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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."
glance in his direction again, only to be caught by his unblinking gray
"I don't want to."
just do what they want and damn
ha anave, ahout it to then a fit and
17:09 y
Humans Have
an inane sort of sound and watch the ceiling in the darkness. I hate to admit it,
that he's
Ava and Lucas are getting
I'm sure they are.
huskiness of his voice has
and he's
subject from the tension simmering between us. "It's only right to
Ava and Lucas need to be around each other as much as
piques, momentarily overriding my discomfort.
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. "So, they literally need to be in each other's presence? Like, all the
She'll feel wrong and anxious without his sense, and his aggression will increase when she isn't
bullshit. It's a lot less romantic when you suddenly get slapped with the label yourself one day out
find myself studying Kellan's face in the dim light, noting the strong line of his jaw,
ask you something?" I venture
"Anything," he replies immediately.
mean, with us? With
still. It's like he isn't even breathing,
up
you, Lisa. I know this is a lot to take in, and I don't expect you to just fall into my arms and live happily ever after.
if... if I decide I don't want this? The mate
He's quiet again.
Drag me into your cave and have your
strangled when he
tension that had been coiling in my muscles starts
Lisa. Humans
over my words, trying to backpedal. How do I explain that it's not him specifically,
sighs, his broad shoulders slumping slightly. "Look, Lisa, I know you're an independent soul. The last thing I want to do is scare you or make
does that mean you
groan, half laugh. "No, Lisa. I would never do that to you. Never." His gray eyes lock onto mine, intense and sincere in the dim lighting. "I want you to come to me
everything-the chaos of the past few days, the whole mate situation being dropped on
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
you need."
ask you something
"Of course."
well ask all the questions we humans want to know. "What
is more than just physical attraction, though that's certainly part of it. It's a deep, instinctual connection. Like finding a
gone."
stomach. It sounds romantic, sure, but also
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