The morning after my flight with Cole and Vali, I found Austin still in a foul mood, and it was seriously wearing thin on my patience. Vali’s words of advice kept me from punching him clean in the teeth, as did my own insight into his conflicting emotions, but a girl can only take so much surly behaviour before she’s going to crack.

“Okay, I’m done,” I announced around lunchtime when Austin had been giving me all but the silent treatment for going on five hours.

“Excuse me?” he snapped, and I couldn’t help myself, I flicked him in the forehead.

“You’re being an asshole. Like, way more than usual. Our bet is over, and there is no pressing need for me to learn this all today, so I’m done. We can pick up again tomorrow when you’ll hopefully be in a better mood.” I beat a hasty retreat out of the den while Aus sat there with a stunned look on his face, like he could hardly believe I just done that. I guessed he didn’t get flicked overly often, but it seemed to have the desired effect of shutting him up.

“Hey sweetheart,” Wesley greeted me with a tired smile as I entered the kitchen. “You done already?”

“Um, yeah. Sort of. What are you up to?” I nodded to the car keys in his hand.

“Just on my way out to grab a part for something I’m working on. Or... hoping I can grab a part. There was a little computer shop in town, but I have no idea how well it’s stocked.” He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. “Want to come with?”

I considered it for a moment, then shook my head. “Nah, I’m thinking I might bake something. For some reason I’m super in the mood for sugary baked treats today, and there’s nothing in the pantry.”

“Okay...” Wesley frowned slightly, looking concerned. “Do you know how to bake?”

I gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to my chest as though clutching at invisible pearls. “Wes, how dare you imply I can’t bake!” I grinned as I said it because, admittedly, I might be a little rusty on my kitchen skills. It wasn’t my fault though; I had six guys in the house who seemed perfectly happy handling all of the cooking!

“Okay, sorry, sweetheart. I should never doubt you. Um, the rest of the guys are still home, so you’ll be okay for an hour or two... right?” He frowned again, this time looking more nervous than my questionable baking skills really warranted.

“I’ll be fine, Wes. I promise not to burn the kitchen down.” I pulled him close using the pockets of his hoody and kissed him. “Go have fun in the tech store. I’ll have awesome cookies ready when you get back.”

He still looked worried, but nodded and left all the same, leaving me to make the cookies that I knew he’d love as much as I would. I wanted to cheer him up a bit. After what he’d told us about his dream visitor, I could tell he was getting down on himself for not being able to chase away my nightmares. As amazing as it was having him do that for me, it wasn’t necessary. I’d survived them my whole life.

I could do it again.

Pulling out my phone, I quickly brought up a recipe I knew I’d made successfully before and hunted through the pantry and fridge for everything it might need. Luckily we had everything already stocked, so that was the first hurdle tackled successfully. I had in the past made substitutes for ingredients that I didn’t have, and the results varied from passable to downright awful.

Just as I was measuring all the dry ingredients into a big mixing bowl, the door to the kitchen slammed open and Austin stormed in.

“You flicked me!” he exclaimed, coming to a stop right beside me at the island counter.

“Ah yeah,” I agreed, continuing with my flour measurements. “Like fifteen minutes ago. Don’t tell me that was your off switch and it took you this long to reboot?”

“Christina,” he growled, and I could feel his anger coursing hot, stoking my own back up once more.

“Kit,” I corrected him with narrowed eyes.

“We aren’t done with your lessons.” He spoke with a jaw clenched stubbornly and his brows drawn into a tight line.

“Yes, we are. You’re being a petty, snarky little child, and I have had enough of it. I put up with your little mood all fucking day yesterday, and I have had it. So, fuck off. Sort yourself out, go punch a tree or whatever, just get your mixed-up, crazy-pants emotions away from me right now. You’ll taint my cookies.” I dismissed him, continuing on with my recipe.

“No.” The stubborn asshole dug his heels in, folding his arms over his chest and blocking me from getting to the fridge to retrieve the butter. “No, that’s not how this works. You don’t get to stand there all high and mighty and tell me that my emotions are tainting your cookies. Not after you keep me awake all fucking night with your screaming orgasms with practically everyone in this house other than me. I have every damn right to be pissed off at you, and you are not allowed to just wave me off.”

“Oh, so you’re calling me a slut now?” I yelled back at him, pushing him out of the way to grab the butter out of the fridge and bring it back to the island.

“No, you dense bitch! I am not.” He slapped the stick of butter out of my hand, and I gasped as it hit the floor. Without really thinking about what I was doing—something I was doing a lot of lately—I reacted on instinct. And slapped him across the face.

In my defense, it wasn’t a hard slap. It could have been a hell of a lot harder if I’d wanted to hurt him, but I didn’t. I just wanted him to shut the hell up, and he did.

For a second, we both stared at each other in shock. Austin’s cheek was rapidly turning pink in the shape of my hand, which clued me in to the fact I had probably hit him a smidgen too hard. But whatever, it was done now.

“You...” He recovered quicker than me, raising a hand to the cheek I’d slapped, then glaring at me with a look that said he wanted to rip my damn head off... or my clothes. Like I’d already pointed out, I wasn’t the best at reading his emotions.

The answer became pretty clear, though, when his hand shot out faster than a whip. Instead of the reciprocal slap I’d braced for—because I totally deserved it—his fingers closed around my wrist, yanking me into his chest, and he slammed his lips onto mine.

For a heavy, weighted moment, we both froze.

For once since we’d bonded, I actually paid a little more attention to what Austin was feeling, and what I found there left me with only one clear option. My lips parted under his, and my hands grasped hold of his head, returning his kiss with equal force.

How it happened I wasn’t altogether sure, but one moment we were standing there, kissing like our fucking lives depended on it, and the next Austin had lifted me onto the island. My bowl of flour and sugar went flying, but who gave a shit about flour?

We separated just long enough to yank each other’s shirts off, and then we were straight back on one another like we were starving. In some ways, I suppose we were...

“How dare you,” he panted after some time when he pulled back with swollen lips and lust-filled eyes, “get angry at me for my emotions when you know better than anyone how I feel about you?”

My breath caught in my throat, and I swallowed painfully. That moment... it had me more terrified than I could ever remember being in my life. Fuck torture and near death. Waiting to hear someone put voice to their feelings was unbearable.

“Say it then,” I whispered in a husky voice, thick with desire and panic. “Tell me out loud because I promise you, you’re as easy to read as a fucking hieroglyphic.”

His emerald-green eyes trailed over my face, catching on my lips as I licked them nervously and then returning to my eyes with so much... frustration...

“I’m in love with you, Princess.”

Floored. I was totally floored. That was not what I’d been expecting. I mean, sure, I was expecting something along those lines but more like, I don’t know, “I really like you.” That would have sufficiently stunned me, but he just jumped in there with both feet.

“This is the part where you say it back, baby girl,” he teased, but there was a tightness around his eyes that matched the spike of panic running through him.

“Sorry,” I blurted. “I wasn’t... I didn’t think you were going to say... that. Holy shit, Austin.”

“Seriously?” he scowled, pulling back from me a little farther. “Unbelievable.”

“Oh, crap! Fuck, that’s not what I meant. You just really took me off guard. Jesus fuck, yes, you infuriating piece of shit, I’m in love with you too.” I reached out and grabbed him by the back of the neck, slamming my lips against his and reigniting the fire that had just seen the downfall of my baking attempt.

“Thank fuck,” he groaned, his hands in a frenzy as he pushed me back onto the counter and climbed up on top of me. Dimly, I heard the glass measuring cup smash as it got knocked off, but my main focus was on getting Austin’s damn fly undone. Why was it being so hard to undo?

“What the fuck is this made of? Barbed wire?” I muttered, feeling my finger snag on the metal teeth.

“Oh my God, it’s not that hard,” Austin snickered, flicking my bra clasp open with a deft snap of his fingers and then throwing the flimsy garment across the kitchen. “Here.” He sat up a little, smacking his head on the low-hanging pots, and ending up ripping the button completely off his fly.

“Well, that works too.” I nodded, taking over from him once more as his hands returned to my body. I yanked his zipper the rest of the way down and greedily reached for his hard cock straining against the thin fabric of his boxers.

He moaned a low and sexy sound when my hand met his bare flesh, rolling my finger over the silky skin and tugging on his piercing. Breathing heavily, he claimed my lips in another bruising kiss while his hands worked some sort of magic that saw my yoga pants and lace panties end up on the floor.

Austin’s ink-covered hand cupped my cheek, and he pulled back for a moment as his pierced shaft met my naked cunt, rubbing down the length of me and making me shiver with delight.

“Say it again,” he demanded in a raw and sexy voice.

Meeting his eyes, I dropped the act, letting him feel the full scope of my emotions as I spoke what felt like the first truly honest words I’d ever given him.

“I love you, Austin.”

A deep shudder ran through him, and he groaned, dipping his head to kiss me again, and this time the rush of pure, undiluted, and burning hot love that crashed into me was his. There was not a single question left in my mind as to how he really felt.

Reaching between us, I grabbed his cock with sure hands, guiding him to my opening and pushing my hips up in encouragement. We didn’t need any more words between us; instead, we let our bond guide us as we fucked hard and fast on the kitchen counter.

Austin’s teeth nipped at my neck while my nails raked lines down his back. My legs locked around his waist, pulling him closer to me, and I gasped with ecstasy as his piercing scraped my g-spot with unwavering precision.

“Fucking hell, you drive me insane,” he moaned, trying to slow his rhythm, but my legs held him tight against me, allowing me some control of the speed with my own hip movements.

“The feeling is entirely mutual,” I replied, then employed a touch of my own speed and strength to flip our positions without sending us crashing to the floor. “Much better.”

Looking down at him flat on his back, I grinned. I hated the asshole, but I really did love him too. This was going to be fun.

“I’m okay with this,” he murmured, licking his lips and cupping my breasts in each hand as I rode his cock with determination. Within moments I was coming, grinding down on him hard and throwing my head back.

“Shit, baby girl. You’re the devil,” Austin moaned, grabbing onto my hips and following my climax within seconds as my cunt clenched and pulsed around him, dragging the orgasm out of him whether he was ready or not.

“Oh yeah,” he panted as I sat there on his still twitching dick, trying to catch my breath, “I could get used to this.”

A small, euphoric laugh bubbled out of me, and I looked around at the mess we’d made of the kitchen. The responsible thing to do would be to clean it up...

“Want to check out my room?” Austin offered up a much more attractive option. “Tyson is sleeping, so there won’t be any furry interruptions.”

Grinning, I stroked a finger down the tattoo on his arm that was his familiar’s resting place. “Hell yeah. Then later you can show me how to use your tattoo gun so you can pay up on our bet.”

Austin groaned painfully, but I silenced him with a long kiss.

“Fine,” he finally growled. “But you better not draw a cartoon dick, or there will be hell to pay.”