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Finally, when the moon was high in the sky and I had nearly rotted my brain scrolling my phone, I heard the front door open. I heard the familiar thump-thump of Steph toeing off his boots, and then he climbed the stairs. He pushed the door to the bedroom open slowly and peeked inside.

“You’re still awake,” he said with a small furrow in his brow.

“It’s not that late. I was waiting for you.” I propped myself up on my elbow and gestured for him to come closer.

Like a moth to a flame, he drew nearer until he was standing over me. I ran my hand up his arm, over the dark ink of his tattoos, then cupped the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

He sighed into it as I deepened the kiss and tugged a little more insistently at him. I wanted him in bed with me.

“I need to shower,” he murmured against my lips. “It’s been a long day.”

Only then did I notice the tension in his shoulders and the dark circles of exhaustion under his eyes. I sat up a little more, then swung my feet off the bed.

“No, you should sleep?—”

“Nope,” I said with a smile. “I’ve been relaxing all day. Now it’s your turn.”

Steph didn’t argue when I took his hand and led him into the en suite bathroom, which only confirmed how exhausted he was. I turned on the water and let it run until it was steaming hot, then let the big tub fill up. I turned to Steph and slowly stripped him out of his clothes, then undressed myself. He wound his arms around me and pulled me flush against him before he kissed me slowly. Even though we were both naked, there was no intense desire there like there often was. It was just comfort. Softness. The safety of being close. I raked my hands through his hair, letting my nails drag across his scalp, and he nearly purred with pleasure.

I loved seeing him like this. Relaxed and vulnerable. I loved being the one he could relax with. With the rest of the clan, he had to be the strong, unflappable alpha. He had to be Ace. With me, he could just be Steph. My mate.

When the tub was nearly full, I added a hefty amount of sweet-smelling bubbles, then let the tap bring them up to a froth.I guided Steph to step in. He sank into the bath with a sigh of pleasure. I climbed in and settled with my back against his chest.

Steph hummed and wrapped his arms around my waist, hugging me close. “You know,” he murmured, “I’d never taken a bath in here until you came into my life.”

“That’s sad,” I said. “Baths are the easiest luxury.”

“I was never really a man of luxury.”

“Well, maybe you can add in a little bit here and there.” I lifted his hand out of the water and kissed his knuckles. “For me.”

He kissed my neck. “Just for you.”

We rested in comfortable silence for a moment, and I savored the warmth of Steph’s body against mine in the hot water around us.

“How’d today go?” I asked. “You were gone a long time.”

“A lot of logistical stuff to deal with. We had a full clan meeting at the clubhouse. I chose a handful of guys to come with me to the challenge as witnesses.”

“Just witnesses?” I asked.

“And backup,” he said. “For a challenge, it should just be me and Sean, but…”

“He’s not guaranteed to follow the rules,” I said.

“Right. He might try to ambush me, then say he won the challenge fair and square.”

“That seems dumb.”

Steph snorted. “It would be, but I wouldn’t put anything past him at this point.”

I folded my hands over his forearms and gently massaged his tense muscles. “What about Blakely and Forrest? Are they involved?”

“We’ve had eyes on Blakely. She’s barely left her apartment,” Steph said. “Forrest resigned and skipped town in a hurry. Tank followed him all the way to the state border.”

“So, he’s gone for good?”

“Should be,” Steph said. “Plus, we said we’d make sure he didn’t work as a cop again.”