“I want to. Give me this, kitten,” he replied.
Adri’s brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of everything that had just happened, and Rafe audibly sighed.
“I see your brain is switching back on,” Rafe said, setting the cloth aside. “I’m going to clean up the study. Call me when you’re ready to get out so I can help you up.”
Adri’s face flushed with warmth as he remembered what Rafe needed to clean. Why had he let him do that? Why had he enjoyed it so much?
Ignoring Rafe’s instructions, he got himself out of the bath not long after. It was a struggle to wrap a towel around himself one-handed, and he ignored the pink-tinged water dripping down his arm from his wound as he hunted down the infuriating doc. Thankfully, Rafe had finished wiping down the wall before Adri made it to him.
“Are you still hoping that same loophole applies from our first meeting, and I’ll let you carry on doing this if you don’t come?” Adri asked. “Do you really think you can hold out?”
It was bothering him that their interaction had been so one-sided. He wasn’t selfish like that. Rafe glanced over at him from where he was making two cups of tea, his brow furrowing in concern when he looked at Adri’s shoulder.
“I told you back when we first met that I would always be here for you, and I meant it. I could hold out forever if it was what you needed. But that’s not what you need, is it?”
Adri swallowed hard, passing Rafe a clean bandage for him to rewrap his wound. “Shut up.”
Rafe’s eyes flashed, and Adri yelped as pain flared from his nipple where the doc had just pinched it. Hard. His cock swelled against the towel. Apparently, Rafe had meant it when he said not to be rude.
“Behave,” Rafe said. “Or don’t. I like you either way, but you might not be ready for what that attitude is going to get you.”
“A bandaged shoulder and brunch in bed?” Adri snarked, sparking a peal of laughter from the doc.
It was the first time he’d seen Rafe smile since he’d been there, and he didn’t hate it. The doc needed more happiness in his life.
“I knew you’d be a quick learner.”
“I’m not staying, Doc. I can’t,” Adri said.
“We’ll see.”
CHAPTER 4: RAFE
“Didyou develop X-ray vision or something while I was gone, Doc?”
Rafe huffed in annoyance at being called out and dragged his eyes away from the wall where he’d been peering straight toward where the tug on his chest of the potential mate bond was pulling.
“Don’t you have better things to do, Bella? You’ve been away for over a month. Go make love to your wife or something.”
“My wife is plenty satisfied, Doc, and we were travelling together for the last week.”
“I assume Marco sent you here to try and extract the information I didn’t give him about the break-in.”
Bella was his Alpha’s best friend. An intimidating woman who smelled of fire and old magic. She’d never confirmed what kind of supernatural she was, but he had his suspicions that she was something out of legend, hiding in plain sight. She was also excellent company when she wasn’t trying to intimidate you, and they’d been known to share a whiskey on occasion. He’d evenmet Katie, the wife she was so careful to keep away from the darkness of the pack’s business. She was a medical professional as well, although she spent most of her time treating humans in the hospital.
“Can’t an old friend stop by to say hi?” Bella asked, false innocence in her voice as her white teeth flashed in an aggressive grin.
Rafe ignored that and continued tidying up the kitchen. He’d been busier than usual in the clinic that morning, given he’d missed a day looking after Adri, and he hadn’t cleared up from dinner the night before.
“Fine. If you’re not going to tell me why your clinic still smells of angry young jackal shifter, you can at least tell me how your kitten’s doing.”
Rafe glared at the dangerous woman. “I mean it, Bella. Don’t track them down. I have it under control.”
Bella just stared at him, one elegant brow raised.
“He’s a terrible patient, but his arm is no longer in danger of dropping off in a slight breeze,” Rafe said, breaking the stalemate and hopefully distracting her by answering her question about Adri.
“You smell of him—intimately.”
