Page 32 of Sugar Coated

“You’re right,” she whispered after a long stretch of silence, biting her bottom lip in a way that made me want to take thatlip between my own teeth and have a good nibble. “I’m curious if your cooking skills are as good as Mike’s.”

A rumble of a laugh escaped my chest. “Comparing us now, are you?”

“You can cook breakfast, but dinner is a different beast—”

I kissed her hard before saying, “This beast is ready to both show you that I can cook a full meal and ravage you afterward.” Before I got too tempted by her, I scooted her body off my lap so I could stand.

If we remained there for much longer, we’d abandon all hope of eating and go straight to the bed. Her comment did make me wonder if, perhaps, my princess was comparing us by more than just our cooking skills. It’d be hard to compete with her Devil; she had two years of pining after him.

Eh, it just meant I had a lot to make up for. Again, I wouldn’t back down from the challenge.

I decided to make her chicken alfredo, with homemade sauce. It took a bit of preparation, but since my loft was basically one huge room, I was able to see her with my peripherals the entire time.

Laina is the one who broke the silence by saying, “So, tell me about your brother.”

“Curious about him, are you?”

She laughed softly. “Not like that, but… yeah, if he’s anything like you, he’s got to be impressive. You called him the Beast. A name like that puts certain thoughts into a girl’s head, you know.”

I couldn’t help but laugh myself. “He is the Beast, because that’s just who he is. Even before I made him his claws, he liked to get messy. He’s got his own thing going on in the city, smuggles weapons and a few other bits and bobs. Everyone knows to stay on his good side, otherwise they’ll join his wall.”

“His wall?”

“Every time he kills a man, he brings me their skull to encase in silver.”

Laina stretched on the couch, laying down as she said, “Wow. Sounds pretty intense.”

“He is. He’s also got a girl he and his two top men share, a beauty to his beast.”

“That’s pretty on the nose, don’t you think?”

“I think it’s poetic. She’s got a bit of a dark side, too, actually—kind of like you.”

“Oh, well, in that case, I bet I’d like her.” A few seconds later, she added, “It feels like every girl around here has her own gaggle of boyfriends. They make it sound so easy, but maybe the men in their lives aren’t as… hot and cold as the men in mine.” She paused. “You, not included.”

Damn right. If there was one thing I was, it was simply:hot. No coldness here.

“Mike’s hot and cold attitude is unsurprising, but Kieran is giving you the cold shoulder? I doubt it.”

Laina was sprawled out on the couch facing the kitchen, so she could look at me as I prepared dinner. “No, he’s not. It’s… me, I guess. When he first came home, he asked me what he was to me—if he’s not my step-uncle, then what is he? I guess I wasn’t expecting him to be so blunt about it so soon. I didn’t know what to say.”

“And so you’ve avoided him?” I couldn’t imagine Kieran accepting the avoidance, unless he really did have some healing left to do.

Then again, given everything… it wouldn’t surprise me, either.

“Not exactly. I mean, it doesn’t help that he can’t really leave the house. Tessa’s always hovering around, too, which makes it impossible to have any moments alone with him. I know my dad wouldn’t approve, and I don’t think Tessa would, either.”

“I don’t think they would approve of me, either,” I chimed in. “Same with Mike.”

“You’re not wrong. I guess I have a type.” She was quiet for a while, but I could tell something nagged at her. It took her a few minutes to ask another question, “You really don’t care about sharing me?”

I stopped what I was doing and stared at her across the loft. “You already have two men who lose themselves in jealousy more than they don’t. Do you really want one more? If that’s what you’d prefer, I could give it a whirl.” I smirked. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”

Laina sighed. “No, I don’t want you to be jealous. I just… I guess I don’t get why you’re so okay with it when they act all alpha when another guy so much as looks at me.”

“Some people aren’t as in tune with their desires as I am. I learned from a young age what mine were.” As I said that last part, I ran my tongue over my teeth—mainly, the two sharp fangs. “The world would be a much better place if more people would be more accepting, don’t you think?”

“Again, you’re not wrong.” She sent me a smile. “I like the way you are. I don’t want you to change.”

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