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My legs could be steadier and my pulse is still hammering, but I’m not on the verge of fainting. I wriggle free of my cousin’s hold and take two tentative steps toward Constantine. “You’re really not a man?”
“Not a human man, no.”
“But a man,” I say, rather than ask. Because there’s no question that he’s manly.
Taller than any human male I’ve been around. The blue button-up shirt he’s wearing looks stretched to its absolute limits across shoulders broader than a football player in pads. His jaw is wide and strong, and his brown skin definitely looks like short, velvety fur. Except on his hands, which are huge. As in, he could crush me with one of them, probably without batting his big, dark eyes. Or, he could do much better things with those big hands. With those long, thick fingers.
A wave of heat washes through me. I very much need to get a grip. “I’ve been on the go for over ten hours, and I feel grimy from traveling. I could really use a cold drink, a comfortable chair, and a hot shower, in no particular order.”
Ro steps to my side, her blue eyes opening wide. “You’re okay with…everything? With Constantine being a Minotaur and me marrying an orc? You just flipped a switch and went from borderline hysteria to cool as a cucumber?”
“I definitely don’t feel cool.” I’m looking at Constantine when I say it. Flirting with him, whether he can read between the lines or not. Maybe I am still a little hysterical. “But yes, I’m okay,” I say, turning my attention to my cousin. “You’re healthy and happy. I’m sure I’ll probably freak out a little—or maybe a lot—when I’m surrounded by all the different types of non-humans, but at the end of the day, they’re still people, right? As long as they’re not dangerous, their appearance shouldn’t matter.”
“Out here,” Constantine gestures around us, “there are no guarantees of safety. All creatures are potentially dangerous, monster and human alike. But inside the boundaries of Fate’s Falls and other places like it, violence and intentional harm are impossible. The land is protected by very old magic, and only those who are pure of heart and have reason to be there can enter. Everyone within the boundary is safe.”
“Monsters and magic and secret towns only selected people can enter…” I push down the burgeoning hyena-like laugh bubbling inside me. “None of this is possible. I’m having the wildest dream of my life.”
“You’re not dreaming.” Ro’s hand against mine is warm, solid. “This is all very real, and I’m so happy you’re here.”
“As am I,” Constantine says, his wide, black lips curving upward as he holds my gaze.
Definitely the wildest dream ever. I hope I don’t wake up too soon.
Five
CONSTANTINE
“Maybe I should wake her up and say goodbye before I leave.” Outside the closed guest room door, Rosetta taps her toes on the hardwood floor. She told me Natalie fell asleep almost immediately on the short ride from the outpost to my house. No conversation whatsoever. Natalie didn’t ask for additional details. She simply got in the passenger seat of her rental car, closed her eyes, and passed out.
Unsurprising, after a long day of traveling and the revelations we dropped on her. She remained asleep after Rosetta parked in my driveway. After I opened the car door. She slept through Rosetta’s gentle urgings that they’d arrived at my house. Stayed asleep while I carried her inside. That was concerning. Enough so that I called the doctor to pop by and check on her.
All vitals good, the kindly telepath assured us. A quick peek inside Natalie’s mind confirmed plenty of brain activity, though the doctor wouldn’t disclose what was going through Natalie’s unconscious mind. Doctor-patient confidentiality applies, even though Natalie didn’t know she was under medical supervision. Dr. Schaefer agreed with exhaustion and acute stress as likely causes for Natalie’s current deep-sleep state, advising us to let her rest as long as necessary for her body and brain to catch up.
“The doctor said to let her wake naturally,” I remind Rosetta, who has been impatiently waiting it out in my living room for the past two hours. “She said forcing Natalie awake could add additional trauma.”
“Then I either go home and you call me as soon as she wakes up, or I can tell Dak to come here and wait with me, even if it’s all night. You have that other guest room we can use, right?” She wiggles her ginger eyebrows.
I narrow my gaze at her. “Dak is always welcome in my home, as are you, but surely you can keep your bodies separated for one night.”
“Wrong-o. Sex with your mate is like oxygen. Gotta have it.”
It has been fifteen years since I engaged in any type of sexual activity. Thinking about physically joining with Natalie has my cock thickening to uncomfortable proportions, which is neither convenient nor appropriate right now. “I’ll call you when Natalie is awake.”
“You don’t think she’ll freak out when she comes to in a strange house with a Minotaur for a host, and I’m nowhere to be found?”
“I’m not a stranger, and much more than a host. I’m confident she’ll be okay.”
Stepping away a stride, Rosetta takes stock of me. “You still think she’s your mate.”
“I know she is.” Sitting idly in the truck earlier was impossible because the pull toward Natalie was so strong. Waiting outside her bedroom is almost a physical struggle.
“Okay, so she’s your mate. What if she doesn’t feel the same way about you? Are you going to be able to stay cool?”
The fur on the back of my neck bristles. “I’m a Minotaur, not an animal. Natalie is safer with me than anywhere on earth. There’s literally nothing I wouldn’t do to ensure she’s safe and happy. My need to protect and care for her is ingrained.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Rosetta says. “And she must trust you too, since she still agreed to stay here, even after she saw that you’re not human.”
That’s because some part of Natalie feels our fated connection. Whether she accepts it—and chooses to stay in Fate’s Falls—remains to be seen. But that’s not a conversation to have with her cousin.
