Chapter Twenty-One

Hemlock

There was very little sleeping going on at our house. Sure, we'd catnapped a bit during the night, but mostly we'd made love to our mate. Something I would gladly stay awake for forever. She was finally asleep, however, her cheek cradled in her hand as the sun rose outside our window, sending soft shafts of light over the bed. My heart swelled at the memory of our first night together as mates. She was the most beautiful female I'd ever seen, and her kindness and warmth won me over before she even got here, but in our arms, in our home…in our bed? She was what dreams I'd never dared to dream were made of.

Shaking my head, I slipped out of bed and started for the hallway. I wanted to do something nice for her, and at the moment, most of my ideas were X-rated. Which, considering how many times we'd already done it, she might not consider a favor. Our mate needed a little recovery time if she was going to welcome us into her body again.

"Where are you going?" whispered Grendel.

"To make our mate breakfast in bed," I replied. "You don't have to get up."

"Like hell." He climbed out of bed and reached for his undershorts that lay beside it. "You can make the toast and coffee, but I'm doing all the rest."

"How much more is there that makes up the rest?" I'd had toast and coffee in mind. They were skills I had.

"After burning so many calories all night, Poe needs more than that. I'll see you in the kitchen."

When we got down there, I set about doing what Grendel suggested. Brewing coffee and making toast while he whipped eggs and melted butter in a pan. "I hope our mate likes omelets." He added chopped herbs to the eggs before pouring them into the pool of butter. "Do you think she does?"

"I think she likes your cooking." I spread butter on the toast and set it on a plate then went looking for a tray to arrange our offerings on. "Are you adding cheese?"

"Of course." He'd also fried up some bacon somehow, and I attributed my not having noticed to the fact that the scent of our mate clung to my skin, and I wanted to get back to her as soon as possible. "It's just about ready."

I went to lift the tray but then paused. "Gren, do you think she will stay?" It was huge on my mind. She'd seemed to like being with us, but we hadn't really discussed it. "I don't want her to feel confined or compelled, but I don't think I'd be able to survive long without her."

"Me either. I thought we were happy, sure, we hoped to meet our mate, but before she was here, it wasn't such an…"

"Ache?" I offered. "Need?"

"Both of those and more. I've always heard that when someone loses a mate their chances of survival are not good. I thought it meant if they died, but I think it would be just about the same if she decided we weren't who she wanted to live with for the rest of her life."

"Yeah, me too." On that sober note, I carried the tray, and Grendel followed with the coffee carafe and her special creamers. I had thought I'd hate them, that they'd be too sweet, but that hadn't been the case at all. They were delightful—maybe because they made me think of her.

When we went into the room, we found her still in bed but sitting up against the headboard, her hair mussed and a mark from the pillow on her cheek. "Good morning," she said. "I've slept half the day."

"I think you slept about an hour," I informed her. "Because you have two very naughty mates who are probably going to ruin your sleeping for many years to come."

"Promises promises," she murmured. "For right this second, I hope you're coming back to bed to share whatever you've got on the tray."

Actually, I think we had both expected Poe to eat all the food herself, but she'd asked so sweetly, and also, I was a little hungry, so I climbed right in and lifted a triangle of buttery toast to her mouth. "Bite?"

Her rosy lips parted, white teeth crunching down on the offering. "So good," she said, sending a few crumbs spraying. "You have to try it."

"It's just toast," Gren said, cutting into the omelet and forking off a piece. "Anyone can make it."

"Anyone did," I grumbled. But our mate's expression when she let him feed her the eggs and then a bite of crisp bacon made it all worthwhile. "Eat up, and then maybe we'll go out for a walk."

"Or not get up at all today?" Our mate was a very naughty girl.

And we loved that about her and took her up on her suggestion. We didn't get up until it was time for Gren to make us dinner. And we made good use of the time. Poe did not seem to suffer any ill effects from our enthusiasm, luckily.