“Does your leg hurt at all?” he asked.
“Wouldn’t you feel it if it did?”
“Huh. Guess so,” he murmured. “But it doesn’t?”
I shook my head. “No, just a little tingly.”
The way his palm cupped my cheek was incredibly ginger. “I tried to be gentle, so it shouldn’t bruise. But if it does, ice packs help.”
“Duly noted.” I craned onto an elbow, bundling the blanket in closer. “I didn’t think I’d enjoy that as much as I did.”
His smile widened. “I’ve heard it’s a good time.”
“It isn’t for you?”
“It’s… satisfying. Like a glass of water after a run. But no, it’s not sexual for me like it is for whoever I’m feeding on. Watching you moan though.” He gave a half smirk. “That was fucking gorgeous.”
I nuzzled closer into his arm. “It doesn’t turn you on at all?”
He raised a shoulder. “It’s sort of like bringing a can of whipped cream into the bedroom. Yeah, it’s hot to lick it off someone’s nipple, but I don’t get hard when I look at an ice cream sundae.”
I laughed. “Did you just refer to me as ice cream?”
“You were the whipped cream in that euphemism, actually.” He paused. “That reminds me, actually. When we go to Abe’s on Friday, if you see anyone feeding, just… Don’t stare, alright?”
I wouldn’t have wanted anyone staring while he was drinking from me either. “Kinda assumed. But there will be a ton of people there? Not like it was meeting with Guinevere?”
“Yeah, there’ll be a few dozen wolves.” His hand on my hip tightened slightly. “Stick close to me. Like, pee before we go, and don’t take a step away.”
My stomach bubbled. “It’s that dangerous?”
“I don’t know. It depends on who’s there. Some wolves are cool, but when so many of us are clustered together, we get a little more… animalistic, I guess? Abe does a good job of keeping everyone in line. Still though. Just stick close.”
Despite the churning in my stomach, I laid my head back to his shoulder and cozied up to him. “Will do.”
For a few moments, I listened to the calming beats of his heart against my ear. My eyes gradually fell shut, basking in the calm of the crickets chirping outside the window. His embrace felt safer than the locked door, a dozen blankets, and a mug of tea.
I’d never felt like this before.
I wouldn’t call it love. You have to know someone to truly love them. But I could see this becoming that.
Declan kissed my forehead. “Brooke?”
“Yeah?”
A long moment of silence ticked by. Finally, he said, “Do you want me to stay the night?”
It was polite that he asked, but I’d assumed the circumstances cleared that up. Still, that made me wonder…
I lifted my gaze to his. “Do you want to stay the night?”
“If you want me to.”
I craned forward, touched my lips to his, and whispered, “If you want to, I want you to.”
He kissed me again. “Looks like I’m staying then.”
I smiled, lay my head against his chest once more, and closed my eyes. “But I’m a blanket hog, so sorry.”