Merrick wasn’t fazed. He simply smiled and guided me under the perfectly warm water, joining me in the large cubicle. “There will be plenty of time for that later—afterI’ve fed you.”
“Promise?” I grinned, holding out my pinky.
Merrick bit his lip, trying not to laugh, but failed miserably. “Hailey, I promise to, at a later date, fuck you so hard in the shower, you see stars and speak in tongues.”
My brain short-circuited at those words.
All I could do was stare dumbly at him as he took my pinky in his and wiggled it a bit with a firm squeeze before turning back to the shower and grabbing a bottle of body wash.
It wasn’t until he started lathering me up that I was able to string a sentence together.
“That’s not fair… Now I’m even hornier.”
“All in good time.”
“You know I’m going to hold you to that,” I muttered, leaning into his touch as he carefully and methodically washed my body.”
He grinned at me, twinkle in his eyes and everything. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Twenty minutes later, after the best shower back rub in existence, I was sitting on the kitchen counter, wearing one of Merrick’s shirts, watching him cook.
It was one hell of a show, especially considering he was shirtless.
He was chopping a variety of veggies. When he’d offered an omelet, I thought he meant plain, or maybe with cheese, but no. Merrick wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to fill me up with healthy produce.
“I wish I could just stay here,” I said with a wistful sigh, taking a sip of the tea he’d also made me.
“Well, you can,” Merrick told me. “You’re more than welcome, though we’ll have to get more of your stuff sooner or later.”
“There’s also about the rest of our pack…”
Merrick scrunched his nose. “Oh, yeah. We have a pack now. I suppose we’ll have to deal with that sooner or later as well. Bummer.”
“You seem very relaxed, considering your whole world changed overnight,” I pointed out.
He smiled. “It has, but for the better.”
“A random pack is for the better?” I laughed, rolling my eyes.
Merrick was over to me in a flash. He planted both his hands on either side of my hips on the counter, his eyes boring into mine. “Anythingwith you is for the better, Hailey. Clearly, you haven’t been treated as you should have, but I plan to correct that. Once we deal with our pack, I’ll be going to Walker and requesting bonding leave.”
“You’ll…tell Walker?” I stared at him, my mouth falling open.
Merrick nodded. “You’re not a dirty little secret, Hailey. I’m fucking lucky to be bonded to you, and I’m not going to hide that. Also, I want to be here, looking after you and helping you get over the separation sickness, get through the pregnancy, for a while.”
“Do you have to tell him about the rest of our pack?” I asked.
“Not for now. I understand why you don’t want it to be public knowledge, so for now, we’ll just say that you and I bonded, and that’s why we both need the time away.”
I groaned, resting my forehead on his chest. “Both our departments are stretched thin, thanks to the wildfires. Losing two workers for a few weeks won’t be easy on them.”
“Well, our pack mate will probably be off fighting those soon. They actually started the convict firefighter program up herebecauseof all the wildfires we get.”
“Oh…I suppose you’re right. Well, I hope he’s okay…but Ialsohope he’s feeling crappy.” I laughed.
Merrick threw me a good-natured smile before returning to cooking, plating an omelet and handing it to me. “Did the other two tell you why he was incarcerated?”
“Not really—honestly, they seemed pretty sketchy about it all. I got the distinct impression that they haven’t really been communicating the last few months, and when I tried to ask more, they got cagey.”
