Chapter 28: Pancakes

"You okay?" he asked curiously, his lips only a breath away from my ear.

I swallowed. "Fine," I replied unconvincingly.

"You sure? Because I'm pretty sure you aren't breathing," he murmured, his voice low and resonating in my ear.

He was right. I wasn't breathing. I exhaled deeply and felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment. He knew what he was doing. He knew how he made me feel and he reveled in it.

I took a deep breath and placed the last three pancakes in a stack. "Ready to eat?" I asked, pretending everything was fine and I wasn't on the verge of begging him to kiss me again.

"Ooh! Yes! Syrup or Honey?" he asked, heading back over to the pantry.

Either he was a good actor or the mate bond didn't seem to have quite the same effect on me as it did on him, because he seemed perfectly functional while I felt confused and disoriented.

"Uh... syrup please," I replied, cutting two squares of butter and placing them on top of each of our stacks.

Ryder returned with a bottle of maple syrup