Ours(2)

A loud sigh interrupted his daydream, and he opened his eye to see the blonde in front of him. Looking around, he heard his brothers arguing to the side of the locker room door about Susie going to the classes that he was doing with their cousin Jake.

A cleared throat made him turn back to the blonde in front of him. “Ah, what can I do for you, lady?”

Zack had always enjoyed the touch of women, but as fingers trailed up his chest, he shivered in revulsion at the touch of a woman who wasn’t his mate. Catching her fingers before they went any farther, he stepped away as she said in sulky voice, “I was going to ask you what you were doing later.”

He shot a glance at the locker room door then back at blonde. “What’s the little redhead’s name?

The blonde frowned, turned to the door, shrugged, and answered, “Good luck. Don’t let Sandy hear you call her little redhead.”

Zack watched the blonde follow Sandy, his mate, into the locker room.

After looking at his brothers, who were still fighting, he went to find his best friend and cousin Jake and get ready for the class. Something that had started out as a favor had turned out to be one of the best decisions he’d ever made. With a grin on his face, he looked forward to the evening ahead.

****

Jake watched the women file in and gave an inward moan at half the bunch. Some were taking this seriously, dressing in track pants and singlet tops or workout clothes. The other half… Jake shook his head as he watched the other half, who wore jeans or corduroy pants, and a couple were in short shorts. He could tell straight away the ones who were going to take what he said in. The other half were only here to flirt with him and Zack. The Bear family men were a hot commodity.

Looking over at Zack, Jake noticed that his gaze never left a petite redhead. At first, Jake thought she was a teenager, but when he focused on her, he could see she was in her early twenties. She was a cute shapely petite thing, who at the moment was staring at him with wide eyes.

Jake froze when two women grabbed his arm to get his attention. He shot a glare at the two, only to stop when he realized what he was doing. Not only that, without realizing it, he’d been walking toward the redhead. Who was this woman?

Smiling down at the two ladies, he checked his watch and noticed it was 6:35. He was five minutes late starting. Nodding to Zack, he stepped away from the girls who held onto him and yelled, “Hello, ladies, and welcome to self-defense class. Today is the only day I will start at this time. From next week on, if you’re not here by six thirty, then you will not be let in.” He watched as the women nodded and some groaned. “My name, for those who don’t know me, is Jake Bear, and the other instructor is Zack Bear. For the next eight weeks, you will learn everything you can do if you are attacked and need to defend yourself.”

****

The half-hour class was coming to an end, and Jake was going around to check on the women’s progress. At the moment, Zack was dealing with two of the short shorts women fawning all over him. He watched the groups he’d paired off practice, pausing to help position them better or show them a move up close.

Jake moved closer to his cousin’s woman, and his bear started to stir inside him, taking deep breaths in, like he smelled a pot of honey.

Jake focused to control his bear and was startled when his watch went off to tell him time was up. Heading back to the front of the room, he boomed out, “Attention. Everyone come back. Before you go, I’m going to test four of you.”

He pointed to a blonde in the front row, another blonde in the back row, and then a brunette in the middle. Jake searched around for his last victim, only to notice the little redhead sneaking to the door and slowly opening it. “The last lovely lady that will get to demonstrate what she has learned tonight is…the little redhead trying to sneak out the door.” He grinned as he watched the woman in question freeze, turn slowly around, and glare at him.

“I’m sure there are plenty of eager women in here willing to show you how well they have been taught. I’m just not one of them.” She looked around the room, coming to a stop on another redhead. “What about that pretty redhead over there with the shortest shorts I have seen, or in front, the woman with black skintight jeans?” She pointed to each of these women as she babbled on.

Jake saw Zack had moved towards her and was only a row away.

“I’m sure I will get a chance for those women to demonstrate another time, but today I have chosen you.”

He bit his tongue to stop the chuckle as she groaned, stomped her foot, and turned a death stare at Zack, who now stood next to her.

Jake smiled as she marched towards him mumbling. “Fine, I’ll show you what I learned. Then you can shove your ‘little redhead’ comment up your arse.”