He’d go to Tank’s cabin tomorrow morning and ask Hunny what she knew about her friend. In the meantime, he didn’t see the harm in learning a bit about his houseguest.
“Where are you from, Nessa?”
Her grip tightened around the ladle she was using to stir the noodles. Sighing, she placed the utensil onto a paper towel on the counter before turning her attention to him. She tucked her silky hair behind her ears, and he couldn’t help but notice howdelicate the curves of them were. “What are we doing here, Murphy?”
He willed himself to look away from a lobe he suddenly wanted to nibble on and blinked at her. “What do you mean?”
Nessa rolled her eyes. “I mean, you told me to come inside so we could figure out what to do about your mating sickness issue. But instead of talking about that, you want to ask me about my personal life. Why do you even care? You don’t want to mate me.”
“It’s not you, specifically, that I don’t want to mate,” Murphy hedged. At her droll look, he added, “It’s complicated.”
“How enlightening,” she countered sarcastically. Her attitude should have had his hackles rising. Instead, his shoulders loosened and his claws retracted.
What was it about her that made him feel so comfortable? Was it only because he recognized her as his mate? Or was it something else?
“This isn’t an easy conversation for me to have,” he tacked on, dropping his hands onto the countertop as they glared at one another from across the kitchen. “But I’ll try to answer some of your questions.”
“Sounds great.” She quirked a brow in challenge. “Why do you hate humans?”
“The same reason you hate shifters,” he snapped back, though he kept his tone low, not wanting to frighten her like he had before. She was safe with him, damnit, and he needed her to know that.
Nessa gaped at him in disbelief. “I don’t hate shifters, Murphy. I wouldn’t be here helping you if that were the case. Why would you even think that?”
“You called me a monster,” he reminded her. Except, as her eyes watered and her chin trembled from an unexpected onslaught of emotion, he wished he could take the words back.
“I wasn’t in my right mind when I said that,” she whispered, blinking quickly to alleviate some of the moisture welling up in her eyes. “I’m sorry for what I said. I don’t know if it matters to you now, but I don’t think you’re a monster. You saved me from the real monster.”
Hesitantly, she reached across the kitchen island, settling her small hand over his much larger one as she kept him trapped in her chocolate-colored gaze. “You saved my life, Murphy. I don’t care how you did it, only that you did. Thank you.”
Heat, unlike anything Murphy had ever known, spread from his chest and toward the rest of his body until he felt so hot he could burst.
When was the last time someone thanked him for anything? Saving his mate was his duty and his privilege. It was second nature, just like being an alpha. He’d long since grown used to being constantly relied upon. Taken for granted. But for her to look at him like he was the only male that mattered while she expressed her gratitude?
It did something to the cold, neglected organ he’d once called his heart.
He felt like he could sprout wings and fly. Like he could take out a million of her enemies and never grow tired. Like he could get lost in the dark abyss of her gaze and relish every second of it, so long as she kept her eyes trained on him. It left him flustered. Off-kilter.
Unsure of how to respond, Murphy simply nodded. His bear curled into a ball, his counterpart letting out a rumble of contentment before the beast finally fell silent.
Nessa’s beautiful, coral-colored lips lifted into a small smile. And then she gasped, whipping around toward the stove.
“Shit, the sauce!” She ripped the pan from the stovetop as she grabbed a small dishtowel, frantically waving the cloth afew inches above the pan. Tiny puffs of smoke rose into the air. “What a rookie mistake!”
Murphy’s nostrils flared as the smell of burned tomato and basil wafted through the kitchen. He remained seated on his stool, not wanting to crowd her space and potentially startle her again, watching as she tossed the towel onto the counter before aggressively stirring the sauce, her shoulders stiff with annoyance. He found it funny that she was so irritated over such a minor issue.
“What’s the verdict?” he joked after a minute of tense silence.
“It’s probably ruined,” she replied, her voice small.
“I’m sure it’s fine, Nes.”
There was that damned nickname again. He didn’t even know why he was compelled to call her that, but it felt good. Right, somehow.
Her shoulders slumped. Switching off the stove, she turned around and blurted out, “I-I’m from Chicago, but I don’t really want to talk about it. A lot of my life is in the past, and I’d like for it to stay there.”
Murphy’s mouth turned downwards into a frown. “I’m fine with that.”For now.“But I have to ask; are you in danger, Nessa?”
She stilled, panic flashing across her face a split second before her expression grew guarded. “I don’t think I am anymore, no.”
