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“Well, you say that now,” she said carefully. “But then you spent last night in a tent with two beautiful women. You need to know that I’m definitely the jealous type, Kian. You may have been able to sow your wild oats in the past, but that kind of thing won’t play anymore if we are bonded, no matter how much I might like and respect those women.”
Kian’s eyes went to Avril’s.
Avril glanced over at Lyslee.
Lyslee looked back to Kian.
All three of them began roaring with laughter. Avril actually started snorting, and Lyslee looked like she was about to fall over. The baby seemed very pleased with the whole situation.
“What?” Kinsley demanded. “It’snot cool.Just because we’re friends doesnotmean I have to share my mate. I don’t know how they do things out here, but I’m not okay with that.”
“Kinsley, I was in there asking them for advice aboutyou,” Kian gasped, his face looking like he was going to explode into laughter again the moment he let his guard down.
“Besides, we’resisters,”Lyslee screamed, still laughing. “Did you not know we weresisters?”
Avril snorted again, and Kinsley found herself smiling too.
“You were really just talking?” she asked.
“Do you think either one of us would be with a little guy like Kian?” Lyslee asked. “No offense, soldier.”
“None taken,” Kian said with a grin.
“A Grummish woman would never settle for anything less than a Grummish partner,” Avril said kindly. “It’s nothing personal, you understand, Kinsley? It’s just our way.”
“We did talk about the mating frenzy though,” Lyslee said winking at Kian and making a face at the baby that had her giggling again.
“Lyslee and Avril have offered to take care of the baby during the frenzy,” Kian explained. “If you choose to accept my bond, that is. Was seeing me come out of their tent really the only reason you were unhappy?”
Of course, it wasn’t. There was one more thing.
This was it. This was the opening to tell him the thing that would probably send him running away from her for good.
Part of her begged her to keep the secret, to keep him by her side.
But she could never do that.
“There’s another thing we need to talk about,” she told him, the words heavy as they came out of her mouth.
“Privately?” he asked, clearly sensing her strong emotions.
She shook her head.
“I’m not ashamed. It’s not my fault,” she told him, amazed to find that for the very first time, she actually meant those words. “But I can’t have children. If you choose me as your mate, I can never offer you a child of your own flesh.”
She waited an endless beat, watching him take it in.
“We have a child, Kinsley,” he said at last, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “We do not need another.”
“That’s how you feel?” she asked him. “Really?”
“Really,” he said simply. “You and that whelp are all I need to be the happiest man in the system. If you are set on a big family, there is no shortage of children out there who could use a mother like you.”
Tears of relief and joy ran down her face, as she realized that all the obstacles were gone - in a heartbeat - as if they had never existed in the first place.
She blinked up at him through her tears, wondering if she was only dreaming.
“The mate bond is a huge commitment, Kinsley,” he said softly, wiping a tear from her cheek so tenderly that it made her heart squeeze. “You don’t need to decide now. It’s okay if you need time to think.”
