Linc shook his head.“Nope.But if Naja wants you, I’ll say that there’ll be a little bit of everything—technical writing, press relations, anything we print or put on our website that includes words.”
I stuffed the last of my cookie—the cookie Linc had given me, probably to soften me up for this—into my mouth and thought about it.
Ellis got up.“Ready for that bun?”
“Oh, yes please.”
He beamed at me.He’d done that when he’d hunted down the flannel in Dom’s room and brought it to me too.He really wasn’t too bad.My mind went back to him on top of me, powerful, yet protective.No, not bad in the slightest.
“Aw, Ell.Look at him, Marcus is all swoony for you.”Dom turned to Linc.“We shouldn’t have eaten ours, we should have fed them to him instead.He could be swooning over us now, but we were greedy.”
I lifted my oolong and looked at Dom over the rim of the cup.“You want to fatten me up so you can eat me.I see.”
The tea was the perfect temperature, and I took a big swig, enjoying the flavor.
Dom wiggled his brows.“One or two of those aren’t going to fatten you up.You’d have to make a habit out of it.Want to head into town with me again tomorrow?”
He was bad.He’d insisted on tying my laces; I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stand him parading me around through whatever parts of town we hadn’t seen yet.I was pretty sure he’d make me wear oversized clothing again even though I had a Dom-approved jacket now.
The laces though, those made me think of something I did want to do.“You can show me, you know, the woods tomorrow.You got me those shoes, after all.”
Dom looked genuinely surprised.“You want to go on a hike, Little Red?”
That sounded preposterous.“No.Just a short walk maybe.To see what’s around here.And you got me those shoes, so…” I shrugged.
Ellis came back with that bun, making my mouth water even before he put it in front of me.“You’re totally cleared to go out.Your fever’s gone, and being hungry is your body saying it’s getting back on track.”
I bit into the bun.“Hmm.Yeah, I do feel better.Might just be the cinnamon though.”
The three of them were looking at me all dreamy-like.It was so weird, like being on the stage and half-assing your performance, yet leaving the audience awe-struck anyway.It made me feel kind of good though.Maybe that was because of the sexual afterglow, but the reason really didn’t matter.
“Just a short hike for tomorrow, then,” Linc said.
22
Marcus had agreed to sleep in Linc’s bed again with nothing more than a shrug.It was like a dream to have him between us, his soft smell thick in the air, his body finally healing.
I wanted to stay up and enjoy it, watch over him for at least a part of the night, but I couldn’t manage it.Instead, I woke not long after sunrise, Dom’s hair tickling my chin.He was on his side, facing our mate.He’d been complaining about Linc hogging him again, and I wasn’t going to argue with Dom snuggling in on Marcus’s other side, not after a very promising evening.
I lifted my head off the pillows to look at Marcus and found Linc was already awake.His arm was around Marcus, who’d pushed the sheets off himself when we went to bed, saying it was too much with the werewolf ovens.
“He’s still deep asleep,” Linc whispered.
I nodded.It was Sunday.I had Sundays and Mondays off.I’d been zoning out at work a lot, so a break and a couple of days where I didn’t have to leave our mate behind would be good.It would take Marcus allowing the bite to really get all of us back to feeling less anxious, but he might not.He might never, no matter how wonderful last night had been.Even if he did reject us, at least I’d have that memory of coming home and finding the three of them lying there wrapped up in each other.
A sudden urge to hold on to all of them built inside of me, and the smallest of whines slipped out of my mouth before I could calm down.It wasn’t rational to be afraid of what-ifs.It was a constant fear I saw in the parents of my patients, and it never helped with decision-making, with doing the right thing.Yet here I was.
Linc heard me—of course he did.His brow creased, and he carefully lifted his arm off Marucs and reached for my hand.
“Want to come over here?”
I didn’t wait for him to ask twice.Climbing over Dom was easy.He’d be out for another hour at least.But I didn’t yet know how Marcus slept—if he was easy to wake once morning came or if he was like Dom, able to fall back asleep at any point before nine or ten o’clock.
Linc ran a hand over my cheek as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other in an awkward push-up position.I could’ve walked around the bed, of course, but that would’ve felt too much like getting up when I didn’t have to, and when the three of them were still in bed.
I lowered myself to the bed next to Linc and let out a sigh, then spooned him from behind.
“Is it silly of me that I don’t like Dom being closest to the door?”he whispered.
