Page 27 of Their Shared Mate
“Not so fast,” Raphael scooted to the edge of his seat, his orange eyes gleaming. “It’s your turn, mate. We’re as curious about you as you are about us.”
It was only fair to answer their questions. “I told you most of it already.”
“So, tell us the rest,” Victor encouraged. “You said you moved around a lot. Did you mean from city to city, or just apartment to apartment?”
They already knew the unpleasant parts of her life. The rest was insignificant. “I’d lived in six different states and one province when I graduated from high school. I felt the most comfortable in the Midwest, so I enrolled in Missouri State.”
“Were you a wild child or intensely studious?” Raphael softened the question with a playful smile.
“I took my studies seriously. That tends to happen when you’re paying your own tuition.”
“And you went straight to Nuevo from college?” Victor wanted to know.
The last thing she wanted to talk about was Nuevo Biotech, so she just nodded.
“Have you ever been in a serious relationship?” Raphael asked, his gaze intense and predatory.
“Depends on how you define serious.”
“Did you ever share an apartment with a man?” Victor joined in.
She shook her head. “My longest relationship lasted two years and we lived in separate cities. I honestly think that’s why it didn’t implode sooner. I was relieved when I moved to Nuevo’soff-world complex. It gave me a good excuse for why I wasn’t in a relationship.”
“You didn’t want to be in a relationship?” Victor sounded disappointed.
“No, I did. I was just terrible at finding men with the right qualities.”
Raphael pushed to his feet and slowly stalked toward her. “And what are the right qualities?”
“He’d have to be smart. Looks are much less important to me than intelligence.”
“We science nerds have to stick together,” Victor echoed her earlier statement.
“Go on,” Raphael urged. “What else are you looking for in a male?”
She licked her lips as her heart began to race. “A good sense of humor.”
“That could be tricky,” Raphael decided. “Scientists aren’t known for being funny.”
“I wanted someone who was ready to settle down, someone looking for a wife, not just a lover.”
He didn’t say a word. His slow, sexy smile communicated articulately. They wanted her as their mate, and they were both brilliant. She hadn’t set out to do so, but she’d perfectly described Raphael and Victor.
His smug look made her damn glad she’d left off her final characteristic. She’d only had two lovers. Well, three if she counted her high school boyfriend. And all her lovers hadbeen frustratingly passive. She wanted them to take control, to overwhelm her with aggressive passion. She had absolutely no doubt that Raphael and Victor would more than satisfy that yen.
“What are you thinking about?” Raphael’s hungry expression told her that he’d guessed the direction of her thoughts.
She ignored his question and fired off a few of her own. “What about you? Did you have lots of girlfriends? Were any of them serious?”
“Yes and no,” he answered curtly.
Knowing she would get no further information out of Raphael, she looked at Victor expectantly.
“I was engaged when I found out about the Nuevo buyout,” Victor obliged. “Her name was Kallie and I’d known her since grade school. I asked for three months to establish myself in my new position, then I’d see if I could work remotely. She told me that she wasn’t willing to wait. I could find a new job, or she would walk away.”
“That wasn’t fair,” Claire objected. “What would you have done at the end of three months if she still wanted you to quit?”
“We’ll never know.” He shrugged indifferently, but pain flickered through his eyes. “I asked for a compromise. She gave me an ultimatum. It wasn’t the right dynamic on which to build a future, so I walked away.”
