Lily shrugged and turned to see where they were headed next. The dormitory building loomed ahead of them. Sailor kept his arm around her shoulder and held her tight to his side.
She had to skip in order to keep up with his longer strides, but he didn’t seem to notice. Or if he did, he didn’t care. He didn’t stop walking until they reached the door with 201 painted on it. By then, Lily was out of breath and in need of something to drink.
Once Sailor unlocked and opened the door before guiding her ahead of him inside, she looked at the key ring in his hand. “Do I get a key?”
“Why would you need a key?” Sailor asked as he closed and twisted the lock in the knob before snapping the deadbolt into place.
“So I can unlock the door.”
“Little girls don’t need keys. They just lose them when they’re playing and getting into mischief. Besides we’ll always be together whenever we leave the apartment, so we don’t both need keys.”
Sailor watched his mate digest his words. She wrinkled her nose and frowned and then opened her mouth to argue. Taking a breath, she closed it again before she said anything.
“But what about when you’re working? Won’t I need a key then?”
“We’ll discuss it once I go back to work. For now, I’m taking some time off to spend with my mate. Lonergan and Kodiak know how dangerous a shifter can be during the time between meeting their mate and fully claiming her. Now let’s check out our apartment and settle in before dinner.”
When he’d first arrived at Bratburg, Jaxon assured him that the apartments were all soundproofed, but with a shifter’s superior senses, he’d still been able to hear the other residents. Which was another reason he’d gladly moved to the cabin.
For Lily’s safety, he would have to learn to block the sounds the other dormitory residents made. He just hoped they would have the same courtesy when it came to him claiming his little flower as his mate. The last thing he wanted was for someone to comment on their noise and embarrass her.
Sailor forced himself to release Lily’s hand as he walked around the apartment, refamiliarizing himself with the layout. This was the same apartment he’d used before moving into the woods, though someone had painted so the rooms were a barely there peachy-gold color instead of an institutional green. The color seemed to soothe his beast, so he didn’t feel quite as edgy about having his mate within reach and not being able to lay her down and claim her.
There were miniblinds on the windows, which he immediately raised to do away with the trapped feeling theyalways gave him. With the sun shining in, he smiled as he took a deep breath. The leather couch, club chair, and coffee table were the same, as was the small table and two chairs near the kitchen.
Walking into the bedroom, he was not surprised to see the king-size bed was stripped, with pillows against the headboard and a pile of clean blankets and linens waiting at the foot. Setting his backpack in the closet, he moved the linens to the dresser and picked up the fitted sheet.
“Can I help?” Lily asked from the doorway as he began to make the bed.
“You don’t have to. It’s a Papa’s job to take care of his little girl,” he said, moving from the first corner to the next around the mattress, wrangling the sheet around the corners.
Lilly stepped into the room and around to the other side of the bed. “But with two of us it will only take a few minutes,” she said as she began working on the other side.
Together they had the bed fully made with sheets and blankets in much less time than it would have taken him. Once they put the cases on the pillows and tossed them into place, he moved to check the bathroom. The room held the most basic of toiletries and he made a mental note to run by the supply closet for bubble bath, bath toys, and other goodies his mate would need during their stay.
“Go ahead and unpack your things into the dresser. Then we’ll head over for an early dinner,” he said as he left the bedroom and moved as far from the woman as he could get while still staying in the apartment.
It took everything in him to not tackle her onto the bed and claim her as his own. But he held himself back as she still watched him with a fear in her eyes he could not understand. Was it because he was big and burly and uncouth? Was it that she didn’t feel the pull that was growing between them with each moment they spent together? Or was it something else?
Though she had answered Lonergan’s questions truthfully, he had a feeling there was still something she wasn’t saying.
He just had to figure out what that something was before it destroyed what they could have together.
CHAPTER 6
“Maybe we should take our food back to the room instead of eating here. We could also see if Kodiak could return the food from your cabin,” Lily offered two hours later as they entered the dining hall with Sailor looking like a storm cloud ready to burst and hail all over everyone and everything.
After making the bed, Sailor had withdrawn, speaking only in grunts and shrugs. A few minutes before, he’d told her it was time to go to the dining hall for dinner.
Entering the dining hall, Lily was not surprised to find it empty except for two nervous-looking young women sitting at a table closest to open doors that exposed a busy kitchen. As she followed him to the serving line, someone in the kitchen roared, “Where are my kitchen Littles?”
The two women jumped up and ran into the kitchen. As soon as they disappeared from view, that same voice yelled, “No running in my kitchen! No running in this building! In fact, you shouldn’t be running anywhere in Bratburg. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Chef,” dual voices answered in fear-filled harmony.
Lily shivered in reaction to the harsh voice and sympathized with the two women facing such an angry man. She was also very thankful that she was not in there with them
With a sigh, she turned her attention to the buffet. When she reached for a tray, Sailor slapped her hand and took it instead.
