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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 couch," I point
"I don't want to."
These wolves just do what they
anave, ahout it to then
17:09 y
Lisa: Humans Have
sound and watch the ceiling in
that
and Lucas are getting
I'm sure they are.
his voice has
Lisa. Bad! He thinks you're his mate and he's being all caveman about it. Don't give
throat, desperate to change the subject from the tension simmering between us. "It's only right to give the newly mated
"Absolutely. Ava and Lucas need to be around each other as much as possible for the
piques, momentarily overriding my discomfort.
just been planted. It needs constant care, water, and sunlight to grow strong roots. The mate bond is similar." I let
demand that time together. She'll feel wrong and anxious without his sense,
It's a lot less romantic when you suddenly get slapped with the label yourself one day out
but it feels different now. Less awkward, more... contemplative. I find myself studying Kellan's face in
you something?" I venture after
"Anything," he replies immediately.
I mean, with us? With this
he isn't even
up
a lot to take in, and I don't expect you to just fall into my arms and live happily ever after. We
decide I don't want this? The
He's quiet again.
to force me, are you? Drag me into your
he responds,
a sigh of relief, my body relaxing into the mattress. The tension that had been coiling in my muscles starts
Humans
my words, trying to backpedal. How do I explain that it's not him specifically, but this
Lisa, I know you're an independent soul. The
narrow my eyes, suspicion creeping back in. "So... does that mean you are going to do it and you're just lying to
Never." His gray eyes lock onto
the whole mate situation being dropped on
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 you something
"Of course."
want to know. "What exactly does being mates mean? Like, practically speaking. Is it just... attraction? Or is there
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
gone."
words send a flutter through my stomach. It sounds
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