Free Acceptable Risk by Candace Blevins

he
pushes.”
    “Ya’ll trusted Mac with me? Alone?”
    “It isn’t a matter of trust, Cupcake,” Mac said
from behind her. “It’s about my control, which seems to be fine
during sex. Still, we weren’t exactly alone. They were close.”
Bethany turned to face him as he continued. “Now that you know what
I am, it won’t be the end of the world if I change around
you. I have enough control to know before I lose it, and if I tell
you to get away, you know to get a door between us until I’ve changed . Once I’m calm, I’ll be safe around you, it’s only
the first fifteen to twenty seconds there might be a risk. It used
to take me a long time to remember who I am, after I turned wolf.
Now there’s only a few seconds of confusion before I remember.
Eventually, I won’t forget.” His eyes shot to Ranger’s, back to
hers. “Or so I’m told.”
    Dinner was a nice, relaxed affair. The guys
drank beer — they’d brought their own, as well as margarita fixings
for her, but she insisted it was a wine evening. This led to a
conversation about her favorite drinks, everyone’s favorite foods,
and the news that shapeshifters metabolize alcohol so fast, it’s
impossible for them to get drunk. If they work hard they can get
buzzed, but that’s about it.
    The guys helped with the dishes and she said,
“You know ya’ll aren’t normal, right?”
    “Yes, we’re aware, but is there something
specific you have in mind?” Ranger asked with a happy smile.
    “Cooking? Helping with dishes?”
    “We’re all grown-ups,” Mac said with a shrug.
“Not a big deal.”
    “I’m thinking I need to look into putting a hot
tub on my back deck,” Jonathan said, changing the subject.
    “You don’t have a back deck,” Mac reminded
him.
    “Not yet, but it shouldn’t take the three of us
long to build one. I have another couple of weeks of vacation
before my charge gets back in town, Mac probably has a few months
before he starts working with Drake, and you’re on reduced duty
right now while you bring Mac up to speed.”
    “Your charge?” asked Bethany.
    “Yeah,” Jonathan answered. “I’m head of security
for Aaron Drake’s wife. She comes from money, and I’ve been with
her since she was thirteen. She and Aaron are on their delayed
honeymoon, and he’s acting as her sole security while they’re gone.
He wants time alone with her, and I deemed it a bad idea to insist
I came along. Turns out,” he said with a cocky smile in her
direction, “he did me a favor.”
    “You’ve been with her since she was thirteen? I
guess I need to ask how old ya’ll are?”
    “Ah. We’re probably older than you think. Most
shapeshifters age slower than humans. I’m thirty-seven, even though
I still look twenty-five, apparently.”
    “I’m thirty-six,” Mac told her, “and Ranger’s
the baby at thirty-three.”
    “I’ll be thirty in a few weeks.”
    “Yeah, we know,” Mac said as he looked at the
other guys and then back to her. “I’m still officially working for
Uncle Sam, and my job position requires me to do a background
search before I become intimate with someone a second time.” He
shrugged and added, “Technically, I’m not supposed to tell you
anything, even that, but you saw a little of what happened to me,
and I know Ranger explained a few things. I can’t ever tell you
much, even with our binding, but I don’t want to lie about looking
into you. I’ll always have to keep some secrets from you, but I
don’t want any of them to involve you.”
    Bethany took a breath, got off the sofa, and
walked to her window. She lived in an upper middleclass subdivision
in the Hamilton Place area, but it was an older neighborhood so she
wasn’t looking at cookie cutter houses, thank goodness. Her back to
the men, she said, “So, Mac was a spy of some sort, I think Ranger
was or is Special Forces of some kind, and now I know Jonathan is
apparently an elite bodyguard.” She shook her head and turned
around.