I got up and made my way into the bathroom. It was surprisingly nice. The navy-blue towels matched and there was even a little rug on the floor, a few shades lighter than the towels. Hell, he even had a scented candle.
After taking care of my morning needs, I got into Reed’s shower. I usually take short, no-nonsense showers. Get in, get clean, get out. But today I lingered, letting the hot water wash over me and relax my muscles.
My thoughts kept drifting back to Reed’s bare torso. Those flat, hard muscles, the dark chest hair, the hungry gleam in his eye when he met my gaze…
I began growing hard. Not uncomfortably so, but enough that I was tempted to relieve myself then and there. But that seemed like a bridge too far—besides, I didn’t really want to touch myself. I wantedhimto touch me.
Idly, I wondered if he was a top or a bottom. Or if he had ever even been with a man. He might’ve been as inexperienced as me. I doubted it, given that he had implied otherwise. But there were some things I wasn’t sure I was ready to try yet.
Like, for instance, all of it.
Though kissing him had been nice. Really nice. But what was I prepared to do after that?
What if Reed wasn’t okay with waiting? What if he ended up expecting more from me than I was ready or able to give? What if he wasn’t inclined to be… patient?
I finished up the shower feeling vaguely unsettled but still aroused—a strange mix. But after I had toweled off and dressed, I opened the door to be greeted by the enticing smell of breakfast.
Reed was standing at the kitchen counter and turned to face me, holding a plate in each hand, both piled high with scrambled eggs and toast.
“Perfect timing,” he greeted me, setting the plates down on the wooden kitchen table. “I made breakfast.”
On cue, my stomach rumbled. I hadn’t eaten dinner last night. In fact, I hadn’t eaten lunch, either.
Reed obviously heard it because he chuckled. “Someone’s hungry. I figured.”
Wait—had he noticed that I hadn’t eaten? My needs should have been the furthest thing from his mind, given that he had almost died last night.
“It looks incredible,” I said, approaching the table. Reed had poured us both steaming mugs of coffee and tall glasses of orange juice. There was a carton of half-and-half and a bowl of sugar on the table as well. It was… oddly domestic. Not at all what I might’ve expected from the alpha of a werewolf pack. I added, “I didn’t know you could cook.”
“There’s a lot we don’t know about each other,” Reed said, taking a seat at the table. He nodded at my chair. “Dig in before it gets cold.”
I sat down across from him, and we ate in companionable silence. And maybe it was just because I was starving, but the food reallywasincredible. Reed was a pretty damn good cook.
“It was delicious,” I said, once I had cleared my plate.
“Thanks. Emma taught me how to make scrambled eggs. The toast, I figured out on my own.”
“And Emma is…?”
“The pack’s last remaining elder. She’s kind of a surrogate mom to a lot of us.”
“And your parents?”
Reed expression went darker. Thrumming through the bond, I felt the echoes of his grief. “I’ve been on my own a while now. This is dangerous work.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It is what it is.” Then he paused and added more hesitantly, “I want you to meet her. Emma, I mean.”
I blinked at him in surprise. It was sweet in a way I wouldn’t have expected—he wanted me to meet the woman who had helped raise him. But what the hell happened to convincing me to leave? The about-face in his attitude was hard to catch up with.
“Well, we both saw the monster,” Reed said. “And you might’ve seen something I missed.”
“You’re serious?”
“You’re in this now,” he replied, considering me. “Doesn’t mean I want you in harm’s way. I’ll fight you tooth and nail to keep you safe. But you’ve proven I can trust you. You deserve to be involved—from a safe distance.”
I consciously stopped myself from assuring him that if I knew he was in trouble, I’d rush right back into danger without a moment’s hesitation. I doubted it would have helped my cause any.
