What it Means to Have You

Dominance

Nagol

I need to wake him up.

But he's so cute sound asleep.

But he's been sleeping for nearly two days.

Arguing with myself, I paced about the kitchen, getting things ready to cook that I'd just picked up at the store. I had intended to wake him the night before so he could eat and clean himself up, but after a few nudges, he was still completely out cold. When I came home early this morning, I noticed him even deeper asleep, if that was even really possible. His whiskers were twitching slightly along with his eyelids, making me think that he was having some kind of eventful dream. Definitely couldn't wake him up from that, either. So now, after I'd taken a long nap and a shower, I decided to see if the smell of food cooking would rouse him at all.

I was definitely no chef, but I had mastered putting foil on a baking pan and adding meat, then sliding it into the oven. It took quite a few burnt meals to realize that I actually had to pay attention to it while cooking, but now I was good enough to risk offering him the food without worrying about poisoning him, hopefully. Man, it would suck if he didn't like it. It would be bland, of course, because hell if I knew the difference between some fancy spice for steak and basic table salt, but he could add what he wanted from the salt and pepper shakers.

While the food began to cook, six steaks and a good bit of bacon as a treat, I headed upstairs to grab the book I'd been working on for the past week. Since I was the only person who got called in when the other bouncer couldn't work, I didn't usually get a whole lot of time to read. They should really just replace the guy. He's 'sick' more times than he's there. I tried not to be one to judge, but every time I saw the guy, he looked sick but in a stoned or drugged-up sort of way. Grabbing the book I'd come to get, I quickly turned back around and headed downstairs to check the food. Steaks didn't take long to cook, especially when we could technically eat them raw just fine, but I knew I needed to at least heat them up a bit in case Kine's immune system wasn't quite up to par.

When I stepped off the last stair and looked over to check on him, I was shocked to see the area void of the blanket and my wolf. Him. Not yours yet. Ignoring my inner conflict, I first checked the front door to my left, giving a huge sigh of relief when I noticed it was still locked. He couldn't have locked it again unless he had a key, so he has to still be here. And that's when I heard it and smirked. Trying not to rush, I set my book down on the arm of the sofa and strode into the kitchen. Stopping in the doorway, I felt my heart give a sudden thump hard in my chest at what I saw. Or really, who.

I knew he was probably going to get pissed since his upper lip was already beginning to retreat to show teeth, but I couldn't help lowering the normally loud volume of my voice and making it softer as I spoke to him with a reassuring smile like one would to a child.

"Hey, Kine."

He growled before I even finished saying my two words. I imagined I should respect and acknowledge that he didn't want to be bothered, especially now that he was huddled in the corner near the stove with the heavy blanket wrapped around his naked human body. I felt an immediate nudge at my conscience but ignored it, knowing that my jaguar was just being a horny cat. Well, it was getting nothing for a long while, if Kine's now fully bared teeth had anything to do with it. Not that I minded, though. I wasn't going to force him, even if he eventually ended up rejecting me when I told him that we were mates. God, he definitely would if I said it right now. I can just tell that he used to be a high ranking wolf from his posture and eye contact. No shapeshifter in their right mind would stare down someone they knew could kill them if they weren't used to being in charge. I need to work on his dominant side. It's okay to have, but...