“Will you stop thinking Bear is going to eat you? He’s a good dog. He really likes you.”
I glance over at the dog that’s racing laps around the yard before looking back up at Shepherd. “The only one I want eating me is you.”
He grins as he leans down and kisses my lips in the shortest peck ever. “I’m extremely aware since your hard-on dug into my leg as you clung to me last night.”
My body is instantly on fire because I sure as hell was hoping he didn’t notice anything. But of course he noticed. Shepherd notices everything. “You were naked. It’s not my fault. I’m sorry, though… I really didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“It’s okay.” He pats my cheek. “You don’t have to apologize. I’m not asking you to change who you are for me, Killian. I would never ask that.”
“But I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
He smiles at me. “I’m not… thank you, though. I think you’re the first person who cared or didn’t tell me I was messed up for not fucking them. And anyway, it’s nice knowing you’re that turned on by me. Now, you’re learning nothing rolling around in the grass like a defenseless kitten. And nothing draws attention to us like you screaming ‘Shepherd, save me!’ while running circles like a madman.”
“But I wanted you to save me again. It was really hot the last few times.”
He snorts as he gets up and tugs me to my feet. “Bear, drop the shoe,” Shepherd orders. Bear takes off like a bullet, determined to never give the shoe up. And somehow, I kind of find it funny, even though it’s my shoe that’s being soaked in slobber.
It takes Shepherd about a minute but he pulls it free from Bear’s jaws. “I have retrieved your shoe,” Shepherd says as he walks over to me. It’s dark in areas where the spit has soaked through.
“Lovely,” I say as I hold my foot up.
“You’re not Cinderella now.”
“No, but I don’t want to touch that shoe, it’s disgusting.”
He puts my shoe on, which is surprisingly sweet, until he draws the strings so tightly I’m positive my foot is going to fall off.
“Why do you not know how to be nice?” I ask.
He gives me a grimace. “I really don’t know, Killian. I think… you just draw it out of me.”
“What if you try to keep it in check?” I ask as I watch him triple knot it.
“I’m trying,” he says before giving me a big smile as he reaches out and cups my cheeks. “There ya go.”
My foot has lost all feeling. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome,” he says as he leaves me to fix my shoe before giving me a hand to help me up.
When I slide my fingers into his hand, he wraps his warm fingers around it before pulling me to my feet. When he doesn’t immediately let go of my hand, I find myself watching him until he shoves a gun into it and points me at the bottles. Of course another sweet moment has been ruined by guns.
“Go ahead. Bang bang. Show me your skills.”
I stare at the cans, wishing we could go back to rolling around on the ground. “I have no skills. Can we go back to holding hands? That was rather fun.”
“No.”
“Please? You have such nice hands.”
“If you shoot one of those cans, I’ll pat your head.”
I glare at him.
“Go along now, gotta work for a pat. I can’t just spoil you all the time now.”
I sigh and decide that it’s probably not stupid to at least learn how to shoot a gun. It doesn’t mean I have to go out and start killing people left and right. I might need it to defend myself at some point. I know how to load a gun, but really, I never learned much beyond that.
“The first thing you need to do is relax.”
“Relax?” I ask. “How the hell do you relax when holding a gun?”
He slides his hands over my shoulders. “Your back is hunched, your shoulders are tense, your entire body is tense. You’re going to shoot before you’re ready if you’re tense or wait too long. You need to relax because when you’re relaxed your brain can work better. If someone’s moving at you and you just start firing off shots, how many shots are actually going to hit? You might use up all your bullets on one guy. You’d rather take one calculated shot than