Page 18 of Nicolette

“Glad you enjoy it,” Nine said flatly, not at all amused by my candor. “We made dinner if you want to join us.”

My stomach growled loudly as if to answer for me, or at least with my enhanced hearing, it seemed loud. “Sure, I can’t actually remember the last time I ate.”

“That will need to change, especially for the first year. You’ll have to learn to keep snacks on you and to eat every meal. If you go too long between meals, you’re gonna find yourself the worst version of hangry you’ve ever seen. Hungry shifters are dangerous, so we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Nine informed me as we headed down the stairs.

The lower level of the house was simple, clean, and homey with all the traditional farmhouse feel. A large kitchen table was set, and food was being pulled out of the oven, making my mouth water. It would seem the chicken they’d brought up was merely a small portion of the mountain of meat that was being set on the table. Not only was there chicken in some orgasmic-smelling cream sauce but a whole-ass spiral ham. Fresh rolls, salad, and mashed potatoes were also brought over, making me almost weep with excitement.

LC didn’t waste money on making our food other than edible. He wanted us to be healthy, fit, and able to fight but to do that, we didn’t need anything fancy. Boiled chicken, steamed veggies, and brown rice were as basic as gym rat food could get.

All of this smelled of rich flavors that only came with someone who cared about what they were cooking. Slowly, I sank into my chair and gazed at the food in awe.

“Nic?” Polo said from where he stood next to me.

Snapping myself back to reality, I gazed up at him. “Hmm?”

“If you’re hungry, you can dig in,” he offered, placing the bowl of potatoes in front of me. “We aren’t too formal when it comes to meals. Just make sure you take what you want. Now that you’re a shifter, you are going to eat a lot more than you’re used to. It will take a little adjusting, but you’ll catch on quickly or end up snacking all day like Circus does. Of course, he has to because his energy level is more extreme than most, burning a fuckton of calories.”

Licking my lips, I dug into the potatoes and slapped a fluffy mound on my plate before passing it to the left. Nine, who chose to sit next to me, grabbed it, letting one hand slide over mine as he took the bowl. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but the way he let his fingers linger over mine made it clear he’d done it on purpose. I cleared my throat and reached for the ham, then stabbed the fork into a stack of slices, taking them all. Someone snickered, and I looked to see Marco grinning and laughter shining in his eyes.

The second he realized I was looking at him, his smile dimmed slightly as if he was worried about my reaction to him. Feeling the need to reassure him, I stuck my tongue out at him as I passed the ham. He snorted and dropped his gaze, turning his attention to the platter of ham being handed to him. Soon my plate was overflowing with food, and I dove in, humming as each bite was more decadent than the last. Halfway through my plate, I realized no one was talking and looked up to find them all watching me with varying expressions of laughter.

“What?” I demanded, mouth still half full. “I was fucking hungry, and this food is the shit.” Not feeling the need to expand on that, I returned to my meal.

“Did they not feed you over at the Lucky Shot?” Circus asked, his tone betraying his concern.

Pausing, I glanced at him. “No, we got three meals a day, but so do inmates. Doesn’t mean it was good food.”

“It’s nice to see a woman appreciating my food,” Rambler commented. “Even though shifter women don’t need to worry about food intake the same as humans or other species do, it’s like they don’t want to be seen as anything but dainty.”

I snorted. “I’ve never been dainty a day in my life, so pretty sure you’re not gonna need to worry about that from me.”

“Spoken like a true fighter,” Circus pointed out. “Is it true that you held your own against Dice?”

“I guess you could call it that,” I answered with a shrug. “He got a little distracted before we could see who would really win that match.”

“Nic, I don’t think you understand how impressive it is that you didn’t let him land a single blow, let alone the fact you got the upper hand to pull off that last move,” Nine explained. “Dice is the best fighter we have in the whole pride. No one has been able to come close to beating him.”

Sitting up, I set down my fork and looked over at Dice. I took a drink from my water glass as I contemplated the man in question while he ignored my attention. The best fighter they had, hmm. It seems I’d misread the situation, but I’m not so sure I did.

“He didn’t start out fighting for real,” I said, keeping my gaze trained on him. “It wasn’t until my lioness, and I worked together that he actually put effort into the match. If I was a betting woman, which I’m not, I’d say he picked a fight to get me to rely on my other half faster than the normal process. It seems to me he figured out pretty quickly I wasn’t going to let him beat me, not after a bullshit taunt like that.”

That got a grunt out of Dice, which I assumed might be a laugh or as close as he gets to a laugh.

“Nic…” Marco started to say, but Rambler glared at him, cutting off whatever he was about to say.

“Don’t butt in where you’re not wanted. She’s a big girl, let her figure shit out on her own,” Rambler warned before returning to his meal.

That had me sitting back in my chair, crossing my arms. “Wow, you totally have them walking on eggshells around you. I have to admit it’s kind of impressive for you to have built up such a reputation that they’re scared to flip that switch. If I wasn’t human, I’m pretty sure I could have done the same, but it’s hard to get that kind of respect when the Supes look at you like a snack.”

Dice looked up at me, his deep green eyes locking on to mine. It wasn’t the same feeling as when Nine did the same thing. No, between us, things felt equal, like our internal darkness saw something in each other to respect. My lioness sat up and pressed forward, filling me with her essence so she could see this man better. In return, Dice’s eyes glowed with his feline, allowing our respective partners to scope each other out. A hand wrapped around my wrist, breaking the connection I had with Dice to see who dared to lay a hand on us. It was Nine who interrupted our moment, and my lioness was less than pleased until those amber eyes flickering with the power of his lion greeted us.

I sucked in a breath as something deep inside me flickered to life. Something told me this man was going to be someone important to us, that he would be ours. Furthermore, I would be his in return as one of the only worthy males to meet our standards. A sound between a purr and a growl started to rumble in his chest, and the next thing I knew, I was straddling him. Hands splayed on his T-shirt-covered chest, and I leaned forward, rubbing my cheek along his with a soft mewling sound to accompany my actions.

The feel of his hands as they settled on my hips had me grinding against him. All I wanted right now was to rub my whole body all over him. To feel our skin touch as I marked him as mine, covering him in my scent before I presented myself to him. My lioness yowled in frustration that Nine wasn’t responding to our request, encouraging me to be more persuasive. Before I could think better of it, I licked up his neck and nipped at his ear, showing him what I wanted. The crash of dishes shattering on the floor caused me to rear back to see what was going on, but Nine was already in motion.

My back landed with a thud on the table with him looming over me, his hair a halo around his face. I could hear how fast his heart was beating, and his breath was coming in ragged pants. The screech of claws digging into wood had me flinching, but there was nowhere for me to go, trapped by this feral man’s body.

“Do you understand what you’re asking of me, Nicolette?” Nine bit out through clenched teeth.