W hen I opened my eyes again, it was to the glorious scent of coffee wafting into my nose.
“Good morning.” I blinked and found Caden standing beautifully shirtless and wearing another pair of my stretchiest pants. He must have gone through my dresser while I was asleep.
“You look way too good in my clothes.”
“Not as good as you’d look in these.” He set a cup of coffee onto the bedside table for me. “Breakfast is ready, coffee is here, and you have half an hour before you start work.”
I sat up groggily and accepted the cup he passed over, taking a long, slow sip of the sweet, creamy beverage. “You know how I take my coffee?”
“I’ve watched you make it every morning.”
“That’s fair. What’s for breakfast?”
“Scrambled eggs with peppers, toast, and a couple of sad sausages I found in your freezer.”
Oh, hell. I was getting five-star breakfast service in my own house. I’d only expected the toast when he told me he’d made breakfast.
I sipped away half my coffee before sliding out of bed, pulling on some semi-presentable clothes, and venturing out to eat the food. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until the first bite passed my lips. I inhaled the rest of my plate and sat back, patting my tummy.
“That was delicious.”
“Good.” Caden kissed my temple and went to open a can of food for Seth. “The kittens had their breakfast before I started on yours.”
My heart did some dangerous flips. Cooking for me and taking care of my foster kittens?
He’d be so easy to fall for…I was pretty sure I’d already slipped off the edge of that particular slope.
I’d decided he was mine when he was just a cat, and now he was a person too.
A person who went out of his way to take care of me and make me comfortable…
yep. That was a slippery-ass slope and I had launched myself down it like it was a slip-and-slide in the middle of July.
I didn’t want to work. I wanted to haul Caden back to bed and repeat last night.
Alas. Duty called. It was so hard to focus, though.
The spreadsheets swam in front of my eyes, but I did my best. Luckily I knew the job inside and out so I wasn’t too worried.
I could master the formulas and save myself a lot of headache if my mind could stop thinking about shifter dick for two seconds.
Over lunch, armed with a list of measurements, I popped over to the store and grabbed Caden some clothes, shoes, and toiletries.
With a proper outfit in his arsenal, he could come with me next time and pick out things he liked better.
I grabbed some stuff for Seth too, though I wasn’t entirely certain when he’d be needing them.
I tossed it all into the washing machine when I got home again and came out to a sandwich and a glass of milk waiting for me.
Damn. A girl could get used to this.
I’d kinda thought breakfast was a one-off, but maybe not. My laundry room had looked suspiciously cleaner than I remembered and my socks weren’t covered in cat fur when I walked around.
“Did you clean?”
“Mhmm. I wasn’t sure what else to do while you were working.”
I hooked an arm around his neck and indulged myself in a luxuriously slow, deep kiss. “You’re going to spoil me.”
He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Is that bad?”
“I mean, I’m not complaining. I’m just not used to it.”
“Guess you’ll have to get used to it. I intend to make myself useful for as long as you keep me.”
Oh.
My heart did that dangerous flip again. I shouldn’t be thinking about keeping him. But holy hell did I want to.
Instead of answering, I kissed him again.
The rest of the day and the next couple passed in the same strange bliss. It was weird to end my workday and not be exhausted by the waiting chores and skipped lunches. Caden kept me fed and my whole place sparkled. I didn’t even have to get up at night to feed the kittens.
I hadn’t felt rested in so long I didn’t even properly recognize the sensation.
Even with that, it was extremely difficult to focus through the afternoon.
Seth slept in my lap and I absently stroked his fur whenever someone at work was being stupid over the company chat, holding myself back from verbally tossing them into the sun.
Seth let out a mrp , lifting a sleepy head before leaning it against my stomach. You getting ready to claw some eyes out again?
“I wouldn’t have to get stabby if people would stop dumping extra work in my lap ten minutes before the workday’s over. It’s not even month’s end—these lazy fuckers are giving finance a bad name.”
I’ll fight them for you. He closed his eyes again. After this nap .
I laughed and scratched his chin, setting aside my work-related rage and vowing to ignore the rest of my new assignments until after dinner.
Carrying Seth out to the living room, I set him on the couch before continuing on to the kitchen where Caden was working on dinner—fajitas, by the smell of it.
I slid straight into his arms and let my head rest on his shoulder. “That smells amazing.”
He nudged my chin up to kiss me. I let myself melt, standing on my toes and hooking my arm around his neck. If I weren’t concerned about the food burning, I’d have suggested he bend me over the counters and de-stress me from work.
“Rough day?” Caden gave me one more quick peck before focusing on dinner.
“A bit.”
“I could hear you cursing.” He loaded the peppers and chicken onto a serving plate and pulled the warm tortillas out of the oven. “I don’t suppose you’d be up for a road trip this weekend?”
“Hmm, road trip to where?”
“New York. There are some shifters that can help me access stuff for human life—phone, driver’s license, bank account. I thought that might be good to have so I could help out more, or if you get tired of me I’ll have more options than living as a cat again.”
I bit my tongue on saying I was pretty sure it was impossible to get tired of him. I didn’t want him to feel pressured to stay. “I don’t love the traffic in NYC, but we can do that.”
“There’s others about the same distance, but Toronto and Montreal require a passport. What about Boston?”
“Throw in a side trip to Salem for me to be a nerd and I’m all over a trip to Boston.”
“Anything for my sugar mama.” He flashed me a grin and set the food down on the table, grabbing a bowl of grated cheese from the fridge along with a tub of sour cream and a container of salsa.
I stuffed my face on the fajitas while Caden told me about his last trip to Boston nearly a half century ago.
Seth joined us halfway through the meal and stole a piece of chicken off the plate before Caden could push him off the table.
Seth climbed onto my lap and looked at me with big saucer eyes until I gave him some bits of cheese and a lick of the sour cream from my finger.
I lived in Boston last year. A chill old lady fed me for a few months. Seth turned a circle in my lap to find the best angle to lie down. I should see if she’s still there.
“So, I didn’t want to pry, but it kinda seems like you two led super separate lives before you ended up with me here.”
Seth froze. That’s … mostly my fault. Caden doesn’t like me as much when I’m in people form.
My gaze flicked from Seth to Caden. “Why?”
I made some bad choices. Sometimes I think the only way I’ll stay out of trouble is if I live as a cat forever.
“Seth knows exactly what he did and I’m not obligated to forgive it.” Caden leaned toward me. “I check in on him every few years, make sure he’s alive and doing okay. It’s easier in cat form. The whole walnut brain thing doesn’t leave as much room for grudges.”
“What does that mean going forward? You’ve been pretty chill while you’re with me.”
That’s because I haven’t made it out of this form yet. It’s hard to get mad at me when I’m this cute.
I laughed and squished his face between my palms. “Who could ever be mad at this little face?”
Caden sighed. “That’s true too. It’s way easier to get mad about shit when you can see the face that did it.”
I’ll go once I’ve regained my shifting ability.
That thought made my stomach clench. I didn’t want him going anywhere.
My fingers curled around him, burying in his fur.
Maybe I’d feel differently when he was more than a magic cat.
I’d certainly shifted gears when Caden had gotten a human form.
But right now Seth was mine and it felt wrong to think about letting him go.
I didn’t want either of them leaving, but Caden seemed perfectly content to stick around so I wasn’t worried about him.
“You’d come and visit, though, right?”
Seth fidgeted in my lap. I can, if you want me to.
“I do want you to.”
Caden didn’t look like he loved the idea of Seth popping up, but he didn’t say anything about it.
That was a good thing too because if he told me I wasn’t allowed to see Seth I was perfectly willing to hang him out to dry no matter how many orgasms and nice meals he’d made me.
I didn’t jive with bullshit rules like that, especially when no one was telling me why they were in place.
“You’re always welcome as long as you don’t cause trouble.” I patted his head. “So don’t start pushing my water glasses off the table or anything.”
Seth let out a coughing snort. I’ll try to restrain myself.
“I can be peaceful,” Caden insisted. “It’s not anything you need to worry about, just a past issue that makes it difficult to trust him or forgive him.”
“One day you two are going to have to tell me what the fuck is up with your history, but I get that I haven’t been around long enough for you to be comfortable giving me the details.”
I was dying to know. Seth seemed like such a sweetheart. A deep, dark, family-shattering secret didn’t fit with my vision of him. It wasn’t dangerous, whatever it was; otherwise I was pretty sure Caden would have told me to kick Seth out. I sighed. I could be patient even if I hated it.
Table of Contents
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- Page 6 (Reading here)
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