Man, it sucked being a good guy all the time.

“Uh ... miss?” Jeez! His voice sounded like gravel. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Miss? Excuse me?” He couldn’t see her very clearly with all that black hair, with strands of white and red throughout, covering her face and his chest. He recognized that hair color, though. She was a She-tiger.

Hating to wake her up, Crush tapped her shoulder. “Miss?”

“Hmmh?”

“Uh ... yeah, sorry. I ... uh ...” This was so hard. How did he tell a woman he’d possibly had sex with that he didn’t know her name? Couldn’t even remember having sex with her? This was getting worse and worse. When the hell did he become a frat boy?

Suddenly she stretched, her long body briefly writhing on his. Crush ignored how good that felt and said, “Miss?”

She lifted her head and gold-green eyes blinked up at him.

Damn, she was pretty. He didn’t remember having sex with her? Really? How drunk had he been last night?

She blinked at him in confusion; then she smiled. “Oh. Hi.”

Oh, hi?

Yawning and slapping her hand against his chest, she levered herself up and looked around the room, giving him a monumental peek at her breasts and, wow, those were freakin’ nice. “What time is it?” she asked.

“No idea. Early.”

She nodded and settled back onto his chest, eyes closing, arms tightening around his chest. “Good. I’m still so tired.” Wait. What just happened?

“I have to get up.”

“Another hour,” she bargained. “Maybe two. Just relax.”

Completely confused, Crush said, “Look—”

Her head snapped up, those eyes locking on him. “Are you going to keep talking? ’Cause it’s irritating. I’m trying to sleep, and I’m extremely hungover.”

Crush’s eyes narrowed. He was irritating? “Tell me we didn’t have sex last night.”

“As drunk as you were?” She yawned, already bored with him, it seemed. “I don’t think you could have gotten it up with a crane.”

“Thanks.”

“Wait. Is that what you think? That we fucked?”

“We’re in bed together. What was I supposed to think?”

“That I was tired and needed someplace to sleep.”

“But we’re both ...” He shrugged a little. “Naked.”

“Yeah, I was really drunk, too, so I just took my clothes off.”

“Wasn’t there somewhere else you could have slept?”

“Most of the people who crashed here last night were either full-humans or canines. Have you ever tried to sleep with a canine? They yip in their sleep. And run. It’s annoying. And Mace wouldn’t take the couch so I could sleep with hiswife so—”

“You asked a lion male to move out of his bed for you?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Because he’s the majestic lion male, king of the jungle? Or because he’s a rich Llewellyn of the Llewellyn Pride?”

“Because it’s the man’s house.”

“It’s his wife’s house. MacDermot just allows him to stay here with her and those giant, useless dogs she owns. And I know she’d pick those ridiculous rotties over that lion in a hot second.” She sat up. “Well ... now I’m awake.”

“How annoying for you.” Crush struggled to sit up, too, ignoring the screaming in his head.

“What are you so cranky about?”

“You basically just told me you used me like a giant pillow.”

“You were comfortable. And didn’t yip once. I hate the yipping. Let me tell ya, you don’t know hell until you’ve been trapped in a rainy, miserable jungle during monsoon season with a bunch of canines. Everyone wet and miserable and goddamn yipping.”

Crush tried to ignore his migraine and asked, “Why would you be sitting in a miserable jungle with canines?”

“For lots of reasons.”

“Name two. No. Just name one. I challenge you.”

“You challenge me?” She laughed, her almost muzzlelike nose crinkling a little as she looked him over. “Aren’t you cute?”

Finally, Crush had to ask, “Who are you?”

“If I wasn’t still hungover, I’d give you my most sultry smile and tell you ‘your dream come to life.’ But, eh. I’m just too tired to bother and, honestly, does one have to really put in that much effort for a bear?”

“Are you always this insulting?”

“Insulting? This is me being nice. I even complimented you.”

“Yes. Apparently I’m as comfortable as a pillow.”

“Yeah. But one of those full-body ones. Or like one of those giant stuffed bears you get when you’re a kid. My dad used to get me those and then he’d teach me how to maul ’em.”

“I am not—”

She held up her finger. “Hold that.” Then the insane female stretched out across his lap and reached down to the floor, grabbing a phone out of her jeans.

Annoyed and disgustingly turned on, Crush snarled, “Woman, get off me.”

“Ssssh,” she said, settling her butt onto his lap. “Business call.”

Did she just shush him? She did, didn’t she?

“Yep?” she said into the phone, clearly uncaring that they were still both naked and there was absolutely nothing separating her ass from his cock. “Now? ’Cause I gotta get home to the kid.”