Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Love languaging and unexpected discoveries
Declan
Waking up warm and cozy as the little spoon was marvelous.
Gideon’s arm was around my waist, holding me close.
His chest moved against my back in a steady rhythm that suggested he was still sleeping.
A quick glance at the old school clock by his bed told me we still had plenty of time before we had to get up.
I didn’t want to wake him, so I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being like this with him.
Before Josh and I had broken up, we’d slept in different beds more often than not, and I’d forgotten how wonderful it was to greet a new day with your lover by your side.
Then again, that was probably just the Gideon effect.
He was…
Well, let’s just say I was falling hard. I hadn’t realized I could feel so much for someone after knowing them for such a short time. Was this the mate thing Elwood was talking about yesterday? I needed to find out more about that.
It already felt like Josh was a shadowy memory from the distant past and Gideon was my future, which was why I needed to show the big lug that his not being able to shift didn’t make him any less worthy.
Something had happened when we’d made love—and, yes, I was being deliberate in my word choice because what we’d shared hadn’t been just sex—and I didn’t quite understand what it was.
I was missing something. He’d seemed disappointed—not in me or what we’d done, because that was the hottest sex I’d ever had and that only happened when the stars aligned, and both people were completely into one another—but in himself.
Like the moment had been bittersweet somehow, because of his inability to shift.
Although I didn’t understand how shifting had anything to do with sex.
I hoped Gideon would soon trust me enough to confide in me about what he meant by wishing he hadn’t bitten me.
Would his apartment shed any light on what was bothering him?
It was possible. But to explore it, I’d need to get up, and I wasn’t ready to leave Gideon’s embrace yet.
And that’d be an invasion of his privacy.
It’d be better just to show him he was perfect, and perfect for me, just the way he was. No snooping required.
Yeah. That was a better plan. I’d make him the most amazing breakfast he’d ever had and show him how I felt. I’d never thought about it before, but food had always been my love language. That had to be because it was connected to my magic.
Did that mean my breakfast would be a love spell?
Elwood hadn’t said my magic could be dangerous, and a love spell sounded dangerous. I’d have to be clear about my intentions. I wanted to show my love to Gideon, not to wish for him to fall for me. Although I suspected he was falling for me as much as I was falling for him.
“What are you thinking about?” Gideon asked. His voice was rough with sleep. His breath fanned across the back of my neck. Oh. Now that was nice, but it could get a lot nicer. My arousal was on a hair trigger where he was concerned.
“You’re awake.” I smiled and snuggled closer to him.
“Mhmm… you’re thinking pretty loudly over there.” His lips brushed across my skin. My breath caught, and I arched into him. Breakfast could wait a little longer.
I turned in his arms and kissed him.
As we stumbled down the stairs to the pub’s kitchen a long while later, I realized if someone asked me what Gideon’s apartment was like, I wouldn’t be able to answer. I’d been too focused on him to notice anything else. Oops.
“Are you sure I can use the kitchen in The Den?” I asked. “Your cook won’t mind?”
“We cook down here for the…” Gideon’s words trailed off. He got that pinched look on his face that only happened when he was thinking about his wolf.
“Pack?” I asked.
“They aren’t really my pack,” he said gruffly.
I hadn’t been in town long, but I already knew he was the only one who didn’t think he had a pack. I wasn’t going to change his mind this morning, though, so I decided to leave that alone. For now. “So, you cook down here…”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “We have a separate fridge and cooler for everyone who lives upstairs. The kitchen just needs to be left clean when we’re done, or Alvin will complain about it for days.”
“Sure. I can do that.” I nodded as I opened the pack’s fridge to see what I was dealing with. I wanted to bake him something magical, but I doubted a muffin or two would be enough for Gideon. He was a wolf shifter, and I suspected that kind of magic would need a lot of food to keep it going.
“I’ll help.” Gideon came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Earlier, you asked what I was thinking about.” I smiled and leaned against him. “I decided making food for you is my love language.”
“And what do you think my love language is?”
“Touch.” He was also protective and liked to feed me, but the thing that really stood out was how often he touched and kissed me.
“Interesting.” He nipped at my earlobe. “So, if I help you make food, you’ll be able to cook for me, and I’ll be close enough to touch you… and we’ll both be happy.”
I laughed. “Okay, but you can’t distract me, or I’ll burn breakfast.”
The way he was sucking gently on my neck, I wasn’t sure he cared. My stomach rumbled.
“Was that your stomach?” Gideon tapped my belly. “Why didn’t you say you were hungry?”
And with that, we started the fun dance of making breakfast together.
Gideon suggested we make enough for the others, too.
So in addition to the blueberry muffins I’d originally planned on making, we put together a gigantic pot of scrambled eggs, more bacon and sausage than I’d ever cooked in my life, hash browns, chocolate chip pancakes, and a fruit salad.
Gideon assured me the heaps of food would all be eaten—because apparently, I was right, and shifters did eat a lot.
As we worked, Gideon brushed his hand against my lower back.
Or nuzzled the back of my neck. Or adjusted my glasses when they started to slip down my nose.
And I poured all my feelings for him into every whisk of an egg or stir of muffin batter or sizzle of bacon.
It was the most fun I’d ever had in the kitchen, and given my love of baking, that was saying a lot.
We were love-languaging all over that kitchen, while still keeping things PG.
If we kept doing this, though, we might need to sneak upstairs soon to release some of this sexual tension.
Just as I’d started a second pot of coffee, because I’d gulped down the first one so fast that Gideon threatened to take away my mug, a large man with shaggy hair stomped into the kitchen.
He’d been at the meeting last night, but I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to him.
Based on the way he’d interacted with the others, I had the sense he was new to town, like me.
“Do I smell fruit?” His nose twitched.
Weird. I totally thought it’d be the bacon that’d get everyone’s asses down here, not the fruit.
“You bet,” I said. “Everything is almost ready.”
“Good morning, Perry.” Gideon smiled at the guy. “Why don’t you get one of the tables in the pub ready for us? You know where the plates and cutlery are.”
A short while later, when we sat down to eat, the table was full of people.
Some of them didn’t even live here, but a text had been sent out that we were having a big breakfast, and people just showed up.
I wondered if this was all of Gideon’s pack, or if there were more who hadn’t come.
When they introduced themselves, I tried to remember all their names.
I wasn’t sure I’d succeed, but I tried my best. These people were important to Gideon, so they were now important to me, too.
Some I recognized, like Perry and Sable, and some I didn’t.
I’d expected a bit of tension from them since I’d captured Gideon’s interest, and they obviously cared about him.
I expected to be taken aside and threatened with what would happen if I hurt their alpha.
But that didn’t happen. They were all so happy I was there.
They even raved about my food, which was very sweet of them.
Gideon teased them by suggesting they just wanted me to cook again.
But most of all, I loved seeing Gideon interact with them. The whole group had an easy camaraderie, and I chalked that up to Gideon. He set the tone, and everyone else followed.
It was obvious that they loved him, and that he loved them too.
Even the youngest were clamoring for his attention.
I’d never seen a shifter in their shifted forms before, but I figured the miniature tiger and the miniature wolf had to be shifter children.
They were adorable–all fur and paws that were too big for their tiny bodies.
But when they stalked Gideon across the room? So. Freaking. Cute. Gideon pretended not to notice as they inched toward him. And when they pounced, he fell to the ground with a dramatic flop. The little wolf lifted his nose in the air and howled victoriously.
Then, when Perry talked about how much he’d missed eating berries, I saw Gideon make a note in his phone about buying more.
When Sable flicked her ponytail over her shoulder and whacked Gideon with it, he’d tugged on the end and threatened to cut it off, which made her laugh.
When Mellgren showed up in his bat form and refused to shift, Gideon set a plate with banana slices beside the vampire.
Gideon reminded me of a father-figure, but not. Maybe more like a big brother?
I loved it.
“What are you smiling at?” Gideon asked.
“I was an only child,” I explained. “Big families always fascinated me.”
“And? What do you think?”
I noticed he didn’t try to say they weren’t his family. “I thought it’d be loud and chaotic and…” I shrugged. “Exhausting, maybe? But being here is, I don’t know, rejuvenating? I like it.”