply nodded at her.

Dana quickly took care of business in the bathroom and started to make her way back out front. Before she could open the door to the café she felt something hit her hard on the back of the head. The pain exploded through her head and then everything went black.

Would this day never end?

Ethan sighed as he filled out more paperwork. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be back with his mate, romancing her and persuading her to claim him. The day passed excruciatingly slowly, even though he was kept busy. He had reports to write on the Shifter Stalker case, a meeting with Alex, and now he was sitting talking to Eric Matthews’ next of kin.

Reports had come back on Eric Matthews, painting a picture of a quiet man. He was human. He had an older brother and a younger half-sister. His mother had died shortly after he was born and his father had remarried a couple of years later. Eric’s stepmother was a shifter, a bear, and within a few years Eric had had a new half-sister. From all accounts, Eric’s childhood was a happy one. There was nothing to suggest that he would go on to become a serial killer.

Eric’s sister, Sarah, had burst into tears at the news of her brother’s death. Her mate sat silently beside her, his arm around her shoulder, lending comfort.

“I don’t understand,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “Eric would never hurt anyone. He was sweet. He’s not a killer.”

Leo shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I’m sorry for your loss, Sarah. We have evidence that Eric had an unhealthy interest in several shifter women. Plus, he was always in the same place as the killings. His fingerprints were on gifts sent to one of the victims.”

Sarah looked uncomfortable. “Look, I’ll admit that Eric could be a little obsessed with shifters. Eric had a good relationship with mum and her family. He loved being a part of it and I know that he wished he was a shifter too. He loved the idea of mates, true mates. When I got mated, he got a little more obsessed with the idea of finding a mate of his own, even though he’s human. He just wanted what mum and dad had. What I have.” She looked up at her mate who hugged her tighter.