Page 23 of Deck the Skulls

In the middle of his chaotic thoughts, Rissa’s hand slid over his. He looked over to find her watching him with a concerned expression.

“You okay?” she asked. “You’ve been really quiet.”

He forced a smile. “I’m just hungry. You haven’t tasted good until you’ve tried the French toast here!”

“I’ll trade you some of my pancakes for some of your French toast,” she said. He could tell she didn’t entirely believe him, but she wasn’t going to push. At least not in front of everyone.

Feeling all kinds of affection, he leaned over and brushed his lips over hers. “That would be perfect.”

Chapter 8

Anatoly

It wasn’t until the afternoon that Anatoly was able to move well enough to get out of bed. It took a lot of effort, but it was better than lying in bed waiting for Rissa and Zan to get home.

After spending so many years waiting out the daylight hours, he should be better at it, but no, so he drank blood from the small hidden fridge in their bedroom and paced.

He’d spent as much time as feasible grooming and dressing. He’d changed his outfit four times. With a growl of frustration, he left the bedroom and moved to pacing in the main area.

Trying to find a way to distract himself, he cleaned all of his and Zan’s things out of the spare room. Then he put away the purchases Rissa left unopened on the table. He decided to give Rissa the second bedroom as a place of her own. Zan wasn’t interested in personal space. The mountain lion shifter would be content to be wrapped around someone 24/7. But Rissa was different. She was going to need down time where she could be alone. This room would be hers.

He should probably hang these things in the second-floor apartment, but he decided to encourage her to stay up here and let her move downstairs as a last resort.

Anatoly scowled at all the remaining space in the closet after he’d hung the few outfits. He didn’t want to order any more things for Rissa, he wanted her to pick them out. He was determined to fill the closet and dresser with her choices.

She’d have everything. She deserved everything!

It felt like a hundred years passed before he heard Zan and Rissa finally coming home. Because of the noise blocking spells, he didn’t hear them until they were almost to the front door. Focusing on their link, he felt Zan’s happiness. They’d had a good time, and Rissa was joyful.

Relief and excitement filled him as he rushed to the door and swung it open just as Zan was reaching for the knob.

“Oh, hey,” Zan said with a broad smile. “Glad to see you’re awake. Did you, uh, eat?”

“I’m very full,” Anatoly assured him. Grabbing some of the bags hanging from Zan’s hands and forearms, he stepped back. “Come in, come in!”

Zan and Rissa bustled by him. His sense of smell wasn’t as good as Zan’s, but it was still better than a human’s. As she passed, Anatoly took a deep breath, pulling in Rissa’s soft feminine scent.

He crushed the package in his hand to keep from reaching out to touch her. He smelled something sweet and looked down to find a very smooshed container of pastries.

He felt Zan through their soul link laughing at him. It made Anatoly want to spank the shifter’s ass until he cried and begged to be fucked.

Would Rissa like to be spanked or do the spanking?

“We picked up some of those scented candles you like,” Zan said, pulling him out of his salacious thoughts.

“Candles?” Anatoly asked, nudging the door shut and following them to the table near the kitchen area.

Zan gave the misshapen pastry box a look, then raised an eyebrow before speaking. “Rissa wouldn’t let me buy any of them until I told her how much you like scented candles.”

“If you don't like the ones I picked, we can return them,” Rissa said, setting down her bags. She looked apprehensive. “They were on sale, so I might’ve bought too many.”

“I’m sure I’ll love them,” Anatoly said. Zan and he couldn’t do direct communication through their link, but sometimes, they could send an image to each other. Zan must be concentrating on a bathtub because the image of one full of steaming water popped into his head. He took the hint.

“One of my favorite things to do is take a hot bath with candles and a good book,” he told Rissa. “It’s how I relax sometimes.”

Rissa’s eyes widened and then a smile replaced her slight frown. “You do?”

He sent silent feelings of gratitude to Zan. “Absolutely. Follow me.” He led her through their room to the large bathroom beyond. Along one wall was a massive sunken tub.