April 2025 Newsletter
BEAST BEHAVING BADLY
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Unedited/Unproofed
Bo’s eyes opened exactly at five-twenty-five a.m., but unlike most days when he woke up five minutes before his alarm went off…things were different. Not “I’m staying in a hotel due to an out-of-town game” different but “there’s a wolfdog clinging to me” different.
Without moving his body, Bo studied where he was, which would be the floor. He didn’t normally sleep on the floor but he was definitely on the floor. He was also fully clothed, as was Blayne. In fact, she had on so many clothes, he felt confident in ruling out a wild night of sexual abandon that he couldn’t remember.
A good thing, too, since Bo liked remembering past sexual encounters. Less chance of the awkward morning-after moment where one doesn’t remember his or her partner’s name.
Still, none of that explained why he was sleeping on the floor with Blayne…or why they were cuddling.
It was definitely cuddling, too. He had his arms around her and she had her head buried in his chest. They were on their side, facing each other, so he’d wrapped one leg around hers. He’d had sex with women and still never woke up in this position before. He didn’t mind waking up this way, it was just not knowing how they got here that was worrying him.
An alarm went off in the bedroom and Blayne groaned, drew her arm back, and slapped Bo right in the face.
Lying there, wondering what he’d done to deserve that, Blayne snarled and said, “Off!” Then she hit him again. When that didn’t seem to shut off the alarm that was in another room, Blayne lifted her head. Her eyes blinked wide when she saw him.
“Oh, God…was that you I hit?”
“Twice.”
“Oh. Oh! I’m so…” Then she burst out laughing.
Unable to take the sound of that damn alarm clock anymore, Bo pulled away from Blayne and stood. He went into her bedroom and turned it off. Letting out a sigh, he went back to the living room. And, yeah, she was still laughing.
“Get up,” he said. “Get showered, get dressed. We’ll go into the City together.” He reached down and lifted her off the floor. “The longer you take, the more you’re screwing with my schedule.”
“Okay, okay. No need to get snippy.” She reached up again and Bo immediately moved away from her, which only made her laugh more. “I wasn’t going to hit you again. I promise. And I am sorry about your face. Really.” She slid her palm across his cheek. “Did I hurt you?”
“Only my feelings.”
She laughed again, leaning into him.
“It wasn’t that funny,” he complained, even while he enjoyed making her laugh. “Now go get dressed. Time.” He tapped his watch for emphasis.
“Okay, okay.”
A half-hour later, after Bo had pushed and prodded the woman to have some purpose in her step, they got into his truck.
“Is this thing even legal?”
“It’s not like I can fit into a two-door Ferrari.”
“But I feel like I’m in a military transport plane.”
“Don’t talk to me in the mornings,” he told her. “Not until I get some ice time. Or, at the very least, coffee.”
Bo pulled into traffic and they drove in silence for awhile until he heard himself ask, “Can you explain to me how we ended up on the floor…snuggling?”
“Sure, I can explain it,” she said with that natural cheeriness she had at all hours of the day. He now understood why he’d known she was sicker than she was letting on the night before. She’d been surly, rude, and intolerant. In other words, she’d been acting like every other predator he’d known, but she hadn’t been acting like Blayne.
He waited for her to explain what happened but she just kept smiling and staring out the window.
“Can you explain it to me before the end of this millennium?”
“Of course!”
Again Bo waited and again nothing.
Yeah. She was a Navy brat all right. She had the malicious obedience so ingrained in her system, she didn’t even realize when she was doing it.
Taking a breath and wishing he’d had some coffee, Bo tried a different tack. “You and me, snuggling on the floor…explain it. Now.”
“I was thirsty.”
Man, she was good. But Bo was determined and raised by a Marine. He could handle this.
He could handle her.
“You were thirsty…so you came out of your room for a glass of water.”
“Right!”
“And you saw me lying there…”
“On the couch. You looked uncomfortable. All balled up.”
“It was too small.”
“It’s a loveseat,” she reminded him.
“Right. So to help me be more comfortable you…”
“Rolled you onto the floor.”
Bo waited to turn at a corner. “Did I wake up?”
“Sort of. You kind of snarled. I thought you might maul me.”
“So to calm me down you…”
“Petted your shoulder and said, ‘It’s okay. It’s me.’”
“And I…”
“Smiled and grabbed me around the waist. Did you know you have a really nice smile?”
“Thank you.”
“You should use it more often.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. So after I grabbed you, I…”
“Wouldn’t let go. And I was tired anyway and you were so warm and comfortable that I just curled up next to you and went to sleep.”
Bo pulled into the underground parking garage of the sports center. He parked in his reserved spot and cut off the engine.
“You have your own parking spot?” she demanded, suddenly not so cheery.
“Yep.”
“How is that fair?”
“It’s fair because it’s to my benefit. If it wasn’t, then it would be unfair. Now let’s go, I’ve got to meet him in the managers’ restaurant upstairs.”
They got out of the truck and Bo remotely released the rear door so they could grab their bags. He looked at his watch, grimaced.
“You get to go to the managers’ restaurant?”
“Can’t you?”
When she only scowled at him, he decided discussing it further was to no one’s benefit.
Together they walked to the elevators that would take them to the main floor. From there they would take the stairs to the first floor of the shifter-only part of the building deep under the city streets. It was a lot of ups, downs, and sideways, but necessary to protect who they were.
They stepped into the elevator, and Bo pushed the button for the main floor. His foot tapped as the elevator slowly creaked closed.
“Are you always like this?” she asked.
He didn’t ask her what she meant because he already knew. “Yes.”
“You’ll be dead before your forty.”
“The great excuse for every lazy ass I’ve ever known.”
“We’re not talking about my issues with time.”
“Of course not.”
“We’re not even talking about your issues with time. We’re talking about your…intensity.”
“My intensity, as you call it, is what makes me the player I am.”
“Except you don’t seem like you’re having any fun.”
“Fun? It’s a job.”
“A job you hate?”
“No.”
“Then it should be fun. Otherwise what’s the point?”
“What’s the point? Millions of dollars and the freedom to do what I want.”
“That sounds great!” she cheered. “Which would have much more impact if you weren’t getting tense and being an asshole because there’s the slimmest of chances you might be late to a breakfast meeting with your agent.”
“Wouldn’t it be rude for me to be late?”
“Well—”
“And don’t you hate rude people?”
She sniffed a little. “Touché, Mr. Bear-cat.”
“Do not start calling me that.”
“I think it’s cute!”
“No.”
“Whatever. So when was the last time you went on vacation?”
“Vacation?”
“You know? To someplace relaxing and fun, where work has nothing to do with it?”
“When?”
“Yeah. When was the last time you went on vacation?”
“Never.”
Blayne moved in front of him. “What do you mean never? You’ve never been on vacation? Ever?”
“That’s often what never means. But I travel a lot for business meetings and stuff. That counts.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
“It does to me. Now can we drop it?”
The elevator doors opened and she jumped out. “Fine. I’m going to practice.”
He watched her walk off—in the wrong direction. Her skates were hanging from her half-closed bag, threatening to fall out and be lost forever; the shoelaces on her right sneaker were untied; and she had a piece of blue duct tape randomly stuck to her jacket and a piece of white duct tape stuck to the back of her black cargo pants.
It suddenly hit him that he was not only sexually attracted to this mess of a wolfdog with bad time management skills, but he really liked her. More than he liked almost anyone.
Bo stepped out of the elevator and waited. Sure enough, Blayne stopped, looked around, threw up her hands, and spun back toward him. “Wrong way!” she laughed as she marched by him. “I swear, if the head wasn’t attached…”
He grabbed her backpack before she could shoot past. “Come on.”
“Where?”
“With me. You haven’t had breakfast. Your blood sugar will drop on you after ten minutes. I don’t want to find you sobbing again.”
“That was one time! Why do you have to keep bringing it up?”
