I didn't have the heart to tell him I probably wouldn't be able to eat any of them without him there to fuck me into a few minutes of relief.
He'd included cooling potions and pain relievers from the spellcasters in the cart. I didn't have the heart to tell him that heat's magic would prevent them from working, either. I was pretty sure he knew but was still desperate enough to try.
He must've unbuttoned his shirt while I was eating, and pulled mine up, because my bare back was pressed to his equally bare, strong chest as I leaned against him.
God, I loved the way he felt against me.
The urge to touch those muscles was so consuming that I had to place my hands on the edge of the table to stop myself.
He breathed out slowly. "Kitten..."
"You're a good mate."
His arms wrapped around me, tightly. "I'm not."
I patted his arm lightly, my eyes still closed."Don't be mad at me."
"What could I possibly be mad at you for?"His voice was low, and even in the haze of my incoming heat, I could feel the emotions bleeding through our bond.
He felt guilty.
Intensely guilty.
"It's not your fault. None of it is your fault."Tilting my head, I pressed a kiss to his collarbone.
The front door opened, and Callum's head jerked to the side as he attempted to see who was there.
"It's your family."
"Why do you know that? What did you do, Kat?"
I didn't reply.
Liv, Merrily, and Dare walked into the kitchen together, and Liv went straight for the chocolate fondue. Dare followed her.
"Why the fuck is he in my house when my mate is going into heat?" Callum gritted out. "Why are any of you here right now?"
His grip on my waist tightened just before Merrily pulled her hand out of her sweater and set it on the side of Callum's throat, stunning him with her life-draining magic.
When he shoved her hand away, Darius slammed his fist into Callum's temple, knocking him out cold with a chocolate-drowned strawberry in his other hand.
My eyes burned as my mate slumped behind me, and I whispered, "Don't hurt him."
"He'll be fine," Liv promised, slipping her arm around me and helping me to my feet. Darius popped the strawberry in his mouth and grabbed Callum.
Everything blurred around me, thanks to either heat or my tears.
"We'll get him to the containment room," Merrily promised. "Good luck."
"Thanks." My whisper was barely audible.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Liv murmured, as she helped me down the hall. "He's going to change his mind as soon as your pain hits. You know that as well as I do. If you're right about his magic not being able to hurt you, there's no reason to suffer through this. And even if you're not, a little bit of pain would be worth it to soothe the heat."
"It needs to be his choice. I don't want heat to make that decision for him. He could regret it."
Liv eased me onto my nest, preventing me from collapsing immediately into a ball of sweat and misery. I hated that her scent was in my space, but there was nothing I could do about it.
"I get it. Thanks for protecting him, Kat."
