When Garrak turned to me, one brow raised in challenge, I clicked my stud thoughtfully against my teeth. Hewasbluffing, I knew it.
“I’ll raise you…” Shrugging, I slid a stack of chips through my fingers. “Two hundred.”
Garrak studied me for a long moment, then with a hum, slid in the same amount of chips. “Call.”
My heart was hammering against my chest; Iknewhe could hear it with his advanced senses. Hell, all of them could likely hear it, but I told myself I wasn’t giving anything away.
Garrak and I were the last two playing, and there was over eight hundred dollars on the table right now. Granted, it wasn’trealmoney; he’d explained that he didn’t take money from friends, but the adrenaline felt real.
My throat was dry as I flipped over my cards. “Two pair, kings and sevens.”
I held my breath as Garrak’s gaze bore into mine…until his lips twitched. He tossed down his hand, face up. “I just have trash.”
I wasn’t the only one to exhale in relief.
My hands shook as I reached across the table to scoop up my winnings, as Varron and Korrad both chuckled.
“I’ve never seen a human know when Garrak is bluffing,” Dravik announced solemnly.
With another laugh, Varron leaned toward me, as if he might nudge me. “How’d you know?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, how?” Garrak drawled, his green gaze still boring into me. “I don’t have any tells—not that a human can scent, anyhow.”
I shrugged, not entirely comfortable meeting his intense gaze. “I just knew. I’ve spent the last three days playing with you.”
The noise Garrak made sounded almost like agrowlas he sat forward, and my gaze dropped to his chest.
“You mean you’ve been losing on purpose, pretty little human?”
I caught my stud between my teeth, worrying it. I didn’t want to lie to him, not after how good his praise had made me feel earlier. “I was studying you.”
He huffed what might have been a little laugh and propped his elbow beside his chips. “Not sure if I ought to be proud or mad.”
Korrad’s bark of laughter sounded a little manic as he pushed away from the table. “You should beproudof how well your Mate knows you!”
Garrak’s head whipped around. “Stevie’s not my Mate.”
“Bullshit,” laughed Varron, as he nudged Dravik. “How the mighty have fallen, huh?”
“She’s leaving tomorrow—” Garrak began.
But Brakkor had ambled back in with another beer and was glaring at the table. “EvenIcan see it, you dumb bastard.”
Thank God none of them had askedmewhat I thought about Korrad’s claim, because I wasn’t doing that great when it came to breathing, much less thinking or rationalizing.
Mate.
That was…that was intense, right? I mean, that wasn’t justthe woman I’m fucking right now. Or even lies about love and marriage. I remembered the way he’d spoken of his little brother’s Mating, and I found myself licking my dry lips.
Mating wasspecial.
It didn’t help that Garrak was staring at me now like I had all the answers.
Hell, I didn’t even have all the questions!
“E-excuse me,” I muttered, pushing away from the table and my winnings.
My mind was a mess because in that moment, I realizedI wanted that. I wanted Garrak to think I wasspecial. I wanted him to…to…to claim me ashis.
