Page 4 of The Prince's Mate

“What? There was no sexual tension. Absolutely none. I hate him, remember?”

“Oh, my sweet summer child. Haven’t you heard? Hate-sex is, like, the third best type of sex,” Ro’Shassz quipped.

Curious, I had to ask, “What are the other two?”

Ro’Shassz hissed in amusement, slithering closer. Then, he slid up my leg, wrapping himself around my forearm and raising up to face me so we were eye-to-eye. “Well,” he started, “the first is obviously love-making with all the sappy feels.”

I chuckled at the utter disgust in his tone, and he narrowed his eyes at me. “Your dads do a lot of that,” he added, shutting me up instantly. Ugh, I did not want to think of them having any kind of sex.

“And the second?” I asked, dreading the answer a little.

“Make-up sex,” Ro’Shassz declared, his tail flicking over to pat my cheek.

Considering I’d never had sex—with three overprotective dads who ruled everyone else in this realm, I didn’t really have many prospects—I doubted I’d get a chance to experience any of those any time soon, though I was definitely not interested in hate-sex. Call me old-fashioned, but I didn’t think I would be able to bewith someone I didn’t have feelings for. It was what had kept me from going to the human realm and hooking up with someone in a club.

“Okay, thank you for educating me,” I said, and he hissed in amusement.

“My pleasure. So, what do you think? Is there some hate-sex in your future?”

I thought of Caelan’s eyes, and how they’d made me feel, of how soft his lips had appeared. And then I thought about how he’d left me when I needed him the most, and how much I hated him.

The answer was easy. “Nope. Never happening.”

Ro’Shassz made a sound of disappointment before slithering off me. Then, he disappeared, and I assumed he was headed somewhere more interesting.

I decided to take a shower to wash off the sweat. Maybe it would wash off the remnants of Caelan’s touch too. Fuck him and his pretty blue eyes. I didn’t care about him anymore, and I wasn’t going to give him any extra space in my mind. I had better things to do.

Caelan

“It’s painful to watch you two,” Ro’Shassz said, and I turned to look at him as I ran, wishing I could run far, far away from this realm. But I’d done that for years, and yet I’d ended up back here. Because as much as I wished to run away, my place was here. Walker was here.

“What are you talking about?” I asked without getting off the treadmill. Once upon a time, Ro’Shassz and I had fought like cats and dogs, but ever since I’d come back, he had been almostnice to me. I had a feeling it was because he felt sorry for me, but since he sometimes told me things about Walker that made me feel like I knew the man he’d grown into, I honestly couldn’t care less.

Fuck, I was so pathetic. No wonder Walker couldn’t look past his hate for me.

I didn’t know why he couldn’t see our bond. Or maybe Walker just hated me so much that he refused to see what was right in front of him.

“You and Walker. The sexual tension. Everyone can feel it,” Ro’Shassz said, and I rolled my eyes. Sexual tension? As if. All I’d ever sensed from Walker was annoyance and anger, and an unhealthy amount of distaste for me. But desire? Yeah, right.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me. Why do you think no one wants to be around you two when you’re together?” he hissed.

“Because we’re always fighting?” I suggested casually.

“Sure, that’s why. You’re both so oblivious it makes me sick,” he said, his tongue flicking out.

I raised a brow at him. “Did you tell Walker this? That we had sexual tension?” I asked, morbidly curious about how he’d reacted. It couldn’t have been anything good.

“Yeah, I did. And he’s just as dumb as you. You two truly are made for each other,” he said, and I glanced away.

Honestly, I didn’t know if I believed that anymore. If we were made for each other, how could Walker find so much hate in his heart for me? Why couldn’t he forgive me?

If I didn’t think it would just make him more annoyed at me, I would’ve fallen to my knees in front of him and begged him for forgiveness. But I couldn’t do that, couldn’t humiliate myself like that when I knew it would have no effect on Walker. I’d been humiliated a lot in my life, and I never wanted to associate that emotion with him in any way or form.

“Go away, Ro,” I muttered, done with the topic. He haunted my every thought anyway, so it wasn’t like I could stop thinking about him even if Ro left, but I wanted to wallow alone.

“Suit yourself,” he grumbled before disappearing, and I sighed as I increased the speed on the treadmill.

If it was any other time or any other person, I would’ve gone to Damien with my troubles, and he would’ve helped me. Like always, he would’ve talked me through it, comforted me, made me feel like I was less alone.

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