Page 42 of Her Males

Charlie crosses her arms over her chest, putting a physical barrier between us, before glancing timidly to the side. I raise a brow, unwilling to justify her question with a response.

I may like that tone in bed, but I’m not on a mattress and she should know better than to think so little of me. I’ve made my interest in her more than apparent, and I’m not one to say things I don’t mean.

Her tense muscles relax when I don’t acknowledge her harsh questioning, an apologetic look taking over her features as she lowers her eyes to my chest.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles, clearing her throat. “Why do you want to wait?”

I intertwine our fingers and kiss the back of her palm. Her breath hitches, and I give another kiss before lowering our hands to her lap.

“I’ve chosen you, and that’s not going to change, but I could never live with myself if we bonded and you came to regret it,” I admit. “I’ve waited over a thousand years for you, and I want you to be as sure about me as I am about you. Let’s give it at least a year.”

Her heart thunders in her chest as she stares at me, her glossy eyes hard to read.

It’s times like this I wish I could read minds as Aziel can. If I had the ability, I would be in everybody’s business twenty-four-seven, and I’ll never understand how he manages to resist.

He can’t enter the mind of a person who hasn’t permitted him, but it would be easy for him to trick Charlie into giving him permission. He was able to fool me into giving it decades ago, and he found it a fun game in his younger years to force people to let him in.

Now he uses it so infrequently, I wonder if he’s forgotten he has the ability.

It wouldn’t surprise me.

Charlie’s lips purse as she plays with my fingers, her pulse continuing to race as she mulls over my words.

“Fine,” she eventually relents. “But I’m not waiting one second longer than a year. I expect to feel your teeth in my neck the moment the clock strikes.”

My chest vibrates with laughter.

Charlie scrambles off my lap so she can face me entirely, and she sticks out her hand in an odd gesture. I stare at it for a second, confused, before realizing she wants to perform the human tradition for agreement.

My eyes crinkle as I reach out and shake her hand, and Charlie makes a pointed effort to squeeze my knuckles.

“Deal,” I say.

Charlie narrows her eyes before lunging at me, a loud giggle erupting from her chest as she pushes me onto my back and plops down on my stomach.

“I love you,” I blurt out.

Charlie cups my cheeks and smooshes my lips together before bending and kissing me.

“I love you, too.”

I sit up and wrap my arms around her waist, and we sit quietly until it’s time to go home.

She gasps as I teleport us back to my office, the sounds of the birds and water vanishing as it’s replaced with the silence of the manor. I pat her butt as she climbs off my lap.

I’d say this was a successful date.

9

_____

AZIEL

I HOLD BACK an audible sigh as I check the time. It’s gotten late, and I can already feel the effects of sleepiness starting to take hold of me. My handwriting grows sloppy as I rush to finish the last of my paperwork, my attention only half on my work as I listen to Charlie showering upstairs.

She’s far enough away that I have to strain to hear her, but it’s more than worth it. I can tell when she moves out of the water, the sound of the spray growing louder as it hits the shower floor, and I know when she steps back underneath.

Silas is in the room with her, his voice quiet as he tells her a story from his childhood. I was present for it, and I feel slightly offended by how he intentionally leaves me out.

---