(This has been one heck of a busy week XD Short chapter but Marsh wanted to say something.)

This one is mine.

Marsh lay silently against his sleeping man, hugging Walker's head gently to his chest. He hadn't quite meant to snap at Ranger earlier, but before they had both gone to bed earlier Walker had gotten a call from one of his hunting friends. He'd been trying to reach them for a while, but the constant snow storms had made their phone connection spotty, at best.

His friend had recovered, but there were deep scars left. They had chatted over text a few times, but earlier he had let it slip that he actually had the bear with him. Of course, then his friend had told the others, and they decided immediately, and without hesitation, to kill it.

Walker had told them that he was a shifter and not just a bear, and that he'd been out in the wild for too long and was just reacting the way bears would. They hadn't been impressed with his words, and while the fact that he was a shifter took shooting him off the table, they still didn't seem like they were willing to let the subject drop.

That, in turn, had made Walker stress out, and he'd only just managed to calm down enough to rest moments before Ranger had barged in.

It was close to sunrise when he felt Walker stir against him again.

I want to lick...

He was just about to do just that when he remembered that he hadn't gotten permission, even though he'd asked if he could at least do a little above the waist. Walker had chuckled quietly at him and patted his head.

"Hey... there," Walker whispered, drawing Marsh out of his thoughts as he looked down.

When he noticed Walker trying to hold back a smirk, he blinked, unsure of what was funny. He watched the man reach up with his hand and extend his pointer finger... then he poked the tip of Marsh's tongue that had evidently been sticking out just-barely past his lips.

Was thinking of licking too much.

He quickly pulled it back inside his mouth, feeling his face warm at the awkward slip.

"Did you rest, too?" Walker asked, ignoring the odd moment since it seemed to bother Marsh.

He is a little too nice. Wouldn't survive well in the wild on his own. Good thing I would never let him go out there on his own.

"What are you thinking about with that look?"

Marsh tilted his head, a bit surprised that Walker had leaned closer to his face, but he quickly remembered that humans didn't have very good eyesight at night. His own had definitely diminished in his bad eye, but his good one could still easily see the man's face in the darkness.

"About how you are too nice and you would be eaten if you had encountered anything besides me out in the forest," Marsh said sincerely.

"You weren't going to eat me if you had gotten the chance?" Walker asked, making Marsh lick his lips without thinking about it as he lifted a hand to Walker's shoulder and gently pushed him onto his back.

"Back then? Absolutely, but now... a different kind of eat," he said, making Walker's eyes widen.

When the man started trying to sit up, Marsh put his free hand on his other shoulder, easily holding him down.

"Marshall," Walker said, his voice becoming stern.

Marsh narrowed his eyes but bit back a growl. He did not want to intimidate, but when he did reply with "Walker," he matched the man's tone.

"What do you want?" Walker finally asked with exasperation.

Marsh considered his words quickly, checking and rechecking what he felt would finally get through to the man beneath him. Eventually, he backed off of the obvious and settled for something a little more careful.

"I want to lick you above the waist."

He could tell that Walker hadn't expected his answer, but to say that he startled Marsh with his own response would be an understatement.

"Fine. Have at it, if that's what you really want to do."

Did I break him?

Marsh reached up and was about to press his hand to Walker's forehead when the palm of it was suddenly licked. He withdrew his hand immediately, startled by the abrupt action.

Walker gave a long yawn before smiling up at him.

"I know that you've been hitting on me constantly, and I'm sorry that I'm just not secure enough to really give you the responses you're looking for."

But you're really handsome, and smart. You work hard and you make good money. Isn't that what makes people secure?

"I see you trying to figure out what I said, but there really isn't an answer... as far as I know," Walker said on a sigh as he reached up to pat Marsh's head.

What if I make the answer?

"Can I try to find it?" Marsh asked, making Walker pause, his fingers halting in his soft hair.

"Find it?" Walker mumbled without thinking.

Marsh gave him a half smile and began to lean down slowly. When he got close enough, and Walker still didn't try to push him away or move, he cautiously let his tongue slip from between his lips and tap against the tip of Walker's nose before withdrawing immediately. When he leaned back just enough to see the man's expression, he gave out a surprised yelp as teeth nipped the tip of his own nose.

"If you're going to pin me down and lick me, let's at least see some effort, hmm? Or were you not sincere about all this? Cause I'm trying not to freak o—" lips sealed his mouth and Walker immediately began to squirm, making Marsh lean back right away, breaking the contact.

Even without much light coming in from the window, Marsh could easily see the man's face starting to burn red as he cupped a hand over his mouth.

He really does stress about this, even with the little bit of joking he'd tried. So cute!

"I said lick, you deaf bear," Walker eventually mumbled before sitting up abruptly, nearly bumping their foreheads together.

Blinking, Marsh felt his own face warm.

"Sorry, I thought that it was similar since my tongue was going to lick the inside of your m—" the lips that sealed over his own were barely-there, but that was all that was needed to silence him in an instant.

He wanted to go straight to ravishing his mouth, but he held back his instincts and instead, simply held still. Only, Walker didn't move a single muscle, either.

His bear paced back and forth in his mind, confused as to why there wasn't a lot more touching going on, and mating. They were touching mouths! Humans mated after touching mouths!

"You guys want breakfast?" came Ranger's voice from down the stairs.

The shout had Walker and Marsh both jumping slightly, and unfortunately, breaking their too-brief kiss.

Before he could do anything else, Walker had moved him from his lap and was up and out of bed. Right as he finished tugging on a shirt, he grabbed the door handle. Marsh got off the bed at that moment and took a step forward.

"I still want to lick..."

He couldn't argue that food sounded good, though. Maybe he could lick Walker while eating.

"Whatever you're thinking, no," Walker said as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Marsh's cheek, then turned and quickly walked out of the room. "I need to cool down from this. If you really want... something from me, I'm going to need time to process all the bits and pieces."

Marsh hurried to follow him out the door, but kept a few paces behind him so that he didn't crowd the man who was clearly stressed again.

I didn't mean to make him stressed like his friends had.

A gentle hand on top of his head stopped him right before he was about to fail at descending the steps. Grateful but confused, he turned to look slightly up at the man beside him.

"Be careful, and don't think that you're stressing me out. I can make my own decisions, and worry about their outcomes, too."

But I don't want you to worry. Let's just have sex and skip the courtship that is making you so nervous. You're my human, after all.

"I'm really glad that we don't have a bond yet, because I'm afraid of what you're thinking when you give me that look," Walker mumbled as he hurried down the stairs, leaving Marsh standing there, staring at his back, and butt, with a growing grin.

Yet.