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Nikki placed a hand on her hip. “I say we ask Kai to decide. The loser must do one thing, anything, that the winner asks.”
The corner of Rafe’s mouth ticked up. “Oh, this is going to be fun.” He put out his free hand. “Shake on it.”
Cautiously, Nikki took a few steps and placed her hand in Rafe’s. A second later, he pulled her close to whisper, “I look forward to collecting.”
The heat in his eyes combined with the huskiness of his voice made her shiver. She wondered what Rafe would ask for.
The dried blood in his nostrils didn’t diminish his handsome green eyes or chiseled jaw. Without the mate-claim frenzy in the way, getting naked with Rafe could be fun. And since he was a male, his favor would no doubt involve both of them naked.
No. Nikki was in the right. The fun part would be deciding what to make Rafe do. Maybe she would make him run naked through the clan’s main shopping area. That would help diminish his scary, badass army image with the clan.
Releasing his hand, Nikki scanned the area to see Kai and Jane watching them. “Let’s ask Kai, then,” she stated before marching toward the pair.
She couldn’t wait to see Rafe’s face when Kai decided in Nikki’s favor. Considering Kai couldn’t stand Rafe, she didn’t doubt for a second the ruling would declare her the winner.
As soon as she was close enough, Jane came up to her and slapped her shoulder. “You are brilliant, Nikki Gray. If anyone can stand up to my brother, it’s you. Did you break his nose? You were too far away for me to see.”
Smiling, Nikki glanced behind her and back. “He deserved it is all I’ll say.” Moving her gaze to Kai, she added, “We have something for you to adjudicate, Kai.”
Kai merely raised his brows in question. Since Rafe had been close enough to hear, he beat Nikki to the explanation. “Nikki is exhausted after the frenzy, newly pregnant, and decided to run after you. To solve the problem, I scooped her up and carried her. She claims I was crossing boundaries and being alpha when all I was doing was thinking of her health.”
Nikki frowned. “You left out the bit about our agreement. Rafe isn’t allowed to pull his alpha bullshit unless my life or health is in danger.”
Jane grinned. “So, you two already have an agreement?”
“Not like that, Jane,” Nikki jumped in. “It’s merely something to prevent us from killing each other.”
Rafe opened his mouth to say something when Kai’s voice cut him off. “In this, I side with Rafe.”
Nikki blinked. “What?”
“You heard me. You’ve more than proved yourself to everyone who matters in this clan. It’s okay to take a day off to recover from the frenzy. Actually, I order you to take tomorrow off, too.” Kai pointed to the cottage to his right. “That’s your place. Jane and I will check in with you after you’ve rested. Dr. Sid should also be by in a few hours.” Kai’s gaze moved to Rafe. “I may not like you, but if you need to tie Nikki to the bed to force her to sleep, then do it. She’ll never admit she’s tired, and I won’t have her losing the baby because of her stubbornness.”
“Traitor,” Nikki muttered.
Kai shrugged a shoulder. “Your health is more important than your good graces.” He looped an arm around Jane’s waist. “Come on. Let’s leave them be.”
I can’t believe he did that, Nikki said to her dragon.
Why not? He knows us too well. I also want to sleep. So, stop bothering me.
Ungrateful beast.
I know you would miss me if I was gone. Her dragon yawned. Good night.
With her beast silent, Nikki took a deep breath before turning toward Rafe. As expected, smugness filled his eyes. “You may have won this time, but I won’t let my guard down again.”
Walking up to her, Rafe whispered, “So, aren’t you curious what I want to ask you to do?”
Yes. “No. Of course not.”
Chuckling, Rafe gripped her hand in his. “Good, then you won’t mind waiting.”
“What?”
“Come. I’m not going to say anything more until you’re sitting down on the sofa with a cup of tea in your hands.”
Muttering some rather choice words, Nikki allowed Rafe to guide her to the doorstep. The cottage was an old, two-story stone structure, like most of the buildings on Stonefire. There was even a little wall around the front and back gardens.
