Page 11 of Handcuffs & Honey

Julian blushed when he caught Dominic staring. “What are you making?” he asked, moving to sit at the table.

“Honey sweet pancakes,” Dominic said, flipping one onto a plate. “You hungry?”

Julian nodded, looking down at his hands. Dominic noticed that Julian still hadn’t fully recovered from the attack. He was still shaken and scared, and Dominic knew that it would take time for his mate to feel safe again.

After breakfast, Dominic and Julian went to the living room to watch a movie. Julian snuggled into Dominic’s side, and Dominic wrapped an arm around him, feeling content. He had never felt this way about anyone before.

Even though Dominic got along with his deputies, shared time with them outside the office, and he was a sworn protector of Midnight Falls, he’d always been a loner, never really finding anyone he connected with. But Julian was different. He was special, and Dominic knew that he would do anything to protect him.

As the movie came to an end, Dominic felt Julian’s body relax against him. He looked down to see that his mate had fallen asleep. He smiled, knowing that Julian needed the rest.

Wrapping his arms around Julian, Dominic lifted him gently and carefully carried him to the spare bedroom. He laid Julian down on the bed and tucked him in, leaving a soft kiss on his forehead.

As Dominic turned to leave the room, Julian reached out and grabbed his wrist. Dominic looked back to see his mate’s eyes fluttering open.

“Please don’t go,” Julian whispered, his voice laced with fear.

“I’m not leaving you.” Dominic sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ll stay here until you fall back asleep.”

Julian nodded, closing his eyes again. Dominic ran his fingers through Julian’s hair until his mate was softly snoring.

As Dominic sat there watching Julian sleep, he felt overwhelmed by his emotions. He knew that Julian was his mate, but he also knew that Julian didn’t know about the preternatural world. Dominic didn’t want to scare him, but he couldn’t keep this secret from him forever.

The thought of telling Julian the truth made Dominic nervous. He didn’t want to scare him, but he also didn’t want to keep such an important part of his life hidden from his mate. He knew that he had to tell him, but the right moment had yet to present itself.

Julian had questions, and Dominic had the answers. He just had to wait until he thought his mate was ready to hear the truth.

* * * *

Julian wasn’t sure what woke him, but as he sat up, he swore he heard a grunting sound. He was still shaken from his attack, but Dominic had reassured him that he was safe in here.

Curious, Julian threw the covers back and tiptoed to his closed bedroom door. When he pressed his ear against the wood, the grunting sounded louder. Wolves didn’t grunt. Not that Julian was aware of. They growled and howled. This wasn’t a wolf outside the door, though he couldn’t be certain.

Very carefully, Julian cracked the door open so he could peek out. When he didn’t see anything, he opened the door just a little wider. If something was going on, like a wild animal in the house, Julian needed to warn Dominic.

The sheriff looked as if he could bench-press cars, but Julian still wanted to make sure Dominic knew something was wrong. It was the right thing to do, especially since Dominic had come to his rescue and given him a place to stay until Julian felt safe enough to go home.

Taking a deep breath for courage, Julian stepped into the hallway. The sun was bright, which told him he hadn’t slept long, though since he’d fallen asleep after breakfast, for all he knew it could be early evening.

Shoving those thoughts aside, he squared his shoulders and crept toward the front of the house.

As Julian snuck closer to the living room, the grunting sound grew louder. It was definitely not a wolf, but it sounded like an animal of some kind. Maybe a bear? No, that was ridiculous but, then again, so was a wolf getting into his house. Was this common? Did Midnight Falls have wild animals that constantly broke into homes?

Julian peeked around the corner then shouted. It was a bear! A huge brown one that had to weigh at least nine hundred pounds. Julian turned so fast that he slipped on the hardwood floors, slamming his knees. He scrambled back up and took off, racing toward the guest bedroom.

When he was in the room, he slammed the door closed, pressing his body against it. Like that would help. He was too skinny and short to stop a bear from breaking in. He’d seen videos of bears using their weight to get inside homes through flimsy doors.

Clearly this was one of those types of bears.

“Dominic!” Julian shouted, praying the sheriff wasn’t lying somewhere mauled and bleeding.

Maybe moving to this town hadn’t been one of his brightest ideas. It had been a random town on the map where he could move and work through his heartache at Rob cheating on him and being an all-around dominant dickhead.

This was what he got for simply stabbing the paper map to find his new home. Next time he vowed to do some research.

“Dominic!” he shouted again.

“Open the door, Julian.”

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