Page 95 of Witchbane

He opened the door enough to pull the tray in, then shut it and locked it. He picked up the plate, a heaping burger making me nearly leap off the bed.

Burger or Liam… Fuck, decisions shouldn’t be that hard.

“I’m going to have a serious food kink after this,” I said.

“Because you don’t already?” Liam asked. He sat down on the edge of the bed and cut the burger up into quarters. My mouth salivated at the idea of that juicy meat. Oh man, but Liam’s meat was juicy too.

“Ulrich…” I warned. I touched one of the bright swatches of color running down his right arm. It actually looked like a tiered cake with a tail wrapped around it, maybe? “What is this?”

“Had Nick create some art, add some color. I hope they don’t fade here. I really like them.” Liam held the first piece to my lips. “Food first. But I promise all the meat is yours.”

I groaned as he reached down to stroke me as I took a bite of the burger. It was good and so was Liam’s hand wrapped around me. “Not fair,” I protested while chewing.

“Plenty of time for all the meat,” Liam assured me.

“I can tell you where to put your meat,” I growled at my mate.

Chapter 27

He fed half the burger to me, letting me lick his fingers free of ketchup and juices from the beef. It was medium, pink in the middle with a decadent softness. I barely tasted it as I swallowed down the first two bites.

“Chew,” Liam instructed. He leaned in to kiss the edge of my lips, pressing another bite of burger, then mimicking the chewing motion. I copied him because I was starving, both for food and my mate.

The burger seemed to settle something in my stomach, some underlying growling I hadn’t really realized was happening until that moment. Almost like a drop of magic, each bite expanded clarity outward. I chased Liam’s kisses between bites, my grip firm in his hair which I studied. He would need a trim, but I liked that the length gave me something to hold on to.

My body was warm, hot, and needy, but it wasn’t the unbearable intensity I’d experienced every time we had separated before. Did I want him to go anywhere without me ever again? Hell no, but I could wait a few minutes to have him inside me, over me, holding me.

“The heat isn’t as intense,” Liam agreed. “I wonder if creating Ari was part of why it was so strong before.”

Did that mean Liam didn’t want me?

He snorted a laugh and looked down at his lap, which he’d carefully folded the blanket over. His cock was hard and leaking, straining upward like a tent, peeking from the blanket in the most insanely alluring way. “I think how much I want you is clear.”

It was then that I noticed a scar on his abdomen that hadn’t been there. I reached out to trace it. Werewolves didn’t scar. Their healing worked too fast for that. It wasn’t covered by all the fancy colors and art. Liam caught my hand and lifted it to kiss my fingers.

“It’s fine,” he promised.

“How?”

“Your brother and I had a bit of a disagreement. I won.”

“This doesn’t look like winning. Disagreement over what?” I couldn’t imagine Liam fighting Kiran in his kitsune form. Liam had a kitsune form now too. Or at least he had before. “Can you still change into the kitsune?”

“Yes. It’s nice to have my wolf back. When we were separated it was really hard to wake the wolf at all.”

“You fought with Kiran in kitsune form?”

“I won,” Liam repeated. “He’s not as impressive as you are in your kitsune form.”

“Right. That’s not biased at all.”

Liam laughed again and set the plate on the bedside table. I could probably eat three more burgers, but I needed my mate first. “It’s not. And Kiran thought he should be in control of Ari. But I am Ari’s father.”

“In a very weirdly magical way,” I agreed. “Not like I birthed a baby.”

“You did, actually. A baby world. It’s how kitsunes used to reproduce all the time. Then the fae started controlling how much energy they could obtain.”

“It wasn’t how I was created. My mother is not a kitsune.”