AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And the food situation, since your eyes are glowing again.”
He dipped his head. “I’ll need to feed a lot more than usual over the next few weeks.”
“It’s fine. We’ll figure it out.”
“Of course.” He stepped closer to me and carefully slipped an arm around my waist. Though part of me wanted to protest or move away, I found myself leaning against him. “I’m sorry you had to lie to her.”
“I need you to promise me you won’t ask me to lie for you again, after everything has settled down with the mating,” I told him, honesty ringing in my voice.
“I promise.” His second arm met the first around my back, and I leaned closer to him, my eyes closing again. Maybe I shouldn’t have accepted the support he offered, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
One thing I’d said to my mom had been completely true.
We needed each other.
eight
TATUM
As we headeddown the stairs, Rafael explained that Sebastian and Zander had shown up to cook for us again after he told them we’d been up all night working. According to him, they really just wanted the boxes of candy they’d left behind the day before, and I snorted.
I didn’t know if he was right, but there were significantly fewer boxes when we reached the bottom of the stairs.
And, there was a massive bouquet of flowers sitting on the table. Red roses—clearly for or from someone with romantic feelings.
“Who are the flowers for?” I asked him, eyeing the vase suspiciously. “You flipped out about the possibility of me having a boyfriend, so you better not be dating some demon chick.”
He laughed, and the noise echoed through the apartment. “Demons don’tdate. We fuck from time to time, but that’s the extent of it. I bought the flowers to go with your gift.”
“What gift?”
“The vibrators, Tater-tot.”
Oh.
Right.
“It doesn’t count as a gift when you buy it for yourself.” I ducked out from beneath his arm, deciding I needed space from him before I got even hornier than I already was. My abdomen was still crampy.
“I was going to buy you a ring too, but I didn’t know what you’d want.”
“That’s kind of a requirement, since we want people to think this is real.” I gestured between us.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched me stroll up to the casserole dish on the counter and pluck a few steaming, sauce-covered vegetables off the top with my fingers. “Thisisreal.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “You mated with me so you wouldn’t have to spend your life in prison.”
“I mated with you because we were potential mates, and I would rather spend an immortal life with my potential mate than die in prison.”
“Exactly. What we have isn’t love, dedication, or attachment. It’s fake.” I grabbed the serving spoon that had been left beside the dish, and cut into the casserole. It was a little crazy for me to think that rich demons cooked casseroles for each other, but I guessed they had probably been alive a long time. Old habits died hard.
“The bond is real.” He finally joined me in the kitchen, pulling bowls out of a cupboard. “There’s no way to be more attached than we currently are. Love isn’t the most important factor here.”
“Not for you, clearly.”
I accepted the bowl he handed me and plopped a huge chunk of the casserole in it. I was hungry, and not for lust.
“I’m sorry,” he began.
