Page 164 of A Broody Mate for the Human

“Are you sure?” he asks in worry. “It was too much, wasn’t it? I shouldn’t have—”

“No, it was perfect.” I rest my ear against his chest, hearing his heart thump.

“But?”

“Nothing, I just feel like I opened up a part of myself I never showed anyone before.”

Raffy stays quiet for a while. “That’s not bad, is it?”

“No, but it makes me feel raw and vulnerable.”

Raffy nods, placing a kiss on my head. “It’s okay to be raw and vulnerable when it’s with me,” he says confidently. “I will make sure to watch out for you.”

“I know. You’re my big teddy bear after all,” I say with a smile.

He grins. “I call that an upgrade from your favorite hobo.”

I chuckle. “You really didn’t make the best first impression. I thought you were an axe murderer.”

Raffy raises his brows. “Yet you got into a car with me?”

“Well, it probably was the mate bond,” I say, hoping he buys my excuse. Judging by his frown, he doesn’t, but after a couple of seconds of making puppy eyes at him, his gaze melts, and he sighs and grumbles. I grin. “You already spanked me; you can’t do it again.”

“Not immediately,” he deadpans, making my lower regions tingle a bit. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Obvious.

But he is teasing the wrong person here.

“Put it on the list,” I say lazily.

Raffy laughs, his voice like a rumble, and pulls me closer to his chest. “I love you,” he says. “Like crazy.”

“I love you too,” I admit. “Sometimes it’s a scary feeling to love someone so much.”

“I know.” Raffy’s finger glides over my cheek softly. “It’s the same for me. I can’t lose you.” He pauses. “Please promise me you won’t do anything reckless.”

I look at him, noticing how serious he suddenly got. “Raffy, are you truly worrying that I might jump into a fight?” When he shrugs, I sigh. “I’ve never been one for a fistfight, Raphael, and I won’t start now. I just want to learn how to defend myself.” I pause. “The same goes for you. Don’t do anything reckless to get revenge for Esme and me. It won’t help us when you get hurt.”

He sighs, trying to avoid my eyes, but when I keep staring at him, he eventually gives in. “Nothing reckless. But I won’t run away from a fight either.”

I let his words sink in, contemplating for a moment, then nod. “Deal.”

Before I can snuggle against him again, a persistent barking makes me stop. There is the tapping of paws and something scratching at the door. “That’s Sugar,” I groan.

Raffy grumbles before sitting up. “Alright, I’ll take him for a walk. You can rest for a bit longer.”

I smile into a pillow when I hear him step outside and greet Sugar. He complains about how Sugar left drool all over the floor and rushes to get a mop to clean it. I know what he is doing because he keeps talking to Sugar nonstop, and it’s the cutest thing ever.

Eventually I doze off again, caught in a comfortable state between sleep and awake. It’s been a while since I had such a lazy morning. It gets even better when Raffy returns and starts making breakfast, not without checking and doting on me every couple of minutes. Wow, if he is always going to be like this after a rougher session, I’ll have him spank me weekly.

I’m tempted to mope around for a while longer just to have him cuddle me a bit more, but I don’t want him to feel guilty about an amazing night we had, so I eventually get up. I freshen up under the shower, the warm water soothing my aching body. When I turn around a bit to check my behind in the mirror, I notice some marks from last night. No surprise I’m feeling sore as fuck when I want to sit down. The thought of it sends tingles down my groin. I should probably feel embarrassed by being turned on by this, but I don’t.

I slip into my comfy clothes and walk downstairs to the kitchen, noticing that Raffy has prepared ham and eggs for a legion, has brought fresh bread from the pack house, and is hovering over his phone now to make pancakes.

“Raffy.” I chuckle. “Don’t you think you went overboard?”

“I didn’t know what you wanted to eat. And then I remembered you liked your breakfast sweet, so I looked up a pancake recipe.” He pauses and shrugs like it’s the most normal thing ever.

He is the sweetest. My heart melts at how kind and gentle he is. I make sure to wrap my arms around his middle tightly and lean my head against his back. “In case you feel in any way guilty, don’t, because I enjoyed the fuck out of last night, and definitely want to repeat it, just not tomorrow.”