Page 79 of Pretty Little Shadow
fifteen
DARIUS
I could hearRae and Kat talking when I walked into Callum's place after my shift. I saluted Callum on my way to the kitchen, and he rose to his feet.
Everything was fucking dark after a few hours at the café.
I needed my mate more than I needed to eat, and my stomach was growling.
"Oh mygod, those are the best dumplings I've ever had," Kat groaned.
"Right?" Rae asked around a mouthful of food. "Try them in the sauce."
"The red one?"
"Mmhm."
Kat groaned again, louder.
"If your mate keeps making my female moan, we're going to have a problem," Callum drawled.
"I heard that," Kat called from the kitchen, her mouth still full. "You're going to moan when you try this, too."
Kat was in a chair when we reached them, and Rae was sitting on the wooden ledge of the table.
Callum slid into the chair beside Kat's, and she took his hand.
I walked right up to Rae, crushing her to my chest and breathing her in. I slid a hand beneath the back hem of her shirt, pressing it against her bare skin. The way my numbing apathy disappeared immediately was a fucking rush.
"Hi," Rae said against my throat.
"Hey, baby."
She poked my side. "The food's getting cold, and you're still not supposed to call me that."
"We ordered enough for you guys too," Kat added.
I dragged a chair over and sat next to Rae, setting my hand on her thigh as I grabbed a fork.
"How's the café?" Kat checked, glancing at me.
"It's fine. You're out of chocolate cake."
Her gaze darted to Callum before flicking back to me. "That's okay."
Callum narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you want more cake?"
Kat lifted a dumpling toward his face. "Try this. It'ssogood." He didn't open his mouth, but she shoved it in anyway. He made a sound of complaint, but his eyebrows lifted as he chewed.
He cleared his throat. "Thatisgood. The cake?"
"It's gone," she said. "But Rae shared hers with me."
"Just buy another one," I told Callum.
His phone was already in his hands, his fingers flying over the screen.
"I have a mountain of other treats," Kat protested. "And Callum likes to buy me a variety of things, so?—"
