Page 62 of Ronan

“Baking from scratch is basic?” I reach around him, attempting to steal a pancake without him noticing. Thespatula smacks me in the back of the hand with a pop, and I yelp, glaring as he tries to stifle his grin.

“It’s easy once you learn, and a necessity when you’re feeding hundreds of soldiers at once. They need high levels of calories, so bread and rice are staples.”

“You know what I haven’t had in forever?” I ask, my eyes glazing over as I daydream. “Potatoes. Gods, my mom used to make mashed potatoes that were just to die for.”

“Did you have access to dairy?”

I nod, grinning at the memory. “We had a few cows and goats in the community. One summer, it was my chore to milk them in the mornings, but I was terrible at it. More ended up on my clothes than in the buckets, and I got a giant hoofprint-shaped bruise on my chest when Gertrude kicked me.”

“Gertrude was a cow?” He twists the knob on the oven to turn it off as he flips the last batch of pancakes.

“Goat,” I laugh, remembering how the mean thing would headbutt me if I didn’t hobble her feet.

Ronan swings around and points the spatula at me. “I’ll kill her for putting her hands… er, hooves on my man.”

“Getting possessive of an animal touching me the wrong way?”

His brow arches as he carries my food over, placing it on the table before me. “If someone so much as looks at you the wrong way, I’ll make sure it’s the last thing they do.” His lip lifts just enough to show his fangs as he leans closer. “Nobody touches what’s mine without paying the price.”

“What’s yours, huh?” I ask, my breath sawing from my nose.

“Mmhmm,” he hums, ghosting his lips over mine.

“And that threat applies to animals?”

“Animals…” Another faint kiss brushes over my lips. “Men…” His mouth is more intentional this time as he lingers. “Monsters…” I’m nothing more than putty in his hands as he works my mouth open and slides his tongue over mine. “They will know better than to come anywhere close to what belongs to me.” He pulls away and my hand snaps to grip his neck, eyes locked on his as I try to drag him closer again.

His grin stretches as he lets me pull him back, but he doesn’t kiss me. “And Cameron?”

“Yeah?” I breathe, still staring into his eyes.

“Youdobelong to me. Never forget that.”

Under normal circumstances, I’d argue that I’m not a possession to be owned, but this? This feels a lot like ownership. It feels like he possesses every inch of my body as his gaze rakes across my face, waiting for an acknowledgement. My tongue darts over my lips, and his eyes drop to watch the motion.

“What happens if I do?” I finally ask, and his smile turns salacious.

“Guess you’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?” he murmurs, finding my lips again in a slow, drawn-out kiss. By the time he pulls away, I’m breathing heavily and digging my nails into his skin.

“Eat your breakfast.” He drops another chaste kiss on my nose as I pout, but my focus does a complete one-eighty as I stare at the fluffy mound of pancakes. Ronan looks extraordinarily pleased with himself as he sits the maple syrup in front of me.

“Now, I know you have a sweet tooth, but do not drink that,” he commands, and I narrow my eyes at him asI drizzle a respectable amount over my food. When he nods, satisfied, I tip the jar up and douse my plate in sugar.

He sighs, a grin playing on his face as he reaches for the syrup. “I saw that.”

My body wiggles in excitement as I take my first bite with a groan. Amused, he watches me with a smirk. “You have to be careful,” I tell him through a giant mouthful, which I realize too late is decidedly not sexy. “Without me walking all day long, and with this cooking? I will get so chunky, and every sugary bite along the way will make me happy.”

“You’ll be my little roly poly,” he teases, and I snort another unsexy laugh as I stuff my face. “It’ll be convenient in winter, because you’ll be nice and warm—my own personal heater.” I scowl at him, then realize I have syrup dripping down my chin and wipe it away. Now I’m distracted by the syrup on my hand, and I lick it clean.

A loud burst of a laugh rips through the stillness of the house, and my eyes snap up to Ronan, hand in my mouth. Elbows propped on the table, his head rests in his palms and his shoulders shake with mirth.

“Gods, you are so fucking delightful,” he gets out through his laughter, and soon, I’m giggling along with him. He stands, still chuckling, and presses an insistent kiss on my lips. “I love everything about you—sarcasm, sugar addiction, and all,” he murmurs, kissing me again before returning to his meal.

His words just imploded my entire world, and he has no idea.

Suddenly desperate to fill the silence, I blurt, “It’s raining.” His brows are creased in a furrow as he glances at me in question, but I embrace my idiocy and double downwith talk about theweather,of all things. My dumb ass gestures towards the windows, where raindrops plunk against the glass in a slow patter. “Can’t work outside in the rain.”

“Why?” he snorts, tossing me a snarky grin. “Eat too much sugar and think you’re going to melt? Spoiler alert, Cam, you aren’t that sweet.”

---