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“You don’t like raisins?” She hadn’t mentioned it in her list.
“I don’t dislike them in general. In fact, they are quite good in muffins, but I don’t like it when they appear in cookies that should have chocolate chips.”
Sassy girl. I gave her a squeeze and held up a cookie. “I think you’ll be pleased.”
Chapter Twenty
Malinda
I didn’t even know myself anymore, flirting away like some kind of a silly teenager. Batting my eyelashes, really. Making jokes about raisins vs. chocolate chips in cookies? Oh my goodness, help me! These men were incredibly hot and sexy and amazing in so many ways. And I had almost turned and gone back upstairs because eavesdropping is rude and tacky, and my mother would have been so ashamed of me. But once I heard Oz assert that he was sure I was their mate, in that tone that reverberated deep inside me, I could not just walk away.
Nor did I fight him when he closed his big hand around my wrist and drew me to sit on his lap. I might have understated when I said they were over six feet because it was probably closer to seven. And every inch of that was solid muscle. Not the creepy kind of bulging steroid-induced bumpiness. I might as well have been up against a wall that they built. The first chance I had to look at the pictures of their work they sent me was on my flight—rushing to get ready and organizing some of my work to do here and there and putting the rest off took up all my time before that—and I was enchanted by what I saw. They talked about being masons and the things they built as if they were so pedestrian. Even if I hadn’t seen anything else, their home would have told me different, but the walls they constructed out of local stone were amazing. They had a real artist’s eye and hands.
Who knew piled up rocks could be so beautiful? And I was especially intrigued by the one they’d done with no mortar or concrete or whatever at all. Literally just piled on top of one another and they didn’t fall down. As a painter and a graphic artist, I had a real appreciation for the talents of others and a love of color and patterns. I probably had seen pictures or driven past hundreds of walls without recognizing what they could offer in terms of beauty and grace. I needed to tell them what I thought about their work.
“Cookie?” Oz held the cookie to my lips, and I bit in. “See? No raisins.”
Chewing, I nodded in enthusiastic agreement. “These are really good. Did one of you make them?”
“We both did.” Koruk pushed the glass of milk toward me. “Do you dunk?”
“Yes.” I reached for the cookie, but Oz dipped it in the milk then fed me another bite. After I swallowed, I protested…a little. “I can eat it by myself.”
“Of course, but would you deny us the pleasure?” Koruk held the milk to my lips and I took a sip. If one of my friends did this with their boyfriend, I’d have quietly scoffed and thought it was silly, but suddenly it was anything but. My single significant relationship had never fed me anything. I couldn’t even picture it, but as I accepted another bite from Oz, I had this crazy urge to never feed myself again.
Cuddled on Oz’s lap, I let his body heat seep into my bones and relax all my muscles. “I thought you might be cold,” I said.
“Did you?” Koruk frowned. “You did not believe we would be warmhearted to our mate?”
“Oh no.” I patted Oz’s chest in emphasis. “You turn to stone, and I thought you might have a lower body temperature, but if anything, you’re warmer than me.”
“That kind of cold.” Koruk shook his head. “We are, I believe, three degrees warmer than humans. Not a huge difference.”
“It feels like it, probably because I’ve only touched people who are, well, human, in my life until now.”
“And what do you think?” Oz stroked my arm, sending chills racing after his fingertips. “Is it unpleasant?”
“No, it is not. I feel like I’m melting into you. Is that goofy?”
“I don’t think so.” Koruk smiled at me. “Not if it’s a nice sensation.”
“Oh, it’s more than nice. It’s making me think how great it would be to share that big bed with the two of you on a cold winter’s night.” I considered.
“You’ll have to stick around until then and find out,” Oz suggested. “I mean, if you’d like.”
I waved him off. “You’ll be tired of me after a week.”
“No.” Koruk shook his head very slowly, looking me right in the eye. “You are our mate, and we will never be tired of you. Not ever.”
“Is mating truly that different from marriage? When humans wed, they plan on a lifetime. They even take vows for a lifetime.”
“Vows that they often break,” Oz said, continuing to caress my arm. “But if we mate, it is for life.”
“I couldn’t leave if I wanted to?” Would they hold me against my will?
“Even among shifters, there is a rare case where one leaves for some reason,” Koruk said, sounding grumpy.
“Extremely rare.” Oz spoke close to my ear, and the tension in the room continued to amp up. “Once we mate, your life becomes tied to ours. Gargoyles live much longer than humans.”
