Chapter Sixteen
Oakley
I was woken from the best sleep of my life by the smell of steak, onions, peppers, eggs, and toasted bread. Sourdough, if my nose did me justice. It usually did.
My eyes flew open as soon as my brain caught up to the senses. I was in Auburn’s bed. In my mate’s bed.
I stretched my arms above my head and hissed at the lingering soreness at my shoulder and in other places. Both delicious soreness. One from my alpha taking me not once but three times the night before and the shoulder from the mark he gave me when he bit it, marking me as his.
I was his, completely and fully, and I made him mine as well, sinking my teeth into his upper arm. Not the traditional place, but I took pride knowing that others might see the mark.
What a caveman I’d become.
I threw the covers back, hearing Auburn in the kitchen. Moving a spatula or a spoon. The sound of the toaster popping up heated bread. The gurgling of the coffee maker. Slipping into the bathroom, I took a quick shower, using Auburn’s soap and shampoo.
Once I came out, there was a new toothbrush and a towel on the sink waiting for me.
I toweled off and dressed, stopping to do silly happy dances along the way.
When I emerged from the bathroom and stepped into his bedroom, he was there, leaning against the footboard. Arms crossed over his chest. Nothing on but a pair of low-slung shorts. Goddess, this was my mate. All mine.
“Good morning,” I said. I still had a towel around my waist.
His stare dipped down to my groin, and my cock instantly bobbed, volunteering for whatever he was offering. Anything he was offering. “Good morning, mate. How did you sleep?” He opened his arms, and this time, instead of running, I ran to him. To the place where I belonged.
“Good. In between mating, that is.” I touched his arm and he hissed as I had earlier. “Is it sore? It hurts?”
“No, love. It’s just sensitive. I’m so proud to wear your mark. I hope you know that.”
“Same here.” Neither of us brought up the obvious. That he’d just called me love. “I smelled something incredible when I woke up.”
Auburn squeezed me tight. “Oh, that was me. Just kidding. Come on. I made you a big breakfast. Fit for a king. But first, let me find you something to wear.”
He grabbed a pair of shorts for me, similar to his, and I slipped them on. The way he looked at me when I did, well, I thought we might never get to breakfast.
“We certainly worked up an appetite last night.”
“We did.” He stopped us in the hallway. “Was I…was it too much? I know we made love several times and I…”
I pressed my palms to his chest. Underneath them, his heart raced. “It was perfect. More than perfect, alpha. Last night was the best night of my life.”
He let out a long breath. “Okay. Good. That’s really good. Last night was everything to me, Oakley. Everything.”
“Let’s go get you fed. My bear is growling at me to feed his mate.”
At the table, we shared breakfast. Other than the table at the ice cream shop and dinner the night before, we hadn’t shared a meal like this. Just me and him. In his home. In any home. It felt intimate in a way mating hadn’t. This domesticity.
This would be our lives from now on. At least, I hoped.
We feasted on steak bites, omelets bursting with cheese and veggies, thick sourdough toast with slabs of butter and local honey. A man in town kept bees, but it was my first time seeing his products.
“What’s the plan today?” I asked.
Auburn had put down two cups of coffee, and my bear could feel the energy buzzing from him.
“I have to go into the shop. Make sure last-minute things are handled. Get the computer system up and running for orders and making sure it’s synced to the inventory so I know what to order and when. A lot of little boxes to check.”
“Do you have an actual list?” I asked. “Maybe we can tackle it this morning. I don’t have to go in to work until one.”
“I actually do. Want to see it?”
I did. He pulled my chair over closer and we hunched over his list on his phone. Some things were easy to check off like sweeping and mopping, but other things were depending on a secondary list and vice versa. Things like health inspections and code enforcement.
“Let’s tackle the easy things first. That way we get things checked off and gain momentum.”
When I looked up, Auburn was staring at me with the biggest grin on his face.
“What?” I asked.
“You amaze me. I just realized that now, everything is we and us and our. I’m so damned happy we found each other, omega.”
I leaned up and kissed him. “Keep sweet-talking me like that and nothing will get done today outside of the bedroom. Come on, we have an ice cream shop to get to.”