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“I am going to say yes warily. Why?” Myrtle perked up. “Cheeseburger?”
Teyval snorted. Denith looked appalled. “Really?”
“Sorry. I just feed my face and get on with my day. It must be horrifying for you.”
He grinned. “No, but I sense a challenge. I love a challenge.”
She inhaled, caught his scent, and leaned into him. She stopped herself and pushed back carefully. “So, crackers and cheese?”
Denith smiled. “I can do better. They stocked the kitchen for me.”
He let her go and darted out of the room.
She turned to look at Byron. “He really likes cooking.”
Teyval wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her back. “I think he is trying to impress you.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Why? I mean, that’s a stupid question. I know why. His life is at stake. So is mine. I am going to spend a lifetime trying to make sure you two don’t regret coming to my rescue.”
Teyval paused. “You don’t have to do that. We are delighted to be included in a mating group.”
Byron picked up a shirt. “This is better than the fluffy robe. You will get too hot in it.”
She nodded and sniffed it. Teyval’s. She nodded, and he held it out for her. She untied and dropped the robe. She heard two sharp inhalations and took the shirt with a short tug from Byron’s suddenly nerveless fingers.
She did up the buttons crooked in her haste to cover up, but Teyval knelt and pushed her hands aside, taking over the buttoning. He finished in under a minute and smiled up at her. He moved to his feet and smiled down at her. “Do you want to watch Denith and make him sweat?”
She chuckled. “Sure.”
He undid two buttons, which put the neckline just above her navel. “That should do it. Since he was your intended, he is more attuned to tracking you.”
“So, I can get away from you two?”
Teyval smiled. “No, but it’s cute that you would ask it.”
Byron snorted. “Denith is going to kick himself when he realizes what the shirt means.”
“Probably, but we are just beginning, so he will get over it.” Teyval tucked a lock of hair over her shoulder.
She smiled and headed for the door. The carriage house was nice, and the stairs were a gleaming dark wood. She was walking on a raised balcony that led to the stairs, so she padded down the steps and went looking for the kitchen.
The rapid-fire thuds of the knife on a cutting board were impressive, and to her surprise, the ingredients were hovering near Denith, being plucked out of the air and cut into whatever shape he was aiming for. There was a pan sizzling, and she looked around to try and see what was taking shape.
Denith glanced at her and smiled, and then he saw what she was wearing and paused, putting the knife down and breathing deeply. “That’s just cruel.”
“So was some asshat using my life force to play with a new playmate. I am wondering what is going to happen when the supply gets cut off?”
He looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“I can still feel the pulling. It’s slower but still there. I think it is slower because I have started to take from you guys.”
Teyval wrapped his arms around her. “You are being given. You are not taking. Taking would feel different.”
“So you are offering your life force to a stranger just because?” She looked up at Teyval.
Byron smiled. “We are offering it to you because you are you. No other reason. When your situation was explained, it felt right that we would assist you.”
Denith resumed whatever he was doing. He was flipping a pan pretty confidently for a half-dressed man.
