Yes, Master Part 11.1 :)



I woke up sweating, stuck in a tangle of sheets but above all else...alone. This time, the very thought made me sick and I tripped out of bed in all my glory to go find Tate. If he had run off again, I would track him down. Hell or high water, he was mine. I looked down to discover my chest was clean of anything but hair and raised a brow. Upon peeking into the bathroom, I saw the small rag on the counter and one of my drawers half open. Hmm. Where was he?

Slipping on some navy workout bottoms, I made the journey downstairs. My heart thudded in my chest, praying to God he hadn't left. Because one of these days, I wanted to wake up next to him for once. I let out a loud exhale when I heard the soft sounds of the radio going in the kitchen and the tantalizing smell of fresh coffee.

Rounding the corner, I leaned against the door jamb and watched Tate in action. Okay, now I'm going to just say it and be done with it...he's fucking adorable okay? I sighed, studying the slight sway of his hips and the pointer finger that he kept sticking in a bowl of batter and bringing to his lips.

The best part of the sight before me? He was wearing my shirt. Although it was much too large for him, it worked. Finally, I'd had enough of looking and padded quietly up behind him. He flipped a pancake and went to dip his finger in the bowl again. Whatever was in there must be good and I caught his wrist gently before he could put it in his mouth.

Tate gasped and turned his body half around, a spatula still in his hand. "You scared the shit out of me," he laughed softly.

"Well now we're even. I woke up and you were gone. That scared me too," I murmured and brought his finger to my mouth. Apple cinnamon with a hint of vanilla filled my mouth. I groaned at the deliciously sweet taste of it and slowly slipped his finger from my lips.

"What are you doing out of bed?" I purred and grabbed him around the waist, bringing him flush with my bare chest.

"Making you pancakes," he looked up innocently and blushed. I wanted to pour the batter over his entire body and lick it off. He shivered when I brought my lips down to his, kissing him like he should be kissed.

He moaned low in his throat and glided his free hand up my back. I pulled back and rested my head against his.

"Good morning," I grinned and he smiled.

"Hi."

"Pancakes huh? Usually I just do egg whites but..."

"I can make those if you want," he rushed and spun around turning off the burner.

"Tate. Hey. You didn't let me finish," I laughed, reaching around him and flicking the burner on again. "I want pancakes but make sure you leave some batter in the bowl."

He screwed up his face and looked at me, "for what?"

I stuck my finger in the bowl and painted a line down his exposed chest. "For this," I whispered before I licked the sweet treat from his baby smooth skin.

"Oh, uh huh," he gasped and dropped the spatula.

"Mm," I licked my lips and winked. "Now I'm hungry."

Tate flushed bright ride and made some exasperated noise, ducking under my arm and grabbing the spatula. He washed it off and flipped the last pancake in the pan.

"So, uh you don't have any appointments today. I would have figured you were a weekend worker," Tate smiled at me.

"I like to have my down time just like everyone else. Like today, I'll probably go for a run and then to the market because the housekeeper is on vacation. Then I'll go through last week's sales and make some notes..."

"See! You do work on the weekends. What part of anything that you just rattled off was down time? None of it." He chuckled, "one of these days maybe you can just relax. No phone calls, no drivers, no assistants...Just chill."

"No assistants huh?" I tried to keep a serious face but it wasn't working.

"You know what I mean Oliver," he replied with a childish eye roll.

"So what would you be doing today if you weren't with me?" I tore a piece of fluffy pancake off the plate next to him and he slapped my hand.

"First, I'd eat at the table like a normal person. Then, I would sit on the couch for a while with my coffee and channel surf until I found some terrible early afternoon show involving witches and merlins and war or football. Not golf, I hate golf.

After that, I'd probably fall asleep watching television. Then I'd go to my parent's place for dinner. Maybe go out after that." He shrugged. "Sometimes Tommy drags me out to play flag football with my cousins but I'm always out first so it's not that much fun."

"Who's Tommy?" I crossed my arms.

Tate roared with laughter after taking a look at my scowl. He set a plate for each of us at the table and sat down. "You've met Tommy actually. The first night we met at the club..."

I tried to think beyond that first image of Tate sitting across from me with his sexy bangs and smoldering eyes.

"Oh for crying out loud, he's my brother. We were there for his birthday. Ring a bell?" He shoved pancake into his mouth and stared at me.

Now I remembered. "He was drunk and trying to buy me a drink," I smiled and took a bite. Damn this was good. They were different than any pancake I had ever had, sweet but not too much. Perfect.

"I like these," I nodded, putting another, large bite in my mouth.

Tate had his fist tucked under his chin watching me. The staring had me nervous but if he wanted to watch, who was I to complain? Besides it was nice to have someone to share breakfast with and I was actually looking forward to being lazy. If that' s what he wanted to do today.

Thirty minutes later, that' s exactly what we were doing. I was sprawled out on the couch and Tate covered my chest, flipping through channels until one of us picked something. We laughed at the stupid infommercials and fell asleep during an old James Bond flick.

Eventually I curled us onto our sides and pulled a cover on top. His silky hair swept over my arm as I cradled his head gently and wrapped my other arm around his waist. I didn' t really remember falling asleep but I woke up to Tate shifting and the annoying ring of a cell phone.