Page 29 of Trees Take the Long View

"I'm a boyfriend of any sort. I can be that, can't I?"

"Sure," he said faintly, looking blown away for some reason.

"What? Shouldn't I call us that yet? I told Freddie you were my boyfriend—why, shouldn't I have?"

"Ha! You should definitely have told Freddie." His grin was wide and infectious. "And anyone else you want to—if you think it's true?"

"Sure."

"But we haven't—"

"Well, we're getting there, right? But right now, before we're mates, we're boyfriends, okay?"

"Sounds good to me." He still looked like he was reeling internally for some reason, so I gave him a quick hug and a kiss to reassure him. At least, I hoped it reassured him. He squeezed me back tightly, which felt good—and his kiss had passion in it.

"We've got work to do," he said. "Let's pick this up later."

Sex was becoming the elephant in the room. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that we both wanted it, but weren't having it. I knew I wanted him; and he sure gave off the signs and pheromones of wanting me. I suppose it could have been a general horniness, but I'd have bet against it.

I might not be great at reading foxes and what they wanted, but my mate—my boyfriend, I mean—was pretty obviously affected by the sight of me...or the kissing of me.

We'd finally arrived, gotten a hotel room, and were now discussing the case. He'd insisted that I not cook tonight; he'd take me out to eat after we talked through the case without fellow flyers listening in.

I cracked my knuckles again, just because I could. "So, what's the plan then, we go in undercover, you try to sell me as an illicit wolf—"

His smile told me that wasn't even close to the actual plan. "Believe it or not, consultants aren't supposed to take on dangerous undercover assignments. Besides, how would it help find the ring of traffickers to try to sell you to a big cat customer? Assuming they'd even buy?"

"Excuse me, but I'm as gorgeous and wild-looking as any big cat."

"Even a white tiger?" His eyebrows were skeptical.

"You'dbetter think so." I gave him a poke in the side.

He rubbed his side. "Because I'm your boyfriend, right?" He seemed to be enjoying that word a lot.

"Yes, that's correct. So, no undercover?"

"Don't look so disappointed. I'd rather you weren't in danger, thanks. Besides, do you really want to be locked up in a cage of some sort, even for a little bit?"

I thought about that. "No, I guess not."

"Good, then we're on the same page. No, what I'm planning to do is talk to the people who bought these big cats we suspect might be one or more shifters, and see if I can find out who sold them, or some connecting factor that will let us guess where they're going next. As for you..." He gave me a shining, proud look. "You can sniff around and decide if they were actually shifters or just big cats. Then we'll turn the case over to the appropriate agencies if it's not shifter-related."

I had to admit, that sounded good. "All right, you've convinced me. No undercover work, just sniffing around. After the dangerous work of sneaking into a golf club and almost being sold a membership, I'd better keep things low-key this time."

"Exactly." He had that look he got when he was trying not to laugh. "Did they really try to sell you a membership?"

"Of course," I replied with pained dignity, putting a hand to my chest. "I was wearing your suit, after all."

This time he did laugh.

It was good to be able to get him to laugh. It was also nice to be part of his plans, even if not quite in the way I'd expected. I slipped a hand into his and took the opportunity to lean against him, feeling particularly companionable.

He gave my hand a quick squeeze in response, and then caught me round and gave me a more-passionate-than-playful kiss. In his arms, I melted into the delight of kissing him, could have gone on forever...if not for two other very pressing points that had us both panting.

"Can I ask you a question?" I mumbled between breaths.

"Uh...yeah." He was as distracted as I was. No point pretending otherwise when we could both really, really tell.