Samantha

I watched with satisfaction how Eric was finishing up his second serving of my chili con carne. Not only because he was eating something cooked by me when I wasn't that great at cooking, but also because his appetite was back to a normal male shifter's.

In just three days, his body had recovered almost completely. We shifters healed fast, but he had looked in such a bad shape on Sunday that I had expected a longer regeneration process. My tigress insisted her care was the reason for Eric' speedy recovery, but snoring in animal form next to him in bed could hardly qualify as care. During the short periods of time Eric hadn't been deep in healing sleep, I had fed him protein-rich dishes but my contribution had ended there.

As for Eric's emotional recovery, more time would be necessary. His sister's betrayal had cut him more deeply than the hyenas' claws. The news that she had tried to get money out of me with that text message while ensuring I didn't come looking for him, had only added salt to the wound.

Not that Eric didn't feel guilty about the upcoming court hearing in four days where he was going to testify against the pack. Actually, he might not have agreed were it not for Rory's assurance that Monica would be imprisoned in the same place as Lucian. Turned out human authorities had done similar arrangements before for fated mates sent to prison.

In the end, Monica was going to get what she wanted – to be with her mate again, albeit not in the way she had imagined. I wasn't thrilled about it but Eric was okay with it, and that was what mattered most.

"Want another serving?" I asked Eric when he relaxed back in the chair with a satisfied sigh.

"God, no." He chuckled and patted his midsection. "I'm close to bursting. If your plan is to fatten me up for a roast, you're succeeding."

My brows floated up. "You call that fat?"

His T-shirt, purchased by yours truly along with other clothes since he had nothing to wear, was a bit small for him so his abs were well outlined. If anything, he had lost some muscle mass, as could be expected from the taxing healing process.

He laughed. "Okay, perhaps there is more fattening up to do... But by Monday I will surely be too heavy for my prince to carry me again."

I bit my lip. Sebastian carrying Eric like a bride on her wedding day after the rescue operation was something I hadn't expected either of them to mention. I bet that when they saw each other for the court hearing, they would pretend that memorable moment hadn't happened.

"Has said prince called today?" I asked before I knew what I was doing. Darn it. Could I be more obvious?

"No. It was Dean who called me while you were in the shower."

"Great."

It was truly great that either Dean or Sebastian called once a day to check in on Eric. But they called only to ask how he was, not to talk to me. And I hadn't seen them since Sunday evening when they had come to my apartment to stock my tiny fridge with food. They had politely informed me that until the court hearing, there would be a pride member stationed outside in the street. The two of them would be busy with enforcement duties throughout the week, but Eric and I would always have help nearby, in case we needed it.

"No one will stop you from leaving," Sebastian had underscored before leaving himself. Without a kiss or a blush-worthy statement or an infuriating order directed my way. Jerk.

Dean had flashed me a smile with a dimple on his way out. He had winked, too.

Like hell was I going to fall for this. I knew exactly what they were doing. Though I was surprised they could pull it off, as starved for my company as they claimed to be.

They were giving me space, just as I had wanted. But they knew I wasn't going to skip town because I wouldn't leave Eric's side. And since they had already given me a teaser of what having them in my life would look like, they thought their absence now would make me miss them. Make me think about them every moment of every day. Make me long for them every waking second–

Like. Hell.

Eric gave me a look that said he knew exactly why I had asked about the phone call. But the sweet guy spoke nothing of it.

"Feel like taking a healing nap?" I asked as I reached for his empty plate on the tiny kitchen island.

He stopped me and brought the plate to the sink himself. He was walking perfectly well already. "No, no more sleeping. I was thinking we could watch a movie?"

"Oh..." That sounded like fun. "I don't have a TV, however. Just my ancient laptop."

"No problem, lovely. I have subscriptions for several streaming platforms."

"You do?" That sounded too good to be true. I didn't have enough savings to afford even one subscription.

He smiled at my wide-eyed look. "Yes. I make decent money as a car mechanic, doing some repair jobs here and there. I learned the trade in the first shifter group I joined after coming of age."

"Oh." This was yet another reminder that despite the strong feeling of knowing Eric since forever, I wasn't very familiar with his past. He wasn't familiar with mine, either.

Good thing we had four days by ourselves left to rectify that.

"If you want," Eric told me, "you go prepare the laptop while I wash the dishes here. We'll select the movie together."

I grinned and before I could stop myself, I pecked him on the cheek. "Thank you, Eric."

Specks of emerald-green appeared in his eyes. "In that case, I will be washing the dishes from now on."

I giggled and run to get my laptop. "Any preferences for the genre?" I called from the bedroom.

"Anything but a horror flick, please."

"No horror, got it." I loved scary movies but I could always watch those with Dean–

No, what was I thinking! I had Eric here with me, why was I greedy for more male company?

My tigress opened her sleepy eyes in my mind and gave me a duh look.

"How about a sci-fi movie?" I suggested, shutting the know-it-all cat up.

"I love those," Eric called from the kitchen.

I smiled happily. I loved sci-fi, too.

We ended up watching two movies, both ones we had seen before but finding them enjoyable enough for a re-watch. We commented on the plot holes and made fun of the dialogue along the way. At some point I laughed so hard there were tears in my eyes and I could barely breathe.

Eric's company was filling me with pure joy the likes of which I had last experienced as a child. Calm, relaxed, not a care in the world - that was how he made me feel. He wasn't using his Omega powers: he was simply being... Eric.

And because he had to melt my heart completely, he cooked me dinner. It was some simple dish with meat and vegetables but it tasted divine. He told me about his childhood and his early 20s while I was stuffing myself.

Afterwards, he read me a sci-fi novel. I used to enjoy books when I was little but then life had happened and reading had been the last thing on my mind. Now I realized that I had missed out a lot. Particularly when it came to audio books. Or perhaps it was Eric's voice that was making the novel so thrilling.

Enchanted, I curled up against him on the couch. He claimed that his bruises didn't hurt anymore so of course I took advantage. By the time we got to the end of a particularly long chapter, his voice having gone hoarse from reading, I was tingling all over.

Particularly between my legs.

"You should record audio books for a living," I told him as I took the laptop off his lap and placed it on the coffee table. "Women will pay crazy money to buy them."

He followed my every move carefully. "You think so?"

"Actually," I threw one leg over his lap, "don't do that. I want your sexy voice all to myself."

He met my gaze as I straddled him, eyes shifting to green. "Lovely, what are you doing?"

"Am I hurting you?"

"No..."

"Then, I was thinking..." I bit my lip. Here I was again, all shyness forgotten in his company. "We should continue from where we left off."

His natural eye color was swallowed completely by his panther's by this point. "Before we were rudely interrupted?"

"Yes... Are you up for it?"

He finally put his hands on my hips and pulled me closer until our lower bodies were perfectly aligned. "Can't you tell?"

I could. I rubbed against him to tease him. "Yep. Everything is up and running," I whispered over his lips.

He moved back a fraction. "No marking?"

Instead of reply right away, I found myself hesitating. Eventually, I nodded. "No marking."

Yet, my tigress supplied helpfully.