She nodded. “As soon as you let me go.”
Atlas inhaled sharply. He didn’t want to let her go, but he forced himself to take a step back, going so far as to raise his hands in surrender.
Because this was it. The moment Atlas realized he was done. He was surrendering to his need for Lilliane … for trouble.
Without even thinking about it, he leaned down, brushed her mouth with his, and swatted her ass playfully. “Coffee. Then we talk.”
TWELVE
LILLIANE
There was something different about them today.
Lilliane couldn’t put her finger on it, but if she tracked back their time together, she was almost sure that their night sleeping in his bed had changed things.
More specifically, it was probably that she had been in his arms, using his chest as a pillow. Was it her fault his chest was the most comfortable pillow she’d ever had? It wasn’t just taut and thatched with just the right amount of chest hair. The man could keep her nightmares away.
“Coffee,” he said. “Then we talk.”
Lilliane was shocked by his swat of her ass, but she squealed in delight and skipped to the coffee machine. “Any instructions I need to follow?”
“One scoop for every two cups. If you make twelve cups, you need six scoops of coffee grounds.”
“Right,” she said with a nod. “I can do that.”
He chuckled as he began working on their chocolate chip pancakes … without a shirt on. If they were a couple, Lilliane might joke that this was the best foreplay of her life, but they weren’t a couple.
She didn’t really know what they were.
Obviously, not a couple.
Not a captor and his captive.
Not a shifter and his mate.
A wolf and his guest? Could that be all they were? Would he treat any lady with her kinds of problems the same as her? The thought of Atlas in bed with another woman … even if it was just to sleep … made her jealous. Again.
It was a terrible emotion to have for a man that wasn’t even hers. Whoever that mate of his was, she was losing out on the perfect man.
When he gripped her hips like he wanted to eatherfor breakfast, her entire body had gone up in flames. Her core zinged again, just thinking of the look in his eyes.
He was a wolf, all right. There was no doubt aboutthat.
They settled at the counter and ate their pancakes in easy silence. It was the most peaceful morning in her recent memory. “Insane how calmer I feel after two good nights’ sleep.”And your presence. I’m pretty sure it’s not the sleep. It’s you.
“Imagine how good you’d feel after a whole week of good sleep.”
“Oh, my god. A whole week? Can’t remember what that even looks like. Do you know how much I get done in the dead of night when I can’t sleep?”
He shook his head. “What do you do?”
“Super important stuff. I stress-clean while bingeing …”
“Reality TV,” he finished for her with a grin.
She nodded. “Yeah. I also paint and draw and do a bunch of things that are on self-care lists.”
“Do they work?”
