“I put the fixings on the counter while we waited for the clock to run out,” Ravik told Zion while looking over his shoulder at me.
“Bumboclaat!” Zion pushed past him.
“Hey, man, don’t be like that. I’ll help you,” I heard Boone call out somewhere in the distance.
“No superior singing for either of unuh!” Zion declared, right before theChrysanthemumOriginal Cast album cut out on “New Morning Begun.”
“It’s afternoon, anyway—that’s how you lost your full day,” Boone shot back.
While they argued, Ravik remained in the doorway. His arms were no longer folded, and he clasped and unclasped his hands in front of him. As if he didn’t quite know what to do with them.
Several awkward beats passed before it occurred to me to ask, “Do you want to come in?”
He was at the side of my bed in an instant. Like a vampire granted permission to enter.
But there was nothing but gentleness in his eyes as he settled down beside where I was sitting and asked, “Can I touch you?”
“Where?” A bashful feeling warmed my cheeks. Even though I’d thrown myself at him yesterday, bold as could be.
“Right here.”
He hovered both hands beside my cheeks.
I shyly nodded, remembering the way he’d cupped my face before kissing me for the first time yesterday.
He cupped my cheeks again this morning—afternoon. “You okay?”
I weighed the question with another mental poke at my brain. But no, still quiet and peaceful.
“Surprisingly, yes,” I answered with a little smile. Then I winced. “Not so sure about Zion, though.”
Ravik cut a glowering eye toward the open door. “He’s getting what he deserves for not feeding you on time.”
“IT WAS ONLY TWO MINUTES!” Zion yelled from the direction of the kitchen, reminding me that bears had excellent hearing.
And you know, I had to agree with the teacher who was apparently in trouble because he’d spent too long giving me such incredible pleasure. “It was only two minutes.”
Ravik’s face remained stern. “Even two minutes is too long. The next few weeks will be intense. We’ve waited a long time for you, and the temptation to get lost in you like Zion did this morning will be constant. But your care matters. Promise me you’ll make us take good care of you from now on.”
“A long time?” I repeated with a little chuff. “I met you all in May. It’s been less than two months.”
Even if I’m sitting here naked in Zion’s bed, after having had some form of sexual relations with each of them in less than twenty-four hours.
“It’s been longer for us,” Ravik answered, thumb stroking my cheek. “Even if we didn’t know we were waiting until you finally got here.”
Wow.Something fluttered in my chest. There my usually silent retired Mountie went again. Saying the exact right thing.
“Promise me,” he repeated, his expression both stern and tender. “If you get overwhelmed by all of this, don’t run away or isolate. Talk to us. Can you promise me that?”
I took his wrist in both hands to kiss his palm. “I promise.”
That was when I finally got to see that beautiful smile spread across his handsome face again. My chest went warm.
And suddenly, it occurred to me to ask the question Zion had answered back in May. “By the way, if Zion smells like raspberry jam, and I smell like sugar cookies, what do you smell like?”
“Bannock bread,” he answered. “So, like you, except with no sugar. Way less sweet.”
He let out a little chuckle, and I did, too. We laughed together. For the first time.
