"Beautiful," he said. "Stand up for me and turn around."

He had to help me up, but he probably wanted to see my legs shaking.

"Raise your skirt."

I sucked in a breath but did as he said, and I was sure that my face went as red as my ass as I waited for him to speak. His claws traced the marks on my flesh, and I bit down on the moan that wanted to rise. I failed to stifle the sound when he leaned in and licked over the spot.

"I went a little darker than I’d planned," he rasped out before licking up another stripe.

Was licking his apology?

"I liked it," I admitted, turning to smile at him. "It's a good custom."

* * *

"How hard did he fuck you before we got here?" Natalie hissed in my ear. We were in the kitchen serving up flourless chocolate cake and whipped cream, and Natalie was swaying back and forth, possibly to the music playing in the next room or maybe just to her own internal rhythm.

Pepper moonshine hit hard.

"They can both hear you," I whispered back. Theo was a werewolf and orcs had big ears, so I figured that probably made them roughly equal.

"I don't care. It'll be a competitive incentive for Theo later."

I snorted. I didn't think Theo was half as competitive as his wife. "He didn't," I said. Natalie's eyes narrowed at me, and I squirmed. "Not exactly."

She blinked, then grinned and nodded. "Creative. Nice."

"We do more than have sex," I said, somewhat defensively.

"Well, duh. The house looks great. Did you buy the little baskets for all your grubby socks, or did he?"

I blinked and glanced down. Khell had brought me a stack of small woven baskets and left one in every room. And…yup, sure enough, socks I'd abandoned earlier were now tucked inside. Which meant Khell was going around tidying up my socks.

I swooned and cut an extra thick slice of the cake for my orc.

My mate.

I giggled, and Natalie punched me in the shoulder. "Ow!"

"I'm happy for you!" Natalie shouted at me.

"Fists aren't love, Nat," Theo called from the living room.

Natalie scoffed, leaning up against my refrigerator and watching me arrange the plates. "She's fine," she called back.

A massive figure appeared out of the corner of my eye, Khell looming in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. He'd put on a pair of dark blue jeans that hugged his ass like a lover and a fitted black sweater. I wanted to climb him.

"Are you antagonizing my—" Khell blinked and stuttered briefly.

"Mate?" Natalie suggested, biting her teeth around the T.

I glanced at Khell and smiled. He wasn't aware I'd told Natalie about our situation, and I watched as he puffed up with pride.

"I'm no rougher with her than you are, buddy," Natalie said, offering Khell a feral grin.