Page 34 of Ruffled Feathers

There was the crunch of gravel, and both the man and the dog turned to the sound. Lance stepped toward the microwave, grabbing out the plate of food and moving toward the stairs. “We’ll leave you to it. Good luck, and… thanks for this.” I wasn’t sure if he meant the food or the phone. He whistled for the German Shepherd, and they quickly left the room.

Shit, here goes nothing.

Seventeen

Otillie-James

There were candles and flowers and a nervous-looking Sonny to greet me when I arrived home. I edged into the dining room, my eyes flicking everywhere, trying to take it all in at once.

“Sonny?” I asked softly, because I didn’t want to assume this was for me and be wrong.

He licked his lips, a motion I watched with rapt fascination. “Uh, hi. I thought I’d make dinner.”

God, this is so awkward.“Is Truett coming too?” Obviously, they’d spoken. He wouldn’t be doing this if they hadn’t had some kind of Alpha-to-Alpha conversation.

He shook his head. “No. I thought dinner with just us would be nice. Unless you want him here too? Or, uh, Lance? He’s home, up in his room, I think.”

I’d never seen my self-assured stepbrother so jittery. “No, this is fine,” I reassured him softly, placing my bag by the door. “I’m going to assume that Truett spoke to you about what happened.”

“Yeah, I went to his place last night, after he dropped you home. Come and sit down. I’ll pour some wine, and we can talk.”He grabbed a bottle of my favorite wine from the ice bucket. How did he know it was my favorite?

I could smell something baking in the oven, definitely some kind of bread. Cooking was one of Sonny’s many talents, and I’d taken advantage of his kitchen skills over the years. We’d sat down for dinner so many times I’d lost count, but this was the first time it had ever felt awkward.

He stepped toward me, then stilled. “Oh, fuck it.” Grabbing me up in his arms, he kissed me. Hard. A possessive kiss, filled with so much longing that it made my chest ache. I stood there, shocked, but my body knew what it wanted, and she was happy to take over while my brain caught up.

I threw myself into the kiss. The kiss with Sonny... I’d thought about what these lips would feel like so many times over the years, but it didn’t do justice to the way they moved across mine. Dominating but soft, it was like we were dancing. He was leading the kiss, but tempting me to follow.

He tore his mouth away, his pupils blown wide. “I’m sorry. I should have checked with you if that was okay. I’ve wanted to do that for so long, and I?—”

Instead of letting him go on, I grabbed the soft curls of his hair and pulled his lips back to mine. I was kissing Edison Chalmers. One of the two men I’d loved forever. One of the two men I never thought I’d have. And if this was a fever dream, I was going to enjoy every second and pray I never woke up.

He lifted me easily and sat me on the table, slipping between my thighs like he was made to be there, his mouth covering mine like he wanted to memorize the feel, the taste, the sounds of us kissing. I was right there with him. I wrapped one leg around his, holding him tightly to me, letting my hands wander. Being able to touch him how I wanted…

“This is a dream,” he breathed against my lips, leaning me further back as he echoed my earlier thoughts. “Tillie, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this.”

Definitely as long as I have.

I grabbed his lapels, pulling him against me as I leaned back, kissing him with almost desperation. What if this was my only chance?

But I didn’t need to worry, because Sonny followed me. He kissed me and kissed me, and I got lost in his heat. His scent was deep, like the forest and bourbon and the sweet lick of flames.

Actually, that burning scent was new.

“Tillie!” Sonny shouted, wrenching back and smacking at my head. “You’re on fire!”

I screamed, and he threw a glass of white wine on my head, splashing it down my face. He was still patting the back of my head as Lance and Akio raced into the room, Doodles the dog skidding in hot on their heels, losing traction without a second back leg and sliding into the wall. Even Kevin the pig bounded in, grunting loudly. Lance must have been looking after the animals.

I didn’t miss the knife in Lance’s hand, but as he appraised the room, with me covered in wine, and Sonny carefully holding the back of my hair away from my body, he slipped it back into his boot. I hadn’t even known he carried a weapon with him.

“What happened?” he asked calmly. Doodles came over to lick up the wine from the floor, and I nudged him away with my foot. The acrid smell of burned hair had now permeated the room, stinging my nose.

Sonny looked pale. “Her hair brushed against the candle flame and just went up like a fucking roman candle!”

Yeah, well, I had erratic frizz hair, and sometimes, it took a lot of product to keep it looking presentable.

Sonny was looking at my skin. “You have a slight burn on your neck. I think we should take you to get checked out.” Lance reappeared with a cloth soaked in cold water, holding it to my nape.

“I’m okay, I promise.” Actually, it stung like a bitch, but I didn’t want to sit in the emergency room for hours. I paused. “How’s my hair?”

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