Chapter Seventeen

Around midnight, her first yawn came. It surprised me since she’d downed a large iced coffee only an hour before.

I wanted us like this forever. Malinda in her comfortable clothes. Those crazy pajama pants paired with a tank top. Us laughing together. Sharing our lives without pretense. No walls. No qualms about being exactly who we were.

Easy love. My eyes drifted to where her feet swished back and forth against each other. “Are you cold?” I asked. Instead of waiting, I pulled a throw from the back of the couch and covered her legs and feet. She stared at me like I had another head. “What?”

“Look, I…I need to ask you guys. We never talked about…” Malinda stuttered, not like her at all.

“What’s got you all flustered, female?” Koruk asked. I almost rolled my eyes. We all had the topic on our minds, but Malinda had to be the one to bring it up. She had to bring it up and she had to make the first move. We decided.

And if nothing else, we were gargoyles of our word.

“I’ll just say it. I’m…I’ve slept with two guys in my life. One long-term relationship. He cheated on me, and I ended up with the second right after—a rebound. One night only. But nobody since then. I’m clean, in case you were wondering. I got a test the day before I came here.”

Well, that was telling. I knew neither Koruk or I cared about her past partners. Nor were we likely to catch any human diseases. But what I wanted to know was what she would think of us.

“We,” Koruk started, giving me a look, “have waited for our true mate. Our fated mate.”

Malinda shot up to sitting so damned fast, I thought she might throw something out. “You waited for m…for your mate? All this time?”

I snorted. “We’re not sixty, Malinda. We’re in our early thirties, and saving ourselves for our mate wasn’t a sacrifice. It is an honor.”

Our mate was sitting next to us, in our home, and I hoped that sooner than later, she would make the move and we could make her ours. I’d had trouble all night keeping my cock in check, sometimes with the help of a strategically placed pillow.

“That’s true. But you are in remarkable shape for old men in their thirties.” She winked, and my cock stirred again. Damned thing was desperate to be inside her. I was desperate to be inside our mate. To show her exactly how much she meant to us.

Exactly how much we craved her.

Honestly, I was concerned about the short time we had with her. What if she simply didn’t fall for us in a week?

I had to put those worries aside and focus on the time we had with her. Every moment was precious.

“Well, thank you for that. If we could blush, I’m sure we would.” Koruk chuckled.

“I hate to say this guys, but I’m getting sleepy. But it sucks because you two won’t sleep as much as me. I feel like I’m going to miss out on something.”

I shook my head and stood. I wanted to offer her my hand but again, the rule that Koruk and I made together stood in my way. “I promise we won’t do anything interesting without you. Let us walk you to your room.”

When we reached her room, we paused. My gargoyle growled inside me, only for my ears, at wanting to grab her up, throw her over my shoulder, and test out every inch of that giant bed, but I held back.

“Good night, then.”

“May we kiss you good night?” Koruk asked, surprising me. Usually he was the rule keeper out of the two of us.

“Of course.”

But instead of kissing her senseless as we both wanted to, he pecked her on the cheek and I did the same.

It would have to suffice.

“My bedroom is to your left and Koruk’s is to your right should you need anything in the night or can’t sleep. Anything at all. Please, make yourself at home.”

She nodded and closed the bedroom door after going inside. If I wasn’t mistaken, I caught a hint of disappointment on her face. A bit of a frown.

Did she want us as much as we wanted her?