Bunny and the Bear

The skein of hair caught on the bristles of his jaw, and he shook his head with a grumble as he spat out the strand that got in his mouth. A whiff of her shampoo, an intoxicating raspberry scent, made his tummy rumble, but not in hunger, unless carnal counted.
With a twirl, the flexing female faced him with a full-lipped smile that seemed much too cheerful this time of the morning.
“Well, hello there, neighbor,” she chirped, her brightness so sweet he ached for his toothbrush. “Sorry I’m in the way. I was just warming up for my morning jog. I don’t think we’ve met. I just moved in to apartment 9C.” She thrust her hand out and twitched her nose at him as she continued to beam.
Chase scowled as he ignored her outstretched hand. One whiff and he could tell she didn’t belong to the human genome. Damned bunnies and their sunny natures. How could he properly rebuke her with her grinning like the world’s cutest simpleton? A guy bunny he could have cuffed upside the head, but a girl one… Somehow, he didn’t think gagging her with his cock was the way to chastise her. “So you were the reason why I didn’t get to sleep in on Saturday? Could your moving guys have been any louder?”
Her vivid green eyes blinked, her lips lost their tilt, and he noticed a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. “But it was eleven o’clock in the morning. The landlord assured me it would be fine. Did you go to bed late?”
He fixed a glare on her and replied in a haughty tone, “I like at least a good sixteen hours on the weekend, eighteen even sometimes. Because of your ruckus, though, I only got a measly fourteen.” With winter only slowly losing its grip on the city, the urge to hibernate in his bed remained hard to shake.
“Hmm, last time I spent that long in bed, it wasn’t because I was sleeping,” she sassed with a wink.
The innuendo was impossible to miss, and while an insane urge to drag her back to his bedroom and test his bed’s springs did cross his mind, he instead feigned ignorance and frowned. “Then you should get a better mattress. Sleep should never be neglected.” He fixed her with a hard stare. “Or interrupted.”
A grin curled her lips and displayed gleaming white teeth. “Aww, aren’t you the most adorable grumpy bear. Tell you what. I’ll make it up to you. Let me fix you some dinner.”
Hmm, naked wet bunny on a plate? “No,” he growled.
“Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies?”
No, but he knew a sweet pastry he’d like to taste. Damn. His mind refused to get out of the gutter this morning. “No.”
Her nose twitched. “Massage?”
Greasy hands sliding all over his body and over his dick. Yeah, that sounded like a plan. Hunh, wait a second. “No.” Chase needed to leave before the hard-on in his pants tore through the fabric and went after the little bunny’s pie, but she stood squarely in front of him, looking and smelling much too yummy.
Not at all perturbed by his negative replies, the luscious female rabbit tapped her chin with a finger as her eyes, narrowed in thought, held his gaze. He stared right back, trying to appear ferocious. She didn’t seem to notice. Cocking her head to the side, she eyed him up and down. Despite himself, he sucked his stomach in, bulking up his already massive chest. A bear did have his pride after all.
“I think I’ll just surprise you,” she said with a wink and a lick of her lips.
His cock jerked as Chase almost went cross-eyed at the thought of what she might do—naked. “Please don’t,” he grumbled. Too late. The bunny, whose name he’d never gotten, sprinted off, her silken hair bouncing down her back, drawing attention to the exposed round cheeks of ass, her slap-me, bite-me, plow-me, perfect ass.
A long-suffering sigh escaped him. I must really need to get laid if even small woodland creatures are turning me on.
Adjusting his dick, which refused to play dead, Chase grabbed his briefcase and headed off to work. A brisk walk would help clear his mind.
One of the advantages of city living was he rented an office within blocks of his apartment, right across the street from a bakery that sold the most delicious honey buns. Were the two items related? Kind of. He’d noticed the Office for Rent sign while chowing down on some of the pastries. Setting up an office right across the street from his favorite bakery seemed like fate to a bear who couldn’t get enough sweets. He blamed his mother, who, once he’d graduated from university, moved to the mountains, taking her delicious dessert-making skills with her. Chase, while an accomplished chef when it came to meat and potato dishes, sucked at making the more delicate confections he craved. Thank Ursa for bakeries.
Thinking of the sticky buns—soft and chewy, their glazed sugar melting on his tongue—made him hungry, so he grabbed a dozen and ordered another two dozen for a later pickup before heading up the elevator to his office. Entering his space on the third floor, he greeted Katy, his receptionist, a she-wolf who managed to be ultra-efficient without ever seeming to work. An admirable trait, if you asked him.
She currently filed her immaculate nails. “Your inbox has some contracts needing your final look-over and signature. You have a will probate at eleven. And another at three.” On and on, she recited the tasks she’d undertaken and passed on to him for completion. Boring. His punishment, he guessed, for taking the easier path to will and probate attorney instead of criminal.
“Why can’t you be a lazy-ass secretary like everybody else’s?” he grumbled as his day began to look more and more bleak.
“Just making sure you’ve got money for my summer bonus,” she replied. “Which reminds me…”
Before she could go off on another list, the phone rang and, with a sigh of relief, Chase escaped.
The first thing he did when he sat behind his large wooden desk was scarf down three pastries. His sweet tooth assuaged, he still found himself hungry, just not for food. The damned bunny still bounced around inside his mind and had him raring for a taste of pie, and not just any pie, her sweet pie.
It baffled him—I don’t even like cute and perky women. It annoyed him—Since when do I lust after anything but a sow? Attempts to change the direction of his thoughts failed, and after fifteen minutes of restless fidgeting and busy work, he came to the conclusion that nothing would curb his arousal but sex itself. Not with that bloody cheerful rabbit, though.
Pulling out his cell phone, Chase scrolled through the numbers, looking for a lady-friend to call—AKA a fuck buddy. None of the names appealed to him, and despite himself, he couldn’t stop picturing the cute little bunny and her full pink lips, perfect for sucking dick. He clearly recalled her large, plush breasts straining at her snug T-shirt, a hefty handful made for grabbing and squeezing—and burying his face between to blow raspberries. Then there was her indented waist, just the right size for his hands to hoist her sweet little body up and indulge in some hardcore plowing. I bet she’s a screamer. And what about her full hips, made for bearing cubs?
Whoa. Chase almost fell out of his office chair at the last thought. How did I go from getting rid of a hard-on to babies? Settling down wasn’t part of any current plan, especially not with a bunny. Interspecies mating was all well and good for other shifters. As the firstborn son descended of pureblood bears, he owed it to his ancestors to keep their line untainted. Let his brother, Mason, the ladies’ man of the family, break tradition.
When I’m ready for cubs, I’ll settle down with a nice sow with good genes—and a fat ass for slapping. Maybe I’ll find myself a feisty Kodiak or a polar female, but nothing crazier than that. As a grizzly, he did have a reputation to maintain, after all.
As for his long-eared neighbor and her threat to make it up to him, he’d just work harder at being his usual charming self. It scared off most everybody—human or shifter—eventually. And that’s how I like it. Friends and lovers expect things of you, like a helping hand, or sharing the blankets when you’re in the same bed, or splitting your dessert when there’s only one honey cruller left. His last girlfriend had been big on the whole share-everything scenario. It was why their relationship never made it past the three-month mark because, after all, why split anything when he could just keep it all for himself?
Of course, his current course of keeping his cock to himself wasn’t working out as well, apparently. Not only was his hand tired of fisting, nothing could compare to the tight, hot feel of a…platinum blonde bouncing on it with energetic yells.
The phone rang, and his bunny-caused erection wilted at the shrill voice of Mrs. Plantain.
* * *
Miranda alternately jogged and sprinted all sixteen blocks to work, not bothering to take notice of or respond to the catcalls and honking horns that followed her wherever she went. In a great mood, she smiled as she traveled and only caused one fender bender when she paused to bend over to pick up a lucky penny. There were no casualties, proving the tarnished copper cent was worth it. It’s my lucky day.
She’d just met the most entertaining male. Don’t forget sexy too. Towering over her at six and a half feet, the man was built like a brick house—solid muscle without an ounce of fat, so yummy. Dressed in a suit, with an honest-to-goodness knotted tie instead of a clip-on, he appeared so staid and proper. It made a bunny want to do crazy things to see if she could get him to crack a smile. But talk about grim. She’d never seen such a dour countenance on anyone, and him still so young too. She pegged him at probably only a few years older than her twenty-seven. Betcha I could turn that frown upside down. If he gave her a chance before throttling her. He didn’t seem like a guy who owned loads of patience or people skills.
However, despite his unpleasant demeanor, she found him intriguing. He roused her curious bunny nature because now she wanted to know what made him so rude and what it would take for him to laugh—or grab her in a bear hug for a seriously hot smooch.
Entering a nondescript office building, Miranda hopped into an open elevator and pressed thirteen. As the cab moved, she ignored the interested looks of the humans. Males of any species were so easy to distract. Just throw on a pair of Daisy Dukes and a tight T, and they turned into drooling idiots. They were so cute sometimes.
Unable to keep still, she rolled back and forth on her heels as the elevator went up and up, disgorging humans as it went. At the final floor, it dinged, but before the doors opened, a tingling sensation swept her as a security laser checked her to make sure she belonged on this level. Ascertaining her shifter status, the doors slid open, and she bounced out into the vestibule for FUC—Furry United Coalition. Originally, they were called Furry United Coalition and Defense, but apparently, someone thought FUCD was just too vulgar. Go figure. So FUC it was, the first line of defense for those who wore the fur all around the world. The avian and aquatic species had their own protective agencies that worked in close conjunction with FUC, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to trade agents around, although nobody ever volunteered for the deep-sea missions, drowning on the job not exactly high on anyone’s list.
“Serve, protect, and keep the humans in the dark.” That was their motto, and as a FUC agent, she did whatever she needed to keep shifters safe, from guarding them to keeping humans ignorant to investigating crimes. A challenging job, yet she enjoyed the variety of her day-to-day tasks. And the dental benefits totally rocked.
Skipping over to the front desk, she leaned on its polished surface as she scanned the bulletins on the board. A wolf whistle made her whip up a middle finger before she turned with a smile. “Don’t you have some pigs to bother?”
“I’d rather huff and puff all over you, darling,” Frank replied with a laugh. Wolf shifter and lover of dirty innuendo, he flirted with anything classed as female.
“You couldn’t keep up with me. Don’t forget, the Energizer was my granddaddy.”
A snorting laugh erupted from him. “You are a handful, Miranda. Hey, are you meeting up with us after work at Joe’s Jungle for drinks?”
“Sorry, but this bunny is on a mission. Maybe next time.” She tried to never drink on the job unless she needed to as part of her cover. Actually, even off the job, she didn’t imbibe too much or often, given alcohol went straight to her head and made her hyper—and horny. She didn’t want to wake up beside Gabe the snake again. Some things a girl was just better off not knowing.
“Did you manage to meet your target?”
Miranda finished signing in and spun to face the speaker. At well over six feet—yet considered small for her kind—Kloe, mission director and literal giraffe, towered over just about everyone, and had the longest, most graceful neck of anyone Miranda knew, except maybe Jessie, their resident swan and tech geek.
“Phase one accomplished, boss. I’ve made contact with one grumpy, yet handsome, bear. He didn’t look too impressed with me, though.”
Kloe’s lips curved into a smile. “Let me guess, you played the I’m-just-a-dumb-bunny for him, didn’t you?”
Miranda batted her lashes. “Who, me?” She laughed. “Oh, you should have seen his face. I’m going to do the good neighbor thing tonight and bring over some home baked goods.”
“Perfect idea. We all know how bears love their treats.”
Oh, the bear wanted a taste of something sweet all right, but she’d recognized the look in his eye. I think he wants a bite of a bunny instead of honey. That would have to wait, though. She tried not to mix work with play—often. However, once she’d completed her mission, watch out, Chase Brownsmith. Not only did she plan to make him smile—maybe even chuckle— she had a hankering to see if grizzlies were as big as they said. “I’m assuming Victor took up the tail once my target left the building?”
“He did. Nothing to report as of yet. The crew is at his place right now planting the bugs—bedroom, kitchen, living room, and hall. His office was done last night. According to Jessie, you should have a link to your laptop and cell by early this afternoon, but we both know there’s still nothing better than hands-on and eyes open wide.”
“Oh, don’t you worry. I intend to stay stuck to that bear’s ass better than a burr.” Once Miranda got an assignment, in this case protecting an oblivious grizzly, she didn’t stop until the job was done. “Any luck on finding out more about that list?”
Kloe shook her head. The list she spoke of, which had arrived anonymously at their offices less than two weeks ago, contained the names of almost fifty shifters. All single males in tip-top shape. It would have seemed like a great source for eligible bachelors, except over a dozen of those men had gone missing in the last six months. Only one ended up recovered: dead, decomposing, and a cross between horrifying and nightmarish.
The tentative consensus was someone appeared to be kidnapping healthy males to experiment on. Why, who, or how remained unknown at this point. Heck, they still didn’t know how they’d gotten the list of possible victims, but anonymous or not, FUC didn’t sit idle on the clue.
In an effort to curb the disappearances, and catch the perpetrators, each of the names remaining on the list ended up assigned a pair of secret agents to watch over them. They didn’t want to tip the perpetrator off that they were onto them, but at the same time, FUC couldn’t stand by idle, waiting to see if anyone else got snatched. Miranda drew the job of onsite guard, while Victor, her partner, became the outdoor shadow. Between the pair of them, they were tasked with keeping the bear safe. Not an easy task given their sparse numbers, but that’s where the surveillance would come in handy.
Debate on whether or not to notify the victims ended up with a wait-and-see approach. The fear was, if told, they might trigger some alpha male tempers, which would then force the perp to seek out new victims. Some might argue they used the males as bait. Miranda, though, preferred to think of it as secret volunteering because, surely, if the big, strong guys knew of the targets on their backs, they’d have agreed. Besides, if they did their job right, none of the targets would have to know.
While her subject worked in his office—out of sight and reach for the moment—Miranda took the opportunity to practice her protective and, if needed, deadly skills. When it came to guns, knives, hand-to-hand combat and more, she might appear cute and defenseless, but show her a bad guy and she’d pulverize his ass while smiling.
And, if all her training and weapons failed, watch out because she could always resort to her bunny side.