Page 59 of Fake It ’Til You Mate It

Roxy did her part. She gave Max the scroll, winked at me, joked that we should crack a window, then headed out of the bedroom, calling out, “You have fun up there, kids. I’ll lock up behind me.”

There was no sleeping for Max and me after that. Luckily, we’re supes. Going without sleep isn’t fun—I’m totally jealous of Gus right now because he’s snoring away on a big queen-sized bed at the Alpha cabin—but as long as we get some food in us, we’ll be fine.

While Max looked over the scroll again, I climbed out of the bed. Just like how he could sense Roxy before I did, he knew before I even had one foot on the floor that I was moving. He grabbed my wrist, tethering me to him.

There was a question in his gaze, and a powerful male bracing for rejection in the way his jaw clenched.

I smiled at him. “I’m going to start laundry and cook some breakfast.

The tiniest flash of relief softened his rugged features. “You’re feeding me again.”

I leaned over him, kissing him softly. “Hey. You mated me. You’re stuck with me. I might as well give you a reason to want to stick around, too.”

Max trailed his fingertips over my pulse point. “Hurry back to me, Honey.”

Not ‘Killer’, I noticed. That might be the nickname my mate chose to give me, but on the heels of learning that one of the members of his inner circle is a killer… yeah. It’s still a thrill to hear his deep, intoxicating voice say my name.

I promised I would, then did everything else I said. There was no doubt in my mind that Max would want to do something about this right away. So what if it’s now three-thirty in the morning? We’d had a plan to go to the museum where the witch coven congregates. Now it was all about figuring out a way to get to Talia Winters and Leo Holloway before they hurt anyone else.

After I double-checked that the front and back doors were locked—and that Roxy had vanished—I grabbed our clothes carefully, bringing them back upstairs. I started the washer. Some coffee, bacon, eggs, and toast would be enough to help me feel more, well, alive. Remembering that I have an Alpha wolf shifter in my bedroom, I triple the portions.

Once it was done, I returned to the bedroom. By then it was quarter after four. Max was sprawled on his back, staring up at the ceiling, though he did sit up as I walked in carrying our breakfast.

“I called my brother. I woke him up and told him to head to the Alpha cabin. He’ll check on Gus and meet us there around nine. He’s my Beta. He needs to know about Leo, but that’s one conversation I want to have face-to-face. There’s something else I want to talk to him about, too. After that, we’ll go hunting for Leo and his witch.”

I get that.

“Nine? I know we have to eat, and I just switched the laundry from the washer to the dryer so that will take some time… but what will we do until we leave?”

Max smiled. It wasn’t a full smile, and I could see the weight of what it means to be both the Alpha and the sheriff behind it, but it was enough.

“Whatever we want.”

I know we have a murderer to catch, but eating breakfast in bed with my mate almost made everything we went through last night worth it. It’s Max’s turn to feed me. He holds the bacon out, refusing to put it down until I nibble on it. I find out he takes his coffee black—which I figured—and he teased me when he saw mine was dark, too, only it reeked of sugar.

What can I say? I have a bit of a sweet tooth, too.

Just like I thought, we don’t sleep. Not really. We sprawl out together, my head on Max’s chest. I get to doze off, listening to his heartbeat. When I point out he’s being quiet, he says he’s thinking, and I leave it at that.

Around eight o’clock, he sighs. “We should probably head back to the cabin.”

He’s right. I’m not happy to climb up and off of him, but he’s right. I go and retrieve our clothes from the dryer. This time, he has to go commando; obviously, I don’t have a spare change of underwear for him after his… um… loss of control last night meant he exploded his off of him. I put on a fresh pair of panties and a new bra, vividly aware that Max is watching every move I make.

When he notices that I’ve caught him staring, he grins, showing me the points of his wolf’s fangs. Still perched on the edge of my bed, fully dressed now, he pats his lap. I finish buttoning up my jeans and walk over to him.

He shoots his hand out, fingering one of my loose curls.

After our shower, I didn’t get to do anything more to hair than let Max brush it out for me. Normally, I dry my hair, then braid it into two braids that usually rest over the fronts of my shoulders. This is the first time Max has seen me with all my hair down.

“It’s pretty,” he rumbles.

“You like it like this?”

He shrugs. “I like your hair no matter how you wear it. But the braids… that just makes me think of you.”

I’m glad. He’s my mate, and my inner opossum’s instincts will insist I do anything to keep him happy, but I’m me, too. I’m Honey Morgan. I wear my hair in braids, and as I smile down at Max, I divide my hair in half. With practiced fingers, I quickly do my hair the way I like it.

Max gets up. Bending his head, he drops a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “That’s my mate.”