Page 41 of Blood Bearon
Khove shook his head.
“He’s one of you.” It wasn’t a question anymore. She knew the truth of it now.
“Yes.”
“Crap.” It seemed an understatement. “Double crap.” There, that was better.
Khove remained silent, his arms still draped across her shoulders, despite the space between them. Rachel not so reluctantly let herself be pulled back in, resting her face on his chest, feeling the warmth, the thunder of his heart.
“Is there any other reason you decided to show me today?” she asked quietly, her voice disappearing into the dungeon around them. And why did he have a dungeon in his house? It certainly wasn’t the fun kind.
“Well,” Khove hesitated. “After you kissed me, I—”
Rachel pushed off his chest. “I’m sorry, what did you say? You kissedme, buster. Not the other way around.”
“Noooo,” Khove said slowly. “I’m positive you kissed me.”
Rachel half-snorted. “Right. If I had kissed you, you’d know.”
“I would?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Well,” she said, suddenly realizing she’d been mousetrapped.
“Go on. Tell me.” His chest bounced with soft laughter. “Or show me. Give me an example of how it would be different.”
She sighed in defeat, grabbed Khove’s collar and yanked him down to her level, kissing him hard and thoroughly, so that he would never,everforget the difference.
I just hope this isn’t a mistake…
20
The return to his quarters was a blur of hands, lips, and furious attempts to look innocent when they ran into others. Khove neither knew nor cared if they succeeded, because the giggles he shared with Rachel each time they thought they were alone once more was all that mattered.Shewas all that mattered.
It was a strange thought. Kincaid the Hunter hadn’t shown up to inform him that this police detective was his mate, but Khove was no idiot. He could feel there was something different about her. Something unique. He wasn’t quite ready to proclaim it to anyone, especially Rachel, but it was getting harder by the hour to deny they hadsomesort of connection.
“I didn’t expect to have to go on a hike to go back to your place,” she teased as he unlocked the door with a thumbprint and pushed it open.
Khove rolled his eyes. “I carried you half the way until you got too embarrassed by the looks from others—who I promise you, donotcare. So don’t complain.”
She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. “What are you trying to say? Did carrying me tire out the big bad shifter boy?”
“Not at all,” he growled, closing the door behind him. “In fact, come here and I’ll show you just how much energy I have left!”
Rachel yelped and dodged aside as he chased her through his multi-room set of quarters, until the two of them fell giggling onto the couch. It was nice to be back in his element, where he could do something as casual as fall into a couch and not have to worry about it exploding under him.
The two fought and laughed, trying to gain an advantage over the other in the tickle war they were waging. Khove was very carefully not exerting his full strength, nor even the maximum of a human of his size. This was fun, and he wanted to ensure Rachel relaxed fully, so she could continue to process everything.
No matter where the afternoon led the two of them, there was still more he had to tell her about the situation at hand.
That can wait I suppose, he thought as Rachel rolled on top of him, their faces inches apart.
Their eyes locked, and for a split second, he was falling into a sapphire-like abyss. Her eyes were so blue, the color seeping into the pupil, overwhelming the whites of the eyes as well. He still couldn’t believe she didn’t wear contact lenses, but as far as he could tell, it was a natural genetic mutation.
“Are you just going to stay up there, or are you going to come down and kiss me again,” he challenged. “I’m starting to forget the difference again.”
