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I threw on my nightgown and my comfiest bunny slippers and gave up on the thinking, opting for whatever sweets I could find downstairs. I closed my door, pausing right outside, fighting myself on going into one of their rooms and seeing what their reactions would be.
I let my emotions lead me downstairs where I set my mind on cookies and milk but when my slippers touched the main floor, I heard voices. The voices of my men.
Yeah, I was calling them my men now and, if I was drawn to them before, hearing them speaking in low tones had my body humming with need for them.
I walked softly toward the kitchen and stopped right outside, pressing my body against the wall on the other side of where they were. I peeked once and saw them sitting at a table and almost laughed noticing the cookies and half-full milk glasses. I wasn’t the only one who had a snack attack, apparently.
I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping but after hearing one sentence, I froze and threw out all propriety out the window.
Oz’s voice got more bass than I’d heard it before. “I know one thing for sure, Koruk. Malinda is our fated mate. I would bet my life on it.”
Chapter Nineteen
Ozkuth
“Want to have a snack before bed?” Koruk asked in a low voice. We still stood outside our mate’s door after behaving in the most gentlemanly way possible, but I wasn’t in any shape to sleep, nor did I want to be alone.
“Sounds good.” We headed for the kitchen in silence, not wanting to disturb our mate’s rest. She’d had quite the day, but I was glad we’d decided to go out to dinner instead of eating in. Hopefully it was just enough distance to help her feel more comfortable.
When we were seated with tall glasses of milk and the big jar of cookies between us, I brought up the elephant in the room. Or should I say the potential mate in our home. “So, how do you think it went?”
Koruk set his glass down and looked into the milk as if it held the answers. I kind of hoped it did. Finally he let out a sigh that sounded like it came all the way from his toes. “I hope so.”
I waited, but he didn’t say anything else. “I hope so, too. But I worry about being able to convey how matings work for us. If what we see on television and hear about is true, humans take months or years to move forward into a permanent relationship.”
“And those who mate, at least in the physical sense, right away, are looked on as promiscuous in many cases,” he agreed. “But that’s not how it works with us, and I really hope that Malinda understands and will let us know she’s ready for mating soon. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“So beautiful. Fate truly was kind to us. Just a few days ago, we thought we’d be alone forever and, well, you really aren’t upset that I signed us up without telling you?”
He dunked a giant chocolate chip cookie in his milk and held it up. “How could I be? Even if the worst happens and our mate does not want to stay, it’s so much more than we ever expected.”
“That’s what I thought you might resent me for. If she doesn’t—if she leaves…” I couldn’t continue. If she left, we’d both be devastated, maybe because we had memories of what it was like to be truly happy.
“No, she has free will, and we will always respect that, but I think we need to do a lot more explaining because from everything I’ve learned, a human marriage is not at all the same as a mating.”
“You refer to the temporary nature? Or the fact that the bonding does not help the human to have a longer life?” I asked.
“Among other things. All those divorces. I don’t understand. Do you think that’s what Malinda will expect from us? Go ahead and mate and then just leave if things get difficult? Because I can’t imagine what we would do.”
“I know one thing for sure, Koruk. Malinda is our fated mate. I would bet my life on it.”
I was about to expound on that theme when I heard a scuffing sound. I looked over my shoulder to see Malinda standing in the doorway. How long had she been there…I tried to think what we’d said and if anything could have sounded discourteous or unkind? No, of course not, we had only the best thoughts about her, but did we sound possessive or…anything could be misinterpreted if it was taken out of context, or if she’d only heard part of it.
Please don’t let us have blown everything with a wrong word.
She looked delectable wearing a long T-shirt slash nightgown sort of thing and fuzzy slippers. Her hair was rumpled in the same way as our first video chat, looking like she’d just come from bed—which in this case, she had.
“Hi, we thought you were asleep.” Koruk smiled at her. “Did you need something?”
“I was hungry and thought I might have a cookie or two if it’s all right.”
She looked so incredibly adorable and vulnerable, my gargoyle went into hyper-protective mode and, without giving it much thought, I reached out and pulled her onto my lap.
Koruk gaped, and I didn’t know what to say. But then, to my surprise and relief, she leaned into me and let out a sigh. “Does this mean I can have a cookie?”
“Malinda, you can have all the cookies.” I reached for the jar while my friend went to fill a glass of milk for her. “If you’ll stay and keep us company awhile.”
“First, I need to taste the cookies.” She lifted her face and batted her eyelashes at me. “There’s no raisins in them, is there?”
