"Good luck with that. Last I checked, it takes two. I didn't sign a marriage contract like Gwen did, so you have no way to force me to be your everlasting meal."
He stopped a little before the doorway, turning to face me. "Is that why you're so against a mate bond?Gwen? I wanted an excuse to let Rae kill Simon, and I wanted to see if you were going to try to stop me. You did. Callum told me about fated mates because of it, so it worked even better than expected. I was never going to seal a bond with the wolf."
"You're still publicly engaged to her. You should probably go through with the ceremony, too. Gwen is much more likely to play along with any of this than I am, despite her feelings for Jonah. She'd be a great demon queen." The idea made me want to kill someone. Multiple someones. But I hoped the comment might get him to let me leave.
Grayson scoffed. "Why would I want to mate with a werewolf who's in love with someone else when I could have the woman I've been obsessed with for a century?"
"As you pointed out earlier, you were only feeding from me because of our mate bond. I'm sure you tried endlessly to get into other people's dreams."
Grayson took two large steps, erasing the distance between us.
He took my face in his hand and tipped my head back until our eyes locked. The moment our skin was touching again, he'd silenced every ounce of overwhelm coursing through me.
"I never said I was only feeding from you because of our bond," he said, his voice low and gravelly.
"You said youthoughtyou were obsessed with me, and realized it was because of the connection."
"I said I deserved to know why I couldn't visit anyone else. And Ididdeserve to know. I don't know how you could've come to any other fucking conclusion. We're soulmates. I deserved to know. You didn't tell me. Now, you're going to stay here until what we have is official." With that, he released my face.
Grayson took a step back, spreading his arms out casually. "Accept it or don't, Love. Either way, you're not leaving. We're sharing the bed even if I have to drag you back to it over and over during the night."
He turned and strode into the bathroom, calling over his shoulder, "Feel free to join me in the shower. Door's always open."
I stared at his back as he went, his muscles tight and his body stiff.
Once again, I wondered how many fights he'd been in.
That didn't make me want a mate bond, though.
There were people in my life who needed me home, just as much as he needed to be home. On top of that, I had never actually planned on taking a mate.
I grabbed a pillow off his bed—discreetly sniffing them to make sure I picked the one that smelled the most like him—and carried it back into the living room. The blanket there would work fine, since some of his shadows were still clinging to me. I might have a panic attack or two if I slept there, but if I buried myself beneath the blanket, I might make it through.
After I flipped the lights off, I curled up on the couch.
It wasn't as easy on me as the ones at my house, but I'd make do. Or survive, at least. Only because of his shadows, but whatever.
I closed my eyes and absolutely failed at dozing off while the shower continued running.
Part of me wondered if he was jerking off.
I tried not to picture him.
It didn't work.
The shower turned off eventually, and I shifted uncomfortably on the couch.
I was more turned on than I had any business being.
I listened closely for the sound of him getting dressed or getting into bed, but couldn't hear anything. The blanket over my head didn't exactly help.
I decided he must've gone to sleep approximately three seconds before the blanket over me was yanked away.
The unholy screech that escaped me caught me off guard more than him. Grayson just tossed my blanket aside and lifted an eyebrow. His hair was wet, and he was bare fucking naked.
My gaze went right to his erection, a question about whether he'd touched himself lingering on the tip of my tongue. I had absolutely no business asking it, so I stayed quiet, but I wanted to know. I wasn't sure why it mattered to me, but it did.
"Are we sleeping here, or in the bed?" he asked me.
