13. James
James
I waited until the last customer left before locking the door to Wolf & Whisk. The bell over the entrance gave a final jingle, and then silence settled over the shop like a too-heavy blanket.
Too still. Too quiet. Like the breath you hold just before something breaks.
I wiped down the counter with more force than necessary, trying to scrub away the twist in my chest, the heat rising up my throat. My pulse thudded behind my ears.
My wolf paced, sharp claws scraping just beneath my skin. Restless. Uneasy. Hurt.
Then I heard the soft creak of the back entrance opening. The door we all used when we didn’t want to make a scene. Rafael.
I didn’t turn. Not right away. I pressed the rag harder into the counter like I could will myself calm. One breath. Then another, but it didn’t help.
I knew the moment I met his eyes, I’d either yell… or fall apart. And I didn’t know which one scared me more.
“You found Avery,” I said finally, still facing the counter. My voice came out quieter than I meant it to. Too calm. A dangerous kind of calm.
Behind me, I heard the soft thump of his boots on tile. Hesitant. Not his usual purposeful stride.
Questions swirled in my head. Didn’t Rafael trust me? Didn’t Callum? Why exclude me from this? I forced myself to breathe in out.
When that didn’t work, I silently counted to ten in my head and forced myself to calm down.
Starting the conversation with me hurling accusations at my grumpy bear made me seem immature…and this was Rafael. He deserved better.
“Yeah,” he said. “We found him.”
“And?” I turned slowly, every muscle stiff. “You went without me.”
He looked like he’d expected this. Shoulders squared but tense. Jaw clenched like he’d been grinding his teeth all the way back to town.
Seeing how guilty he looked eased my anger a little.
“It was safer that way,” he said.
“Safer?” I let out a quiet, bitter laugh, but there was no humor in it.
I continued, “You went into a confrontation with a predator who’s been threatening me for months, and you thought excluding me was the best move?”
“James—”
“No,” I snapped, stepping forward, my hands curling into fists at my sides. “I get it, okay? You were trying to protect me. You and Callum and Beau and everyone else, like I’m some helpless little wolf who can’t fight his own battles. But this?”
I thumped a hand against my chest. “This is my mess. My brother’s debt. My name Avery’s been using to string me along like some scared little pawn. You think I wouldn’t want to be there when it finally ended?”
Rafael moved closer, eyes locked on mine.
“I didn’t say that,” he said, voice low and rough. “I knew you’d want to be there. That’s exactly why we didn’t tell you.”
His honesty slammed into me like a punch. Sharp and unapologetic. I looked away, jaw clenched tight. The brief calm I felt earlier was gone.
“You don’t get to make those choices for me,” I whispered.
“I know.” His voice softened, earnest. “I know, and I’m sorry. But if something had gone wrong in there. If Avery had made a move, if it had escalated, and you were there, I don’t know if I could’ve—”
He stopped, shook his head once. “I couldn’t live with that.”
The room went quiet again, the kind of quiet that buzzed behind your eyes and filled your chest with heat and ache.
He ran a hand through his hair and looked at me like I was a secret he wasn’t sure he had the right to keep.
“I didn’t do it to cut you out,” he said. “I did it because I care.”
That cracked something inside me. I looked at him.
The tension in his body, like he was still ready for a fight. The exhaustion in his face, the slight edge of vulnerability he never let anyone else see.
And the way his eyes held on to me like I was more important than whatever hell he’d just walked through.
My anger disappeared completely and I forced myself to listen, to process his words more carefully.
“Was it bad?” I asked, softer now. Cautious.
He nodded once. “Avery played smug. But he’s scared. He knows what’s coming for him.”
I exhaled, slow and shaky. “Good.”
The weight in my chest didn’t vanish, but it shifted. Became something different and lighter.
He’s back. He’s safe. And honestly, that was all that mattered.
Rafael stepped closer. Close enough I could feel the warmth of him. “You’re pissed.”
“I was,” I admitted. “Still am… a little. But more than that?” My throat tightened. “I’m scared.”
His brows furrowed. “Scared?”
I reached out without thinking, fisting a hand in the front of his hoodie.
“Scared that you wouldn’t come back. That something would happen to you, and I wouldn’t know. That I’d never get to see you walk through that door again,” I told him.
He didn’t say anything. Not with words.
He stepped in and cupped the back of my neck with a hand that trembled, just barely. And then he kissed me. I gave in, savoring the familiar taste of him.
It wasn’t desperate, wasn’t wild. Just real. A little rough. A little shaky. Like he didn’t quite trust himself but couldn’t not touch me.
How could I continue to stay mad at my grumpy bear?
I melted into him, arms wrapping around his solid waist, my chest pressed to his like I could hide there.
His other hand slipped beneath my shirt, warm fingers tracing the dip of my spine, grounding me in the way only he could.
“I hate how much I missed you today,” I whispered into the crook of his neck.
His breath hitched, and a low growl rumbled in his chest. He pressed his forehead to mine.
“I know. I missed you too,” Rafael said.
His lips found mine again, hotter this time. More urgent. My fingers curled into the fabric of his hoodie, tugging him closer, until I could feel the hard lines of him everywhere.
The muscles under my palms. The heat of his mouth, his breath, his need.
We kissed like we were both trying to make up for lost time. My back hit the wall behind the counter, his hands braced on either side of me.
I moaned into his mouth, my wolf rising beneath my skin like a flame licking toward oxygen.
“I should be mad,” I murmured, “but all I want right now is you.”
His hand cupped my jaw, thumb brushing along the curve of my cheek. His touch was warm, grounding, reverent.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he said, voice thick with promise.
“Okay,” I breathed, already leaning into him, already wanting more.
My heart pounded so hard it echoed in my ears, like it was trying to leap toward him.
“Not here,” he murmured, glancing toward the front of the bakery even as his fingers trailed down my spine.
I nodded, chest tight with need. “Let’s go back to my place.”
We left through the back entrance, locking up behind us. The streets were quiet, the hour late enough that Sugarpaw Springs had settled down into its nighttime hush.
But the silence between us wasn’t calm. It was charged. Every step we took toward the car, every brush of his hand against mine, sparked something electric.
By the time we reached my apartment building, I didn’t want to wait anymore.
I grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the stairwell instead of the elevator, too keyed up to stand still in a small space with him.
We climbed in silence, but the tension between us hummed like a live wire, wrapping around my lungs and squeezing.
When we reached my door, I barely managed to unlock it before I was pulling him in, backing him against the inside wall with a kiss that burned all the way to my toes.
Clothes dropped in lazy, stumbling pieces. A trail across the floor, forgotten in favor of skin and heat and the gravity that pulled us into each other like we were built to fit.
His hoodie hit the floor. My shirt followed. Then came his belt, my jeans, his hands on my waist and my mouth on his throat.
By the time we hit the bed, we were a tangle of limbs and tension and breathless anticipation.
Rafael hovered over me, his body a wall of heat, his expression dark and careful as he searched my face.
“Tell me to stop,” he said, voice hoarse, but still so gentle.
“Don’t you dare,” I whispered, breath catching in my throat.
My hands gripped his shoulders, thumbs brushing over the curve of his collarbone. I needed him like I needed air. Maybe more.
He kissed me like he meant it. Like he needed it, too. His mouth moved over mine, then trailed down my neck with slow, deliberate care.
The scrape of his stubble made me shiver. My back arched, a gasp escaping as my leg hooked around his hip, pulling him flush against me.
“James,” he groaned, like my name alone could undo him.
We didn’t rush this time. It wasn’t frantic or hurried. It was slower. More intentional. His hands on my skin were worshipful, like he was learning every inch of me all over again.
And I gave him everything. Every shudder, every moan, every breathless plea.
He kissed my shoulder, the inside of my wrist, the center of my chest like I was something precious. And when I arched into him, he caught me. Steadied me. Held me.
The world narrowed to just us. Just the press of his body against mine, the rhythm we found together, the heat building between our skin until I was drowning in it.
Rafael grabbed a condom tucked in his wallet, slipped it on. I snatched the lube on a nearby table.
“Prep yourself,” he said and the hunger in his voice made me eagerly complied.
Once my hole was ready, Rafael straddled me, lifting my legs over his shoulders. My member was thick and full, just like his.
His mouth returned to mine, swallowing the soft sounds I couldn’t hold back, his fingers laced with mine as we moved in sync, like a dance only we knew.
When I gasped his name, he kissed me like a vow. Rafael moved in and out of me until we were both panting messes.
And when I shattered, he followed. Rafael pressed his forehead pressed to mine, his breath warm against my lips, his hands holding me like I might vanish if he let go.
We lay there after, tangled up in a mess of sheets and sweat and limbs. My head rested against his shoulder, one leg still slung over his.
His hand moved in slow, lazy circles on my back, his chest rising and falling in a rhythm that soothed something deep in me.
“You’re still mad,” he murmured, voice low and rough.
“A little,” I admitted, my words muffled against his chest. “But you kissed me better.”
He snorted, soft and surprised. Then I felt his lips press to the top of my head. “Noted.”
I lifted my head just enough to see his face.
His eyes were half-lidded, but open. Honest. There was something vulnerable in the way he looked at me. Unguarded in a way Rafael rarely was.
“Next time,” I said quietly, “let me stand beside you.”
He nodded, serious now. “I will. I promise.”
And I believed him. I settled against him again, curling into the warmth of his body like I was meant to be there.
His arm tightened around me, pulling me closer until I could feel the steady beat of his heart beneath my cheek.
I let my eyes fall shut, his scent in my lungs and his skin against mine. Safe. Warm. Home.