Chapter 509

"Rafe," Daphne murmurs, clearly guilty as she reaches out and cups his cheek in her palm. "I'm sorry, I just —"

"No, Daphne," Rafe replies, laying back against the pillow and closing his eyes, moving his arms so that his hands press lightly against her back. "Don't be sorry - don't ever be sorry for something like that. If you want to slow down then we'll go slow."

Daphne smiles a little, accepting the invitation his hands give to lay herself down over his broad chest, to tuck her head beneath his chin.

And as she does, Daphne feels incredibly guilty.

Because here is this perfectly wonderful prince, who she's had a crush on for literally years, who so clearly wants to be with her...

And all she can do is think about...

Well.

The less thought on what's actually on her mind, the better, for now.

At least while Rafe Sinclair is in her room, his arms tight around her, working hard to steady his breathing.

Daphne sighs, letting her own eyes drift shut. Wondering what the hell she's supposed to do next.

"So," Daphne whispers, working hard around the knot in her throat. "Tell me about your day, Rafe."

He sighs, laughing a little and holding her closer. "What do you want to know, Daph?"

When I come back to the room after my workout with Blaze, the mood is unusually somber.

And the room itself is unusually...empty.

"Where's Rafe?" I ask, putting my hands on my hips and frowning as I look around the room.

"He stole your dinner and took it down to Daphne's room," Jesse mutters, stabbing his pen at the page of the notebook resting in his lap. He's sitting moodily cross-legged in his chair, his head resting against his hand.

My mouth falls open in horror as my stomach turns, grumbling. "What!? Daphne doesn't need my food!"

"Apparently she did," Jesse snaps, raising his eyes to glower at me.

My own eyes go wide as I look at him because what the hell is this mood about?

But Ben, from his spot on the couch, looks up at me and hastily shakes his head. I do as he asks, falling silent, but after a moment I figure it out - why Jesse might be in a mood at Rafe's absence. What, precisely, he might be imagining happening downstairs.

I grimace a little and turn away, sensing that my cousin needs his space to deal with his...emotions.

"Here, Ben and I saved you the best scraps," Luca says from an unusual spot on the floor, gesturing towards a plate resting by his side. I smile at my mate, moving quickly towards him as I push the door shut behind me.

But my smile immediately falls when I realize that the scraps are a couple of crusts of bread and the tail end of a piece of salmon.

"Luca!" I gasp, slumping down next to him on the floor. "This isn't dinner! This is...trash!"

"How dare you insult my gift," he growls, pulling me tight against him and making me laugh, "which I saved from the jaws of starving dogs for you, my love."noveldrama

"Yeah, well," I sigh, leaning my back against him and grabbing one of the bread crusts, shoving it eagerly in my mouth. "Next time can you try to save some meat from those slavering jaws? Or like, cake? I'm starving."

"I will do my best, baby," Luca murmurs, pressing a kiss to my hair. I swallow my bite, tilting my head back to grin at him, and Luca takes advantage, pressing a long, warm kiss to my mouth.

As he does, my poor hungry wolf turns in a contented circle and settles in my soul, warm and comforted.

"So," Luca whispers a moment later when he pulls away, smiling down at me. "Tell me about your day. I want to hear everything."

"Well, you're going to have to hear about it with my mouth full."

“Oh, I understand full-mouthed language," Luca murmurs, tightening his arm and pulling me closer. "The past several months with you have made me an expert."

I laugh, swatting at his leg, but then I begin, telling Luca all about my lesson with Blaze. Luca listens carefully, smiling a little as I give him every detail. Rafe doesn't actually come back to the room until hours later, once Ben and Luca have gone to bed. To my surprise, Jackson is at Rafe's heels when he comes through the door.

"Really?" Jesse asks, perking up a little as the two of them come in. "Were you two...together?"

"No," Jackson replies, frowning a little at Jesse as he pushes the door shut behind him. "We just happened to run into each other a few moments ago in the hallway."