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“Well, ‘Mattie’ beats the hell out of ‘little girl,’” Mattie pointed out.
“All right, if you say so.” Grath nodded. “But what about nicknames? Don’t human lovers call each other sweet endearments? Kindred do—didn’t you notice the way Commander Sylvan calls his mate ‘talana’?”
“You can call me ‘babe’ or ‘baby’ if you want to,” Madeline offered. “But don’t call me ‘Dr. Porter’—that’s way too formal, especially since we’re supposed to be dating.”
“Baby…” Grath seemed to be trying it out. He shrugged. “I don’t see how that’s any better than ‘little girl’ but if that’s what you want…”
“That’s what my family will find believable, and that’s what this is all about,” Mattie said firmly. “So call me ‘Mattie’ or ‘baby’ and I’ll call you Grath or ‘honey’.”
“Honey?” he protested, frowning. “Isn’t that the vomit produced by pollinating Earth insects?”
“Well, yes—honeyistechnically bee vomit,” Mattie admitted. “But it’s also a sweet nickname that human couples call each other.”
“Should I call you ‘my little bee vomit’ too, then?” Grath arched an eyebrow at her. “Or just stick to referring to you as though you were an infant?”
Mattie threw up her hands.
“Look, I can’t pretend that some Earth customs aren’t weird but you can say that aboutanyculture! I’m here trying to brief you on what to expect and the best way to fool my family. Now are you going to be serious or not?”
“I’m perfectly serious,” Grath assured her. “Baby,” he added, for good measure.
“All right.” Mattie took a deep breath, trying to reign in her temper. Why did she let the big Hybrid push her buttons? She needed to keepcalm. “All right,” she said again. “Now that we know what to call each other, we need to talk about how toact.”
“All right.” He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling. “How should we act? Should I be utterly fucking besotted by you or what?”
Mattie bristled.
“No, you don’t have to act ‘utterly besotted’ but itwouldbe nice if you didn’t flinch away from me like I have the plague every time I get anywherenearyou.” This had been a sore spot with her for months—it was good to finally put it out there. But Grath seemed to feel otherwise.
“What? I don’t do that!” he protested.
“Yes, you do!” Mattie exclaimed. “And don’tthinkI haven’t noticed. The minute I get anywhere close to you, you step away and make an effort to put space between us. Now IknowI’m not your type—”
“What doyouknow aboutmytype?” Grath growled, his voice dangerously low.
Mattie shrugged uneasily.
“I justassumedyou didn’t like girls with extra curves. Or else maybe you didn’t like my, uh, scent or something. Since Hybrids are supposed to have such a sensitive sense of smell.”
His black eyes widened in apparent amusement.
“You think I think youstink?”he demanded, a rumble of laughter coming from deep in his chest.
“I don’t know, all right?” Mattie exclaimed. “But there’s got to besomereason you’re always edging away from me like I have the plague and you’re afraid you might catch it! I just want to be sure you don’t act like that around my family or my mom and my Grandma Thelma are going to know we’re faking it immediately!”
“Come here, little girl,” Grath growled. “I mean,baby,” he corrected quickly, gesturing for her to come stand between his spread thighs.
Mattie edged closer to him nervously. Even sitting down he was sobigit was a bit overwhelming to be right up next to him. Still, she wasn’t going to be a coward—not when so much was on the line. Resolutely, she came to stand between his legs and stared into his midnight eyes.
“Let’s get a few things straight,” Grath told her, returning her gaze. “First of all, I fuckingloveyour curves—you’re fucking gorgeous and I’m pretty sure you know it. Second,” he went on, before Mattie could get out a word. “Your scent isintoxicating. It’s so utterly feminine it takes my breath away every time I’m near you.”
Mattie wasn’t surewhatto say to this.
“I…um…I think that’s the first nice thing you’ve ever said to me,” she finally managed to get out. “But if youlikethe way I look and the way I smell, why are you always putting distance between us?”
His eyes slid away from hers.
“I have my reasons,” he muttered.
