“Pleasure is a gift, not a returned favor. I’m guessing the men in your past made sex about themselves.” His gaze dragged down to my lips, which must have been slightly swollen from my biting them. “Stay with me tonight.”
For a moment I wondered what the others would think. Then I realized how little I cared. This was my choice, and I didn’t need anyone’s permission or approval to stay with a man who was courting me.
I brushed my fingers over his stubbly chin. “But you don’t sleep. What will you do all night?”
He propped his head up with his hand and smiled. “Who says we have to sleep all night? I’d like to stay up and learn more about you. Unless you’re tired.”
I stroked his bottom lip until he kissed my finger. “I’m definitelynottired.”
“Can I help with anything?”I sneaked up behind Atticus and wrapped my arms around him.
“I’m almost done slicing the apples.” He looked at the cupboards. “Is there a bowl I can put these in?”
I opened an overhead cabinet to reach for a plate, but my belly got in the way.
Being taller, Atticus retrieved the plate and set it in my hands. “There you are, my love.”
Cue the butterflies.
After fooling around a little more, he had offered to make snacks for me. I wasn’t tired anyhow and enjoyed these moments of getting to know him better.
While he finished with the apples, I peered into the cooler and grabbed a block of cheese. “I’m glad Hope put a few things in here before you came.”
“I don’t require food, but that was kind of her. People rarely do things for me without expecting payment or something in return.” Atticus slid the cutting board toward me, and I used the other half to cut the cheese into cubes.
“My pack isn’t like that at all. We always do things for each other, and nobody ever expects favors.”
“Do you have any sleeping habits I should know about?” he casually asked.
“Lately, I haven’t been sleeping well. At least I have the bed and pillows to myself again.”
“You and Salem slept in the same bed?” Atticus made a low growl as he reached around me for the plate and scooped the apple wedges onto it.
“It was perfectly awful. I got used to the awkwardness of sleeping next to him, but we rarely talked. He would come in, hurry to bed, and turn his back to me. Now that I have the room to myself, I get to spread out and enjoy myself. I can stay up late knitting with the light on or listen to music.”
“I don’t want to break your routine.”
“I’m only saying if you plan to share the bed with me, be prepared. When you’re used to sleeping alone, you take up more real estate. Sometimes I sleep on both sides of the bed. I’ve never been loyal to one side over the other, and maybe that has to do with all the hotels I stayed at and how the bed was positioned.” I nibbled on a cheese cube before cutting up the rest of the block. “Won’t you get bored lying there all night?”
He rinsed the knife under the tap. “If I get bored, I’ll just rub your feet or read. I can also go outside and guard the door if you want privacy.”
“Well, that’s an absurd idea. Imagine what Catcher might do if he found you standing out there all night like a statue.”
For whatever reason, I liked that Atticus didn’t need sleep. Though I didn’t know how serious we might get with our relationship, I still took pieces of information and inserted them into imaginary scenarios. Sleeping together would be nice, and we might do that sometimes. But if he needed to be up walking around, I wouldn’t mind having the bed to myself. Not all women could relate to that, but Atticus and I were similar creatures.
“What’s the real reason you don’t want to know the gender?” Atticus put the knife back in the butcher’s block. “You hesitated when telling the pack you enjoyed surprises.”
I set down the slicer and played with a cheese crumb. “Maybe I was afraid of getting attached.”
“And now?”
I shrugged. “I still like surprises.”
“Joy, I understand your apprehension, but if you’re thinking about keeping it, bonding helps. You’ve spent months fearing what’s inside you or what your pack might think. You never had a chance to make a connection. Now that your Packmaster and Relic have allayed your fears, bond with your baby.”
“How?”
He stood behind me, his hands around my belly, and rested his chin on my shoulder. “Do you talk to it? My woman used to talk to our baby.”
