Page 43 of Mate
“Well, turning on incognito browsing is a pain.”
He folds his arms. “It’s good that you’re funny. Next time someone tries to saw you open to study your half-Human gut microbiome, you can shoo them away with a jab at their masturbation habits.” He strides down the hall, and I run after him.
“Koen, seriously.” We pass a bedroom that smells so ruinouslymouthwatering, it has to be his. Enter another. “I don’t think this place is a good fit for me.”
He opens the cabinet in the en suite to inspect its contents. “Because . . . ?”
“Well, this is not really an isolated area, and I haven’t learned how to tune out sounds yet.”
“Poor baby Were.” He turns to me. Suddenly, I see compassion in his eyes. “In that case, we’ll find a place where you can be alone in the middle of nowhere.”
My heart soars. “Really?”
“No,” he says mildly. “Fuck that. You’ll stay where I put you.”
I slump.
Koen is not a defenseless child, or a Vampyre who passes out in the brightest hours of the day. I’m sure that if I have a violent sleep-walking episode, I’ll getexactlywhat I deserve. But what ifhe’sthe one asleep? Not to mention, he can be highly perceptive— and that meshes poorly with my secrets.
I need to be isolated to properly rot in my dysfunctions. “Thing is,” I try again, “I really like living alone.”
“Maybe you had shitty roommates,” he says casually, opening a closet. He grabs a set of fresh sheets and lifts them to his nose. They must pass muster, because he drops them on the mattress. “I, on the other hand, am a fucking delight.”
I watch him unearth several pillows. “Does it not bother your back, Koen?”
“You mean, the supermassive weight of my ego? No, it does not.”
“Oh, comeon. How did you know— ”
“You’re gonna have to come up with more creative insults than that, Serena.” On the way to the bed, he taps my nose with two fingers and starts unfolding one of the pillowcases.
I take a deep, bolstering breath. “Ireallywouldn’t want to impose.”
“Pretty fucking late to worry about that,” he says distractedly, continuing to make the bed.
“Well.” I scowl. “I’m sorry. I didn’t ask to be a hybrid hunted by every single species.”
“You didn’t. You didn’t ask to be my mate, either.” He stops mid fitting a bottom sheet to look me square in the eye. “However, you did ask me to take you in and use you to lure Vampyres away from Ana.Thatwas your mistake.” His mouth curls in a small, sardonic smile. “I won’t be sleeping in the cabin with you, if that’s what worries you.”
I flush. “No, that’s not what— Wait. Wherewillyou be sleeping?”
“Outside,” he says, like I deserve to take remedial Were classes just for asking.
“You sleep outside.”
“Yes.”
“In the great outdoors.”
“Yup.”
“Every night.”
A brief pause. “Not every night.”
“Oh. Good.”
“Just every night in which I have time to sleep.”
