Chapter 11
SIDE EFFECT OF sex all night: cranky Phoenix.
Five o’clock came entirely too early after a long night of loving and no time in her dream space. It seemed every time she was just about to get there, Travis woke her in the most amazing and unexpected of ways. Which hey, she wasn’t exactly complaining.
Except now she had to take orders, deliver breakfast and generally act like a patient, kind human being when all she felt like doing was ripping people’s faces off. And she didn’t even have an animal side!
Which really wasn’t something she wanted to think about. Because every time she thought about maybe, probably, most certainly being one hundred percent human, she got depressed.
And crankier.
“Hey, Phoenix, I’ve got something for you,” Karl called from the corner booth in the back.
It was the first time she’d ever seen the cougars and wolves sit together at the diner, which made her rather suspicious, considering this was an almost replica of the weird grouping they’d had at the bar the night before. And just like then, they were all staring at her.
“What is it?”
There was a strangely familiar sound and then a very recognizable scent reached her.
Karl pushed the can of tuna he’d apparently just opened toward her.
She stared at it.
Then looked at him.
What the hell? Was she supposed to take the tuna?
“Seriously, Karl?” Dan exclaimed. “How is that supposed to help?”
Karl shrugged. “I figured if she’s a cat, she might shift.”
“I told you she’s not a feline,” Cole said.
“She might be, you never know. She might be a breed we’ve never met before.”
Dan groaned. “She’d still smell like a cat, you idiot.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!” Cole and Dan both shouted.
“Because I brought this too, just in case.” He pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it at Phoenix.
She caught it in reflex, stared a minute, then carefully set it on the table.
“Is that a cat toy?” Max asked.
“It’s filled with catnip. It should totally work if she’s a feline.”
Even though both Dan and Cole had insisted she couldn’t possibly be a cat just seconds before, they still stared at Phoenix as if they expected her to pounce on the ball at any moment.
She shook her head. “Can I get you boys anything? Or are you just going to continue wasting my time?”
“Go on.” Max waved his hand at her. “We’ll call you if we need anything.”
As she walked away, a flurry of whispers occurred at her back.
“I was sure it would work!” Karl exclaimed.
“Not if she’s not a cat!”
“It’s not a bad idea, though. Hold on. I’ve got an idea!” A moment later, Pete rushed by and out the door.
Shaking her head, Phoenix continued to make her rounds, checking in with the customers, taking orders and delivering food and drinks.
When she made it back to the corner table the next time, Pete was back in his regular spot and had a huge grin on his face. “Here.” He shoved a tiny bouquet of dandelions at her.
Phoenix reflexively caught the weeds in her hand and stared at them, then at Pete, then back down at the dandelions. What was she supposed to do with these?
“Do they make you hungry?” Pete asked eagerly.
“Gross,” Dan exclaimed. “Why would they make her hungry?”
“I thought she might be a bunny,” Pete said. “When my wolf goes hunting, he always checks the dandelion patches first because that’s where all the rabbits go to eat.”
Phoenix stared at him, then said dryly, “Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’m not a bunny then.”
Max snorted. “Sorry, Phoenix. I know my wolves are idiots, but they’re just trying to help.”
She nodded. “Right. Okay. Well. Can I get you guys anything else?”
“Nah, we’re good.”
“Great.”
As she walked away this time, she heard Cole announce rather loudly that food was definitely not the way to go.
Rolling her eyes, she decided unless they flagged her down, she would ignore their table for the rest of her shift.
An hour later, the wolves and cougars were headed out the door and Phoenix was happily clearing their table. The rest of her shift passed uneventfully and soon enough, she was walking back into her apartment, pathetically grateful to be home. Without a second’s pause, she crossed to the bed and collapsed.
A knock on the door roused her timeless minutes later. She glanced at the clock, but realized she hadn’t looked at it when lying down so she had no idea how many minutes she’d been napping.
No idea.
This was terrible!
What if she’d only been asleep for forty-five minutes? Or twenty-five minutes? What if she’d slept for two hundred and ten minutes? She had no idea whether she should be cranky or celebrating. Happy and rested or depressed and tired.
Another knock came at the door.
Throwing off her blankets, she stomped over and flung it open.
“You!” She grabbed Travis by the shirt and pulled him into her apartment. “It’s all your fault!”
Travis grinned at her. “What’s wrong, darlin’?”
Why was he smiling?
“Don’t you darlin’ me! I had to deal with those wolves and cougars on zero minutes in my dream space and it’s all your fault. And then, just now, I was napping, but I don’t know how many minutes I was napping, now do I? And then you knocked and now I’m not napping. I’m not napping for any minutes, counted or not. I’m awake. And it’s all your fault!”
* * *
Travis just couldn’t help it. She was so flippin’ adorable, stalking back and forth, waving her arms and ranting about naps and minutes and who knew what else.
He grabbed her up and kissed her breathless.
Of course, she kissed him back, which just sealed her fate.
He lifted her high and carried her over to the bed and they broke it in just like they’d broken his in the night before.
And just like then, it was amazing.
“What time is it?” Phoenix murmured. She was curled into him, her head resting on his chest, one leg slung over his.
“3:15.”
“4:15 – 60, 4:45 – 90, 5:00 – 105,” she murmured. “One hundred and five glorious minutes. I will kill you if you wake me before 5:00, Travis.”
He couldn’t help but grin. “All right, darlin’.”
“I’m serious, Travis. One hundred and five minutes. No less.”
“I promise.”
He hadn’t expected this. Whatever it was. This amazing feeling, this sense of protectiveness, of being so completely enamored of another person. Was this what it was like to have a mate?
If she finally shifted and they weren’t true mates, it would break his heart. His bear’s too.
But no.
There was no way she was anything other than their mate. He knew it. And his bear knew it too. Even if she never shifted, even if she did shift and the true mate bond never happened, he and his bear were in agreement.
She was theirs.
And so he lay there.
Unexpectedly content to simply hold his beautiful Phoenix in his arms.
To play with her hair and listen to her soft breathing.
To know that she’d gone someplace she called her dream space and that she was happy to visit there while sleeping in his arms.