Sebastian

I sneaked out of the bedroom shortly after sunrise, giving Samantha and Dean a quick glance before closing the door behind me.

They both slept like the dead, as if they had run a marathon last night. If the stories about fated matings were true, they probably felt exactly like that.

I hoped I would find out for myself by the end of the day, because taking cold showers was starting to get old. I had thought last week had been bad but since last night things had taken a turn for the worse.

My body was in a constant state of arousal. The image of Samantha in her naked glory, cheeks flushed with desire and scent laced with primal need, pussy taking Dean's cock, was burned into my eyes. Fuck if I knew how I had managed to resist the call of my tiger to mark her. Kissing her as she'd gotten marked by my best friend had been a poor substitute.

It had been a struggle by itself to not lift my mate off Dean's dick and lower her on mine. Just the sounds the two of them were making and the looks on their faces had driven me to the edge of my control. I had been a breath away from blowing my load in my pants, like some untried teen.

Once they had fallen asleep, I had spent half an hour in the shower to get off enough times to be sure I could handle lying next to Samantha. I simply could not pass up her invitation to join her in bed.

Of course, I had gotten rock-hard as soon as I had returned to the bedroom, the smell of fucking perfuming the air and Samantha lying naked on my bed sheets. Somehow I had managed to fall asleep with her pressed against my back, but at dawn I had woken flat on my back with her head on my bicep and her leg over mine, thigh brushing against my dick. The time had come for another cold shower.

Afterwards, I managed to fit my cock back into a pair of jeans. My sweatpants would be much comfier but I didn't want to make Samantha nervous. Because there was no doubt in me I would be tenting the soft material as soon as I saw her. The jeans would do a better job at containing me.

There was no reason to wear a shirt today, however. Not wanting to make Samantha nervous didn't mean I was going to waste the opportunity to get my spitfire hot and bothered. Let her have a taste of what she was doing to me.

Besides, I should be dressed at least somewhat comfortably while enjoying my day off. The pride guys had suggested it last night, offering to take over enforcement duty so that Dean and I could properly bond with our fated mate.

Thinking of last night, I should let Eric know it was okay to come over. I had promised him, as tempting as it was to postpone his arrival in the apartment. I needed to show Samantha I could work with the panther. I needed to show myself I could have him in my territory and not bite his head off the second I saw him be intimate with my–our mate. Last night had shown we could be friends, but could I trust my animal half to share the most precious female with Eric?

Right now, my tiger thought it wouldn't hurt to rub it in the panther's face that Samantha had orgasmed more than once under my and Dean's care.

I grunted in approval and texted Eric.

Then I began making pancakes. I enjoyed cooking for others and right now it also offered a welcome distraction.

While the pancakes sizzled in the pan, I decided to set the table as well. I could cut Dean some slack this morning. Just this once.

With Samantha living–Samantha and Eric living here, I would actually have to set new house rules. Cooking and cleaning duties would have to be divided. Slacking would continue to not be tolerated. Same went for clothes lying around.

Unless it was Samantha's underwear. Discarded by her or her mates in odd places. Because we were definitely going to christen every flat surface in this apartment. The back of the sofa, too; it might not exactly qualify as a flat surface but Samantha would look stunning bent over it. Or sitting on its edge while I plowed her into oblivion–

Fuck. So much for the kitchen chores keeping me distracted. Samantha had not shown up yet and here I was, sporting a telltale bulge already.

My phone buzzed in that moment. It was a message from Eric, "I'm at the door."

There, that should make my cock go down a notch.

But how the fuck had he gotten here so fast from Samantha's place? And not just that: when I went to remotely unlock the building's door, which was always closed at this hour, I discovered Eric was already at our front door.

I opened the door with a scowl.

Eric replied with a small smile. "Morning."

I studied his rumpled clothes, the same as last night's, and his messy hair. "Someone from the pride took you in."

He smiled more broadly. "Isabel and Janine. They shared Janine's bed so I got an entire bedroom to myself."

My scowl deepened. "You wanted to be close in case what? Samantha needed a rescue from Dean and I? You thought we would hurt our mate?"

Eric looked me directly in the eyes across the threshold. "If I didn't trust you with our mate, I wouldn't have let you bring Samantha here. I might not be as good a fighter as you, but I would have fought you tooth and claw to protect her. Do not doubt that."

I bared my teeth at him. "Strong words, panther."

He didn't back away from the eye challenge but spoke calmly. "It's good they don't have to become more than words, Bas. Because I trust you to take care of Samantha."

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down. "Then why sleep on the upper floor?"

His smile returned, the guy not intimated at all. "Because in the hurry to bring the unconscious Samantha here, we all forgot to take the keys for her apartment out of her purse. Which you brought home along with her."

I blinked several times, trying to process his words. And thus lost the eye challenge. That made me sound grouchier than before when I spoke again. "Why didn't you call? Or text us?"

"And risk interrupting... something?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "No, thanks."

Prude. He couldn't even talk about fucking, and he was supposed to share Samantha with me and Dean between the sheets? Watching and listening to our mate's sweet little cries by itself might prove too much for him–

Wait a sec. "Did you say you slept in Isabel's bedroom? The one right above my bedroom?"

Eric's neck reddened.

"Shit." It was clear from his face that he had already been in bed when the sound effects from below had occurred.

To my surprise, I felt sympathy for the guy. I had been driven mad with lust at the sounds of Dean's and Samantha's mating but at least I had been there to watch and get a taste of our mate.

"Now you know why Isabel is never to be trusted," I found myself saying, scowl gone. "You can bet your whiskers she left you in that bedroom on purpose."

Eric chuckled. "That female is shameless. I'm glad you texted me to come over, or I would have been forced to have a very awkward breakfast with her and Janine."

I smiled inwardly. He'd dodged a bullet right there.

Now I better let him in, before I smiled for real or did some other sappy shit.

"You may enter," I grumbled as I stepped aside. "No breakfast yet in here but the pancakes are in the making."

"Sounds perfect. Need some help?"

I growled before I could help myself.

"Sorry." Once in the kitchen, Dean moved to stand as far away from me as possible. "Not the smartest thing of me to imply you can't handle things in your own territory. I'm tired and thus prone to forget about protocol. Sorry."

I grunted. Why was he being so civilized and friendly and calm? It made it impossible for me to be the usual rude fucker.

"No protocol here, Eric. I'm just edgy. Didn't sleep much myself."

"Ah. Yes, of course." He rubbed the back of his neck, revealing my statement made him nervous.

I could leave him with the wrong assumption that Samantha had kept me awake all night – though in a way, she had – but for some reason I admitted, "We're not officially mated, Samantha and I. She let only Dean mark her. The lucky bastard."

"Ah."

I glanced his way as I flipped yet another pancake, and caught a look of sympathy on his face.

"Don't worry," I grumbled. "I'll make her officially mine soon enough. You should worry about upping your own game."

He frowned. "How so?"

A grin stretched my lips. "Before she might have been impressed by you giving her one orgasm. But after last night, when Dean and I made her come several times, and hard... You should consider improving your performance."

He went red in the neck once again but also laughed. "I'll take that into consideration, thank you for the advice. How about I give you some, too?"

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Accept my help with the cooking, because those pancakes won't be enough. The mating bond's activation burns extra calories."

I scoffed. The balls of this panther, to rub my lack of a bond with Samantha in my face in response to my jab his way!...

Fuck. I liked him more and more every day.

"Why are you just standing by the table, then?" I scolded him. "Grab some eggs and milk and come help me."

He smiled under his nose and started prepping the ingredients for a second batch of pancakes.

"Don't think I'm allowing you to help out because I can't manage on my own," I warned. "I can feed my mate."

Eric's smile grew. "Glad to hear it."

"I'm not shitting you. I'm letting you help only because this way I can prove to Samantha that I'm the better cook."

Eric laughed, amusement clear to read in his glance my way. "If you say so."

I huffed. "It's a fact. My pancakes will make Samantha have a foodgasm."

"They better, Bas. She deserves only the best." He shot me a look, a dangerous twinkle in his kind eyes. "And if you can't give it to her, I'm going to have to take measures."

"Ha!" This conversation was becoming more fun by the second. "Like what? Try – and fail miserably – to deliver a single punch to my face?"

"No, not at all," he said innocently, pouring his pancake mixture into a pan. "In this particular case you'll never see my move coming."

I grinned, seriously intrigued. "Give me a hint, come on."

"For starters, I'm a mechanic with easy access to your car," he kept going with the innocent tone. "Do you know that SUVs like your model experience brake malfunctions sometimes?"

I stared at him. Was he shitting me or...? I should check the info online as soon as possible.

"Also," he continued, flipping his pancake without a hitch while looking at me, "you know there is this exotic spice that even our super shifter metabolism can't handle?"

"There is?"

He nodded, all serious. "A pinch of it in a pancake mixture and you won't be leaving the toilet for days."

"Shit."

"Exactly."

Our gazes met.

He burst out laughing. "I'm kidding, Bas! God, you should have seen your face: frown as deep as the Atlantic!"

"So my SUV model is not prone to brake trouble?"

"Well..." He swiped at his eyes: he'd laughed so hard they had gotten teary. "It was the spice I was joking about. No such type exists."

I chuckled, I couldn't help it. "That was a good one. 'Exotic spice'." Then I shoulder-punched him with friendly force. "You stay away from my SUV. Unless it's broken."

He chuckled himself. "Understood. The joke aside, I am a decent cook. With and without exotic spices. Treat me well and I'll feed you."

"With what? Rat poison?"

"Ugh, don't insult me! You'd smell that poison from miles away. I would use leaves from the mysterious potted plant in Isabel's bedroom. It smells like parsley but definitely isn't."

"Yeah, with Isabel it's never anything innocent... I like your plan, you devious panther. She'll be blamed for my poisoning and Dean will be forever free from having to carry her bags during her shopping sprees."

"What makes you think I'll spare Dean? With his intolerance to nuts, he'll be an easy victim."

"Dean? Nut-intolerant? Who the fuck told you that?"

"Dean himself?"

I chuckled some more. "You've been played, my friend. Dean would eat nuts in his sleep if he could."

Eric shook his head with a smile on. "God, he tricked me so well... No pancakes for him."

"Don't be so forgiving: burn some and make him eat them."

"Wow, that's just cruel!... I like how you think."

I gave his shoulder a nudge, grinning.

He grinned back.

"Morning?"

Our grins froze on our faces as we turned towards the door.

There, wrapped in my bed cover and hugging herself, stood a wide-eyed Samantha.