Page 31 of Fur-Ever Home

"I'll mark him tonight," Connor said.

Another mental note to research marks. Was it as simple as leaving a hickey on my neck, or was a hot iron involved? That was called branding, right? Not marking?

My pulse spiked the longer we stood before the desk. Finally, the beta sighed. "The hotel's rather empty tonight, thanks to the weather. The casino's in our main lodge. I'll see if we have a room in the tower instead, if you promise to stay there, together, until it's time for you to check out."

"Do you have room service?" Connor asked.

He nodded.

"Deal."

After a few tense moments where I worried the beta would change his mind, he created two room keys for us and directed us to the hallway that led to elevators up to the second-floor skywalk. From there, we were to cross to the tower, and our room was on the tenth floor.

I called my dad and pops to let them know I'd made it to Vegas, but this was as far as I would get tonight. While I did that, Connor called room service and ordered hamburgers and fries for us.

"Who's that in the background?" Pops asked.

"Um … Connor?"

He glanced up at me as he hung up the room phone. "Yeah?"

"Who's Connor?"

"He's … a friend," I said. We hadn't talked about marking, bonding, or whatever else the desk clerk had said, and I didn't want to push.

"Is this the same alpha he hated yesterday?" my omega dad asked.

"I didn't hate him," I said, rolling my eyes for Connor's benefit.

He leaned back against the headboard, and I glanced around the room for the first time since dropping my carry-on onto the luggage rack by the TV stand. We had only one bed in our room. Again. It was a king, at least, not the cozy queen we'd shared last night, but still, one bed.

Couldn't be helped, I supposed. Connor had said he would mark me tonight, whatever that meant. We had to keep up appearances, so the beta didn't kick us out in the rain. Maybe it was the pheromones I'd read about, but part of me wanted to wear Connor's mark. I'd met plenty of alphas, and he was the first who made me feel comfortable around him.

My brain insisted it was too soon for something so permanent, and I trusted my brain. Still, part of me wanted to listen to my heart.

After reassuring my parents I would keep them posted on our progress, I ended the call and flopped down face first on the bed beside Connor. "Ugh. Why are parents?"

"I wouldn't know," he said. "Mine haven't given a shit about me in twelve years."

"Sorry," I mumbled into the comforter, and then thought better of it. How many people had fucked on this comforter? I'd read somewhere that hotels washed the sheets after every guest, but the comforters got washed only when they looked dirty. This one smelled a few guests past filthy. I flipped onto my back and scooted up the bed until I sat beside Connor.

I took his hand in mine. "Do I need to look up what marking and bonding mean to shifters, or will you explain it to me?"

His breath hitched. "I said I'd mark you so we'd get the room. I saw how nervous you were on the strip, and I didn't want to look for another hotel. Forget I said it. I wouldn't trust myself to explain it in a way that's neutral, anyway."

My gut instinct was to distrust his word after he'd lied to the desk clerk, but then he kept talking, and what he said … Connor paid attention. He got me, and I'd barely had to explain my anxiety.

He was also quick on his feet. He'd lied to the clerk without hesitation, all while compiling the data and forming an accurate opinion of me. He was fucking perfect. It took my entire willpower not to roll over, straddle him, and kiss him senseless.

Instead, I grabbed my phone from where it lay between us and pulled up the website I'd used earlier.

"A mate bond forms between fated mates when they have unprotected sex for the first time," I read aloud. "The alpha knots the omega and attempts to breed with him. While the knotis forming, the alpha also bites the omega's neck or shoulder, called a mark, usually in an obvious place that can be displayed for all other alphas to see the omega is bonded to another. In some packs, the omega also marks the alpha to discourage unmated omegas from attempting to mate with their chosen. Most shifters mate with a single partner for life, while other monsters may have polyamorous groupings or partnerships they may choose to end at any time."

"That's a lot," I whispered. "Unprotected sex sounds like a really bad idea right now. I've always worried I would be extra fertile. My married siblings always joke about how they or their partners got knocked up the first time they had sex, and that's probably going to be me."

Connor patted my leg. "I understand."

His voice was soft, but I still detected a hint of sadness.

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