“This is extremely inefficient.” She laughs.

Once we set the batter down, I keep my arms wrapped around her waist and tighten them. She rolls her head onto my shoulder, and I kiss up and down her neck.

“Are you on the menu tonight, Omega?” I murmur into her skin.

“Food first,” she insists.

I flick my tongue against Bishop’s bite, and she sighs pleasurably. Whether consciously or not, her ass grinds back against me, and I nip her neck with a light growl. Everything about her makes me hungry for everything/anything but food.

I decide to play dirty.

One of my hands lightly caresses down the outer curve of her hip to her thigh, until I reach the hem of her short dress. My fingertips dust her bare skin, as light as a feather, while my other hand glides up her breast. I fill my palm and pinch her already-pebbled nipple.

I slip one hand under her dress at the same time I move my hand from her breast to loosely collar her throat. She releases a shaky exhale as my hand delves to her inner thigh.

I chuckle softly but arrogantly. “Tell me again how you want food first.”

Her knuckles whiten where she grips the counter. The smell of her desperate pussy fills my lungs.

“Food. First.” She spins around and pushes me back. “I’m hungry.”

“Oh, baby girl, so am I.” Her hand lands on my shirtless chest when I try to step close. She raises her brows as if daring me to try again. “Alright.” I hold my hands up in surrender. “Food first. But these better be the best damn pancakes of my life.”

“You’re a dog.” She laughs with a playful roll of her eyes.

“Damn right, baby.” I chuckle. “I’ll bark too.”

“Okay, these actually turned out perfect.” Sinclair dazzles at the stack of perfectly round and golden-brown pancakes on her plate.

I set a bowl of fresh whipped cream and another of sliced strawberries on the table and sit down next to her on the dining hall’s bench. “You sound surprised.” I laugh.

“My culinary expertise extends as far as scrambled eggs and mac and cheese from a box,” she admits with a bashful smile.

“Well, let’s see how they hold up to the taste test.” I put a generous dollop of whipped cream on top of my stack, then throw on a few berries. She watches me cut off a bite and eat it.

I chew it a few times with an uncertain look, then swallow like it’s hard to get down.

She huffs a laugh. “God, that bad? I didn’t even make the batter. How much could I have messed it up?”

I smirk and go in for another bite.

“Oh, you asshole.” She laughs and slaps my arm.

“They really are perfect.” I talk out of the corner of my mouth, already full with another bite. Once I finish it, I add with a wink, “For real, might be my second favorite meal.”

Her eyes crinkle with a smile so pure and genuine, it nearly takes my breath away. I forget about “my new favorite meal” and simply watch her take her first bite.

“Mmm,”she moans, her eyes rolling back like it’s the best thing she’s ever tasted.

The rest of the meal continues just like that. It’s casual and simple and so goddamn perfect. I can almost imagine we are a normal couple eating pancakes on a lazy Sunday morning before returning to our unexciting but fulfilling jobs Monday.

As I finish off my last bite, a bit of whipped cream drops onto my bare chest. Sinclair notices and before I can wipe it up, she turns me toward her and licks it off. One lascivious drag of her tongue while her blue eyes remain locked with mine.

That’s all it takes for me to say fuck being normal. I only want to be us.

I grab her throat and pull her in for a rough kiss. She tastes sweet, but her pleased moan as I lick the cream from her lips is even sweeter. I pull us apart and shift to straddle the bench. She traces her teeth with her tongue and her eyes subtly glow while I drop a spoonful of cream intentionally onto my chest.

She starts with a long, tender kiss to either pec, then her eyes jump to mine as she flicks her tongue out and around my nipple. Slowly, she teases me, dragging her lips over my skin and her hands up and down my thighs.