"Bye."
She ended the call.
I debated telling the vampires to fuck off so I could go back to my mate, but ended up diving back into the arguments, lists of candidates, and documents from the bloodsuckers.
When my mate's pleasure rolled through the barrier between our minds, I had to clench my jaw against the instincts that chastised me for not being with her. When I felt her sleeping peacefully, it took even more effort not to give in to my hunger and pull her into a dream with me.
I expected those instincts to ease up, but when I fell asleep at a desk around four in the morning, they still raged.
seventeen
GRAYSON
Time passed just as quicklythe next day.
My alarm caught me off guard again in the middle of another endless meeting, and my guilt was fierce enough that Merrily called me immediately.
I left the meeting abruptly with a growl about checking on my mate. The office I'd been loaned wasn't far, but I answered before I reached it so she wouldn't be sent to voicemail.
"Hey, I'm so fucking sorry." I dragged a hand through my hair, shutting the door behind me a little harder than I needed to.
"What are you sorry for?"
"I abandoned you less than twenty-four hours after sealing our bond, Love."
"Oh. Well, stop feeling guilty for that. I told you, I get it. Eventually, you'll be done."She yawned widely. "I'm about to call it a night, though. Just got in bed."
"I'm coming back tomorrow, whether or not it's done," I said firmly.
If the pace didn't pick up tomorrow, I was going to have to make a strict schedule. I wasn't going to be the one who fucked things up permanently with Merrily after fate handed me the fae queen I'd spent an entire century fantasizing about.
She was mine.
I'd figure out a way to make it work.
"You still need to feed. I'm sure you're not in any danger, but I would like to know that you're at full strength just in case. Just slip into my dreams," she said.
"I'm fine. I want to see your face for a few minutes, though. Set the phone up against a pillow or something while you fall asleep."
I felt her amusement through the bond, but she didn't show it as she answered my video call and set the phone up. When she was done, shelowered her head to the pillow she had claimed the first night she slept there, and looked at the phone expectantly. It only showed me half her face.
"Move a little to your right."
She scooted a little, and her face disappeared completely.
"Left, actually. To your left."
She slid to her left, and the movement jostled the pillow. Her phone plopped onto the mattress, and I bit back a curse, shoving my hand through my hair again as I tried to calm my frustration.
I should've been with her.
I should've been in our bed beside her, holding her in my arms.
I was going to have to make some rules with the vampires, because I wasn't doing this late-night meeting shit again. Not with my mate waiting for me back at home.
Merrily propped her phone back up, and I could see her whole face in the camera again. Her waves fell around her head, and she was wearing another one of her little sleep sets. "Just breathe, Gray. We're okay. A few nights apart isn't the end of the world."
Did she even miss me?
