The Polar Bear's Baby (Honeypot Babies Book 1) by Sophie Stern Read Free Book Online Page A

asking?” Aidan stops nibbling on me and pulls back. He smiles, and I realize he knows exactly what I’m asking. He’s just going to make me say it.
    “Aren’t dragons kind of kinky?”
    “Compared to other shifters?”
    “Compared to anyone.”
    “Oh yeah,” he murmurs. “But just because I’m not a dragon, don’t start thinking I’m not very, very kinky, Mia.” He licks my neck and I can feel the warmth of his tongue against my skin as he moves up to my ear once more to whisper to me. “I might not be a dragon, but I can be very, very naughty.”
    “What are you?” I whisper once again.
    This time, Aidan pulls back and whispers to me.
    “Don’t move.”

Chapter 8
     
    Aidan
     
     
    It’s been a long time since I shifted for someone else to see.
    It’s been years.
    The last time I shifted just so the other person could get a good look at me, I was really, really drunk. My freshman year of college, Richard and I were good and fucked up when he started talking about something they’d discussed in one of his classes that day.
    Someone had claimed they knew all about shifters and he was skeptical. He didn’t believe we really existed. He was giving me all these scientific explanations of why shifters couldn’t possibly be real and finally, after laughing for like half an hour at his innocence and naivety, I just did it.
    I stood up, stripped off my clothes, and shifted into a fucking polar bear.
    Richard dropped his beer. It spilled on the floor and leaked through the floorboards of whoever’s house we had been drinking at. Everyone else was gone: passed out or fucking. It was only the two of us.
    “Do you believe it now?” I asked him, and he just nodded.
    That was before we had shifter politicians and shifter preservation laws. That was before open knowledge of shifters, when people were finally starting to get comfortable with the idea that not everyone on Earth was human.
    He changed his major the next day to psych and spent the next year asking me every question he possibly could about bears and shifters and what it was like to be me. He switched colleges the next year to one with a better psych program and I missed him when I got my new roommate.
    Richard is a great guy, but I’ll never forget the look on his face when he first took in my white fur, my snout, and my paws.
    He gave me pure shock, which was quickly replaced with delight and admiration. I shifted back before he could start petting me.
    “How do you handle this?” He asked me, ignoring the fact that I was now nude in front of him. “How do you deal with the stress of having such a huge secret?”
    “Lots of drinking,” I said drily, reaching for my own beer, which hadn’t spilled.
    “Oh, shit,” he said, suddenly realizing his drink was all over the floor. He scrambled for a towel, a rag, anything. His hands wrapped around my shirt and before I could protest, he had cleaned up his beer. He handed me back the sopping wet shirt and just said, “I have some questions.”
    Now, all these years later, I’m getting ready to reveal myself to none other than his kid sister.
    She’s not a kid anymore: not by a long shot.
    Still, a wave of nervousness washes through me. I shouldn’t be scared or worried. Not this time. She’s not going to reject me, freak out, or run away. She wouldn’t. I have to show her, though, and tonight is as good a time as any.
    She’s carrying my cub. She’s got my sweet, little cub growing inside of her and I really just couldn’t be happier. I’ve always wanted children, always wanted cubs. I’ve always wanted to be a father and Mia is giving me that chance.
    It’s not just about the baby, though.
    I’ve wanted her for a long time. The night we spent together was incredible. I feel like fate is smiling at me with this second shot at having something with her, but this time, I don’t want one night.
    I want forever.
    And in order for that to happen, I have to show her this. I have to show her