Page 36 of I Dated a Holiday Hero
Sgoth nodded. “I don’t see why not.”
Worro got up and was escorted out of the building. He caught a cab to his home, got his cycle, and drove it to her family’s cottage by the sea. She loved it. He was going to talk to her. He was hoping that she would listen.
* * * *
Keera was curled upon the swing with a cup of coffee and wrapped in her mother’s shawl. She looked out at the churning surf and debated how easy it would be to just dive beneath the waves, transform, and stay there.
She heard the cycle approaching and sighed. He would still be scrabbling for balance. She had lashed out at him with her hurt, and it wasn’t fair. They had informed her that he had gone mad at her loss and that a minder had to step in, but it wasn’t until they had passed each other on the street that she realized that it meant their eighteen months together were gone. She had been wearing the marks of the attack, and he had been able to have a new life without her. It had hurt. Almost more than the wounds that she kept under control by constantly shifting her body to keep them from overwhelming her. The stress on her mind and body had only left absolutes to comfort her. Analytics and her family and, eventually, friends. That was everything. No room for love or loss. Now, she was healed, and love and loss were approaching at speed.
She remained curled up on her bench swing and sipped at her coffee as he stomped up the stairs.
“Kiki.”
She gestured to the other side of the swing, and it dipped as he sat down.
“You were hurt.”
“Oh, yes. Left in an alley until you found me after your mission. You carried me to a hospital, and they went to work. You started punching things, and your team had to tackle you.”
“I remember. What happened to you?”
“Ah, stitched, pinned, and taped together. I was given a projector, and it hid me from view. I lived that way until six months ago when the same man attacked Heraina, and Kritz and his team were able to make a cure for the nanites that kept tearing me apart.”
“How are you... as you were?”
“I am a shifter, you moron. My skin healed in, and the scars faded.”
He blushed. “Oh, right.”
She nodded. “So, it is all coming back to you?”
“Yes, and I am so sorry that my actions hurt you.”
“You literally didn’t know who I was, and the pain just blurred together.” She smiled and didn’t say what she wanted to. She had known he would leave her when she was out of sight but didn’t know why. Now it was obvious. His body took over.
He swallowed, his blood-red hair sliding over his shoulder. “I am so sorry that I hurt you.”
“You didn’t know what you were doing, or rather, you did, but this was what would have happened if I didn’t exist in your life. You are a tramp, Worro.”
He smiled sadly. “I was before we met, but when we shook hands, all other women ceased to matter to me. Apparently, I reverted rather quickly. I was trying to fill the hole in my life left by your absence.”
She nodded and sipped her coffee. “If you want something to drink, it’s in the house.”
He paused and then went to get a cup of black coffee.
When he came back, he settled. “So, what now?”
“There is no now. There is you living your life and me living mine. I can’t join the BDC. Not stable enough, and I try to conform to the men I am with.”
He jolted. “What men have you been with?”
“Fuck off. None of your business. You broke our pledge, and now that my physical pain is gone, I have needs. Zera’s done me a favour and has been making queries at a few embassies for me to find a mate so that I can take the edge off. I can’t be an escort, but I can take a knot, so there is that.”
He was scowling. “No.”
“You don’t have a vote. We haven’t been anything to each other for half a decade.” She set her cup down. “Why did you come?”
“I miss you. I want you.”
