I heat the oven and griddle. Then, I start to gather some ingredients to make a steak sandwich again. I cut up some potatoes and toss them with olive oil and seasoning to throw in the oven. Instead of sourdough, I find a large oval loaf of cheese bread that smells yummy. I melt some butter to brush the bread with after I slice it so I can grill it. I season the steak and wait until the potatoes are closer to being done before grilling it. Thirty minutes later, dinner’s ready, and I officially love this kitchen.

I heard Masen return while I was cooking. He seemed content to just watch me and shovel cookies and oatmeal bars in his face. I did tell him if he ate the whole container, he’d be too full for dinner which got me a loud snort.

Eating with Masen is very intimate. He seats me at the table then sits so close to me that if I don’t squeeze my thick thighs together my knee rests against his leg. That’s just too much hard work, so I eventually just relax. He’s more refined than Sniffer, but he still moans in appreciation. He also takes every opportunity to touch me, He squeezes my hand and tells me how delicious it is. Brushes my hair back, when it falls forward from looking down at my plate, but the most intense situation came when he wiped a little sauce from my bottom lip with his thumb right as I was trying to lick it off. When my tongue touches the pad of his thumb, he sucks in air through his clenched teeth and his other hand goes white from fisting it. He hasn’t moved but seems to be struggling for control. I slowly move my head back, and he lets out a long exhale. I’m not really sure how to deal with this. I find him immensely attractive, and I feel the same pull to him because he’s my Mate.

Trying to ease the tension I ask, “What did you mean earlier when you said I still don’t understand?”

His light eyes stare into mine. “It means, Little One, I’ve been waiting for you for five years. I don’t have, nor have I had, a girlfriend since the night we met.” He can read the doubt clear on my face. He adds, “I’m not saying I haven’t been with women” —shame is written all over his face— “but what I am saying is that it’s you, it has always been you, I was just waiting for you.”

Now I’m pissed. “Oh, is that supposed to make me feel good? You’ve been waiting for me, but while you waited, you’ve been with not one woman, but probably many?” I haven’t even addressed the fact that he still wants me. I’m not ready for that.

Masen stops eating and gives me his full attention. “Yes, I have had sex, just sex, with a few. I was a twenty-four-year-old shifter when we met. Had you been old enough to shift, I wouldn’t have been with anyone else. I broke off my relationship with Roxanne immediately.”