me about my sex life. My brother, yes, but not anyone outside my family.”
Gerrick hadn’t given the idea much thought. His grandparents had been killed in the Great War and his parents shortly after Evanna. He had an aunt and uncle and a few cousins, but he’d chosen to become a Dark Warrior and live at Zeum, rather than remain with his family. “At least you’re used to living with extended family. Elsie and her sister lived alone before they mated with Zander and Jace. Imagine the shock for them when they first met all of us.”
Shae smiled and swung their hands between their bodies as they descended the stairs. “I don’t know how humans survive such solitary existences. It would have killed me to come home to an empty house every day. Where are we going anyway?”
“I was helping Nikko train the new recruits and couldn’t concentrate. All I could think about was what we did in there the other day.” His body hardened as he recalled her lithe body surging above him. He brought their clasped hands to his mouth and kissed the back of hers, his heart beating hard against his ribcage.
She tilted her head to the side and regarded him. “Are you blaming me for your lack of discipline?”
He chuckled, “I would never, but let’s just say that Nikko is ready to throttle the Goddess for all the distractions in this house. He doesn’t live here all the time, but he does rely on us to train the recruits and lately we haven’t done a good job with it.”
“Please tell me you aren’t volunteering me to help with the warriors.” He smoothed his thumb over the crease between her eyes.
“Don’t worry, I won’t allow another male that close to you.” He pulled her into the underground room and led her to the punching bags in the corner. “I got you a pair of your own gloves so you don’t hurt your hands when you come down here.”
Her lips parted and she glanced from him to the shelf. He cursed as he realized he should have wrapped them and been more romantic in his presentation. “That was very thoughtful of you, but I’m not sure why you went to the trouble. I can manage without.”
“It’s my job to take care of you.”
Her eyes flashed and she snatched her hand out of his grasp. Her chest was heaving as she took two steps then stopped. He had no idea what he’d done this time to make her angry. “What did I do now?”
Her back straightened and she stood there rigidly. “It’s not what you’ve done, Gerrick. Just because we are mates doesn’t make you obligated. I want you one hundred percent, not halfway, or, I’d rather not have you at all.”
His chest twisted and his stomach dropped to his feet. He curled his arms over his head as he stared at her back. The thought of losing Shae was like being ripped n half. He could never survive without her. The mission against skirm wouldn’t be enough to keep him alive this time. He was in far too deep with her, further than he had ever been with Evanna. “I don’t understand. You can’t walk away from me. We’re Fated Mates.”
She spun around and thrust her hands onto her hips, her eyes narrowed at him. “You may give me your body, but that isn’t enough for me. You guard your heart and won’t really let me in and I refuse to settle for that. It may kill me, but I will walk away.”
His jaw dropped open. There was no waiver in her voice. He knew she was stubborn enough to follow through on her promise. “I have no idea why you say that. I may have denied you at first, but that was only because I feared the archdemons were fucking with us. I need you to explain this to me.”
Shae shook her head and paced the mats, lowering her chin to her chest. He watched as she opened her mouth only to close it again. He wanted to embrace her and force her to put these crazy thoughts out of her head. He feared it was the demons messing with her again, but if he accused her of falling prey to them and found out they weren’t doing anything it would backfire on him. How the hell was he supposed to combat this? He decided to wait for her to gather her thoughts and tell him what