Page 64 of Taming Raptor

“You okay?” I heard Blade ask. From the way no one else appeared to have heard, I knew the fucker was talking in my head.

After a glare for talking in my head, I nodded.

“You sure?”

My shoulders slumped and my eyes closed for a moment. Then I opened them and gave him a sad smile.

“You okay out here with the girls?”

I nodded. Then I noticed Niara raking her gaze over Blade like she wanted to eat him alive.

“I so wanna fuck her,” he said, causing me to laugh and almost spit out the water I’d just drank. With a chuckle, he followed Phoenix back to the den.

“Now where were we? Pass me some of the cheddar,” Niara instructed as she was filling her glass again. Sloane stacked some cheese on a cracker and handed it over then did the same for me.

“Thanks.” Not even trying to be ladylike, I shoved the whole thing in my mouth. Yes, I was totally eating my feelings.

“How will she know when he’s groveled enough?” Sloane asked.

“Guys, I’m not even sure I really want him to grovel. I just want him to feel the same way about me as I do him. With maybe a little groveling,” I admitted and held my thumb and finger a tiny ways apart.

The girls laughed.

“Well, until you feel he’s back in your good graces, you’re welcome to stay here. We have plenty of room and Phoenix had a state-of-the-art security system installed. We’ll give Raptor time to pull his head out of his ass, then we gotta do something about a house for y’all.” Sloane arched one raven-black brow and smirked before she popped a grape in her mouth.

“Girl, you need to do something about a house for your damn self. When did you say your mom was coming back from Belize?” Niara asked as we all gorged ourselves on the makeshift charcuterie board.

“In a week,” Sloane answered with a mouthful of grapes.

The rest of the night was spent laughing more than I had in months. My heart ached a bit because I hadn’t heard a word from Raptor. Then again, he was probably still crashed out in his bed.

When we finally called it a night, I fell asleep—hoping and praying he didn’t disappoint me.

The next morning, Niara and I helped Sloane make a massive amount of food.

“Holy crap, this is a lot of damn food. Are we expecting more people?” I joked as I piled the scrambled eggs I’d helped with, on a plate.

“Girl. You’ve seen these men eat.” Sloane gave me a smirk. “Sometimes, I worry Phoenix will eat me out of house and home. Thankfully, he refills the fridge on a regular basis.”

The doorbell chimed and Phoenix checked the cameras on his phone.

“Delivery. You girls stay here. Blade, do you mind staying with them?” Phoenix asked.

“Of course not, but don’t expect to have any bacon left when you get back,” Blade replied as he reached for the bacon plate that Sloane had set on the table. Everyone chuckled and Phoenix pointed at him in warning.

“I will torch everything you love,” Phoenix threw out in jest and went to see who it was.

“Gluttony is one of the deadly sins,” Niara told him over the rim of her coffee cup before she took a sip. Sloane snickered.

“So is lust, but I sure as hell don’t shy away from that. If I’m going to hell, I’m making it worth it.” Blade gave Niara a heated stare and I rolled my eyes. What I really wanted to tell him was “down boy.” He was lucky he was my best friend, and I loved his crazy ass.

We heard murmuring for a moment, then the door closed. Phoenix’s footsteps preceded his return to the kitchen. I’d taken my first drink of orange juice and looked up to see a massive bouquet of roses obscuring his entire torso.

“Two guesses as to who these are for,” Phoenix called out from behind the massive display of deep red. They were lush and fragrant—and must’ve cost a fortune.

“And so it begins,” Sloane teased in a playfully ominous way before Niara added a dramatic “dun, dun, dun” that had me laughing.

Phoenix set them on the counter, and I stood to bury my face in the velvety blooms. There was a small pink card in the center. My heart fluttered and my fingers trembled as I pulled it out of its little envelope.

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