Page 52 of Healing Her Lions

I hurry to the kitchen and stop abruptly.

Las is standing at the stove, shirtless, shoeless, with his jeans hanging at his hips. I stare in awe at the massive tattoo on his back. I knew he had ink, but not much. I didn’t look at his back, to excited about his front. He is covered from the base of his neck to his waist in vibrant color; the face of a lion stares at me. It looks so real that at any moment, it could come to life and jump off his back.

How did I miss it?

“Your tattoo is gorgeous,” I breathe. He looks at me over his shoulder, smiling.

“Thanks, baby.”

“You didn’t leave.” I slowly walk forward until I am directly behind him and raise my hand. “When did you get this?” I trace the lines of the lion's face with my finger.

“Three years ago.”

“Does your lion look like this?” I feather my hand over his mane.

“Yes. I have a guy who is a shifter and does all of our tattoos. He has to use a special solution so we won’t heal too fast.”

“So cool,” I whisper.

He turns fast, and my hand is on his chest. “Morning, baby.” He bends to kiss me.

I hum, his kiss bringing last night back. “Morning…” I trail off, not sure what to call him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know what to call you,” I confess.

“Whatever you want.”

“So I can call you Daddy when we aren’t in the bedroom?” I crook my two fingers when I say bedroom.

“That is up to you. I wouldn’t mind it, but it’s not something I would make a rule.” He puts his hand over mine.

“So, you wouldn’t mind if I called you that in public? Around your brothers? While we eat?” I scrunch up my nose.

“Something you need to know. I don’t give a fuck what other people think. I do care what my brothers think, but they won’t care. If it makes me happy, they will be happy. What I do care about is what you think. If you like it, if you are comfortable with it, do it.” He pauses, watching me. “I should mention shifters can’t get a human pregnant or carry disease.” I blush; I didn’t think about birth control. The thought of having his baby thrills me. He pulls me around the island and plops me on a stool. “We will each have our kinks. But we never want to hurt you or force something on you, including having children. If any of those kinks make you uncomfortable, you tell us.”

“Okay.” I smile brightly.

He grins and shakes his head. “I cooked. Not like you do, but I made you some pancakes and bacon. I hope you like it.” He moves and makes me a plate.

“Who doesn’t like bacon? Or pancakes?” I scoff. “No one I want to hang out with.”

“Good. Eat up.” He grins.

He joins me with his food, and I slather the spongy goodness with butter and syrup. “I loved last night,” I say before taking a bite. I close my eyes and moan as the flavors hit my tongue.

“I did, too,” he says softly. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure you would be open to what I like. Many women aren’t.”

“Let's not talk about other women,” I growl with a mouthful of bacon.

“We will make it a rule.” He holds up his glass of water.

“Let’s.” I pick up my coffee cup, and we clink them. “Where are your brothers?”

“They will be over in a minute. I wanted to make sure you were comfortable after last night before they invaded,” he explains.

“That’s really sweet.” Fuck, this man. “Are they alright with last night?” I ask timidly.

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