Bleacke's Geek (Bleacke Shifters) by Lesli Richardson Page A

and wanted.
    He offered to help with the dishes, but Badger shooed him and Dewi out of the kitchen. “Go play, ye two,” he said with a grin. “Beck’ll help me.”
    Dewi didn’t give Ken a chance to object. She grabbed his hand and led him out the back sliders onto the lanai.
    She wrapped her arms around him, smiling up at him. “Playtime.”

    * * * *

    Dewi could stare up at him for hours and never get bored. She wanted to memorize every hair on his head, stay wrapped up forever in his arms.
    She knew she’d have some words to eat next time she saw Trent and Peyton. She remembered ragging on her two older brothers when they met their mates, picking on them in evil little sister fashion for their moony eyes and the way they practically drooled over their women for the first few months.
    Badger had warned her that one day, she, too, would understand.
    Now, she did.
    “What do you have in mind for playtime,” he said, “or should I be afraid to ask?”
    She giggled. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. Although I don’t promise not to bite.”
    He smiled. It bothered her that worry lines drew small creases in his face. He shouldn’t have anything to worry about, ever again. She wanted to fill his days and nights with so much happiness that those lines disappeared forever.
    “I don’t think I stand a chance against you regardless,” he said.
    She took him by the hand and led him outside and across the backyard. Late in the day, they still had about forty minutes of good light left, not that darkness was a problem for her eyes. “I want to show you something.”
    He looked a little ill. “The shooting range?”
    “No, something else. I really think you’ll like it.”
    Without hesitation, she threaded her way though pine needle-covered paths she had committed to memory. Ten minutes later, they emerged into a small clearing.
    His eyes widened. “Wow. This is neat.”
    She wrapped her arms around him from behind as he stared the small spring-fed pool approximately twenty yards across. A stream softly bubbled away from it, curving out of sight into the woods. “I love it here. It’s one of the reasons Badger picked this property. There was a small stream on the compound back in Idaho. I used to go there to sit and think or to just be by myself.” She sat, gently tugging on his hand to urge him to join her.
    He made himself comfortable on the grass and she laid down, resting her head in his lap so she could look up into his brown eyes. “I’m sorry this is all so overwhelming for you,” she said.
    He stroked her hair. His every motion felt tentative, as if he feared she’d bolt from him. “It’s okay. I’m starting to get a handle on it. I think.”
    She laced her fingers through his and brought his hand to her mouth. Slowly, she ran her lips up and down each of his fingers before she clasped her other hand over his and held it to her heart. “I’m yours,” she softly said. “Only yours, for the rest of our lives.”

    * * * *

    He wanted to believe it. “I think that’s the part that I’m still struggling with.” He smiled down at her. “What does that say about me that I can come to grips with the wolf stuff faster than I can the fact that a beautiful woman is in love with me?”
    “I think it says I’m glad you only had stupid women in your life before me.”
    “Can I ask you something?”
    “You can ask me anything.”
    “Last night in the pub, you asked me if I was married or single. Why did that matter?”
    “Because if you weren’t single, no matter what I felt for you, I would have walked away.”
    “And if I was gay?”
    She shrugged. “If you were single and interested, I would have had to think about it.” She nibbled on his hand, making his cock hard again. “If you were totally not interested, I would have made myself walk away.”
    Who was he kidding? Just having her within ten feet of him made his cock hard.
    “Well, lucky for both of us I was straight and