“It’s bigger on the inside, yes.”I kept my face straight but saw our mate’s lips twitch.
Dom rolled his eyes.“There’s another one of you.Not fair.Nerds are way too sexy.How will I ever choose which one to kiss first?”
“Let me make the choice for you.”I put an arm around Dom and kissed his mouth.He still tasted faintly like Marcus.It was divine, almost too much.I needed to focus.“This way.”I beckoned for Marcus to follow us.
Marcus stared, almost like he’d stared at Ell and me last night, and with his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open, he followed me and Dom.
Dom had already arranged the dining room table for breakfast.He sat right in the warm light that flooded into the room, his red hair shimmering like rose gold.This part of the house had been a conservatory once, but while Ell loved his vegetable garden, no one had really wanted to keep the greenhouse going.Dom had restored the metal framework and put in new glass that offered proper insulation.He’d spent hours on his knees, restoring or replacing the old tiles after adding under-floor heating.Now the room was possibly one of the nicest in the entire house.
“Oh, wow, the place really goes on,” Marcus said, and I could feel Dom basking in our mate’s words.
Marcus was right.Farther back, in what had been the rest of the greenhouse and a shed that hadn’t been connected to the rest of the building before we’d moved in, Dom had created the really comfy part.
There were two walls full of books and reading chairs Dom had built himself from reclaimed cherry wood.Since he’d ripped out the floor anyway to put in the heating, he’d decided that a sunken cuddle area set into the floor was just what would finish the room off, and we’d spent many an evening there since then.
Marcus appeared sufficiently impressed when he saw that part, his eyes going to the books first before he oohed at the sunken floor area.
“Told you you can have your cuddle puddle, Marcus.”
Dom gently put his hands on Marcus’s shoulders, but I could tell he wanted to hug Marcus against him, run his nose through Marcus’s freshly washed hair, and put his scent there all over again.
Gods, but that was the issue with letting your mate shower or bathe; you just wanted to rub yourself all over them so everyone knew they were yours and you theirs.It defeated the purpose of the shower, of course, but I still wanted to do it.
Marcus cleared his throat.“Didn’t expect this in some creepy house out in the woods.Nor the geraniums out front.”
“Don’t dis my geraniums.Mate or not, I’ll slap your pretty ass for that.”Dom flashed his teeth.
I had no doubt he was serious, too.
Marcus turned to face Dom.“Dude, you have issues.”
“No, I just have a knack for geraniums, and no one fucking appreciates it.I usually kill every other decorative plant, so let me enjoy the one kind that thrives when I’m around.”
Marcus noisily sipped his tea.“They’re magnificent geraniums.Big, bulbous, beautiful geraniums.”
He looked as cheeky as he sounded.I was glad he was feeling better.
“Magnificent huh?”Dom showed his canines.“Big and bulbous, huh?Are you trying to poke fun at me, Marcus?”
Marcus shrugged and sipped more of his tea, easily a challenge for any wolf.
I cleared my throat to reel Dom back in, and he just hummed in appreciation, subtly smelling the air to get Marcus’s scent.
I took a step toward Marcus and put a hand on his shoulder.“Come on, let’s have breakfast.”
“Sure.I could eat.”
Dom made an unhappy sound.“You better.You had no dinner, being sleepy and all that.”
“Nanny werewolves,” Marcus mumbled, either to test our hearing or to tease us.Both were fine; welcome, even.
We all sat down around the breakfast table.I glanced at my phone and saw that the email I’d been waiting for had arrived.I’d had a brief text exchange earlier before helping Marcus with his bath, and one of my employees had a preliminary background check on Steven ready now—something I wanted to see for my own peace of mind.
Marcus caught me looking.“You still have my laptop and phone.”He was already on his second mug of oolong while nibbling some toast with raspberry jelly.“I should get back to working.And doing some damage control after fucking Steven is probably in order.”
Dom growled.“I’d like to do some damage to fucking Steven.”
I shot Dom a look, and he checked himself.
