“So what do you like to do?” I ask the boys as I start frying up the pancakes. It’s taking all of my strength not to sit here and picture what Theresa looks like naked in my shower. That’s where she is, after all. She’s in my shower, soaping up her curvy body. She’s letting the water rush over her and she’s taking control of everything she has.
I love that even though she was scared last night, she didn’t lose sight of who she was.
“I like trains,” Silas tells me.
“Me too.” Sebastian smiles up at me. These kids are adorable as hell. They’re clever, too, and charming. She’s going to have her hands full with them because they’re going to keep her on her toes. I get the feeling that they’re not going to be afraid to try to charm their way out of trouble without a second thought.
“Do you have trains?”
“I have a red train,” Sebastian nods.
“I have a red train and a blue train and a yellow train,” Silas tells me.
“And I have a green train,” Sebastian adds.
“And I have an orange train.”
The boys keep listing off their different train and boxcar colors, and I do my best to focus on what they’re saying, but suddenly, her scent wafts over me. It’s mixed with my own and when I look up, I see her standing in the entrance to the kitchen.
What’s more is that she’s wearing my shirt.
No wonder she smells like me.
I’ve never been mated before. Oh, I dated Emily for a very long time, and we were desperately in love, or so I thought, but I never felt the urge to claim her as my own. I never needed to mark her.
Not like this.
With Theresa, I find myself craving her. I find myself completely delighting in the way she looks and the way she sounds. When she opens her mouth to speak, I just want to slide my tongue over those perfect lips and make her fall silent under my touch.
There is so very much that I want when it comes to her.
“Welcome to the pancake room,” I tell her. I fight myself to keep from licking my lips. The last thing these kids need is to see me going totally crazy over their mom.
“Thank you,” she smiles. “I can see you boys are getting a lot done.”
“Look what I did!” Sebastian proudly points to the bowl. Silas does, too.
“We stirred.”
“Wow, you stirred?” She looks from the bowl to me and back again. “Good job, boys. Did Mr. Heath help you?”
“Yeah!”
She laughs and nods.
“Okay, why don’t you go to the bathroom and wash your hands? I’m going to talk to Heath for a minute, okay? And I think it’s going to be a few minutes before the food is ready.”
“Just a few,” I tell her.
The boys hop down from their stools, scurry out of the kitchen, and go into the bathroom. They close the door behind themselves and lock it, which should probably worry me. I have no idea how much splashing or soap-spilling they’re about to get into, but right now, I don’t even care.
All I care about is her.
“You’re wearing my shirt.”
“I hope you don’t mind.”
“Do I look like I mind?” I wink at her, and she chuckles.