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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."
only to be caught by his unblinking gray eyes. "You could sleep on the couch," I point out in a
"I don't want to."
course he doesn't. These wolves just do what they want and
want to ha anave, ahout it to then a fit and damand
17:09 y
Humans
watch the ceiling in the darkness. I hate to
like that he's
Ava and Lucas are
I'm sure they are.
heated huskiness of his voice
thinks you're his mate and he's
subject from the tension simmering between us. "It's only
his intense gaze softening slightly. "Absolutely. Ava and Lucas need to be around
overriding my discomfort.
been planted. It needs constant care, water, and sunlight to grow strong roots. The
bond will demand that time together. She'll feel wrong and anxious without his sense, and his
lot less romantic when you suddenly get slapped
silence, but it feels different now. Less awkward, more... contemplative. I find myself studying Kellan's face in the dim light, noting the
ask you something?" I
"Anything," he replies immediately.
mean, with us? With
very still. It's like he isn't even breathing, until he finally talks
up
a lot to take in, and I don't expect you to just fall into my arms and live happily ever
I don't want this? The
He's quiet again.
are you? Drag me
he responds, "Of
a sigh of relief, my body relaxing into the mattress. The tension that had been coiling in my muscles starts to unwind, but it's
Humans
my words, trying to backpedal. How do I explain that it's not him specifically,
independent soul. The last thing I
that mean you are going to do it and you're just lying to
gray eyes lock onto mine, intense and sincere in the dim lighting. "I want you to come to
sends a shiver down my spine. I believe him, I realize. Despite everything-the chaos of the past few days, the whole mate situation being dropped on me like a bomb-I believe that Kellan won't force me into anything. ""Oh," I breathe
elbow. The movement 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
you need."
I ask you something
"Of course."
humans want to know. "What exactly does being mates mean? Like, practically speaking. Is it just... attraction? Or is
of it. It's a deep, instinctual connection. Like finding
gone."
stomach. It sounds romantic, sure, but also terrifying.
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