“That we just had sex. And that I want to do it again.”
Throwing her head back with a laugh, she replied, “He’s an intelligent dog, but he’s still just a dog. He has no idea what it is we were doing. And you want to go again? I’m down for that,” she said, voice turning husky.
Quickly leaning back, Jax shook his head. “He knows exactly what I just did to his mistress. And I can’t do it with you again, as much as I want to. Not while he’s watching.”
“You can’t be serious right now,” she said in disbelief. “Jax, he doesn’t know what we did, or that we’re going to do it again.”
Shaking his head stubbornly, he replied, “Nope. Not doing it. And quit laughing. I know you think I’m nuts, but I swear he knows.”
“Oh my God,” she said, rolling her eyes as she got off the bed. Walking over to the door, she flipped the light switch, dousing the room in darkness. Walking back to the bed, she asked, “There, is that better? He can’t see us now.”
“Better, but we have to be very quiet. I don’t want him hearing it either.”
Shaking her head in exasperation, she didn’t reply. Instead, she jumped at him, taking him down on the bed. He’d been in charge last time, and now it was her turn. And she was about to put her tongue ring to good use.
Jax looked at the broken flower pots on the sidewalk, fury filling him. Someone was asking to die by messing with Piper. The break-in, the smashed pots. And he couldn’t help wondering if the bag of shit on her porch had been the first shot fired. If so, whoever this was had escalated things since then, and done so quickly.
It had him on edge. He knew he could protect Piper now, but he couldn’t be with her twenty-four seven. He’d love nothing more, but they both had lives to lead, and he couldn’t see her being okay with them being joined at the hip. Still, he wasn’t going anywhere until they caught this bastard. She would have to get used to that quickly, because he wasn’t leaving her vulnerable.
Things were going so well between them. It felt slow to him, but really, she hadn’t been back in town long, so they were progressing quickly. And he felt certain he could allay her fears, get past the last bit of the crumbling barrier she’d erected against him years ago, and finish winning her over.
Everything was going far better than he dared hope. Except for this shit. Glaring at the flower pots, he exhaled as he pulled out his phone to call Seth. Piper said not to bother replacing them, but he wanted to do something. Maybe build her some planters. It couldn’t replace her grandmother’s pots, but he felt like he needed to do something. He’d been working with Seth for years, building and fixing houses, and he’d gotten pretty good at it. He thought he could do this on his own, but he wanted them to be special, perfect for Piper. And working with wood was Seth’s shifter gift. There was no one more skilled at this kind of thing than he was.
“Hey, Jax. What’s up?” Seth said.
“Hey. So when me and Piper got home last night, we found her flower pots smashed on the walkway in front of her house. They were her grandmother’s, so they were special to her. I can’t replace them, but I thought maybe I could get you to build some planters for her. I’d do it, but I want them to be special.”
“Is Piper okay? No one was hurt?” Seth asked, voice concerned.
“No, we’re all fine. It happened sometime while we were gone last night. We found them broken when we got home. Do you have time in your schedule for this?”
“Yeah, man, of course. Y’all come first. I’ll head over now, if that’s okay.”
“We’ll be here. Thanks, man.”
Jax quickly rattled off the address and then hung up before walking inside. Following the smell of breakfast to the kitchen, he found Piper at the stove, making scrambled eggs. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her neck, smiling against her skin as she shivered. Turning in his arms, she gave him a proper kiss that quickly turned heated.
Pulling back when Snickers barked, her eyes widened as she said, “Shit! My eggs,” whirling around to check on them.
Smiling, Jax looked down to see Snickers staring at him, and he leaned over to pet him. His fingers had just touched the dog’s fur when Snickers let out a growl, turning his head and snapping at Jax.
“Son of a bitch,” Jax said, jerking his fingers away and standing up straight, staring at the dog in surprise.
“What? What happened?” Piper asked, moving the pan to a cold burner and turning the hot one off.
“Snickers just tried to bite me. See, I told you he knew what we were up to last night. This is him letting me know I didn’t get away with it.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “Stop with that shit already. He doesn’t know. He’s probably just reacting to me having someone in my life besides him.”
Brow furrowing, Jax shook his head. “I don’t think so. He likes me, so why would he object?”
“But he likes me more,” Piper said, filling their plates. “And he’s not used to having to share me. I might be your mate, but I’m also his person.” She turned from the counter, plates in hand, and gave him another kiss, pulling back with a laugh when Snickers barked again. “See?”
“You and me are going to have to come to an understanding,” he told Snickers. “Get used to this kind of thing, dog. I’m not going anywhere.”
Following Piper to the table, he sat down. His plate was piled high with a mound of fluffy scrambled eggs, mixed with cheese, onions, green peppers, and ham, and there was a stack of biscuits on the table. It looked amazing, and he eagerly picked his fork up and took a bite, eyes closing at the taste.
“You like it then?” she asked, voice amused.