Page 84 of Reclaiming Home

After telling him to apologize to everyone, I let him be.

Staring at the closed bathroom door, knowing my mate was upset felt like almost too much to bear.

I could be worried about my best friend or my mate, but both? Seemed a bit excessive.

Unable to hear anything that would’ve told me how Kye was feeling, I sat next to the bathroom door and pulled my knees up. I let my head thunk against the wall and sighed.

“I don’t know what has you upset. Give me a moment to figure it out, baby, okay?” I said loudly enough that I hoped he’d hear me. “I’m fucking worried about Rian. He’s not… something is going on with him. He’s not telling me, and I can’t force him.”

Nothing. There was only silence behind the door.

Sighing, I crossed my arms over my knees and rested my forehead on top.

What had happened? I’d come out of Rian’s room. I’d told Kye what we’d done, which he would’ve known already anyway. He knew my deeper tone that brooked no argument. I’d told him I’d given Rian some blood before if the situation called for it.

Kye knew there was nothing but deep friendship between us, so he couldn’t be jealous. Except…. My mind raced back, trying to see the situation from his point of view.

I’d been flushed, probably. Letting a vampire feed from you did things to your body. It was an aphrodisiac if you let or wanted it to be. It turned people on even when you didn’t want it, and… hell.

“Is this about letting Rian bite me?” I asked, hoping I was right, because there was absolutely nothing else that came to my mind. “Baby, you know I’m not interested in him like that. If my body reacts to the feeding, I can’t help that. It doesn’t mean I want to do anything about it, especially with him.”

I heard the barely there sound of the toilet seat creaking, then Kye’s steps as he approached the door. He sat down on the other side.

“You looked turned on,” he murmured.

I wanted to fist pump because at least I was right about this, which meant I could solve this. Easily. Hopefully.

“You haven’t had a vampire feed from you, right?”

“No.”

“It’s a rush. It’s part fight or flight, but it turns into something sensual in an instant. That’s not something the vampire cancontrol, it’s part of the biting process. I don’t know how it works, exactly, but there is a reason why those other apps exist, baby.”

His sigh was audible through the door. I smiled despite myself.

“I guess I don’t know how it feels so I shouldn’t judge it or… or get jealous.” After a beat, he added, “I just wasn’t prepared to see you look like you did, knowing someone else made you feel that way.”

I made a quick decision. “I won’t feed him again. Or any vampire. Unless it’s an emergency situation.”

Another short stretch of silence, then I heard the lock disengage, and the door opened.

Kye sat on the tiled floor and glanced at me, gnawing on his bottom lip.

I straightened my legs and pulled the door more open, then held out my arms. “Come here, baby.”

He hesitated for two heartbreaking seconds, then crawled over and settled on my lap. He hid his face against my neck, and I wrapped my arms around him.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Hey, no. Sometimes we don’t actually know what will happen until it does. It’s like some kink things. We might think we’ll like something or hate something before we try it, and the opposite happens, right?”

He nodded, but said nothing.

“I love you and I never want to do anything that hurts you. So keep telling me if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I can be a big, oblivious idiot.”

He snorted softly against my neck. “But you’remybig, oblivious idiot.”

“That I am.” I smiled, knowing we’d be fine.

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