“Coffee…” he said with half-closed eyes as he reached for my mug.
“There’s half a pot left.”
I held my mug up, and the big guy walked straight into my back, wrapping his arms around me, and scooping my hands up with his big mitts to pull my mug to his lips.
He made a low humming sound. “Tastes like cherries.” His nose pressed into the top of my head. “You smell like cherries too.”
I relinquished my mug to him and rubbed my hands up his tattooed arms. “It’s all yours.”
“It’s hard to hear in here… did you just say you’re all mine?”
“How can this firehouse be so massive, and yet you manage to take up all of the available space in it?” I asked as the smell of pine forest and woodsmoke enveloped me. I spun in his arms to look up into muscles and more muscles. Declan’s tattoos arched over his shoulders and decorated half of his chest as well. There were some pretty serious religious symbols among designs and skulls. I saw the Celtic cross and rosary beads, bloody thorns, and a golden crown.
Declan grinned down and humor shined in his eyes. “If you feel the urge to start licking, go right on ahead.”
“I can’t be held to anything I said that night. Anyway, Lucas and I were having a conversation…” I peered past Declan’s massive arm to see that the sexy veterinarian was gone. I had to grab Declan by the waist to peer past him, and I just caught a glimpse of Lucas disappearing into the bathroom. “Damn it, Declan.” I sighed and shook my head. I would bet money that Declan was the beta in this pack and he just used his dominance to get me to himself. “That wasn’t very nice.”
“He’s a big boy, Cherry. Lucas is fine.” Declan ran a hand down my back. “Now the real question I want to be answered is if you’re fine after going into recovery, but you look like you’re glowing. A good night's sleep and some decent meals did you good…” He grinned over his coffee, “Unless of course, it was something else.”
Heat flushed up my face, and it only made Declan smile wider.
“What happened to you, Cherry, you’re turning all red.”
I poked him in his bare chest. “You, my friend, don’t know when to stop teasing.”
His hand covered mine, flattening my fingers to his chest. “Want to come with me today to check my traps and bring down an elk buck? You can herd him so you don’t risk your paw.”
A thrill of excitement and longing pulsed through my chest. There was nothing so satisfying as coordinating with a pack, hunting a worthy prey.
“Nothing would be so enjoyable, Declan, but your alpha hired me to inventory and restock your fire station, and I plan to start right away.”
His brows lifted. “You don’t say. Well, we definitely need restocking before fire season. I’ll focus on capturing big trade items for the next few days.” Declan leaned in, and his hands went to the counter on either side of me. “So, when you say that you’re starting right away, do you mean right this moment at four AM, or do you have time for a cuddle?”
“A cuddle?” I said through a laugh.
“You know, where I wrap my body around yours, and we both pretend not to notice that my Union Jack boxers are getting tight.” He said it all with a wolfish grin.
“I think I need to see these.” I reached for the front of his sweatpants, and he rocked his hips out toward me. When I undid his drawstring and pulled his pants open, sure as hell, he was wearing British flag boxers. “Do all of your underwear have flags on them?” I asked with a smile as I tied up his pants.
“No, I have much more exciting boxers than that. You’ll just have to look in my pants every day to find out.”
I took my coffee from his hands and took the last sip, and then I grabbed my camera and held it up for him. “Can I take a picture of you while we cuddle?”
“Never would I deny a woman photos for her spank bank.” Declan’s hands went under my ass and he lifted me up onto him, backward piggyback style. When I laughed, Declan squeezed me to his front. “I’ve got about three hours of cuddling time, and so we definitely can’t waste another second.”
He carried me up the stairs and lifted me onto his bunk before doing a pull-up and climbing in behind me. I rolled over and snapped a quick photo of him lying across his bed before I settled back.
True to his word, Declan wrapped me up in his arms as I tucked up under him. His fingers webbed through mine, and he nuzzled into my hair.
There was a scratching of claws somewhere under us, and then Declan said, “We’re about to have company.”
A giant wolf came leaping onto the bed, just managing to narrowly miss me with his paws as he came down on the mattress and shook the bunk.
“Chad,” I said as he stretched out next to me, rolling into my other side with his big fuzzy body.
A moment later, the bunk jostled again, and Ace appeared at the foot of the bed. He climbed up with his eyes still closed and crawled in on Declan’s other side. Within seconds, all three of them were breathing evenly.
Wolf piles were a huge part of pack culture, but to date, I’d never been in one. My old pack piled up on occasion, but Kane didn’t want any of his enforcers to so much as touch me. My magic was Kane’s personal
