Hi. Things may or may not begin to get steamy in this chapter. Read ahead to find out. 😅💕

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A horrid scent drifted from the oven in the kitchen, and my eyes watered as I held a hand over my nose, chest constricting as I still somehow managed to smell it.

I could feel shame rising as I watched the oven, somewhat in horror and disbelief, and I crouched briefly to peer inside of it. My stomach seemed to drop to my knees after what I saw.

I could hear Hannes' roar of laughter somewhere behind me as he looked on, and I gritted my teeth together, pausing to narrow my eyes at him despite my throat tickling as I resisted joining in with his laughter.

The look I gave him only made him laugh harder, and with a sigh, I turned off the oven, slipped on some oven mitts, lowered the door of the oven and reached into it, flinching at the heat.

I wrinkled my nose at the burnt and charred cookies on the baking sheet when I withdrew it and I grasped it in my hands for several seconds, looking at it in dismay before Hannes finally decided to step in and take it from me.

I scowled as I watched him clearly resist laughing further after he placed it on a counter, and he rubbed a hand against his forehead, and then gripped his hair, shoulders shaking as his back faced me before he finally asked, his voice barely controlled, "What were you trying to make?"

Shortly after giving back the book of photos to Hannes, I had left the living room and he'd returned back to his work. I'd decided that I would make a snack for the both of us so we could eat them when the afternoon came, and with the assistance of a laptop which had been in the kitchen, I'd been able to research on the internet what was called 'easy sugar cookies.'.

It included many ingredients which I found in the kitchen cupboards and after some careful measuring and mixing them in a bowl, I had eagerly made the cookie dough and then placed it in the oven whilst my stomach twisted with hunger.

However, I hadn't expected the cookies to bake so quickly, and after I'd emerged from a shower, lounged around in Hannes' room, I had finally came downstairs and entered the living room to ask Hannes a question regarding Declan.

But before I could utter a word, Hannes had made a puzzled and almost disgusted face and then slowly stood from the sofa, inquiring if I could smell something burning.

That had immediately led to me scrambling out of the room and darting into the kitchen, unbeknownst to me at first, with Hannes close behind. I only knew that he'd followed after I'd heard the choked and strangled deep noises of him suppressing his laughter whilst I had been standing before the oven.

And now, here I stood behind him, scowling deeply as ever whilst my ears continued to burn with embarrassment. My palms felt sweaty as I watched Hannes look it over and I stepped forward, peering at the counter and then at an opened window.

My embarrassment soared when I saw that several people passed by and were glancing at the house, face twisting as they inhaled the scent floating out the window, quickly followed by them spotting me and then hurrying away. I shot forward and carefully closed the window, fingers trembling.

"What do you mean 'what was I trying to make?'" I grumbled, feet dragging as I stepped beside him to peer down at the mess. I carefully jabbed a middle finger into one of the blackened cookies, and hissed at the heat which travelled up the finger. "They were cookies."

"Ah." Hannes nodded, and said more to himself than me, "I never would have guessed that."

He chuckled at the playful glare I leveled at him, but I definitely understood why he said that. They didn't look at all like how one would expect cookies to appear.

The baking sheet was dark, as were the cookies, and some appeared to have partially melted and hardened into the sheet, and I knew that they would be difficult to pry off.

The smell from the now dark baking sheet lessened after a few minutes, and I forcefully began to push the cookies off the baking sheet with a fork, which almost broke under the pressure.

I erupted in laughter then, head bowing as I eyed the now crooked points of the metal fork. "This is horrible." I gasped between giggles, but continued at them until the cookies toppled off onto the counter. I tossed them into a bin and walked past Hannes to the kitchen sink.

As I began to scrub the baking sheet, hoping that the bright gray color that it once had would return, I couldn't help but notice that Hannes still remained inside the kitchen, this time surprisingly silent.

I paused to look over my shoulder and lift my eyebrows at him in question, and he cleared his throat, his eyes skipping to my mouth and then back to my face.

"Perhaps I should just have someone bring us food." Hannes said, and I nodded, still looking at him in question, but he shook his head, a smile on his lips and he pulled out his cellphone.

His voice was a low murmur behind me as I worked on cleaning the warm baking sheet, and when the call was finished, I'd managed to barely get rid of the darkness on the sheet.

"I've ordered two boxes of pizza." Hannes declared, grimacing as he once again caught sight of the baking sheet in my hands.

"Pizza?" I cocked my head. "I didn't know that there were any nearby places that made pizza."

"There is a pizza store, but the food may take an hour and a half to arrive, since it is not really close to the pack. They are usually worth the wait." Hannes' eyes flickered to my dirty hands and then back to the baking sheet, and he gestured that I step back from it.

Confused, I did, resting it into the sink and watched quietly as he crouched to open a cupboard beneath the kitchen sink.

He straightened with a box of baking soda and what he explained to be a bottle of vinegar. After allowing some hot water to fill the sink, he mixed some of the baking soda and vinegar into it as well, and suggested that we allow the baking sheet to soak in it for at least an hour.

I followed him back to the entrance of the living room, reluctantly. There wasn't much to do inside there, other than read and I had already confirmed that most of what was being shown on the television was boring.

But, as Hannes gathered his folders to make space for me on the sofa, I nonetheless entered the room and sat beside him.

Twenty minutes passed, and for the most part, I shifted every now and then on the sofa, feeling utterly restless, and almost, agitated. Just as I began to stand to leave, Hannes reached forward and wrapped an arm around my waist, maneuvering us both until he was stretched on his back along the long sofa, and I too laid beside him, with my head on his chest.

Because of the angle, and the fact that he was still holding a folder with one hand, I was able to see what was in it. The information mostly referred to the Wildeland pack, and several other ones as well. Invitations to meetings were also mentioned, and I found myself reading them with interest.

But then my focus faltered when Hannes soon and abruptly lowered the folder to the floor. Baffled, I began to squirm to my side, wanting to see where the folders had been placed on the floor, when Hannes' fingers suddenly gripped my hip and twisted me around until I faced him once more.

My breath hitched as Hannes began to press lingering kisses on my neck, his fingers gripping my hip tighter. I exhaled softly, my hands almost nervously and slowly drifting up his muscled stomach and resting on his chest before I brought my head upwards and pressed my lips against his own.

His hand travelled to rest against my lower back, a low, deep sound of pleasure rumbling from his chest as I kissed him and he responded with fervor. My heart pounded hard and I pressed closer to his body, the warmth emitting from him incredibly welcoming.

Hannes' mouth became more insistent, and when my fingers drifted low, sweeping across his hard stomach, and even lower, it didn't take me long to realize that he was hard when my hand skimmed over him. Hannes suddenly stiffened, and his lips paused against my own, his breath tickling the side of my face when I lowered my head to where my palm rested.

Furrowing my eyebrows in curiosity and concentration, my gaze took in the large bulge in his shorts, and I experimentally, but gently, stroked along it once. I heard Hannes' inhale deeply, and I licked my lips, narrowing my eyes as I gently pressed my hand against him again. He groaned, and I paused, eyes flickering to his face.

Lust had captured his gaze, and they were slowly darkening the longer I watched him, with my fingertips continuously and barely trailing up and down the bulge. His hips twitched, and I saw a muscle tick in his strong jaw.

His hand lowered to grasp my butt, and I arched my eyebrow at him, surprised. I studied Hannes' face once more, and when my hand slowly lowered into his shorts, he released a low, husky groan.