He leaned in and opened his mouth. She was amused that he expected her to feed it to him, but decided it wasn’t worth an argument. She gently offered it to him, and he bit it off her fork. He chewed and swallowed.
“You should give me half of that. You’re small.”
She gripped the knife and pointed the tip at him. “Eat your fish. You can have whatever I don’t finish. That’s fair.”
“You’re a mean female.”
“I think I’m being quite nice. I’m not trying to stab you with this.” She cut another bite and put the knife down. “They really do have the best food at the NSO.”
“We hire human chefs. They cook for us.”
“I could get used to this.”
“Good, since they feed us every day.”
Lash ate his fish, watching his mate. Mary had already grown less fearful and acted more aggressive. He knew he’d pushed her too far and found it amusing that she gave him attitude back as they ate their meal. He hadn’t been wrong. She was his.
He slowly reached for the brownie on the tray, making sure she was aware of his movement. Human females were supposed to love chocolate.
She lunged and grabbed it before his fingertips made contact. She lifted the small plate it rested on and put it next to her meal, shooting him what should have been a dirty look. He chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“I like playing with you.”
She glanced at the brownie, then him. “You don’t want it?”
“No. I ordered dessert for you to have. I just wanted to see what you’d do.”
She raised her middle finger. “How is that for a response?”
He grinned. “I know what that means. Offer accepted, but you said you wanted to eat first. I’ll mount you soon.”
She rolled her eyes and picked up the knife. He tensed slightly, but she cut into the food instead of pointing the potential weapon at him again. “You’re such a man.”
He was glad she saw him that way, instead of too animal, and relaxed further. “I am.”
“Is sex all you think about?”
“No. I like to play, too. Sleep. Swim in the water. Sometimes I go outside to frolic in the sun. I eat.”
She chewed, swallowed, and took another bite. Her gaze kept drifting around their domain, an odd expression on her face.
He couldn’t guess her thoughts. It bothered him enough to ask. “What are you thinking about?”
She didn’t respond at first, but long seconds later, she said, “I kind of envy you.”
“Why?”
“Do you have any responsibilities or stress in your life?”
“I worry about humans attacking.”
“Besides that.”
“I was lonely until you came.”
She dropped her gaze. “I think everyone is sometimes.”
“Were you lonely?”
“I work a lot, but I had Mel.”
He planned to point out that wasn’t really an answer, but she continued before he could.
“Most of my friends got married right after high school and now they’re knee deep in kids. My parents retired and are doing the whole RV trips across America all the time. It’s like a house on wheels, if you don’t know what one is. Mel was my social life, but now she’s with Snow. That means it’ll be an ordeal of some kind every time I want to see her. You can guess how I feel about that.”
“I’ll let her come visit you once she promises not to try to help you get away from me.”
That earned him a glare. “How big of you. I’m trying to have a real conversation here.”
He masked his features. “I’m listening. Talk.”
She studied him and put her fork down. “Mel quit the diner. It means I’m going to have to train someone else. It’s going to suck. I did everything with her. We had keys to each other’s apartments and spent a lot of time together. Her marriage happened so fast that I’m still kind of reeling. It’s totally stressed me out. I’ve tried hard to be supportive, she needs that since her parents are jerks. I’ve mostly been hiding how sad it makes me, though. As her friend, I’m glad she fell in love…but it means I’m losing daily access to my closest friend. It will change things between us.”
“You shouldn’t be sad. You’ll see your friend often now that you both live at Reservation. Snow’s home is upstairs in the hotel. You will quit your job, too. I won’t have you leaving the safety of our gates every day. It’s dangerous in your world. I want you right here where I can protect you at all times.”
“Get serious. You know you have to let me go at some point, and my boss is going to be pissed if it’s not today, since I’m supposed to work tomorrow. I can’t miss my shift. Joel doesn’t have anyone to cover for two people. We’re already shorthanded with Mel gone. I’m supposed to help him interview new waitresses. One of his nieces was going to go full time, but she changed her mind.”
He leaned in, holding her gaze. “I am serious. You’re mine, Mary.”
“Damn it, Lash! Get real. You already got what you wanted. After we finish eating, you need to open that door to let me out.”
“What I want is for you to understand and accept that you’re my mate. Why did you say you envied me?”
“You don’t work, don’t worry about whether you can make the rent if tips are bad, or where your next meal is coming from when you get sick enough to miss work for days. There are chefs who cook for you!”
“You are my mate. You now live here with me. We don’t pay rent.”
“Come on.” She gave him a frustrated look. “Be serious. You can’t really expect me to just stay here forever.”
“I do.”
“People don’t just meet and get married. That’s fantasy.”
“I’m Species. It’s our way.”
“I’m not, and that’s crazy.”
He regarded her as he inhaled, picking up a slight scent of her fear. He spotted signs of it in her eyes, too, and in the way she nervously flexed her fingers. He didn’t know much about humans, but he guessed she might feel panicked.
“Mary, relax.”
“I can’t. You’re screwing with me.”
He crawled closer to her. She didn’t flinch away but her body tensed. He sat inches from her and lightly pressed his body against her side, putting one arm loosely around her waist. Everything he’d learned about her flashed through his mind. He got the impression males had deeply hurt her in the past, and she’d admitted one had abandoned her for another female.
“I’m nothing like the males you knew.”
She lowered her chin, refusing to look at his face.
He guessed he had been right. “I’m never going to let you go. You belong with me. I’m going to take care of you.” He reached over with his other hand and gently cupped her stomach. “And any of our children we may have.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and her head jerked up, her eyes wide as she gawked at him.
“You could be carrying my offspring right now. Species can breed with humans. The one like me that I spoke of, Valiant, has one cub already and another one on the way with his human mate. That should tell you how serious I am about you. I took that risk because I never plan on letting you go.”
She shook her head. “You’re lying. Species can’t have kids.”
“We can. We just don’t tell humans. They are stupid and will attack us.” He rubbed her belly. “My cub could already be growing inside you.”
She moved faster than he thought possible, rolling out of his reach and getting to her feet. “You bastard!” She looked ready to flee, her gaze darting for an escape.
He slowly stood. “I don’t have parents. A surrogate birthed me. That doesn’t hurt my feelings.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Humans lie. Species don’t.”
“Does Mel know that Snow could get her pregnant?”
He shrugged. “Snow is mated to her now. I assume he told her.”
She backed up, glancing down at her body before bolting toward the door.
He growled, taking off after her. He caught her before she reached it and yanked her off her feet. She kicked and fought, clawing at his arms around her waist and chest.