“Help me up.” She held out a hand, and he plucked her from the bed and stood her next to him.
He tangled a hand at her nape. “Be careful. If you feel any weird pull, call Nessa or Flynn.” The force in the last journey through dimensions had been strong, so it shouldn’t happen again for a couple of days, based on his experience. Even so, he didn’t want to leave her.
“Go.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him out of the bedroom and into the living area. “I’ll get caught up on emails and calls to friends before we go dark, which rumor has it might happen. You go rescue those terrified women, and we’ll pick up where we just paused. Who knows? Maybe I’ll change my mind and want that spanking instead of a kiss.” She nudged him with her hip.
Man, she was something. “I do like a smart-ass,” he admitted easily.
“Good thing.” She opened the door for him and paused. “Um.”
He stepped outside, where Garrett waited to the side. At least six bear shifters lingered at the edge of the deck. “What’s going on?”
Polly was the first in line. “Well, since you’re headed out, we hoped Doc Honor would take some appointments. Rody was so much better after seeing her that, well, we figured we’d give it a shot.” The hefty sow drew forth a bottle of red wine from behind her back. “I brought refreshments. Just need to figure a couple of things out. You know.”
He had no idea. Know what?
Honor stepped to his side, her eyes wide. “I don’t mind trying with all of you, but you have to realize I’m new at this. Well, not at the psychologist part, but at the part when I try to help you reach your own feelings. If you’re lying to yourself, I’ll know it and point that fact out. You might not want to delve into what we discover.”
Sam straightened and looked solidly at Polly. They were friends. “Is this safe for her?”
Polly’s brown eyes softened. “Absolutely. She’s one of us now. Even if we don’t like what we learn or feel, we like her. She’ll be safe and protected. I promise.”
Good enough. Sam looked down at Honor. “What do you think?”
She looked at the assembled group. “I’d like to help, but we’ll need to do one at a time, and I can’t give an idea of time frame. I think it’ll vary by person.”
Polly shrugged. “We’re bears. Time doesn’t mean a whole lot to us.”
That was the truth. Sam looked at Garrett, who was studying a couple of bears half-hidden by bushes as if they were embarrassed to be there but didn’t want to leave. “Huh,” he mused.
Sam counted the bears—there were too many to counsel in one day. He did like the idea of Honor having cover while he was gone. “All right, but no matter who’s left, this ends at one in the morning. Honor needs sleep. Whoever doesn’t get answers can make appointments for tomorrow.”
“You’re being bossy,” Honor whispered, her hand moving to his abs.
“Yes, I am,” he agreed, not sure why she was pointing out the obvious. This was his cabin and his female, whether she realized it or not. That made her his to protect. Everyone watching them knew it too. There was no argument from anybody.
Polly grinned, revealing a crooked canine. “Also, not for nothing, but I’d go for the spanking first and the kiss second. Might as well get it all taken care of.”
Sam’s nostrils flared. How long had the bears been outside his cabin? He’d been so wrapped up in Honor that he hadn’t sensed them.
“Good to know,” Honor agreed. “I’ll keep that in mind. In fact—”
He hauled her to him and kissed her. Hard. When he was finished, her mouth was rosy and her eyes unfocused. “Try to behave while I’m gone.” Then he turned and followed an amused-looking Garrett toward the forest and weapons caches. He’d better get to punch somebody tonight.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Honor awoke to the feeling of a hand spread across her abdomen, a hard chest warming her shoulders, and a rock-solid erection against her bare ass. “Sam.”
“Better be.” He licked the shell of her ear. “You’re in bed naked. For me?”
“Yeah. Figured you’d get the hint if you got home soon enough.” The slightest streaks of dawn were filtering through the closed blinds. She wiggled her butt against his cock. “I guess you got the hint.” She’d been alone for so long that it had been a shock to her system to have him always in her space. Then it had been a bigger shock when he wasn’t…and she missed him.
He nipped her ear, and his hand moved up from her belly to caress her needy breasts. “How long were you up?”
“Till about two,” she admitted. “Bears have a lot of issues, and with each new patient, I was able to go a little bit deeper into their brains. Bear shifter minds are different from human minds, and I had to learn new techniques. I’m getting there and was actually able to help a few of them.” It gave her hope for her own clinic and what she could do there.
He pinched a nipple, and erotic streaks shot right to her core. “I told you to be finished by one.”
“I disobeyed.” Yeah, she knew she was poking the beast, but right now, parts of him were poking her too. She giggled. What the hell? She wasn’t someone who giggled. Yet he made her feel light and young and free. “What are you going to do about it?”
He rolled her onto her back and covered her, pressing at her entrance. “Teach you who’s boss?”
“Sure.” She scraped her nails down his flanks and only then noticed the bruising on his neck. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine. Healing cells will get there.” He leaned down and kissed her, pushing inside her. So big and full, and taking his time but not slowing.
She widened her thighs, her breath catching. Oh, she’d been dreaming about him and was more than ready, wet and soft for him. Even so, she could feel the tenuous hold he was keeping on his control. So she rolled her hips, taking more of him. Pain flashed inside her, and she winced.
His dark eyebrows rose. “You don’t learn.” Even so, he didn’t halt in his invasion of her body, going at a slow and steady pace. He was so big and seemed to be taking her over. Completely.
“I’m not that bright.” She grinned and shot both hands into his thick hair. His wet, thick hair. He must’ve showered.
“You’re brilliant and you know it.” He kissed her, going deep, continuing to stretch her internal walls with his cock.
She bit her lip against the exquisite pleasure tinged with a hint of pain. She liked that. Should she? “If I were brilliant, then I’d know what to do with you,” she whispered.