Page 50 of Don't Bait Me (Nora Jacobs 3)

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Despite how relaxed I am when I go to bed, I have a restless night filled with dreams of dead fey and assassins chasing me. Taunting me. Laughing at me, because I can’t stop them. I toss and turn and at one point even wake up gasping for air. By the time I stumble out of bed in the late morning, I’m exhausted and disgruntled.

Oliver’s already gone off to class. He fell asleep on his bed, playing video games. It was adorable. He didn’t even wake when I took his shoes off and tucked his blankets over him. The poor man never gets enough sleep. I don’t know how he balances graduate school and a full-time job. At least this is his last semester. He’ll graduate this spring and finally have some downtime.

I’m sure Parker’s tucked away in bed until sunset, but I’m up before Terrance, so I decide to make him breakfast. I’m too anxious to sit around and be idle. Once the bacon is frying, the big guy shuffles into the kitchen in his sleep pants and slippers, covering a yawn with his fist. This is typical of him in the mornings until he’s had at least one cup of coffee. My feelings for him are very familial, but I can still appreciate the view of him wandering around shirtless. He’s a little too muscly for my taste, but a chiseled chest is a chiseled chest.

He sits down at the island counter and gives me a questioning look after checking out the spread before him. “What’s all this for?”

His surprise is expected. Piles of pancakes; fresh fruit; eggs fried up with onions, mushrooms, and green peppers; and seasoned breakfast potatoes lay before him. Usually, I just go with some oatmeal and fruit in the mornings.

I turn back to flip the bacon with a shrug. “I don’t know. I’m just feeling anxious. I couldn’t sit still. Do you know if there were any more attacks last night?”

“I didn’t hear of anything before the club closed. And I had all my employees spreading the word all night for fey to avoid the casino.”

I breathe a little sigh of relief. Maybe Henry did the same at the casino, and the killings will slow down. Maybe I’ll have a chance to catch these guys before any more fey die.

I plate the bacon and turn off the stove. Terrance has already filled a plate high with food. I slide the bacon toward him and grin when he scoops most of it onto his plate. Terrance loves coffee and bacon. “Thanks, Trouble.”

“My pleasure, T-man.”

We eat in silence for a few minutes and both jump when someone pounds loudly on the front door. “You expecting someone?” he asks me.

I shake my head and ask him the same question, even though I already know the answer. He never has people over, if he can help it. “You?”

He gives me the expected headshake, and we both look toward the living room. The knock comes again. I start to get up, but Terrance throws his arm out and glares at me. “I’ll get it. There’s a killer on the loose.”

I want to point out that he’s as much at risk from these killers as I am, but I know it won’t do me any good, so I stay put until I hear mumbled voices and Terrance’s loud thumps as he comes back downstairs.

I round the corner just as he and Rook enter the living room. Rook has a box in his hands and a large duffle hanging from his shoulder. “Just let me get dressed, and I’ll help you get the rest,” Terrance says. “Come in and eat, if you’re hungry. Nora made breakfast.”

I’m still staring at Rook in shock when Terrance disappears toward his bedroom. Part of me thought when he walked out yesterday that he’d never come back. But here he is, and he’s got his stuff with him. “You’re moving in?” I ask. Both of us can hear the hope in my voice.

Rook unceremoniously drops his stuff and stomps across the room to me. He grabs my face in his hands and kisses me like there’s no tomorrow. He pulls back long enough to glare at me and growl, “I’m not letting those two steal you from me.” Then he attacks my mouth again.

The kiss is rough and commanding, a display of dominance only an alpha shifter could pull off. Just when I turn to putty in his hands, he ends the kiss. Both of us are out of breath, and we stare at each other for a long moment. “Are you sure about this?” I ask.

“They agreed to share you, didn’t they?” he demands.

Heat floods my cheeks, and I nod.

Rook grunts, not quite in disgust but almost. “I knew they would.”

I hate to ask, because I’m afraid of the answer, but we need to be clear on this subject. “What does that mean for us, Rook? Are you sure you can do this? I don’t want you to be unhappy.”

Rook snags me by the waist and reels me in to him until he can lock his arms around me. “Being without you is something I can’t live with,” he says gruffly. “Yesterday only confirmed what I already knew. You’remine, Nora. If sharing you is the only way to keep you, then I’ll deal with it.”

My eyes sting, and my chest burns. I’m not going to lose him. I’m not going to lose any of them. It seems too good to be true. I hate that he’s struggling with it, but I’m so relieved. More than that, I’m overjoyed. I throw my arms around his neck and squeeze as tightly as I can. “I thought you hated me,” I admit, fighting back tears. “I was afraid when you left yesterday that we were done. That you’d never speak to me again.”

Rook wraps me in the best hug of my life, squeezing me to him and rocking me gently. “I could never hate you, baby. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Rook pushes my tangled mess of bedhead out of my face and kisses me again. Softly this time. “We’ll figure this out,” he promises me.

I can’t resist hugging him again. The way he holds me makes me feel so safe and loved. I could spend the rest of my life wrapped in his arms. Unfortunately, Rook smells the bacon and lets me go. “Terrance said there was food?”

I let out a happy laugh and drag him off to the kitchen.

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