You Had Me at Cougar

by Terry Spear

  The fur on his leg and neck bloodied, he stood up on his hind legs and snarled at them. Chet wasn’t about to back down when he was protecting Ava. She smelled of fear, her heartbeat racing. So was his, but he smelled of anger.

  They were at a standoff, neither of them advancing.

  The bear could kill a cougar, but two cougars might be a little too much for him. Still, Chet wanted Ava to leap onto the boulders and go all the way to the top of the waterfall and get out of harm’s way and he would follow her if he thought he could do it without getting into a fight with the bear. The bear couldn’t climb the steep rocks fast like they could with their long-legged leaps and bounds.

  But Ava wasn’t budging from where she stood next to him, as if she knew the two of them as cougars stood a better chance against a wounded, angry bear than one of them.

  The bear huffed at them, threatening to charge them. The bear wasn’t Jonathon because Chet knew his scent from the fortune telling booth situation. If this was the troublemaking bear, he might not know that cougar shifters ruled over this territory.

  Chet took a deep breath, let it out, and shifted. Taking the chance that the bear wasn’t a wild bear was the best thing he could think of to protect Ava under the circumstances.

  Ava’s jaw dropped. So did the bear’s. Then the bear dropped to all fours and took off. Ava swatted at Chet’s hip, her claws retracted, and he shifted into his cougar and looked at her and smiled.

  She growled at him, and he knew she hadn’t liked that he had shifted into his human form in front of an angry bear. He wouldn’t have if she’d just climbed onto the rocks like he had hoped she would.

  Besides, it worked, didn’t it? The bear took off, which was just what he’d hoped for, and nobody got hurt. Chet suspected the bear thought they were real cougars at first, and he was angry about being wounded and he was just defending himself. But when the bear saw they were shifters, Chet figured the bear’s beef wasn’t with them but Jonathon. Chet, by turning into his human form, had proven they didn’t intend to harm him.

  Chet licked Ava’s face, but she still appeared annoyed. He raced up the rocks. She swatted his tail twice on the way up after him. He smiled. At least she didn’t stay mad. At least he hoped not, or he might be sleeping under the moon and stars tonight.

  Ava couldn’t believe Chet would shift into his human form in front of a wounded and angry bear. She had been certain he was a wild bear. But she had to admit Chet’s action had made the bear back down and go away without anyone getting hurt.

  Despite her attention being on the bear initially, watching the threat in front of them, when Chet startled her by shifting, he’d caught her eye momentarily. Then she’d turned to see how the bear would react. To her surprise, the bear just left, and she suspected he was a shifter.

  In that instant, she had seen the cougar bite on Chet’s backside that Kate has stitched up. So it wasn’t just nothing, like he had pretended it to be. It looked red and irritated. He shouldn’t have even been running tonight. Then he had shifted into his cougar form, waited to see what the bear was going to do, then turned to see her growly expression, and licked her face, as if trying to make it up to her.

  But now she was worried about his wound and the fact he should never have gone running with her in the first place. When he began to climb the rocks to the top of the waterfall, she had swatted at his tail. Not in play though. Because she had still been annoyed with him. If the bear had attacked Chet when he had turned human, she would have had to attack the bear and she was sure the bear would have won out.

  For a moment, Chet and Ava just sat there on the boulder on the top of the world and enjoyed the view. Chet thought about the bear and thought about her. Then he nuzzled his face against hers and luckily, she didn’t stay mad at him for long. She nuzzled him back, and then they headed down the rocks again and raced each other back.

  As soon as they reached their clothes in the woods, he shifted and grabbed his phone—all business, alerting Ricky of the bear incident since he was still the deputy sheriff on duty tonight. “All right, Ricky. Yeah, Carver Falls. Okay. The bear left, but he had been wounded—looked like he was wearing a bear bite, and if he dashes into the path of any others running as cougars, they might have a different outcome.”

  “Okay, I’ll notify everyone,” Ricky said.

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  Ava was getting dressed, eyeing Chet’s hot physique. What could she say? He was standing there frowning, talking on the phone to the deputy sheriff and fully nude. So yeah, she could have looked away, but the view was just too good.

  Chet smiled and winked at her, making her blush, then he put his phone in the pocket of his shorts and began getting dressed. “I know you think I shouldn’t have shifted to confront the injured bear, but I was certain he was that rogue bear shifter Jonathon was after.”

  “And if he hadn’t been?”

  “I would have shifted back in a flash and tackled him, making a hell of a lot of racket. Then others would have come to our rescue, and he would have known the battle was lost and he would have raced off like he did anyway. I take it your swatting at my tail a couple of times while I was leaping up the rocks to the top of the waterfall weren’t love pats.”

  She snorted. “Hardly.”

  He took her hand and walked with her back to the resort where her car was parked. “I came with Travis, if you could drop me off at his place, and I can follow you to your home.”

  “Sure. That will work.”

  “You’re not still mad at me? I was afraid I might be sleeping under the big sky tonight.”

  She frowned at him. “You weren’t in any shape to fight. You shouldn’t have been out running.” Then she softened her expression. “I thought we could have leaped for the boulders and gotten out of the bear's path without any further trouble. But no, you were being Mr. Macho Cougar and had to tough it out with the bear.”

  He smiled. “I was hoping you would make the move to leap onto the boulders, but when you didn’t, I had to do something. I wasn’t leaving you behind.” He climbed into her car. “What do you mean I wasn’t in any shape to fight?”

  “The wound on your backside. Don’t tell me it doesn’t hurt.”

  “You were supposed to keep an eye on the dangerous bear, not me.”

  “Both of us were shocked to see you shift.”

  “Well, the wound will start to itch soon, meaning it’s healing up,” he said.

  “But it’s not yet.”

  Changing the subject, he said, “Didn’t you see the trouble ahead for us?”

  She scoffed. “As if I would let us face the danger if we hadn’t needed to. You’re talking about having a premonition of it, right? It doesn’t work like that. I can’t see every occurrence of everything that might happen. If I had seen any sign of a bear in a vision, I would have…” She paused.

  He looked at her. “What?”

  “I had a dream about an angry bear last night.”

  “At the waterfall?”

  “No. I mean, I didn’t see anything but him standing there on his hind legs. If I’d known the bear was going to be there, I would have made us stay where we were behind the waterfall. He didn’t see us, and we didn’t see him. Neither of us smelled the other. The thing about my predictions is they’re wholly unreliable. And they can be about anything—like your pay raise. Then I miss something important like us facing down a wounded bear. And you getting naked to scare him off.”

  Chet smiled, then frowned. “But it sounds like you did have a premonition. You just hadn’t realized you had. I figured he was a shifter, and he would know we weren’t wild cougars defending each other, and ready to give him any more wounds.”

  She pulled into Travis’s driveway and Chet got a call from Travis. “Okay. I’m just picking up my car at your place and following Ava home. No. Ava’s okay. She’s pissed off at me, but otherwise, safe.” He smiled. “Talk later.” He got out of her car. “I’ll follow you home.”
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  He followed her car in his own, but then she got a call from Nina. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. Can you believe Chet would shift into his human form while confronting a bear?”

  “Oh, wow, no. It’s a good thing the bear didn’t attack him then. But I’m glad you are both okay. I heard you told Ricky his MOB ex-girlfriend is coming to see him and cause trouble for him.”

  “Yeah. He wanted a reading. I could have made one up for him, but I figured he would be glad to at least be ready for it. We’re almost to my place. I’ll talk to you later, Nina. Thanks for checking on me.”

  “What are sisters for?”

  “I agree, but I still owe you one.” Then they ended the call.

  When Ava and Chet finally got home to her place, Ava let Chet in, his overnight bag in hand. She had forgotten about tearing her clothes off when she came home and throwing them all over, leaving them in a trail all the way up the stairs in a rush to change into her swimsuit and get to the lake. Her lavender bra and panties were strewn about just like the rest of her clothes. Ugh. She began grabbing them up and Chet smiled at her.

  “You didn’t know you were going to have a visitor staying with you,” he said, excusing her.

  “You’re right. I didn’t, though I usually don’t toss my clothes all the way through the house. I was in a hurry to go swimming. I had a great time, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah. You made it truly special.”

  “You did too.” She frowned at him. “You look like you had a little too much sun today.” His face was really flushed, and she reached out and touched his forehead. He was hot to the touch. “You are burning up.”

  “I’m just a little sunburned.”

  Ava looked skeptically at him. He felt feverish to her, but her thermometer wasn't working, and she hadn't gotten a replacement yet.

  He let out his breath. “I’m fine.”

  “Drop your pants.”

  He chuckled. “No she-cat has ever asked me to do that before. Are you sure you want to go there?”

  Now her cheeks were burning. “Let me see your wound.”

  He pulled down his shorts and boxer briefs low enough that she could check out his bite mark.

  “It’s infected. You need to take a shower, and I’ll put an antibiotic on it, then cover it with a bandage. Did Dr. Kate give you an oral antibiotic?”

  “Yeah, a shot and some pills. I need to take a pill before I go to bed.”

  “All right. The guest bathroom is between the two bedrooms. You can put your bag in that room. I’ll bring you a fresh towel.”

  He lifted her face to him and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You are so hot.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I mean—you are feverish,” she said.

  He smiled down at her and kissed her again. This time she opened up to him and their tongues licked and stroked. He sighed. So did she. But she needed to find a cougar who lived and worked closer to home. Still, she hadn’t been this hot for a guy in forever.

  “Okay, off to bed for both of us—separate beds—but after we shower—separate showers, I’ll bandage your wound.” She figured she needed to make sure he knew all the rules.

  “All right.” He sounded amusedly resigned, pulled up his pants, and ran up the stairs.

  She went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water for him so he could take his medicine and once she was upstairs, she set it on the dresser in the guest room. She grabbed a towel out of the linen closet and while he was soaping up with his manly soap, looking glorious through the glass just starting to steam up, she set the towel on the bathroom counter.

  Ava left the bathroom and got some antibiotic cream and a fresh bandage for his wound. When he turned off the shower, she came to the bathroom, waited outside the door, and asked, "Are you all dried off yet?"

  "Yeah. I forgot to bring a change of clothes in with me."

  "I'll try not to peek." As if she hadn't been eyeing his physique all along. He was sure one hot, muscled cougar. She'd never seen him with these many clothes off this many times.

  He opened the door to the steamy bathroom, the towel around his hips, and he was so sexy, she almost changed her mind about him sleeping in the guest room by himself.

  "Why don't we go to your guest room and that way I can do this where we won't feel like we're in a steam bath."

  He smiled at her. "Sure." He led the way and in the guest room, he pulled off the towel and dried his hair while she covered his wound with the antiseptic and then bandaged it. She figured that would be it, but he put the towel on the chair in the room and pulled her into his arms. "I want to know that you're not angry with me."

  She scoffed. "You are running a fever. What were you thinking?"

  "That I wanted to go with you on a cougar run."

  "Yeah, well now you're going to have to have bed rest until you get better."

  "I'll be fine by tomorrow. You know how we are."

  "You had better be." Sure he could be, since their healing genetics made them heal up twice as fast as humans, but they could still get worse and could die. They weren't immortal. And how would she feel if he became even more ill just because he went with her on a run? Awful.

  No one would blame her though, because he was trying to prove he was all manly, but it didn't matter. She would still feel it was partially her fault. She should have known better.

  Still, she kissed him, and he kissed her back in a way that made her feel she wanted to get to know him better. That made her wish he was living in Yuma Town and not Cheyenne, Wyoming. Though she wondered if she moved there to be with him, and she knew she was getting way ahead of herself here, what would it be like?

  Okay, she guessed, if she was with the man she wanted to be with. But she did love working for Florence at her bakery, and she loved being near her sister and if her sister and her mate ended up with kids, Ava wanted to be there for her. She smiled at the thought that she would be an auntie. "Get some rest. Don't get up early. Sleep in. I'll make you some breakfast in the morning when you're up."

  "Breakfast in bed?" He gave her the most devilish of smiles.

  What, breakfast in bed with her? Guys were all the same. She smiled, shook her head, and patted his chest. "Only if your fever makes you bedridden. And then? You're going to be in a hospital bed."

  "No way."

  "Well, then get your sleep and no more wild running around. But I have to say I did have fun, so thank you for the run tonight."

  "Yeah, I feel the same way." Then he gave her a hug and kissed her again before she left him alone.

  She shook her head at herself. She knew not to let this go anywhere between them, but she sure had enjoyed the time with him. Running with a single, male cougar who intrigued her was a lot different than just running with cougar friends and family. There were just different nuances about it. The playing was more—intimate, just...different.

  She took a shower, then pulled on a long, T-shirt and climbed into bed. She was supposed to work a half day tomorrow afternoon, but what if she needed to look after Chet? Actually, anyone who could, would, so there was no reason for her to take off from work. So why was she calling her boss then and asking, "Florence, did you know Chet is staying at my place because there was no room for him to stay anywhere else?" She didn't want to let on that this had been her idea, should anyone think there was more to this situation than there was.

  "Right, because of the celebration."

  "Correct. Anyway, he was bitten by a rogue cougar while on a mission and the bite is infected. He's running a fever and—"

  "Say no more. You need to watch over him." Florence was trying to sound strictly professional about it, like she didn't believe there was anything more to it than that, but Ava could hear the amusement in her words even so.

  "I could have anyone else keep an eye on him if he needs watching and you really need me to be at the bakery." Though Ava was supposed to be off and weeding her garden and whatever else she wan
ted to do for most of the day.

  "No, you go right ahead and take care of him. If you need time off the next day, just let me know."

  "I'm going to drop him by the clinic if he doesn't get better by morning, and then I'll be in at my regular time. So he has to behave himself."

  Florence didn't say anything, and Ava figured she was assuming something she didn't want her boss to assume.

  "We went running tonight and I didn't know he was feeling poorly," Ava said.

  "Oh, typical of one of the special agents with the Cougar Shifter Force. Well, males in general. I'm sure Bridget wouldn't be like that if she were feeling poorly."

  "I agree," Ava said. "Anyway, then he came down with a fever and the wound doesn't look really good. So just in case...."

  "Don't think anything of it. Just take off however long you need to. Just like you said about someone else taking care of him if I was in a bind, which I'm not, any number of cougars would come to help me out so you could stay with Chet. Tell him to take it easy for me and I'll drop a special breakfast off for the two of you in the morning."

  "Oh, you don't need to."

  "I want to. You've been invaluable as my master baker and now when I have an opportunity to help pay you back, you've got it." Florence was always that way.

  Ava had the sneaking suspicion that Florence was thinking that she would need to be baking a wedding cake for them next, and Ava didn't want anyone to think that. Heck, she hadn't even been the one to invite Chet to stay at her house.

  "Well, thanks, Florence. We'll see you in the morning."

  "You're welcome. Good night."

  They ended the call and Ava stretched out in her bed, not believing how fun the celebration and the run with Chet had been, until he got all heroic against the bear. If she had jumped onto the rocks, would he have followed her?