Page 1 of It’s Kind of a Bunny Story (Hey There, Hop Stuff #3)

“ C harlee? Are you here?” Fletcher’s words were followed by a huffed laugh through the tunnel as he made his way toward me. “Of course you are. I can smell you.”

“Are you saying I stink?” I tried to hiss, only to cringe at my voice’s unfamiliar breathiness.

This dang heat made me sound as though I was moments away from singing the happy birthday song for a president.

Maybe this was a good time to consider a career with a phone sex company.

I’d make a killing with my new voice—as long as I kept from bursting out laughing at the ridiculous things the desperate men moaned into the phone.

A sharp cramp attempted to contort my insides into a pretzel, reminding me that I wouldn’t likely need a job since I would be taking an early retirement from life within a few days. You didn’t have to worry about mortgage payments and grocery bills when you were tucked away in a quiet cemetery.

My death was entirely preventable—if I’d bowed to the will of my burrow. But I’d rather die on my own terms than have my body used as a personal toy by the arrogant cottonhole males that ran my burrow.

The only thing more unfair than being passed around like a trading card without a say in who would share my bed, was that my inner rabbit would bond to whatever random males bred me during my first heat.

Why should I have had to pine after and long for males who’d probably won the right to my virgin heat in a drunken poker game?

Males who’d take part in breeding every other female in the burrow.

A soft glow came from the dark tunnel that led out of the cave, and moments later, Fletcher appeared, a glowing orb in one hand and a pile of blankets and pillows in his arms. “Cillian, the alpha of the pack, gave me this light. Apparently, they float in pools to give ambience to parties,” Fletcher explained as I stared at the light he’d sat on a rock ledge near me.

“Huh. Technology is something else,” I commented as I admired the amber light it cast on the stone walls. The cave was about as far from glamping as you could get, but I appreciated the cozy lighting.

Fletcher kneeled beside me, pulling me against his chest. “And for the record, you never stink—except for that one time you fell in the compost heap.”

Burying his nose in my hair, he took a deep breath.

He did his best to hide it, but I caught the way his breath hitched, and his body trembled.

Thanks to my heat, I was the living, breathing embodiment of a sex pheromone, and it was a testament to his willpower that he didn’t start humping me on the spot.

My skin flushed, and I couldn’t help but wish he’d show a little less restraint.

Maybe if I kissed the hollow of his neck…

I stopped myself just before my lips pressed against his skin.

He’d taken care of me, helped me escape my awful burrow, but he’d never so much as kissed me.

I assumed since we’d been best friends since childhood, that he didn’t see me as a partner.

If I initiated something intimate with him now, he’d be unable to resist. It was basic biology.

My shifter nature was doing its best to announce to the world I was ready to breed, and his shifter nature would push him to respond.

I couldn’t take advantage of him in a moment of weakness.

Fletcher reluctantly released me and got to work unrolling a mattress pad and covering it with blankets. Once he’d finished, he patted the multi-coloured quilt top. “Come on. Get comfy and I’ll tell you what’s going on with the pack.”

Moving onto the pile, I was surprised at how soft the cushioned makeshift bed felt against my aching back.

Rolling onto my side, I curled into a ball, all the while working to keep a smile on my face.

There was no reason to worry Fletcher with how badly I was handling the contraction-like pains that were gaining strength.

I should tell him to go before I give in and beg him to help relieve my escalating heat. Tears pricked my eyes, hating the idea of being alone. No, that wasn’t the real reason. The truth was, I didn’t want him to leave me.

Sitting down beside me, Fletcher caught my hand, his thumb rubbing gentle circles on my back.

“Monroe wanted to come with me, but as we got close to the cave entrance, we picked up your scent and realized how quickly it had progressed. She didn’t want to risk stressing you more by contaminating your space with the smell of another female rabbit. ”

It was thoughtful, and logically, I appreciated her kindness, but I couldn’t ignore the ripple of unease that Fletcher had been near another woman. I knew she had her own fluffle, but that didn’t stop me from feeling territorial over the man my inner animal believed was ours.

“The pack has agreed to protect you and allow you to stay here as long as you want. Monroe’s mate has two male wolves who are on their way here.

They will guard you around the clock.” He paused, his mouth opening and closing as though he were struggling with what he planned to say next.

“They are, uh… willing to take care of any other needs you have.”

He didn’t need to spell it out. We both knew exactly what he meant. I probably should’ve felt shame at the way my core clenched and my body heated at the thought of mating with two complete strangers. For all I knew, they might have been paid for their services.

“She wanted me to tell you they are good men. Gentle wolves with big hearts. As soon as the alpha told them what was happening, they agreed to help.”

My brow creased. “That doesn’t make sense, Fletcher. Why would they agree to what’s basically an arranged marriage to a rabbit shifter they’ve never met? There has to be something wrong with them, right?”

Then again, beggars can’t be choosers . If I wanted to survive this heat without crawling back to my burrow, and they weren’t cruel, did it matter what was wrong with them?

If they were messy, I was willing to clean.

Maybe they snored? I could wear earplugs.

And if they chewed too loudly or with their mouths open, I’d learn to deal with it… hopefully.

“All I know is they were unable to find their mates, and they eventually stopped looking. I know you haven’t met Monroe, so you don’t have any reason to believe her, but I think you can trust her.

” Fletcher’s voice had taken on a croon that was meant to be comforting, but was making my insides feel even more wobbly.

His thumb was still rubbing the back of my hand, and I scooted my hand and his up the blanket until it was mere inches from my face. Giving in to temptation, I rubbed my cheek against his skin. The sharp intake of Fletcher’s breath delighted my inner hoe—I mean, rabbit .

I’m a good girl. I’m a good girl. I’m a good girl. I chanted the sentence in my mind, trying to remind myself how important that part of my character had been to me. Not that it helped.

It would be easy to blame my heat for the change, but deep down, I was tired. I longed to let go of the uncertainty that had weighed me down for years and savor life as I took what I desired.

Put simply, I didn’t want to be good anymore.

My skin beaded with sweat as lava burned through my stomach and rolled through my veins. Time was running out.

“Fletcher?”

“Yes?” he whispered.

“What if their alpha ordered them to”—I hesitated, my cheeks burning—“to mate with me. We both know that they’ll struggle to resist me once they catch the scent of my heat.

And it will be too late to warn them by the moment they lick my skin.

I don’t want to take their right to choose away, which is what will happen if they come in here before I warn them. ”

A wolf howled in the distance. It was answered a heartbeat later by a second wolf. Their long, eerie calls had my cottontail puckering. These wolves were on our side, but they were predators, and I was prey. There was no way to ignore those facts or my body’s instinctual reaction.

Fletcher shifted positions until he could stretch out beside me. We were close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his fully clothed body.

What would it feel like to press myself against him? Would he push me away?

“Stop those thoughts right now. You’re overthinking this and taking on guilt you don’t need to feel.

” Fletcher rested his hand on my hip, giving me a playful shake.

“They know. Monroe’s mate explained how things work for our kind.

They understand the heat, the way females bond for life, your need to be kept safe from anyone who comes looking for you, and they agreed without hesitation.

They were given a choice, and they both chose to come of their own free will. Got it?”

He knew the horror I’d feel if I survived my heat, only to discover I’d all but forced two men to take me as their mate.

It took some effort, but I managed to whisper a soft, “Yes.”

“Good.” His long sigh caused the stray hair around my face to tickle my cheek. “We did it. You’re safe, Charlee.”

He should have sounded happy, but he didn’t. Meeting his gaze, I saw the sadness pooling in their golden depths as he studied my face as though memorizing it for an exam.

Fletcher was leaving.

The ache in my chest had nothing to do with my heat and everything to do with the sudden terror I felt at never seeing him again.

Mine. Just because I wanted him to be mine, it didn’t make it so. But how could I let him go without telling him what he meant to me?

My heat became like a living thing, trying to burn my body from the inside out. There was no holding back the cry that was ripped from my chest as fresh agony tore through me. The pair of wolves howled, as though responding. They were closing the distance between us at an alarming pace.

“You’re burning up! Crap, crap, crap!” Fletcher sat up, eyes wide as his hands slid over my arms and shirt. “Is this normal? You’re completely soaked.”

Thanks to the accidental brush of his knuckles against my breasts, it wasn’t just my clothing that was soaked.

I tried to swallow the whimper that bubbled from my throat, but when Fletcher’s hand moved down to my waist, I lost the battle.

Unable to hide the raw lust pounding like a bass drum inside me, I moaned.

Moving fast, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to mine. Our lips met, and I poured all my emotion into the kiss, wanting him to realize the full depth of how I felt.

Despite the strength my desperation gave me, Fletcher could have easily pulled away. But he didn’t. He remained frozen for the span of several moments before his lips moved against mine.

“Don’t. Leave. Me,” I gasped between kisses.

Fletcher groaned, his muscles trembling. “That’s your heat talking.”

“You’re wrong,” I breathed. Shifting my hips slightly, I managed to wrap my legs around his waist and pull him tighter against me. “The heat is just giving me the courage to say what I want.”

My breath was coming in short, ragged pants. Between my rising temperature and the lightning-like zap of pain sizzling through my body, the room was beginning to spin. I pulled my lips from his and tried to draw in a deep breath.

Fletcher’s fingers dug into my hip, holding my squirming hips still. It wasn’t until he stopped me that I noticed his hard length pressed against me. Excitement and hope burst in my chest. He wanted me too.

Or was he just responding like any unmated shifter male would when a woman in heat threw herself at him?

“The plan was to help you escape so you could leave everything in your old life behind. That can’t happen if I stay.” Fletcher’s voice was rough, but I couldn’t tell if it was from emotion or the effort of restraining us. “I’m part of your past, Charlee.”

“The best part of my past. And yes, the heat is amplifying the raw lust I feel for you—” Bringing my gaze up to meet his, I dropped the walls I hid behind, allowing him to see the bare truth. “But I was already in love with you.”

Fletcher’s eyebrows drew together as he stared down at me. “You want me to stay?”

“Yes.” I worked to keep myself from curling into a ball as my insides twisted and burned.

The heat didn’t like being denied. Especially not with an able-bodied male between our legs and separated by nothing but a few scraps of fabric. But I didn’t want Fletcher to make his decision based on pity for my current predicament, so I bit down on my tongue to keep from crying out again.

“Oh, Charlee!” The exclamation tumbled from his lips on an exhale as he caught my face between his palms.

This time, he was the one to initiate the kiss—one that would have melted my panties off if I’d been wearing any beneath the ill-fitting sweats.

“You’ll stay?” I asked between feverish kisses.

His lips trailed down my neck. “Yes.”

There was just one more thing I needed to remind him.

“Fletcher?”

“Hmm?” His tongue teased along my collarbone, making it hard to remember what I was supposed to tell him.

“If we do this…” Even with my body on fire, I could still feel my cheeks heat at what ‘this’ meant. “I’ll bond to you. It’s not something I can help. But you don’t have to accept me?—”

Fletcher brought his mouth back to mine, cutting me off with a surprisingly tender kiss. When he pulled away, he asked, “Will you be my mate, Charlee? I’ve always known you were the only woman for me.”

If he’d told me that a day before, I would have burst into happy tears. But thanks to my raging heat, my response was a single husky word as I ripped away the clothes that were the last thing keeping us apart.

“Mine.”