“Any chance you can feed a witch?”
He chuckled, making her smile. “I think I can do that.”
They walked back to the house, and as they did, Selene peppered Jett with questions. She wanted to know everything there was to know about shifters and how their community operated. She also had him repeat everything he knew about the Order of Salem. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to know these bigoted lunatics were out for blood.
Jett led Selene into the house and gestured to the couch. “You can turn the television on while I work on lunch.”
“Not on your life, wolf man. You saved my life, and I feel like I should repay the favor by making you food.”
For one wild second, Selene had a dirty thought. Maybe she could thank him in a sexier way.
“How about we both do it then,” Jett responded. “A compromise.”
Selene smiled at him over her shoulder as she made her way to the fridge. She swung the door opened and gasped.
“Holy meat, wolf man. Do you only ever eat cows? There’s barely any veggies in there.”
Jett chuckled and reach above her head and produce a head of lettuce. “I have vegetables plenty, but as you said, I’m a wolf man. I have carnivore tendencies.”
“Well, just so we’re clear, I’m a witch, and as a people we tend to have omnivore tastes.”
“That’s fair. Look in that top drawer, you’ll find some peppers and cucumbers. We can cut some up and throw it on the lettuce. You know, for the omnivores.” He winked at her, and her face immediately flushed.
Had she not been standing by the fridge, she might have completely melted. Who knew a wink could be so effective?
Jett took out a cutting board and while Selene chopped the veggies for her salad, he grilled four enormous burger patties.
“You know I’ll barely be able to eat one of those, right? There’s easily half a cow there.”
He laughed, and once again, Selene felt her face flush. What was it about making this man laugh that made her giddy? She was behaving worse than a high school hornball.
“I’ll be honest, three of those are for me.”
Selene felt her eyes go wide and her jaw drop. “Three?”
“Yup. Shifter metabolism is crazy fast. I guess sharing our bodies with animals makes us continuously hungry.”
“I have to say, I’m kind of excited to see you put those away.”
“Hey, now, don’t make me feel self-conscious.” He nudged her playfully with his shoulder and the touched zinged energy everywhere inside her.
Yup. She had a full-blown crush. She was in deep trouble. If she didn’t keep herself in check, should would find herself halfway in love with him by the time the Order of Salem was caught.
“Do you want cheese on your burger?” he asked as he dug through the fridge. He leaned over, and Selene’s eyes went directly to his butt.
She had not yet known men's butts could be hot. She definitely knew now, and she wanted to take a certain song about big butts and reword it to fit Jett’s own form. Selene had to bite down on her cheek from giggling.
“Hey,” Jett said, stepping into her personal space. His lips were mere inches from her ear. “Just a little heads up. Shifter senses also include our smell. We can smell lies and stress, and any other kind of emotions.” He gave her another wink as he pulled away.
Oh, fuck.
Her face wasn’t just red and burning, it was on fire and definitely could have passed for one of the tomatoes lying on the kitchen counter.
Was he being serious? Could he smell when she was ogling him? That could only mean he had scented her rising desire for him. Selene tried not to be embarrassed, but it was impossible. She had been caught. One hundred percent caught and she didn’t know how to behave anymore.
“Relax,” Jett said as he flipped one of the patties in the pan. “If you were a shifter, you’d have the exact same information.”
Selene couldn’t breathe or swallow.
Had he just told her that he wanted her?
Chapter Ten
Jett
“Relax,” Jett said as he wrangled a burger patty with the spatula. “If you were a shifter, you’d have the exact same information.”
Fuck, he thought.
Yes, his wolf rejoiced, echoing the polar opposite to his own feelings.
This battle from his brain to his mouth was getting him into serious trouble.
Before today, Jett hadn’t ever really thought that cooking with a woman could be that flirty and that erotically charged. But it was. And he didn’t know what to do with himself. Cooking a meal with a constant hard-on was no fun, especially since he didn’t want to want Selene.
There was nothing for it, though.
His wolf was pretty fucking adamant they would have her before long. It was impossible not to keep taking deep breaths. Her sweet vanilla and brown sugar scent was all that he could smell. Even if he was grilling a bunch of meat which under any other circumstance would have made his mouth water.
Now it was the woman making him feel all kinds of things.
Actually, her delectable scent wasn’t the only thing tickling his nose. He could smell her desire on the air, and it was powerful. Jett didn’t fully understand why she was so attracted to him. It wasn’t like he was such a great catch. None of the women in the pack wanted anything to do with him. Leah was the exception because she liked to piss off her parents.
Even the mortal women he had fucked were gone by morning. That could have everything to do with his shit attitude. He hadn’t exactly been as surly with Selene as he typically was.
She was seeing a side of him that only Blaze and Rick knew about. She had gotten him to tell her the full Bugsy story, and he hadn’t stopped being worried for her wellbeing since she had passed out in the cafe.
The fact that she was his mate weighed heavily on him. That was why he kept wanting her to be happy and content in his home. That was why he had gotten all up in her space. Well, that and because he had wanted to touch her. His fingers had all but reached out to touch the soft blonde waves of her hair.
Do it, his wolf demanded. We’ll get there eventually. Stop fighting it.
Jett didn’t know if other shifters had ever fought the mate sense. He had a feeling it was something that was easier said than done. Even now, he was imagining what it would be like to lead Selene back to his bed. He could have her for lunch instead of the burgers. He would lick her sweet center, drinking in all of her juices until she came on his tongue.
Can’t fight this. She’s our mate. Do it.
Jett tried to focus all of his energy into cooking, but it was difficult. He kept on catching himself watching Selene as if looking at her preparing a salad was the most entertainment he’d had in decades.
“It’s ready,” he finally announced. His voice sounded rough even to his ears.
How he would manage to keep up the fight against his mating instincts was beyond him. But he would have to do it, though. If he just kept repeating it to himself, maybe he could drown out the sound of his wolf howling for Selene.
Jett plated one patty on a fresh bun and handed it to her. Their fingers grazed, and he could have sworn he felt a zing of electricity pass between them. As if something had been turned on, something had begun.