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“Stop. I can’t get my hopes up. He’s mad at them now, but that might not erase all his anger at me. It’s probably just temporary. He’s been dealing with a lot and once he sifts through it all he’s probably gonna realize he needs to start over. Start fresh with zero baggage.”
“Making love to you, purring for you? That sounds pretty damn real to me.”
“Biology. I think he’s just having a biological stress reaction and… fighting his instincts messed with him. Maybe it’s still messing with him. I need to hold fast and let the rest of the week ride out without hoping. I’ll guard my heart.”
I bare my teeth.
“Guard your heart, Erica? When have you ever been able to do that?” the sister asks.
“Stop knowing me so well, Vivi,” she mutters.
I press my forehead against the door and sigh.
Vivi asks, “Does he even know that if the mate bond is severed, it’ll only be severed for him? Not for you? That you’ll live in pain for the rest of your life?”
Now I’m grinding my teeth.
“I’m not about to saddle him with that guilt.”
“Erica…”
“No, I could probably use a fresh start, too.”
Bullshit.
“Bull pucky,” Vivi hisses, echoing my sentiment. “Of course you’d leave out the part about how bad it’d be for you. You’ve become addicted to wallowing in guilt. Enough.”
“Stop,” Rikki hisses. “I better go. He could be back in here any second and I’m making him breakfast.”
“You don’t eat breakfast, so that tells me you’re looking after him. You’re making him breakfast while simultaneously guarding your heart against heartbreak that you’ve been feeling non-stop for a decade since you laid eyes on him?”
“Shut up.”
“While you prepare to let him live on happily without you and you won’t even bother to tell him you’re gonna give away the chance for you to also get closure and healing too because you bank up good stuff to give to other people. Because that’s you, baby sis. Good stuff for everyone else, not you.”
I frown.
“Not always,” she fires back, “You know how impatient I am. How it often screws things up.”
“Cut yourself some slack, Erica. For fuck’s sake. Grab onto some happy and don’t let go. You deserve it because you’re you, but you especially deserve it after all you’ve been through.”
“Goodbye, Vivi! Hanging up now.”
“Good, Erica, because this was cliché as fuck.”
I stand there a second, fists clenched, jaw clenched, and hear nothing else. Then there’s the sizzle and scent of bacon and I hear an egg being cracked.
I open the door.
Her posture changes and though her back is still to me, it looks like she’s bracing. And brace, she should.
I erase the space between us, turn the stove off, catch the back of her neck and spin her around to face me. She drops the whisk; it clatters to the floor as the bowl of eggs she was mixing falls into the sink.
Her eyes are wide with fear.
“You’re my mate,” I tell her, mouth an inch from hers.
Her eyes widen even further.
“I’ve been shitty since you got here. And you know why.”
She frowns.
I grab her hips, hoist her up, and set her on the counter before moving in closer, palming both sides of her face.
“I’m done being shitty. I’m done, Rikki.”
“Riley, I…” She looks so torn. She swallows. “I understand why you malfunctioned, and I take full responsibi-”
“I heard you on the phone just now. Heard every word you said and every word your sister Vivica said. My ears are working again. So’s my fuckin’ brain, I think.” I tap my temple. “Finally.”
She jerks back.
I run my finger across the bruise on her left wrist. “I’m done being a shitty mate. Leaving you unprotected to fend for yourself. I need to make it up to you. And I’m gonna do that, little witch. I’m gonna fuckin’ do that.” I kiss the bruise on her wrist.
She shakes her head and opens her mouth.
I cut her off before she can speak with a kiss and then I’m carrying her to the bedroom.
As soon as her back touches the mattress, I shimmy her dress up. She’s wearing strappy black panties. They’re gone in a flash and then my mouth is between her legs, tasting her.
“I’ve wanted to taste you for so long. I thought fate ripped away that chance.”
She blows out a breath and then her mouth forms into a little O as my tongue swipes across her clit.
“And now you’re here. In the flesh. Mine.” I tighten my grip on her. “Never letting anyone or anything come between us again, mate.”
She’s wet for me, now whimpering for me. Squeezing my neck with her thighs, arching into my mouth as she fists my hair.
Swiping my tongue through her pretty, tight, pink folds, I latch onto her clit and suck hard. She cries out and it’s a near feral sound. I slip two fingers into her slick heat and nudge her back door with my pinky. Swirling my tongue around her and gliding my free hand up her torso, under her dress, until I yank the cup of her bra down and get her silky nipple between my thumb and index knuckle, I apply pressure. Pressure with not only that hand, but also my mouth and my other hand.
