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310 Lisa: Humans Have Pheromones?
LISA
Kellan's stare leaves me unsettled. It's been intense ever since our reunion.
I'm grateful for the space he's given me-this whole fated mate business is like being slammed into by a rogue freight train-but there's a whole lot of little things that keep throwing his feelings into the foreground, making it impossible to ignore. Like how he touches me a little too often.
How he watches my every move.
He hasn't kissed me again, but it doesn't make the current situation any less awkward.
"Can't sleep?" he asks, as if us sharing a bed and him lying on his side to stare at me for the past hour is somehow conducive to falling asleep.
"Nope." The word pops out with a little more sass than I intend, but damn it, does he have to
stare at me like that?
"Oh."
And awkward silence again.
"So, why couldn't I just bunk with Dr. Blackwell?" My question breaks the uneasy tension
between us.
"They don't have an extra bed," he explains easily.
"And no empty beds anywhere else? At all? Just-none?"
"None."
"No sleeping bags?"
"No."
"Extra blanket?"
"Not even one of those."
He's lying through his damn perfect teeth.
"You have a couch," I point out. I saw it. I know it's there.
"People come in and out at all times of day. It isn't the safest place to sleep. Better to be in bed."
again, only to be caught by his unblinking gray eyes. "You could sleep on the
"I don't want to."
do
ha anave, ahout it to then a
17:09 y
Humans Have
sound and watch the ceiling in the
that he's
hope Ava and Lucas are
I'm sure they are.
his voice has all my lady
his mate and he's
to change the subject from the tension simmering between us. "It's only right
"Absolutely. Ava and Lucas need to be around each other as much as
piques, momentarily overriding my discomfort.
mate bond requires proximity," he explains, his voice taking on a lecturer's tone. "Especially in the beginning stages. It's like... imagine a sapling that's just been planted. It needs constant care, water, and sunlight to grow strong roots. The mate bond is similar." I let out
feel wrong and anxious without his sense, and
kind of bullshit. It's a lot less romantic when you suddenly
into silence, but it feels different now. Less awkward, more... contemplative. I find myself studying Kellan's face in the dim light, noting the strong line of his jaw, the warmth
you something?"
"Anything," he replies immediately.
mean, with us?
very still. It's like he isn't
up
is a lot to take in, and I don't expect you to just fall into my arms
decide I don't want this? The
He's quiet again.
are you? Drag me into your cave and
strangled when he responds, "Of course
The tension that had been coiling in my muscles starts
Lisa. Humans Have
my words, trying to backpedal. How do I explain that it's not him specifically, but this whole situation that
independent soul. The last thing I want to do is
that mean you are going
to you. Never." His gray eyes lock onto
mate situation being dropped on me like a bomb-I believe that Kellan won't force me into anything.
causes the blanket to slip further down his chest. He doesn't have a shirt on, which is far too enticing for a woman like me. Especially when I'm trying so hard to not fall into his arms. "I know this is a lot to take
you need."
I ask
"Of course."
as well ask all the questions we humans want to
bond is more than just physical attraction, though that's certainly part of it. It's a deep, instinctual connection. Like finding a missing piece of yourself you didn't
gone."
flutter through my stomach.
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