Page 68 of How to Trust a Hellhound
When I walked out of the bedroom, I grabbed him and kissed him, and his lips were soft and pliant against mine. He let me take charge of our quick kiss, although he gave my butt a little smack when I pulled away. It made me smile and feel sexy and appreciated.
Agh, I loved this man so much. I felt near to bursting with happiness, like I was just gonna float out of my skin.
We chatted about the day ahead as I started on breakfast, and it was only about five minutes before Thea was knocking at the door. Wilder hollered for her to come in, and she did, throwing a bag on a chair and then plopping down at the table. She stared at me cooking breakfast for a moment, her gaze assessing.
“Well, looks like someone was well-fucked,” she said.
“Thea!” Wilder reproached, but I laughed.
“What?” she asked, motioning toward me. “He’s practically glowing.”
“Jealous?” I joked.
“Fuck, yes,” she responded right back. “Everyone here is all paired up and has this content, satiated look about them most of the time. It’s infuriating.”
“I don’t know—I wouldn’t describe Q as looking content and satiated,” I said, placing some eggs and bacon on the table.
“Yeah, well, Q looks like he’s about to eviscerate someone most of the time. And Liam just gazes dopily at him like it’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen,” she said, spooning some food onto her plate.
I laughed again, because that was a totally accurate description.
“Ok, old man, what wisdom are you imparting to me today?” Thea said between bites, looking at Wilder.
Wilder didn’t rise to her bait; I guessed he was used to attitude and snark. We finished up breakfast while they went over Thea’s knowledge of weaponry. Apparently the bag was full of guns andknives and other things I didn’t really care to think about, so when my phone rang and I saw it was Sebbie, I excused myself to take the call.
“On the way to work or on the way home?” I asked after our greetings.
“Ugh, on the way home. I worked an overnight shift at the hospital, and I’m exhausted. It seems like people always die at night, and every nurse and doctor seems to call me in for the final moments,” Sebbie grumbled.
He did sound tired, but he wasn’t really in a bad mood. Then again, Sebbie was never really in a bad mood.
“They know you aren’t afraid of death and that you’re really good with patients,” I answered.
“Well, yeah. There’s nothing scary about death. It’s just a transition, and people deserve to feel safe and comforted in their final moments here. I’m honored to give that to them. It’s really a beautiful thing,” Sebbie stated.
Sebbie wasn’t religious, per se, but he definitely believed that death was not an ending, as he always told us. He was probably the only person I knew who seemed totally comfortable with the thought of dying.
“Well, I’m glad you could help people, but I’m sorry it was a long night,” I answered. “Hopefully you have tonight off? Because it’s really late to be getting off your shift.”
“Yeah, I stayed with a patient for a bit after my shift ended. I have the next few days off, so I plan to head home and sleep for like fifteen hours,” Sebbie joked.
He did sound drained, despite his cheery tone.
“You okay driving? If you need a ride…” I trailed off, ready to get someone to pick him up if necessary.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m tired, which is why I decided to talk on the phone. So distract me with details about the sexy silver fox staying in your cabin,” Sebbie said.
I blushed, but I did just that, gushing about Wilder a bit to Sebbie. He knew that we were seeing each other, but I got to fill him in on the “I love you” exchange. I left the whole mate thing out, though, because Sebbie didn’t know about hellhounds. Honestly, even if he did, I kind of preferred to ignore the whole supernatural aspect of things.
Sebbie let me gush, but I made sure to ask him questions and keep him talking, too, so he stayed awake. He yawned a few times, but he sounded alert enough that I wasn’t worried about him falling asleep while driving.
“Thanks, Josh. I’m pulling in at home now…” Sebbie trailed off. “What the hell?” he mumbled.
“What’s up?” I asked. “Did Toby order you sex toys to get delivered again or something?” I joked.
Sebbie didn’t laugh, though, and I heard the car door open and shut. “Rick? Is that you?” he said.
My heart froze. I had walked outside to chat, but I hustled my way back inside. “Sebbie! Don’t go near him!” I insisted, Wilder and Thea looking up as I rushed in the door.
