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Resisting his need to claim her now was nearly impossible.
He wrapped his hands around her upper arms, to keep them off her hips as much as to hold her attention.
Not that he needed help with that. She was gazing up at him like he hung the stars.
“What is it?” she asked, her soft voice sending a shiver of lust down his spine.
“Do you know much about Maltaffians?” he asked her.
She bit her lip and then shook her head.
“Well, there’s plenty to learn, but overall, we share more traits with Terrans than not,” he told her.
Her eyes went to his horns, and he closed his eyes for a second against the image of her caressing them with her delicate fingers.
Focus.
“But there is one important thing that separates us,” he told her. “Do you know what a mate bond is?”
“Like birds have?” she guessed. “They mate for life?”
“Yes,” he told her. “Maltaffians have the capacity for a mate bond, though not every Maltaffian is lucky enough to find their true mate.”
“But you might,” she said, blinking as if she were coming out of a happy dream and into reality. “One day, you might meet your true mate.”
“I have already met my true mate, Naomi,” he told her gently.
She wiggled out of his hold and put the kitchen island between them, her usual elegant movement now choppy and anxious.
“Does she know you’re here?” she demanded. “Is she okay with this?”
He stared at her in complete confusion for a moment before he put together what she was saying.
“Naomi, no,” he said, shaking his head and trying to organize his thoughts.
“She doesn’t know, or she isn’t okay with it?” Naomi demanded, her voice high and reedy.
“I explained this all wrong,” he said, leaning on the counter and putting his head in his hands. “There is no other woman.”
“Escape me now,” Naomi said.
Instantly, the room around them disappeared. They were no longer standing in a kitchen, but in a blank white space. The food and platter were still there, but they rested on a plain white box rather than the island.
Athena didn’t budge, and he wondered for a moment how convincing it had all been to her superior senses.
“How can I help you, Naomi?” Oberon asked.
If he hadn’t known Oberon was an AI, Gage would have sworn he sounded fiercely protective.
“We’ve had a misunderstanding,” Gage said. “It’s my fault.”
“This is beyond a misunderstanding,” Naomi said immediately. “He has a true mate, and she doesn’t know he’s here.”
“Gage,” Oberon said, before he could respond. “May I have your permission to disclose your relationship status to Naomi?”
“Yes,” Gage said. “Please.”
“Gage Zeyr’n is single,” Oberon said. “Further, he has not had a romantic encounter in at least two years prior to his arrival at the Center.”
