Page 16 of Horns for the Holidays

Laramie shrugged, a wry smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I’m doing my job, Mr. Mavridis?—”

“Kotos, please,” I insisted.

“Kotos,” she conceded, and the sound of my name on her lips made my blood run hot. “Tonight, that job requires me to attend a party for a dating app. I’m not here to pass judgment, but to figure out how to sell such experiences to our own user base.”

Ouruser base.

Anyone else, and I’d be snarling about ownership and ultimate responsibility. I’d fended off Devlin’s threats and climbed over other competition to the top. No one laid a claim on what I built.

No one but the one I built it all for. No one but my mate.

Her gaze drifted to two orc males with a woman sandwiched between them in a similar alcove, only partially hidden. Both men gripped the woman’s ample curves, dipping and kneading. And judging by the blissful expression on her face, they were doing a fine job.

Laramie’s cheeks blazed hot, and I caught the slight hitch in her breath. Even more telling, though, was the scent of herarousal. A honeyed aroma that cut straight through me, making my slacks suddenly tighter.

Fuck, that was hot.

Her eyes met mine. “Besides, who am I to judge what consenting adults do for fun?”

Unable to resist, I trailed a finger along the delicate curve of her collarbone. Laramie shivered, her eyes fluttering closed for the briefest moment before snapping back to mine.

“But fraternizing is out of the question?” I murmured, leaning in close enough that my breath stirred the loose strands of hair framing her face.

Laramie swallowed hard, her throat working in a way that made me want to trace it with my tongue. “My career is important to me.”

I arched an eyebrow, silently urging her to continue.

“After last year... It’s all I have, really. And I’m reluctant to give someone control over it, beyond my job performance.” She sighed, some of the fire leaving her eyes, and swirled a finger through the air. “You get it. You’re practically an empire unto yourself, and that tension with Devlin seems to go beyond mere business rivalry. ‘Old time’s sake,’ and all that.”

Ah. There it was.

I leaned back, suddenly feeling every one of my centuries. “That,” I said, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice. “Is a long and rather unpleasant story.”

“Somewhere else you need to be?” she teased. “I thought this was your job too, Mr. Mavridis.”

I studied her for a moment, weighing how much to reveal. It wasn’t something I talked about openly. Ever. But something in her eyes—open, curious, free of judgment—made me want to bare my soul.

I took a deep breath, letting the memories surface. “Devlin and I met in a tech incubator program years ago. We were bothpassionate about creating a dating app that would bridge the gap between humans and monsters.”

Laramie’s eyes widened slightly, but she said nothing.

“Devlin was brilliant with code. We worked well together, at first. Long nights debugging, arguing over user flows.” I clenched my jaw. “She wanted to push boundaries, make it edgier. When I refused, things got ugly.”

“She didn’t take that well?”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “No. For her, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. She’d gotten the idea that we would be a power couple and take the matchmaking world by storm.”

Gods, that night still hung around my neck like a millstone. The hurt in her eyes turning to fury. Papers flying. Accusations of theft and threats of legal action. The sound of shattering glass as all the windows in the building broke with a single shriek.

“But I couldn’t be who she wanted,” I admitted. I reached out again, brushing a finger against Laramie’s shoulder. “Because she isn’t my mate.”

There. I said it. Out loud. Finally.

Laramie’s breath hitched. I watched her intently, tracking the rapid rise and fall of her chest. “Your... mate.”

“Minotaurs can only reproduce with our one perfect match—one person in all the world who completes us on every level. And when we find them...” I trailed off, lost for a moment in the memory of my parents. The way they’d looked at each other, even after all their long years together. “It’s unlike anything you can imagine.”

“That’s why you’re the last,” Laramie said softly. “Because the odds of finding that one person...”

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