Page 87 of Seduced By the Mermen
“Here’s your apron, Clark.” Forrest holds out a gold apron with my name embroidered on it in purple.
I give Blair’s neck a quick kiss, and she steps out of my arms. My eyes flash at Forrest.This isn’t a real cooking lesson, I project over to him, and he nods once. Though I’m not sure he really understands. He can be rather literal, our governor. Blair’s eyes flash at me—at least she gets it.
“Here, let me put it on for you.” Blair takes it from Forrest. Her delicate fingers slide the loop over my head, and when she hugs me from behind to tie the strap around the front, I lean back into her. And when her nimble fingers tie the bow around my waist, I place my hands on top of hers, enjoying the tight hug she gives me.
“Thank you.” I spin around in her arms and pull her closer. I’m about to kiss Blair when Forrest clears his throat.
“We need to get—” Forrest stops with a grunt.
Blair laughs. “I’m looking forward to making some cookies. But where’s the master baker?”
“We’re not sure. We’ve?—”
“He’s on his way.” This time it’s Forrest who cuts off Delmar.
The way I’m holding Blair, she can’t see my face. I raise my eyebrow at Forrest in question, and his cheek twitches. It’s his tell. He doesn’t know anything about Zion’s whereabouts.
“Oh, well,” she says, “we should be able to figure this out and get started before he shows up. What a surprise he’ll have.”
“Or we could wait,” I say, leaning down and giving her another kiss. When I pull back, I can hear the rapid beat of her heart, like a predator with his prey.
“I suppose that would be the polite thing to do,” Blair says.
“You are a very polite female, aren’t you, Blair?” Delmar steps to her side.
“I try to be.”
I take her hand and lead her out of the kitchen.
Chapter 35
Forrest
Delmar starts to follow Clark and Blair out of the kitchen, but then he stops and turns back to me. He stands at the door while I’m putting things away. “What are you doing? Come on.”
“Right . . .”
He motions me forward. “Let’s go.”
But my feet don’t move.
“Are you coming?”
“I will. Go ahead.” I’m not sure why I can’t leave the mess here. It’s not like Rodgers and the staff haven’t come back to a cluttered kitchen before.
Delmar cocks his head at me. There are plenty of pods that want Blair; she said as much herself the other day. We know she went out with the Driftwood pod. Shopping for furniture. Which scared the carp out of me until Alexei explained that it was just something humans do. They go shopping when they have no intention of buying things. They just walk around and don’t buy anything. But I’m not going to pretend I understand mermaids, let alone a human female.
He exhales loudly. “Okay.” And he vanishes down the corridor.
I put the canisters away. My eyes flick to the door. I’m acting like a scared podlet. Like I’ve never had sex before. I’m the one who wanted this. Pushed for it to begin with.
When theCentauripulled in with Annabelle, I knew it could be our chance to have a mate. When I saw Annabelle, I also knew she wasn’t for us. I still considered the possibility, even knowing it wouldn’t happen. But Blair? Blair, she’s a different story. The moment she came off the sub... my heart stopped.
“Get it together, Forrest.” I slam the cabinet door and wipe down the counter. Two Mason males with her is enough. She’s human. I don’t want to push her, make her uncomfortable. Fuck, I want her to choose us. I want her to pick us. And I don’t want to be the one who messes things up.
My hand’s on the light switch when Blair steps back into the room.
“Is everything okay?” Her head tilts. “We lost you.” One of her braids is down. Her loose hair cascades over her shoulder.
