Chapter 13
Wayne
Both women sat at the kitchen table and stared at me. Liza had come over for breakfast, something that was apparently a Monday tradition for the ladies.
“We usually just make a smoothie,” Bee said as I flipped pancakes in the skillet. “Maybe sometimes a microwave biscuit.”
I turned and slowly stared at them. “Get over that while I’m staying here. Remember, I’m a chef.”
They’d come in the kitchen a few minutes ago, both of them slack-jawed to see me in here cooking.
“Hashtag blessed,” Liza whispered. “I’d never get so lucky to land a guy who cooks.”
Bianca snorted. “I’m not sure I’ve totally landed him.”
“I’m standing right here, you know,” I said as I pulled the eggs off the stove burner.
They ignored me. “You’re crazy,” Bee said to Liza. “You’re gorgeous. You’ll land any guy you want once you finish clinicals and can breathe again.”
“Thanks,” Liza whispered. “Excuse me a sec, I need the ladies’ room.”
She walked out of the room and Bee fixed her stare on me. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about your tattoo,” she said.
I’d forgotten to cover it up. I usually wore long-sleeved shirts so she wouldn’t see it.
Damn it. I’d gotten so comfortable here with her that I hadn’t thought about it. Once a dragon fully claimed his mate, his tattoo became visible to anyone and everyone.
But before that, when the claiming was coming, and the dragon had accepted it was coming, it was only visible to clan members…and the mate. Which meant if she’d seen Anthony’s and Jace’s tattoos, and probably Porter’s, she’d recognize that mine was nearly the same.
Actually, mine was exactly the same as Anthony’s and Jace’s.
Porter’s was slightly different because he’d been a part of a different clan when he met Kaylee.
Kaylee and Briana and Skye had the same tattoos as their mate.
They appeared when the mating bite was complete.
I didn’t know if she’d seen them yet or not.
The cogs turned in Bee’s mind, and she narrowed her eyes at me. “Cult,” she whispered.
I burst out laughing and slid eggs onto a plate to put in front of Bee. “We aren’t a cult.” I leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Liza walked back in and Bee let the cult thing go, but I noticed her staring at the tattoo while I moved around, bringing the pancakes and bacon over.
“I’ve got a catering job tonight,” I said.
I’d been able to get help covering the meal prep and had planned with Bri and Jace to go do some while they could come over this week, but I had to go to this catering job. “What are your plans for the day?”
She swallowed her bite and smiled. “I’ve got to do a special effects makeup video. It’ll take most of the morning and afternoon.”
“I’ll have lunch sent over,” I said. “I’ll be working on the food for the catering gig most of the day.”
She snorted. “You know, I’ve managed to feed myself just fine for the three months since you quit.”
“And I’m very proud of you. But I’m going to be feeding you more than pizza and Chinese takeout.”
She laughed and her smile lit up the room. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning over and pressing a kiss to her cheek.
Liza sighed. “You guys are gross. Get a room already.”
I pulled back to give Liza a guilty grin. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She laughed. “I’ve got to get going, anyway. I may not have early clinicals on Mondays, but I do have to go in.”
I had to get out of there, too. Bianca gave me a look so heated my dick hardened in my jeans. “Yep, I have to run, too,” I said. “Leave the dishes, I’ll do them when I get home.”
Bee laughed as I rushed from the room. “You cooked; I can clean.”
That was fine with me, too. Dishes were the least fun part of cooking.
I changed into my black uniform and headed back down. If I walked into that kitchen, I’d never leave. I’d have her upstairs and in my arms in her bed. The last two days had been torture. “Bye,” I called. “Briana should be here soon!”
“Okay, have a good day!”
Hearing my mate wish me a good day as I walked out warmed me straight to my heart. I damn near skipped out of the building with a huge smile on my face, passing Briana as she came in. “Good morning,” I said.
She snorted. “You look entirely too happy.”
Jace walked up behind his mate with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Yeah, you do.”
I rolled my eyes. “I have to run. I’ll send lunch for all three of you.”
“Oh, boy,” Briana said. “That sounds great.”
“If you hurry inside,” I called as I moved on to my truck. “There might be more pancakes.”
“Hot damn,” Bri muttered as she walked inside.
The workday dragged by. I sent one of my guys over with some of the excess food we’d made for the event, and he came back saying they wouldn’t let him in the building, but that Briana had come down and gotten it.
Good job, Burt. He hadn’t let my driver in. Good man.
“I see why her makeup channel is growing so much,” Quentin, my driver, said. “That was some freaky-looking shit.”
I had no idea what she was made up as today, but I couldn’t wait to see it.
Finally, finally, I got the crew out the door with the food loaded up in Miss Olivia’s catering van.
By the time I got back to Bee’s, she’d wiped the makeup off.
“Hey, you,” I said as I came in carrying more food—taken from the freezer, a casserole a client hadn’t picked up last week. “How was your day? Your shoot?”
“It was great,” she said. “It was Wizard of Oz themed, and I was the Wicked Witch of the West.”
That explained the green smudge behind her ear.
“How was your day?” she asked.
I sighed and pulled her into my arms. “It didn’t feel like it was ever going to end. I was so ready to get back here to you that the day dragged.”
She pulled back and stared into my eyes. “Do you mean that?”
“I do.” I nodded. “I missed you today.” My tattoo burned like lava on my skin as Bianca stepped onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips to mine.
Heat built like a crescendo until I thought I was going to blow the roof off the apartment.
“Tell me what you want,” I whispered. “Tell me what you need.”
She kissed me again and bit my lip before looking up into my eyes. “You.”
That single word threatened to unravel me. I slid my hands into her silky curls, bringing her lips back to mine. She submitted easily, her mouth moving insistently against mine. The faint scent of her makeup lingered, mixing with everything that was Bianca.
She curled a fist in my shirt and pulled me closer, but it wasn’t enough.
I was trying to pace myself in case I scared her off or she got uncomfortable, but my need for her was electric, like static dancing under my skin.
Her fingertips sent shockwaves of sensation across my nerves as she explored under my shirt.
I placed one hand on her lower back, pinning her close so she could feel what she was doing to me.
“Let’s take this to the bedroom,” she murmured against my lips.
I pressed my forehead to hers, flexing my fingers in her hair, in her shirt. “Are you sure?”
There was a wicked gleam in her hazel eyes when they met mine and she tugged me backward toward the open door, pulling my shirt off.
I grinned and scooped her up, her legs instinctively wrapping around my waist. Her arms locked behind my neck, hands in my hair, mouth on mine.
The taste of her flooded through me when her tongue met mine and I couldn’t contain the growl that bubbled up in my chest.
As soon as I set her down on the bed, she peeled her shirt over her head. My breath caught at the sight of so much beautiful skin. Bianca reached back again to unclasp her bra, but I put my hands on hers.
“May I?”
She bit her bottom lip, but it didn’t stop the smile that spread across her face.
Nodding, she dropped her arms. I felt for the clasps and released them, then slid my fingers up her back and across her shoulders, taking the bra with me.
Her gaze grew heavy as I exposed her fully, dark nipples already stiff peaks.
All I wanted was to please her.
My lips grazed her jaw, blazing a trail down her slender neck.
She made the most adorable noises, tiny whimpers of approval as I kissed her shoulder and collarbone, then across the swell of her breasts.
Her breath hitched the lower I went, savoring every bit of skin she allowed me to see.
My tongue darted out, the slightly salty taste worth every bit of the long day I’d endured to get to this moment.
When I reached the waistband of her pants, I glanced up one more time, giving her every opportunity to stop me before we continued.
I knew that if this happened today, I’d never want to leave her arms again.
Bianca lifted her hips in reply, and I locked my throat down before a hungry growl could escape.
Slowly, to keep from ripping everything away, I tugged her pants over her hips.
The scent of her arousal nearly bowled me over.
Bianca’s fingernails lightly scraped across my scalp, sending pleasurable bolts of electricity skittering down my spine.
I covered my surprise at my own reaction by pressing my lips to her bare knee, then following with a line of kisses up her thigh.
Bianca leaned back on her hands, gaze half-lidded as I approached her sex.
Her breaths puffed out unevenly and I hadn’t even gotten started yet.
The delectable taste of her exploded over my senses as my tongue plunged into her slick folds.
She gasped and threw her head back. I wrapped my arms around her thighs, flicking my tongue rapidly along her clit.
Her hips bucked against my grip, her breaths growing more erratic. Watching her at that angle, bliss softening the lines of her face, strengthening the contours of her muscles, nearly had me coming in my own pants. If I could see her like that every day, it would never be enough.
I dipped my tongue inside her slit and her whole body tensed, the breath catching in her lungs before releasing on a long moan.
Shuddering at the reaction, I did it again and again.
I palmed my hard cock through my pants where it strained against the material, wanting to free it and slam inside of her.
My attention moved back to her clit, flattening my tongue over it.
She fell back to her elbows, breasts jiggling with each heave of her chest. Close now, she was so close.
She mewled and squirmed and I tightened my grip.
I closed my mouth over her clit and sucked and she inhaled harshly, muscles stiffening as she came for me.
Her fingers clutched at my hair as she collapsed backward on the bed.
I released her clit, swollen and throbbing, and dragged my tongue through her folds.
Her muscles jerked as I brought her down gently, kissing and licking her slick sex until she caught her breath.
She lifted her head enough to watch me, hazel eyes glittering with lust. I pressed my lips to her inner thigh.
“Do you want to keep going?”