“What time do you need to get to the fight?” Rafe asked, sliding his hand under Adri’s T-shirt until he could brush his fingertips over the hot, taut skin of his back.
The vibrations of Adri’s purring grew even louder.
“About half an hour. I’ll help them set up and then run through a warm-up with the fighters.”
“We should eat, then,” Rafe said, using his touch on Adri’s back to direct him toward the food before pulling him down between his legs on the floor.
“There’s plenty of space. We don’t need to sit on top of each other,” Adri complained.
Rafe kept an arm wrapped around his waist as he reached out to grab the chopsticks and collect a piece of tuna. Adri grumbled under his breath when he held the morsel out to feed him.
“Open, kitten,” Rafe ordered, making his mate turn rigid in his arms.
“I’m only doing this because I’m hungry,” Adri said, snapping his teeth around the food.
Rafe smirked as he reached for a bite for himself. Adri easily could’ve picked up his own chopsticks and ignored him. Just like he could’ve moved out of his embrace. Cat shifters could be so contrary, but they also couldn’t help but love to be indulged.
Neither of them spoke as the act of Rafe alternating feeding them both became almost meditative. He was just enough taller than Adri that the jaguar could nestle into his body perfectly when they sat like this. With his mate’s shaved head, there was no danger of stray hairs in his food as he pressed his face in close. He couldn’t resist the urge to nip at Adri’s jaw as hechewed another mouthful. If only there were time to strip his shirt off him so he could nip at every enticing inch of his skin before they left and leave a trail of his scent across his mate’s torso.
“Now who’s a kitten? Are you going to chew my face off?” Adri joked.
“I told you I want to devour you,” Rafe said, his voice rumbling low as he tried to keep himself in check. They didn’t have time for all the things he wished they could do.
“Why?”
Rafe paused, tilting his head to the side as he pondered how much his mate could hear without being scared off. “Because you’re mine.”
“I was bought and sold once. I don’t belong to anyone, and I never will again.”
“I don’t want to own you like that, kitten.”
“What other type of ownership is there?”
“The type where I belong to you as much as you belong to me—withme. Would that be so bad?”
“You’re a wolf. Analphawolf. That’s not how that works.”
Rafe nipped at his ear in annoyance, sparking a yelp. “With all due respect, you didn’t grow up with shifters, and none of the wolves you’ve trained with have grown up as part of a pack. Your experience of the supernatural world through your trainees and friends has only been with the outcasts and loners. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Are alpha shifters usually more dominant? Yes. Because we’re stronger. More able to channelthe shifter magic we all contain. Do you know why? It’s so we can care for our pack, our chosen family. We’reprotectors. Providers.”
“I don’t need your protection.”
“I didn’t say you did. I said I need to provide it. If you decide to let me one day, that will be you taking care of me. Giving me whatIneed. A partnership.”
“And if I wanted to leave? Do you expect me to believe you’d let me go when you’re part of the fucking shifter mafia?”
“I’d make sure you never wanted to,” Rafe promised.
Adri twisted in his lap, snapping at his face, fangs lengthened.
Rafe ignored the threat and reached up to cup his jaw, stroking his cheekbone with his thumb. “You’re so beautiful like this—wild—letting shifter instinct and the magic running through your veins guide you.”
Adri’s head cocked in surprise, the murderous look in his eyes fading. “Why don’t you ever try to overpower me when I threaten you?”
“You’re a cat. You’re going to lash out at me sometimes without provocation. It’s part of your charm. If I’m lucky, it’ll leave a mark,” Rafe said, shifting his hips a little so Adri could feel just what effect his little outburst had.
What his mate hadn’t yet understood was that his snippiness was just another demonstration that he was becoming more comfortable with Rafe. Not only had he let Rafe feed him and hold him, but he felt safe enough to relax into his truest self. Cat shifters didn’t feel the potential bond the same way, but they feltsomething. They could get there eventually. It gave Rafe hopefor the future. He wasn’t going to risk scaring Adri away just as they were getting somewhere by pointing out what they could be, though.
“So you’re fine if I claw and bite at you, but not if I’m rude?” Adri said, his brows furrowing in confusion.
