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“Thank you. I will wash after I have eaten. My stomach woke me.” I chuckled and passed him the cereal box. He poured himself a bowl. “I told her she was my soul pair last night.”
I looked back at my phone and breakfast. In a totally normal voice, I said, “It went well, I take it?”
“She said she was glad, that she liked me and will let me woo her, but doesn’t want to rush into … romance relations.” He opened the fridge. “We are both … nervous for multiple reasons.”
I swallowed cereal, which now rolled heavily like cement in my mouth. “Understandable.”
“Have I upset you?” he asked after a moment of silence as he poured milk into his bowl and threw in the spoon.
You stole my cat.But I said, “No. What makes you think that?”
“You haven’t looked me in the eye at all.”
“I’m just not a good morning person,” I told him, looking him in the eye. “I’m not mad at you.”
He gave me a pointed look. “Charlie, do not lie to me. You enjoy the morning.”
Damn him for knowing me.I sighed. “I’m just figuring some things out in my head.”
He was quiet. “You will come to me if you need help with this figuring.” It wasn’t a question, so I just smiled at him in agreement. He grunted, picked up his bowl, and wandered into the bathroom.
“That isn’t sanitary!” I called after him.
“Why only do one when you can do both at the same time?”
“That is beyond disgusting.”
“What are you shouting about so early?” Clawdia’s soft, sleepy voice asked as a pair of beautiful violet eyes peaked over the top of the sofa to glare at me.
“Ah, sleeping beauty, you have arisen! A celebration in your honor,” I exclaimed with false cheer.
She raised her eyes brows. “You’re unusually chipper this morning.”
“There is a lot of sugar in this cereal.” I took the last bite and threw the bowl in the sink.
“Keep your celebration for another time. I want more sleep.”
She looked adorable, all rumpled and surrounded in blankets. There were lines from the pattern of the sofa etched into her reddened cheeks, and the corners of her eyes were full of sleep. It wasn’t a look I thought I’d be attracted to, but on her, it was making it hard to hide my arousal.
I sat on the arm of the sofa, where she had snuggled down again. “Tell me, Clawdicat, what or who kept you up so late?”
She blushed a deep red on her pale skin. “You already know the answer to that. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so annoying.”
I chuckled. “Look at that color! Why, it would almost make me think that you two did something … unseemly. Do I need to chaperone you now that the secret is out? Protect your virtue?”
She glared, then sat up and shoved me so hard I almost fell off the side. I barked a laugh.
“No, you don’t need to do any such thing. You’re such a tease.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. From where I’m sitting, it seems like you’re the tease.”
I’d clearly touched a sensitive spot, because she sat up straight and asked, “What do you mean?”
Warning lights flashed in my brain, and I tried to back myself out again by making fun. “Poor Zaide. A golden otherworlder who thought he’d die a slave meets his soul pair, something that hasn’t happened ever, and she wants to go slow.”
“He said he was okay with that,” her voice trembled, and my playfulness vanished.
“Hey, I was only joking. Zaide wants you any way he can have you. Fast, slow, big or little, cat or human.” I wrapped my arms around her, and she snuggled into my shoulder.
