Page 45 of Reflections of Peonies
He was frowning at me.
“I’m sorry,” I added sheepishly.
“Don’t lie about your health,” Titus said, his gaze narrowing. “Not anymore.”
My throat closed. “But they would make me do a physical!” I told him. “I won’t do it!”
Titus lowered his forehead to mine, breaking through my panic. “They won’t,” he said, sounding so sure. “Nobody will make you do anything you don’t want. Bryce won’t let them. And if he fails, then I’ll stop themandrip his head off.”
But I didn’t want Bryce’s head to be ripped off! He needed to teach me how to defeat poison. Then maybe we could bond as siblings or something.
“Okay,” I sighed. I’d rather him not threaten my fake husband for now. Distantly, my mind kept returning to this conversation’s central point. “How does this mate thing work, anyway? Are you going to bite me?”
“What?” Titus blinked.
“I’d rather not be maimed unless it’s a last resort,” I told him. I tried to recall my shifter romance stories. “How does marking, or claiming, or whatever work?”
“You’ve got the wrong species.” Titus’s expression cleared, and there was a hint of a smile on his lips as he leaned toward me. He was falling back into his seductive mode. “It’s not like that for shifters. Do you want me to show you?”
“No,” I said, pressing my hand against his face. I would not enter into a lifetime commitment in the middle of a fen whilewearing a hospital gown. Titus was supposed to be brilliant. He could figure it out.
I had high expectations.
“Not right now,” I added. But then another thought occurred to me.
“Um—” The guilt made my stomach turn. “—can I ask you a question?”
He blinked at me, not moving away from my hand.
“Julian told me something once, and I’m not sure I understand,” I said. “Ithinkhe was saying that everyone, and me… in the past. How does that work? Especially with the mate thing.”
There was a wetness in the center of my palm, and I pulled my hand away back, looking at it in disgust. “Did you just lick me? That’s gross.”
“You’ve been with all of us romantically, except, as I understand it, Huo—which would be Damen,” Titus said, furrowing his brow. “But I also could be wrong. I’ve never cared what you get up to with the others, but I also don’t want to know about it.”
What was that face? Did he care or not?
“It wouldn’t work if you had to choose,” he continued. “We need each other, and we need you. And your heart has always been big enough for everyone. You were the one who brought emotions into our lives.”
My heart pounded—what did he mean? “Titus?”
“Just don’t forget about me.” He pulled me close. His hand pressed against my head, and I could hear the wild beating of his heart. “Every lifetime, I’m always the furthest away.”
“Why would you be the furthest away?” I gripped his shirt again. “You’re right here.”
Titus sighed as he hugged me. “I always will be, if you let me.”
It probably wasn’t the best timing, but my anxiety wouldn’t let me avoid the question anymore. “Are you disappointed?” I asked.He’d pressed his lips against my head but paused at my question. “That I’m not a virgin, too?”
There was a sudden heaviness to the air, and his arms tensed. “What?”
“In shifter books,” I clarified. “The female is usually a virgin…”
“Don’t you like boy romance?” he asked, and my breath caught.
“I read a variety of things!” I snapped, my skin flushing. How in the world would he know what I read? Then I remembered.
Finn.
