“Salem.” This time it’s O and I raise my hand to rub my hand over my mouth so he doesn’t know how amused I am. “Be nice to Kit. He’s not quite ready for such blatant guy talk yet. He’s getting there, but…”
Wrinkling her nose, Kit sniffs her agreement. “That’s right, buddy. I’m stillfiguring this stuff out and you’re being a Pushy Panda. Today was a lot for me; be nice.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake—now she’s purposely pouting.
Oriel’s eyes widen as he tilts his head. “KK, are you… pouting? I don’t know if I’ve seen you do that quite so… appropriately timed before. Youaregetting more comfy with us!”
I let out a sigh of relief when he jumps to a conclusion that doesn’t raise suspicion on his own. “You don’t live with him, man. This dude knows how to get what he wants when he feels like it.”
“Who doesn’t?” Kit shoots back as she gets up again, rounding the island to finally start slicing the bread like I asked. “Besides, you guys always say youwantme to communicate better and I’m trying to do that. Am I doing it wrong somehow?”
“Not at all,” I reply with a smirk. “You’re just a wee bit sassy, given the lack of Jasper in the room.”
This time, Oriel arches a brow, his expression thoughtful. “You know, he might be right, KK. Though, to be fair, I enjoy the smart mouth. It’s fun, and it tells me you’re feeling confident in what you’re saying. That might not be true with Prince Pissypants, but I can tell the difference between the fake confidence and when you’re really comfortable. You have tells.”
She does? Now I feel dumb because I don’t know those. Damn him and those sharp fucking bird eyes.
“Well, keep that to yourself, bird boy. I don’t want everyone knowing all the shortcuts yet.” Kit hops down from the step stool, wiping her brow from the steam. “The veggies are almost done, Salem, and the bread is sliced. What’s next?”
Frowning, I wag a finger at her. “Now you come sit down and relax. I let you help because we both enjoy it, but you’re exhausted from the shit on the surface. You need to let your body and your brain calm down some more. No more chores for the night.”
She rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out at me, making both O and I blink in surprise. He’s definitely right about her comfort level with us, and I can’t wait to explore that at some point. But first, I want her to myself, so I’m keeping my damn mouth shut.
It won’t always be just me, but I’m going to fucking soak up the time that it is.
“You look much better, little demon.”The second Slash is in the door he’s headed for Kit, his eyes narrowed on her like he’s a guided missile. He’s laser-focused on my roomie, and I’m pretty sure it’s onlypartlybecause Jas assigned him to see to her welfare.
I have zero clue what Slash does or doesn’t like in that arena because he is the most mysterious of us all about sex; I’ve tried a million times, but no one ever talks.
Oriel looks up from his book, squinting for a second as he grins a little. “Calm down, big guy. Salem and I didn’t make him run circuits or anything. We’re not stupid.”
“Sometimes, I question the limits of your intelligence in matters such as this. You are both fond of risks.” Slash drops down to his knees, getting even with KK’s face as he examines her. “But you seem truthful at the moment.”
“Slash, I’m fine. See?” KK holds up the arm that was injured prior to our trip, moving it to show him the wound has healed well and didn’t get fucked up on the surface. “Whatever Dr. D gave me and the rest took care of most of the problem, and since I did nothing strenuous today, it got better. Cross my heart.”
The huge shifter grunts, watching her movements, then nods. “Okay. But I want to make certain you remain cautious for the first couple of days this week. We will start working on endurance again after Wednesday. Does that sound like it will work?”
“Yep.” Kit smiles at him, then jerks her head at the kitchen. “The food smells fucking awesome, right? I helped Salem cook and now we’re finishing up some work while we wait for it to finish.”
“It does, little demon. You did very well.” His hand reaches out to ruffle her hair, and I hide my grin when she flushes the pretty pink that is one tell I’m aware of.
That means she’s having less than pure thoughts, and when I inhale slowly, I can almost smell a change in her scent. It’s weird that I can’t grasp it fully, but I bet there’s a reason. I’ll have to ask her about it later. For now, I’m kind of enjoying being in on her big ass secret, and I refuse to spoil it. “Kit Kat, you aresomuch easier with him than Jasper. If you were this calm with him, the two of you would stop butting heads.”
“Truth,” Oriel adds as he looks up from his book. “However, taunting him is amusing as fuck, too. I can’t decide which one to root for.”
Slash shrugs, moving from kneeling to sitting at Kit’s feet. He picks one up and starts rubbing it absently. “I think he can do whatever makes him feel comfortable. It would be less trouble if they got along, but I know that my old friend and leader can be abrasive. He’s often that way when he loses control of things around him, and it is the only thing he can do to get it back.”
What the hell?
“Slash, you’re almost waxing poetic, dude. What gives?” I look at O, who nods in agreement, and then back at our brother. “And you’re not kissing Jasper’s ass, which is unheard of.”
Kit chuckles, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “The big guy talks more around me than normal. I guess it manifested even with you jokers here this time. That’s why I don’t look shocked.”
Our general grunts in irritation—likely with himself for forgetting his audience—and goes back to working on the foot in his palm. “You listen, and it doesn’t feel excessive when we are alone. Get back to work, all of you.”
I shake my head, knowing that he’s embarrassed about the slip, so I let it go. I’d love for him to interact more in the group, and I definitely wish he’d break from our cranky dragon leader more often. If he feels like we’re poking at him, he might not show that side again. “Fine. The roast only has a little longer, anyway.”
“Plus, the mattress bouncing quad will get here soon. We won’t be able to focus once X gets here. They’ll want to talk abouteverythingthat happened in great detail.” Oriel’s jab is friendly, but he’s right about the cobra shifter. Xerxes will want to chat, and Anton will insist on analyzing every detail as they do so.
