Gemma managed to make it through the rest of her shift with only a few run-ins: a couple of rowdy drunks, a leering guy who bought condoms and kept licking his lips, and a little old lady who paid for cat food in change.

She made it home, and just as she said, she knocked quietly on Jamie’s door. It was around three in the morning, and she knew that little Kiki would be up for a feeding. She sneaked in, snatched up Dash, and took him next door to their house.

It was cold inside. She only kept a small heater going in his room so he wouldn’t wake up when she put him to bed. Sneaking into his room, his covers were pulled back waiting for him. Placing him down gently, Gemma leaned over and placed a kiss on his forehead. God, she loved this little man. He was everything to her. He was often the only light in her dismal life.

“Night, Dashy,” she whispered.

Making sure his nightlight was on, she quietly closed the door to his room and made her way to the kitchen. She was still wearing her coat from work, but now she changed into a hoodie printed with the Apex Grizzlies mascot. Another thrift store find, it was warm and she liked sleeping in it. Tying her hair into a messy bun, she pulled the hood up and kicked off her shoes.

Padding to the fridge, she opened it and perused the contents. Nothing was interesting or even sounded good. There was some leftover spaghetti, so she pulled that out. She was too tired to heat it up on the stove, and she didn’t have a microwave. It was somewhere around item eight hundred thirty-three on her list of things to be purchased. In other words, it was possible to live without a microwave.

Taking the bowl and a fork she went over to the couch and sat cross-legged. She dug into the noodles and stuffed a mouthful in. Chewing, she went over the meeting with the doctor a few more times in her head. There were so many other ways she could have played that.

Not laughing at him would have been a good start. He probably thought she was insensitive. Or more likely, he didn’t think of her at all – she was just some lame dowdy sales clerk.

Finishing her sad little meal, she put the rest of the spaghetti in the fridge. It would make for a good lunch tomorrow. She always cooked the entire box of pasta - it was an easy food to make multiple meals out of.

Walking back to the couch, she grabbed the blankets she kept on the floor beside the saggy couch. Wrapping herself up, she laid down and tried to keep Dr. Rochon out of her mind.

---

Eddie lay in his bed after leaving Cage’s house. He was anxious and frustrated, so he’d driven deep into the woods behind Cage’s house. It was dark enough, and no one ever came onto their property.

Getting out, he walked away from his car, and then stripped out of his clothes. His bear wanted out to go back for their mate. Eddie couldn’t let him do that, but he could let him have this.

Telling his bear it was time, Eddie felt his feral side take over. His body started to shimmer and a rainbow of sparks shot out around his frame as his bear pushed out, fur taking over his body. Eddie went from standing to all fours as the light faded away.

His bear let out an anguished roar. He wanted Gemma. Eddie knew how he felt. Telling his bear to run as he wished, the big animal took off towards the river. His bear loved the icy glacial water almost as much as snow.

Splashing and rolling in the water gave his bear some time to relax. When it was time to leave, his animal lumbered back to where Eddie had left his clothes. The same shimmering light enveloped the huge white animal, and then Eddie stood a moment, finding his footing again. Grabbing his clothes, he pulled them on quickly. He could handle the cold since he ran a little warmer than a human, but the river water was still freezing.

Now he was under the covers, thinking about his mate. His dog Keno was curled on the bed with him, staring at him like he knew something was up.

“Wait until you meet her, Keno. She’s so pretty. Her little boy Dash is going to love you. We have lots of room here. We won’t be renting the house out anymore. No more new people smells for you to check out. We should set up the room with the twin beds for him. Wonder what he likes? Superman? Trucks? We should probably let him pick out his own stuff, huh?”

It was nice being able to talk about the future. Planning for Gemma and Dash being in his home – their home now. Things he wouldn’t be able to say to her for a quite a while, but Keno was happy to listen to his rambling and planning.

Eddie thought about how pretty she was. No, not pretty, she was…he couldn’t even think of a word. She wasn’t like a model, no her features were too soft and womanly. There were no hard edges to her face. It was smooth, her brows and lashes dark. The long hair that she’d tossed over her shoulder took his breath away – he’d never seen hair that long. She’d clearly taken the time to curl it, which meant she liked her hair too.

He wanted to run his fingers through it. Smell it, twining it around his hands. He knew a lot of the delicious scent coming off her was her hair.

“Keno, how do we see her again?”

His dog looked up at him and cocked his head to the side. The stare was intense, and Eddie stared back.

“I should know this, right?”

Keno gave a whine and dropped his head to the bed.

“Fine, we could call her and tell her Dash needs an earlier follow-up.” Which wasn’t true, but would solve a number of issues. He’d make sure Dash’s wound was healing, which was immensely important to him now more than ever. But there was a chance that Jamie would bring Dash since it seemed Gemma didn’t have a lot of spare time. That grated on Eddie. He wanted her secure – in his home, his arms, and his bed. She shouldn’t have to work so hard.

“We need to get them here, Keno.”

Keno looked at him with a bored expression, then jumped off the bed and padded out of the room. His dog rarely slept with him. He preferred to keep watch over the house from his giant memory foam bed by the heating vent. Eddie wasn’t dumb, his dog was lazy and liked the vent more than him.

Sighing, Eddie’s mind wandered over his mate again. She was curvy, with extra padding in all the places he loved. Her stomach looked soft and her breasts looked to be more than a handful, thank god. He imagined resting his head between them after he’d made love to her all night.

That was all it took for his cock to go from semi-interested into full on porn-shoot ready. If he was going to get any sleep tonight, he was going to have to take care of his current condition. It wasn’t just that he wanted to come while thinking about Gemma, it was for the sake of his patients tomorrow; so he wouldn’t be distracted.

“Yeah right,” he mocked.

Reaching his hand under the sheet, he wrapped it around his cock. He was a naked sleeper and always had been. This brought to mind Gemma lying naked beside him. Maybe she would watch him as he jacked off. Maybe she would help. Or maybe she’d wrap that luscious mouth of hers around his cock and suck him into oblivion.

That was the perfect image as Eddie started running his hand up and down his cock. Pausing to reach into his nightstand, he grabbed a packet of banana-flavored lube that a guest had left behind and tore it open with his teeth. Squeezing the gel into his hand, he gripped his cock again and stroked in long hard pulls.

He thought about Gemma’s thick thighs and how if she were there with him, they would be resting against his leg as she watched. He’d pull one of her legs and hook it over his so with every pull on his dick, his hand would brush against her smooth skin. She would gasp and her eyes would go liquid as he picked up speed, his cock straining towards her.

“Oh fuck,” he moaned. Eddie started moving his hand faster. His mind had her on top of him now, that amazing hair brushing over his thighs as she rode him, her breasts bouncing and her head thrown back in ecstasy.

Eddie could feel his balls drawing up. This was ridiculously fast, but he was thinking about his mate so he figured it must be natural. The first sharp wave of pleasure pulsed through his cock as a jet of cum hit the sheets.

“Gemma!” Eddie shouted as he tugged and squeezed jet after jet of cum from his cock. When his orgasm started to fade, he focused on his sheets and his hand. Laughing at himself, he got up and cleaned himself up in the bathroom. Pulling off the sheet, he threw just the down comforter back on the bed and crawled in.

Leaning back, he stared at the ceiling before closing his eyes and letting the image of his mate lull him to sleep.