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With each question, Riaz’s consternation grew, mirroring the humor in Cortana. His wide eyes, paired with a look of utter disbelief, made him look boyish and innocent.
“I don’t like dogs.”
Riaz’s jaw dropped. “You don’t like dogs?” A strangled sound escaped him. “What else don’t I know about you? That you’re the living embodiment of evil?”
“Perhaps.”
The one-word reply was accompanied by the lightest of giggles, so soft she’d doubt Riaz even heard it. Cortana grimaced at the realization. A giggle? What was happening to her? Next thing she knew, she’d be sprouting piggy tails and painting her nails an ungodly shade of hot pink. Once more, she reaffirmed her vow to remain aloof.
So far, she’d been failing miserably.
“‘Perhaps’ she says, as if she wasn’t admitting to blasphemy.”
Grunting darkly, Riaz mocked her tone, attempting to look displeased. The slight smirk on his mouth, however, told her that he appreciated her honesty, and what’s more, her irreverent humor.
Riaz ordered a rare buffalo burger and a mountain of steak fries, all the while attempting to feed her between every other bite. Cortana contented herself in his obvious enjoyment, and the conversation that flowed between them like a well-traveled river.
“The pups keep us busy,” he said in between bites. “The last few years, we’ve had a boon of mated pairs having children.”
“Is that normal?”
Eyebrows lifting, he shook his head. “Not at all. We’ve barely a pup coming every decade if we’re lucky, but over the last ten years, we’ve seen five. Werewolves have exceptionally low fertility rates, but at least we’re better than Raeths.”
Given Cortana’s connection to Nina, she knew that Raeths had difficulty conceiving, even when they were in mated pairs. The only exception was when their population went into Heat, and that only happened every other millennium.
Riaz popped the last fry into his mouth, leaning back against the seat and letting his eyes roam leisurely over Cortana. “Have you ever wanted children?”
“No,” she said truthfully. “It’s a good thing vampires can’t procreate.”
“A pity, though. For those who might desire biological offspring.”
“Oh, but you have to understand,” she contended, leaning forward to nab his attention, “our progeny come from blood rather than birth. Our line continues through siring another, an immortal birth of sorts. You must have something similar in your breed.”
He nodded, throwing her a debonair smile. “Alphas are always the ones who bite those we deem worthy of immortality. We’re the top dog.”
A wink completed his thought, and Cortana found herself rolling her eyes and shaking her head at his antics, loosening a tendril of hair from her braid to frame her face.
“Best in show, huh?”
“Blue ribbon.” Puffing out his chest, he pointed to her water. “H2O still on the menu?”
She shrugged. “Water doesn’t hurt. And there are a few things I can still stomach.”
“Like?”
“Ice on a hot day.”
Clutching at his chest dramatically, Riaz threw her a ravishing grin as her cheeks pinked. “A woman after my own heart. When I take you out on our second date, I’ll make sure to smuggle in a mini-cooler full of ice chips for you.”
“Second date?” She laughed, a genuine sound she had made less and less in recent years. “Awfully presumptuous of you, considering we haven’t been on our first one yet.”
Was that a question in her voice? Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, the unfamiliar feeling an oddly disconcerting effect that thrummed through her limbs and fuzzied her mind. Why was the wolf asking about dates all of a sudden?
“What do you think this is, Pet?”
Cortana covered her shock with a cough. “This is you greedily stuffing your face and me watching. Pretty far from a date if you ask me.”
“I dunno, vampirella. We’re alone on a terrace under the light of the moon, drinking and being merry, enjoying each other’s company. Seems a lot like a date to me.”
