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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."
to be caught by his unblinking gray eyes. "You could
"I don't want to."
course he doesn't. These wolves just do what
I want to ha anave, ahout it to
17:09 y
Lisa: Humans Have
the ceiling in the darkness. I hate to admit it, but
like that
and Lucas are
I'm sure they are.
his voice has all my lady bits
Bad! He thinks you're his mate and
clear my throat, desperate to change the subject from the tension simmering between us. "It's only right to
intense gaze softening slightly. "Absolutely. Ava and Lucas need to be around each other as much as possible for the next few
momentarily overriding my discomfort.
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 a little hum.
first, Kellan confirms. "Their bond will demand that time together. She'll feel wrong and anxious without his sense, and his aggression will increase when she
More reasons this whole mate thing is kind of bullshit. It's a lot less romantic when you suddenly get
myself studying Kellan's face in the dim
something?" I venture after
"Anything," he replies immediately.
now? I mean, with us?
like he isn't
up
lot to take in, and I don't expect you to just fall into my arms and live happily ever after.
if I decide I don't want
He's quiet again.
Drag me into your
when he
relief, my body relaxing into the mattress. The tension that had been coiling in my muscles starts to unwind, but it's
Humans Have
I don't-" I stumble over my words, trying
I know you're an independent soul. The last thing I want to do is scare you or make you feel
"So... does that mean you are going to do it and you're
never do that to you. Never." His gray eyes lock onto mine, intense and sincere in the dim lighting. "I want you to
voice 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
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
you need."
ask you
"Of course."
to explain things, I may as well ask all the questions we humans want to know. "What exactly does being mates mean? Like, practically speaking. Is it just...
It's a deep, instinctual connection. Like finding a missing
gone."
send a flutter through my stomach. It sounds romantic, sure, but also
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