Page 24 of Ghoul Kisses

“There you are. I haven’t seen you in ages. How are you, King Eric?” She’s gained weight since the last time I saw her. She is a little curvier than before. Mae has white hair falling below her shoulders and white eyes. Don’t touch me, don’t touch me. She slithers her arms around my neck and kisses my cheek. Gently, I break away from her grip.

“Great,” I say tightly.

“I’m just going to cut to the chase, I want us to be together like before,” she says hopefully. I feel guilty for what I’m about to tell her.

“I can’t, Mae. I’m with someone else,” Her eyes glisten with tears. I will never be the mate she wants me to be, and I can’t continue to hurt her.

“Who is your new plaything?” she asks, her voice barely audible.

I don’t answer, walking away.

“Answer me, asshole!” she screams, and everyone in the ballroom stares at me as I continue to walk out the door.

For the remainder of the day, I stay in my office putting in paperwork for new warriors. It’s supposed to be Jack’s job, but since I put him control of finding Pete, I have been picking up the slack. I glance at my watch and it’s time for the gathering. I walk to Sarah’s room, knock on the door, and she opens up. She smiles and pulls me inside. She wears a long sleeve shirt with jeans that make her ass look amazing.

“Hey. How was your day?” she asks cheerily.

“It was okay. And yours?” I ask, sitting on the edge of her bed while she rummages through her dresser.

“Hectic; ghouls act like they’ve never seen a human before, and they were wondering why I was doing a health assessment on them.”

I don’t know what she means by health assessment, so I don’t ask. I guess that’s a doctor thing. She hands me a piece of paper. It’s a list, which I scan. MRI machine, ECG screen, 15 blood pressure machine, and a lot of other stuff that I don’t understand. The number fifty million is circled at the bottom. What the fuck am I reading? My eyebrows shoot up and she smiles.

“Those are health machines I need to treat ghouls. I haven’t included medication because I don’t know what works on your race, but Dr. Edward says he is going to teach me the basic ghoul anatomy.”

“What is 50 million?”

“It’s how much I need to spend. Dr. Edward told me to give the list to you.” She looks down at the wooden floor as she continues. “Plus, the equipment you have is out of date, and I can’t use it.” She peers up at me with emerald green eyes. “I’ve talked to Odessa since she is in charge of building things, and I plan to build a facility behind your mansion; somewhere to send the wounded soldiers and regular ghouls for treatment. But, she told me to run it by you before we start on it. She said it will cost thirty million.”

“You need 80 million?”

She nods. I pull her into my arms. The passion in her eyes makes me understand why I am drawn to her; she wants to help my kind. I kiss her on the forehead. I grab my wallet from my back pocket and hand her one of my debit cards.

“Get what you need.”

Her eyes light up like Christmas bulbs, and she grabs her purse, tucking my card into her wallet. We walk down to the ballroom a minute later.

Ghouls bow towards Sarah and me. I introduce her as the new doctor who is going to help with the health care for our race. I want to introduce her as my mate, but I can tell she is holding herself back from me; she has a wall up. I want to prove to her that she is different from any other female I’ve been with. Ghouls begin to ask her a few questions about humans. They ask her basic questions like why she cooks her food, what it’s like to live in the mansion, and she is the only human. A young who is five years old likes her. She plays with him and his red car, and he asks her a series of questions. I’m assuming she loves young, because she tries to spend most of her time with him. I stay by her side, eyeing any male who stares at her, and when they come speak to her, I make it clear to them that she is with me. Once I mark her, every male will know to stay away from her. Jack comes up to her and hugs her, swinging her around.

“How is my favorite female?” he says as he releases her. Jack needs to keep his fucking hands to himself.

“I’m doing good,” she answers back. Kate walks toward us with Mac. She hugs Sarah, and they chitchat about female shit. I leave Sarah with her and fix myself a plate of raw meat and a glass of red wine. A few females bow to greet me, and I blow them off. Classical music plays in the background. Once I finish eating, I bring Sarah her meal. She digs into green leaves, cooked chicken, and a potato. After she finishes eating, I toss the plate in the trash can.

When I walk back, Nicholas speaks to Sarah again, and I become angry. What the fuck does he want? I listen to their conversation, and he asks her about working with Dr. Edward and Odessa. He informs her he has a few ideas about the landscaping. I stand next to her, placing my hand on her lower back. She flashes me her pearly whites.

Odessa and David form a circle around Sarah. I want her all to myself, and they are crowding her. I want to get her to my room and fuck her senseless. Mae walks toward us and I am in no mood to deal with her.

“It’s time for us to go,” I say, clasping Sarah’s hand, not giving her a chance to say no.

“It’s too early,” Sarah pleads. I lean down and whisper in her ear.

“I need you all to myself.” She peers at me with beet red cheeks. I smell lavender; she is aroused.

“Okay,” she turns toward Odessa. “We will have lunch tomorrow around noon,” she informs her. As we make it to the exit, Mae yells my name. I grind my teeth and turn to look at her. Mae examines Sarah with a critical eye.

“What Mae?” my voice is firm.

“I just want to tell you how sorry I am about earlier,” she says, not taking her eyes off Sarah.

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