Tabi swallowed. “We’ll definitely keep it in mind.”
“Is he showing any unusual signs? Anything that has caught your attention?” the queen asked.
“Well, he’s being a bossy and overbearing butthead,” Tabi said, remembering the night before when he hadn’t really given her a choice in where she was staying the night. “I’d even say controlling.”
Emma laughed. “That’s not out of the ordinary for a mate. I meant something more or that doesn’t seem right.”
Like the fact that Evan had punched right through a demon soldier’s throat the night before and then had calmly dug a grave in the middle of nowhere that would never be found? “No, I haven’t noticed anything,” Tabi lied. “If I do, I’ll call you right away. For now, we have some adjusting to do.”
“I understand. It’s not an easy time for a new mate, even one who’s a demonness. Take it from somebody who’s been there. Life is a lot easier if you work together on it, and being protected and safe is a pretty nice way to live—especially once you have kids.” The queen signed off.
Kids? Who said anything about kids? Tabi was at least a century away from wanting kids, and if Evan was this overbearing now, he’d be impossible once they had kids. If they had kids. If they stayed together to have kids someday in the far away future, which was something she had not agreed to yet.
She looked over at her mate. After disposing of the body the night before, Evan had insisted she stay the night at his bungalow, and she’d basically passed out from exhaustion and what was probably shock.
In the early dawn light, he watched her in that way he had—one he’d used even as a human. Now it held even more power.
Her body short-circuited in response, one more thing out of her control suddenly. Rain splattered against the window, with the storm having strengthened throughout the night, and her blood started to pump in tune with the wild weather. “Your tests show you might have a very rare extraordinary strength,” she murmured.
“No kidding.” He continued to watch her.
She met his gaze, refusing to back down. “If you have something to say, say it.”
“If I’d met you when I was healthy, I would’ve handled you differently,” he said, his voice a low rumble in the morning.
She partially turned to face him, comfortable that the borrowed shirt covered her completely. “Handled me? I don’t think so, Detective.”
He leaned up on his powerful arm, and the muscles rippled across his chest. “I was trying to save you from the hypocrisy in this town, in this county, so you could leave before I died.”
She forced a smile, hoping it looked somewhat bored. Or sarcastic. “You’re done trying to save me now?”
One of his dark eyebrows rose. “Oh, I’m definitely going to save you from whoever these Popovs are, and we’re going to have a nice long talk about them later today. I want to know everything, and if there’s a way to reason with them without killing, I’ll find it.”
“And if not?” she whispered.
His gaze didn’t waver. “Then I’ll take off their heads.” He looked down at his other fist. “Apparently I don’t need any other weapon to do so.”
Just because he’d been able to decapitate one demon that way didn’t mean he could do it again. Maybe this bizarre strength was temporary as his body completed the mating to become immortal. “Listen, Evan. I’m not sure what’s happening to you and how you’re changing, but I think we need to set a couple of parameters here.”
Was that amusement in his eyes? “Interesting. Tell me how I’m changing.”
She’d wanted to talk about parameters, but maybe they should discuss this. “I don’t really know, but it seems like new ‘immortal pain-in-the-ass’ testosterone, or whatever male demons or vampires have, is flooding you and changing you a bit. I’m sure it will abate.” She hoped. Forget the fact that it was sexy and intriguing. She’d better set him straight now.
“Hmm.” He ran his free hand down her arm, the touch electrifying. And possessive. “Different theory. The illness I had as a human changed me, and now that I’m getting healthy, and believe me, I feel healthy again, maybe I’m going back to my default setting. This is the real me, Tabitha.”
“I’m not certain what that means,” she admitted, acutely aware of the strength he now possessed as well as the fact that they were in bed together. Intimacy wound around them, through her. She swallowed, trying to hide the sudden sense of vulnerability.
“You never have to fear me. I promise.” He tugged her down and rolled on top of her, heat and male pressing her to the mattress and stealing her breath. “I understand that we’re both in new worlds all of a sudden, and we can navigate it all together. But you need to understand, I’m not relenting on this one fact. We are a team, and that’s how we’ll proceed forward.”
“A team has a leader,” she said, her gaze dropping to his mouth.
“We can divide the tasks,” he said, grinning. “I remember the early days before my mom passed away, and my parents created a plan together. She handled school and he handled sports. She handled health and church, and he dealt with the money. They worked well together.”
She blinked. “That sounds like a good family. I’m sorry you lost them.”
His face softened. “You are a sweetheart sometimes. You don’t have family?”
The idea hurt. “No. There’s nobody.”
