Page 65 of Can't Help Growling in Love
Groaning, I push myself off her. “Sorry. You’re right. I need to grab a shower first, and then we’ll make breakfast.”
June watches me walk away from the bed. Then she sits up, her eyebrows drawing together in a frown. “Crap, I just remembered. I’m on shift for the night of the full moon. It’s usually all hands on deck because of how much it affects the supernatural community, plus humans always blame it for the stupid things they do.” She takes her phone and starts typing something, still scowling fiercely. “I’ll write and ask if I could take the night off. It’s short notice, but maybe someone needs an extra shift. Are you okay with me explaining why I’m suddenly unavailable?”
She lifts her gaze to me, and I nod, dazed.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to,” I tell her. “We can figure out something else.”
June pins me with a look. “Asher. You’ll literally be howling at the moon from sunset to sunrise if I’m not with you, right? So if I can make this work, I’m going to do it.”
“Okay.” I walk over to her, cup the back of her neck, and kiss her again. “Thank you for trying. It means a lot.”
She pats my naked hip. “Of course. Now get in the shower. I’m starving.”
I grin at her but hustle into the bathroom because my mate is hungry, and I need to fix that.
I walk out of my bedroom, my sweats clinging to my still-damp fur, to discover that June has launched a full-scale operation in the kitchen. She’s still only wearing my t-shirt, and the sight of her naked legs sears itself into my brain.
“What’s all this?” I lift the cover off a pan. “It smells great.”
June swats my hand away. “An omelet with bell peppers. You said you needed to eat more veggies. But I also added bacon.”
The coffee machine dings, announcing it’s come to temperature, and she whirls away from me to froth the milk for our lattes. She’s also put some bread in the toaster and plugged in my phone, which is fully charged by now.
She turns to me with two mugs of coffee in her hands. I take them from her and set them on the counter, then pull her into my arms.
“I love you.”
I stare down at her, wanting her to know I’m completely serious.
She parts her lips, eyes widening in surprise. “Asher…”
“I want to say this now, because I sure as fuck won’t be able to keep it in the next time I’m inside you,” I tell her, my voice gruffer than before. “And I don’t want you to think I’m only saying it because you make me come so hard, I lose my mind.”
“Oh God.” She presses her forehead to the center of my chest, giggling. “I wouldn’t think that!”
“No?” I take her shoulders and move her back to see her face. “Well, now you know.”
Embarrassment floods through me, and I start to turn away, but June grabs my waist and holds on to me, a human-shaped barnacle.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she demands. “When you tell someone you love them, you have to give them time to say it back.”
“Oh.” I stop moving, my heart thudding hard. “Right.”
“I love you, too.” She smiles up at me. “And Iwillsay it to you when you’re inside me, just for the record.”
My cock twitches, stiffening in my pants. June glances down between us, then up at me, her expression conflicted.
“I really want to, but the omelet will be ruined if we fuck now, and my shift…”
She looks so damn crestfallen, I laugh, then kiss her nose and step away from her. “You’re not obligated to react every time I get hard around you. If we fucked the moment I do, we’d be doing that almost exclusively.”
Her cheeks are now flaming red, and the smell of her arousal blooms in the kitchen. “You have to stop saying things like that.”
I pat her ass, deliberately leaning over her to grab a glass from the cabinet above her. “It’s the truth. But I’m serious. Your job is important, as is mine, and we’ll be very mindful of when and where we give in to our needs, all right?”
She purses her lips, then turns to the stove to serve the omelet. “Deal. But I think this will be harder than you think.”
“Oh, I know just how hard I am, thanks.” I dodge theatrically to avoid a jab of the spatula aimed half-heartedly in my direction. “Peace, peace. I’ll be good. No more dick jokes, I promise.”
