Adri tried to shrug, immediately regretting it as it pulled his still-healing shoulder in the worst way. Viviana looked exasperated at him.
“Why did the doc let you out when you’re still healing? I can’t coddle you here.”
“Didn’t ask you to.”
“You couldn’t even listen to a doctor?” she asked, frustration in her tone.
“He’s not the boss of me.”
“Well, I am. Go take a nap, and don’t you dare show your face in the gym again until you’re strong enough that the others don’t realise you’re injured. We’re trying to restore everyone’s confidence, not break it.”
Adri’s brow furrowed. “I thought next week’s fight was to reassure the city that things are fine?”
“It’s to reassurethem, too,” Viviana said, gesturing out to the training fighters. “Casey quit last week. Sera was so tense sparring that she let Dray, of all people, get the drop on her.”
Adri winced. Dray was one of their newest recruits, still too inexperienced to put in the ring. No way should any of their regulars have let him through their guard. “I’ll talk to her.”
“She’s fine. This may surprise you, but it’s my job to manage the fighters here, and I’m actually perfectly competent at it without your help.”
Adri smirked at her. “You fucked her until she got out of her head, didn’t you?”
“Piss off, Carter,” Viviana said, pushing him toward the door. She was hiding a smile, though.
They might butt heads more often than not and come at things from different angles, but they both knew the other was essential to the success of the ring. They’d long since learned to work together.
The pain finally disappeared the next morning. Adri cautiously stretched in his bed, arching his back and reaching both arms above his head just like his jaguar would have if he’d let it free. It was tempting to shift and lie in the narrow line of sunlight cutting across his floor, but he should really get downstairs and check on his crew properly.
As he kicked the blankets off himself, he reached down to stroke his achingly hard dick, groaning as his fingers massaged the ridges ringing his shaft that were so much more noticeable and sensitive whenever Rafe was involved.
His dreams had been frustratingly commandeered by the doctor, images of all the things Rafe had offered him playing on repeat in his subconscious, leaving him uncharacteristically needy. Why did just the thought of the sensual torture Rafe described light him up like none of his hook-ups ever had? Adri hated being told what to do. He’d spent enough time with all his choices removed when he’d been captured as a teen. He didn’t have any interest in going back to that. Nor did he need some knight in shining armour to whisk him away from the place he’d finally carved out for himself here. He was just fine on his own.
A firm knock on his door interrupted him before he could finish taking care of himself. Which of his protégés was bothering him before he’d even got out of bed? Groaning, he rolled out of bed and grabbed a towel to wrap around his waist, hoping the folds of fabric would hide the situation he had going on.
His mouth watered as the scent of fresh-roasted coffee and bacon washed over him when he opened the door. It took him far too long to process that it was being held by a certain salt-and-pepper-haired, sexy-as-fuck doctor whose pupils were dilating as he drew in deep breaths of Adri’s scent with flaring nostrils.
“Mmm… looks like I timed my visit perfectly,” Rafe said, stalking forward with his wolf flashing in his eyes.
Adri ignored the instinct to hold his ground, huffing in annoyance as he turned his back on Rafe to head to his kitchenette for some hydration.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped, tipping his head back to drink like he could trick his body into thinking that was the tall glass of water he was craving.
Rafe’s eyes tracked his movements, the doc licking his lips as his focus narrowed on Adri’s throat.
Visibly shaking himself out of whatever spell he’d fallen under, Rafe’s voice was like gravel when he replied. “House call. I got us breakfast sandwiches from the deli down the road.”
Adri forced himself to loosen his grip on the glass he was still holding before he cracked it, watching as the wolf shifter made himself at home, setting out their coffee and sandwiches on the tiny table pushed against the wall. His apartment wasn’t big, but it had never felt quite so small as it did with Rafe’s scent everywhere and his dominating presence filling the space.
“I’m fine. You don’t need to check on me,” Adri said, stalking to his bedroom to find some clothes that might hide the way his body was betraying him. Unfortunately, the sweats he usually wore in the gym weren’t going to cut it.
He didn’t need to look to feel the doc trailing after him. A warm hand gripped his arm before he could rifle through his drawers, trailing up to his shoulder in a tingling of moonlit power that made his heart race and his breath catch as Rafe gently investigated the joint.
“You need at least another day before you start doing weights with this,” Rafe said, dipping his chin to nuzzle into Adri’s neck.
“I said, I’mfine. I need to train.”
Rafe’s frustrated growl sent a low vibration through him where the doc was still pressed against his back. The tingling sensation of his power strengthened, coalescing around Adri’s abused joint.
“Don’t waste your power on me!” Adri snapped, even more annoyed.
