Murphy began massaging her scalp. “Everything’s fine. We’ll talk about it in the morning, Nes,” he reiterated. His fingers moved expertly over her head, and soon enough, she went lax, her eyes drifting shut.
When she slept, she dreamed of him.
Chapter 14
Nessa felt like a hungover zombie as she trudged from her bedroom and toward the kitchen. It was just past eight in the morning, and although she’d taken a shower and gotten ready for the day, she still felt completely drained.
As she neared the kitchen, she heard movement coming from inside. Her heart skipped a beat when she stepped into the entryway, spotting Murphy at the stove. His back was toward her, and he was whistling under his breath as he took a pancake from the pan with a spatula, sliding it onto a plate stacked high with at least a dozen more.
“I thought you didn’t cook,” she commented, stifling a yawn as Murphy turned toward her.
“I think it’s impossible to mess up pancakes and eggs.” He smirked, nodding in her direction. “Morning, Loch Ness.”
Nessa squinted at him, hoping her expression looked menacing and not nauseous, like she currently felt. “Call me that again, bear boy, and see what happens.”
Murphy grinned, flashing his perfect white teeth at her. With that one look, she forgot to breathe, the aches in her body forgotten as she studied him. He really was handsome. Perfect, actually, even though he looked tired. “Bearboy? I haven’t been a boy in decades.”
She arched a brow, stepping fully into the kitchen. “Bear man then. Thanks for settling it for me.”
Not waiting for his reply, she beelined to the stove, plucking up her kettle and heading to the sink to fill it with water. Her hand stilled on the faucet handle as she felt Murphy crowd behind her, his hand working through her hair to the base of her neck.
She didn’t freeze up as he invaded her space, which was unusual for her, and as he began massaging the back of her neck, applying the sweetest pressure to her stiff muscles, she relaxed, leaning into his touch. Tingles exploded across her scalp, working down to her core until her legs felt like jelly. Before she could stop herself, a small moan slipped out.
“Does that feel good, Nes?” Murphy whispered in her ear, his voice sliding over her skin like a velvet caress.
“Y-Yes,” she answered shakily, biting back another moan as his fingers worked out a small knot she hadn’t even realized was there. Oh god, it felt so good. Her grip tightened on the handle right as her pussy throbbed, desire clawing through the haze of her hangover to pool low in her belly. A second later, panic encompassed her.
Oh shit, he’s going to smell that I’m turned on!
Murphy dropped his hand, brushing his lips against the side of her head before he moved back to the stove, leaving her horny and confused as she stared down at her kettle.
What the hell was that? Should she ask him about it? She wanted to, but a part of her was afraid if she brought up him touching her,kissingher, that he’d never do it again. What if he thought she didn’t like it? Then she’d feel compelled to tell him shereallyliked it.
What would happen then? He’d crush her by telling her he wasn’t interested in her that way? Yeah, she’d pass on that.
Sighing softly, Nessa filled her kettle, heading to the stove as Murphy brought the plate full of pancakes and another filled with eggs to the small nook and bench by her floor-to-ceiling window. By the time the water began to boil, he’d set out everything they’d need for breakfast.
She fixed her tea and moved over to the nook, sitting across from him.
“How many pancakes do you want, Nes?” Murphy grabbed her empty plate and her fork, stacking one pancake and then another.
Her mouth watered at the sight of them, her nausea taking a back seat to her hunger. “Two is fine.”
He grunted. “Only two?”
She took a sip of her scalding drink, sending him a small smile over the rim of the cup. “I’m not a shifter, Murphy. Two is plenty.”
He set her plate down, lifting the plate of eggs off the table. “Eggs, though, right?”
“Yes, please.”
Scraping half of the eggs onto her plate, he handed it to her before fixing his own, stacking nearly every remaining pancake onto it followed by the rest of the eggs.
She tried to keep her jaw from dropping as he poured a healthy amount of syrup onto his pancakes before digging in. After seeing him devour a pizza like it was his job, watching him inhale his breakfast shouldn’t have filled her with such fascination.
Maybe it was the way he licked the thick syrup from his lips that held her spellbound, barely capable of finishing her own eggs by the time he was done with his meal.
When he looked up at her, her face heated, and she quickly glanced down at her plate, cutting up a pancake and taking a bite. Warm and delicious, she soon forgot her embarrassment as she hummed happily, taking another bite. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had pancakes—she didn’t even realize she had a box of the mix in her house.
