Page 18 of Finding Our Home

“You don’t want me to go back to the rec room?”

“Not at all. In fact, I’d rather you never go back there.” He grabbed my arms and put them over his shoulders.

“What does that mean? Where would I go?”

He smirked. “To my room, of course.”

I squinted at him in confusion, and he chuckled.

“You’re my True Mate, Neo. And as such, I would love for you to stay with me.”

“Like… live together?”

“Yes.”

“Until when? Until I get my own place…?”

He leaned in and kissed my chin. “No, my place would be your place—our place.”

I squinted again.

He smiled and laughed. “Move your belongings to my—I meanourquarters and never leave.” He lifted his shoulders in a shrug.

“I’ve known you for like two nights.”

“And you’re my True Mate.”

“But you don’t know me.”

“I know enough.” He rubbed his hands up and down my back. “You don’t even have a bed, Neo.” He stared at me for several seconds, then sort of sighed. “If you’re not comfortable sleeping with me, you may take the bed, and I’ll take the floor. You’re a human and more fragile than me.” That sort of sounded like an insult, but it was true, so…

“It’s just… you don’t know me.”

“But our souls know each other.” I was about to argue, but he stopped me with a finger on my lips. “I know by human standards we haven’t known one another long at all. But you’re my True Mate, and I’ll go crazy if you’re far from me, especially if I know you’re sleeping on the floor. If you’re not comfortable sleeping in my room, I’ll come to you. I’m sure I can arrange a sunlight-proof area in the room or find a sun-proof sleeping bag or something. But that way, you’ll still have the other humans around you. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“You would do that for me?”

He nodded. “Anything, my treasure.”

That was a pretty bold statement, so I wasn’t sure I fully believed it, but he looked sincere and so freaking serious, it was hard not to.

“My parents met in February, too, you know.”

“Wh-what?” I was confused by his random subject change.

“You said that you think it’s February, and I was reminded of a story.” Running his fingertips over my cheek, he smiled at me. “My parents met at a tiny grocery store. Not like a grocery stores like you remember, but a small… shop, I suppose is the word. Anyway, they met and fell in love, and a week later, they were married on Valentine’s Day.”

“Seriously?”

He grinned. “Yes. They were very much in love and grew old together.”

“Did they… know?”

“That I’m a vampire?”

I nodded.

“No, they believed I died when I was twenty-two. That was the vampire way before humans found out about shifters and the world exploded around us. But I used to visit them every year, the night before Valentine’s Day. I would leave cigars for my father and chocolates for my mother from all over the world. I checked in on them and sometimes I left them money when I knew they were struggling. They had money problems like many people, but the one thing they never lacked was their love for one another or for me. Not a day went by growing up where I didn’t feel loved by them. They were wonderful parents.”

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