I woke up with my legs tangled in Pratt’s and my whole body stretched out on top of him. With my head on his chest, I could hear the rhythmic beating of his heart as he slept. It was steady and strong, vital. Safe.

“You’re not freaking out on me, are you?” Pratt’s voice was even deeper with sleep. He shifted and rolled us both onto our sides so he could easily stare down at me. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

I smiled. “Not freaking out. Not even a little bit.”

“Thank god. I would hate to have to tie you down to keep you from running away from me.”

Rolling my eyes, I lightly slapped his chest. “You wouldn’t. Plus, I could get out. I’m shifty that way.”

He hopped out of bed and walked over to my dresser. “Where do you keep your ropes and chains?”

I giggled but then had a small heart attack when I saw what drawer he was going for. “Not that drawer!”

I was too late, though. He pulled it open and looked back at me with wide eyes.

He picked up a particularly hefty toy and waved it at me. “You were serious.”

My face was bright red, but I did my best to hold his eye contact. “I was.”

“What, do you get to keep them after…”

“Well, they don’t want them back after…” I don’t know why we were being so cryptic after what we’d just shared.

He suddenly smiled and dropped that toy when his eyes struck on another one. It was smaller, with increasing knobs of width going up it. The bottom of it had a button to turn on the vibrations. It was one of my favorites. “Do I get to be a part of the testing?”

I bit my lip. “Maybe.”

He pushed the button and growled low in his throat as it whirred to life in his hand. Slowly moving back towards me, he was instantly a predator. He movements were measured and purposeful. He knew what he wanted and he was coming to get it.

I pushed myself up the bed until my back hit the headboard. Watching him was enough to get all my blood pumping in a serious way. “Do you know what that’s for?”

His grin was wicked as he leaned forward and grabbed my leg. Dragging me down the bed, he easily flipped me over and wrapped his arm under my waist to hoist up my hips. He bit down on first one cheek and then the other before running his tongue along my spine. “I know.”

My heart raced. “Shouldn’t we talk more and get to know each other more?”

Pratt ran the tip of the toy down my spine and just lightly over the puckered skin of my ass. “After.”

That one growled word was all I needed. My body flooded with my desire and I gave in to the need. There was no point in pretending that I didn’t want exactly what he was preparing to give me.

Sitting at Muddy’s the next morning, I adjusted position in my chair to get comfortable and gave Pratt a side glance that wasn’t exactly subtle. I was pretty sure that anyone who saw us would know that we were barely hanging on to whatever decency we had left.

“Why did we leave the bedroom?”

Pratt turned towards my whispers and leaned down. His mouth hovered over the shell of my ear and he lightly nipped it before whispering. “I wanted to see you sitting here, doing your best to not look like you just let me fuck you in every way possible. I wanted to see you try to get comfortable while your ass still stings. I also like the sway of your hips when you’re not wearing panties. I know you can still feel me in you.”

Someone coughed from somewhere else in the dining room but I couldn’t look away from his throat. At the base of it, I could see his heart beat fluttering. He was just as affected as I was.

“And because you need to replenish. We have a big day ahead of us.” With that, Pratt leaned back in his chair and dropped his napkin over his obviously growing erection.

I leaned into him, resting my hand on his upper thigh, the tips of my fingers just touching the tip of him. “Take me home. I have plenty to put in my mouth there.”

He gripped the back of my hair and pulled my head back slightly before running his tongue over the claiming mark he’d left on my neck. “You’re a naughty bunny, Luna.”

I barely stifled a moan. “Not just a bunny, I’m a woman, in case you failed to notice. We should definitely get back to my apartment so you can go over everything again.”

Another cough, paired with a cleared throat sounded out, loud enough to snap my attention away from Pratt. I looked over and was horrified to see the entire group of my friends sitting at a table together, all eyes focused on Pratt and my little tête-à-tête in the corner.

I swallowed audibly and smacked Pratt’s hand away as it was trailing up my inner thigh. “Time to go.”

He looked up and saw them watching us before grinning back at me. “What? Voyeurism isn’t part of your kink?”

Axel snorted and it cracked the silence. They all started laughing. Charlie gave me a thumbs up and Muddy was standing behind her, grinning like an idiot at me.

“If you don’t get me out of here right now, I’m never sleeping with you again.” I was mortified at the idea that they’d all heard everything Pratt had said to me. They’d heard me coming onto him like crazy. It was embarrassing.

“I’ll package your orders to go.” Anna, Muddy’s employee, grinned and backed away from our table.

I hadn’t even noticed her. I shook my head and scooted away from Pratt. “You mess with my sanity.”

“I promise you that’s not the part of you that I’m interested in messing with.”

I wanted to be frustrated with him, but I found his singular focus charming. Leaning into him, I kissed his mouth before kissing his neck. “I should’ve done this the first night we met.”

His face grew serious and his big hand cupped my cheek. “I’m glad you made me wait. I wasn’t good enough for you back then. I’m still not now, but I’m working on being a better man for you.”

“You’re plenty good enough.” A round of awes filled the room and I pursed my lips. “Let’s just eat the saltines and spray cheese in my pantry.”

Fortunately, Anna dropped our food off at that moment and vanished back into the kitchen. She had a mate to get back to, too.

Pratt grabbed the food and my hand. He was ready to get out of there enough to practically pull me out. I waved goodbye to my annoying friends before running ahead of him, towards my apartment.

“Let’s go somewhere else. I want to show you something.”

Back on his bike we went, carrying the food and trying to keep our hands off each other while cruising down the road on a Harley softail going seventy-five miles an hour. As soon as we stopped in the clearing of a wooded area outside of town, I was touching him again. I dropped our food on the ground and ripped his shirt over his head.

“What do you think of the land?”

I glanced at it nodded. “Looks grassy.”

He laughed and wrapped his arms around me with my back against his chest to hold me still. “For real. Look at it.”

I did and stopped moving. The clearing opened up to rolling hills at the back of the property and set back was the frame of a house. A large house. “It’s absolutely beautiful land. Is that a house?”

He smiled and then gently pushed me away. “Yes. It will be yours. This land, I bought it for you and me, and so I could build you a house on it. I’ve been working really hard to earn the right to be your man, Luna.”

I had no words. I’d been the biggest fool. All these months, I’d held out in fear. This is the man I’d been afraid of? This man who, the whole time, was doing things in the hopes of winning me over. My eyes filled with tears, and I felt one escape and roll down my cheek.

Pratt wiped the rough pad of his thumb over my cheek catching my tear. “Don’t cry, Luna Bunny.” He kissed the top of my head as I continued to try to fight the tears. “First one to the house gets the first orgasm.”

I laughed and took off. He had no idea how fast I was.

Or, maybe he did.