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“I’m gonna take a shower while he eats and takes care of his business. If he scratches at the door before I get back, you can let him in, but if anyone knocks, don’t answer it. Just wait for me, ok?”

A soft smile belies the butterflies in my belly as I try my best to give him a chipper, “Yes, sir.”

Gideon’s gaze lingers on mine for a moment. I swear toAkashthat electricity courses between us. A single moment beneath his gaze has the heat in my core reigniting.

Sacred mother of fuck, I have never been so attracted to a male.

Gideon rises from his seat at the bartop of his kitchen counter and leans in so close to me that his lips brush my forehead as his hand cradles the back of my head.

“Thank you for confiding in me, angel.”

My eyes slip shut as I revel in his touch.

“Thank you for everything,ferion.”

My eyes pop open at the intimate endearment that so easily slipped from my lips.

Tension tightens Gideon’s expression. “Who the shit isferion?”

Clearing my throat, I attempt to muster some semblance of nonchalance.

“In Caerwynath, it’s a common term of endearment between intimate partners. It means ‘the one I am feral for’.”

I straighten, trying to pull away from him as my cheeks burn with hot-faced shame. “Sorry, saying it aloud makes me realize how fucking weird that probably sounds.”

Searching my gaze, Gideon’s hand in my hair tightens, allowing me to put absolutely zero distance between us. “Are you though?”

My cheeks, somehow, redden further as my throat works around a dry-as-sand ball of humiliation. Gideon urges me to answer by pulling my body flush against his.

“Are you feral for me, angel?”

Heaving an exasperated breath, I narrow my gaze. “I mean, Iwas…but this sadistic interrogation is certainly making me second-guess myself.”

Gideon’s lip twitches with amusement before pressing a lingering kiss to my forehead, and somehow that one small act iseverything.

“Well, I’m unashamed to admit thatferalis an understatement as to how you make me feel.”

“Oh?”

“I think perhapssavageorbestialmight be a little more accurate.”

Gideon’s lips part on a grin as mischief glints in his eyes.

“Rabid, even.”

Gideon suddenly lets loose a primal growl and buries his face in my neck with a snarl. A shriek of laughter escapes me as he continues, and his beard tickles the sensitive skin of my neck. Helpless to escape his arms wrapped around me like two solid tree trunks, I’m reduced to a writhing, squirming, squealing, hysterical mass of laughter until he finally stops and allows me to breathe.

My hysteria is promptly replaced by a sudden swell of affection. Every single point of contact where this man’s body touches touches mine tingles with awareness.

Arousal curls low in my belly as Gideon proceeds to trace the tip of his nose against the column of my neck, andoh-my-fuck.

I think he’s right.

Feral is a fucking understatement.

I want to peel this man’s clothes off with my teeth and burrow inside him. I want to gentlycarve a nest inside this man’s chest and call it home. I want–

My spiralling thoughts are interrupted by the sound of Gideon’s groan as lips graze my throat.