Chapter Thirteen

I found an unoccupied love seat in a far corner of the library by pure luck. And by pure luck, I meant that I barreled out of class, took the stairs at breakneck speed, and caused a commotion when I came in out of breath from my sprinting.

The library was a busy place on Wednesdays since most students had the afternoon study hall block.

Including this girl.

I'd made myself a bit of a nest. I sat cross-legged on the love seat with a book on one knee and a notebook on the other. I needed to study. The night before I had gotten none done and I had to make up time. If I got kicked out of here, not only was I out of educational options, but now I stood to lose my chance at mates at the same time.

The fact that I was considering Artemis, Ian, and Neo as mates still boggled my mind. There was no confusion in my wolf's mind. None at all. They all were her mates, and she was ready to get to the claiming and marking bit—yesterday. The animal inside me had no chill or patience.

I had studied for a few hours when the air-conditioning in the library kicked in. Along with the waft of cool air came another scent along with it. Apricots and oak, scents that would make me feel at home even if I was miles away from anything close to a house.

"There you are," Artemis said, standing over me, blocking all light in the process.

"Was I lost?" I asked, laughing. At least I got in some solid study time before because I knew for a fact, I wouldn't get any done now.

"You were to me. Flew out of class like a bat out of hell and then I couldn't find you anywhere. I was even going to buy you a frappe."

I moved over to give him room to sit. Otherwise, it was like talking to the Statue of Liberty, as an ant. "Next time you want to buy a girl coffee, you text her. I would've been there faster than I ran here."

He chuckled a bit loudly and then realized where he was. He sat next to me and since the love seat was so small, his thighs pressed against mine. "There will be no buying coffee for girls other than you. I hope you know that."

"Are you sure? Even after last night?" I asked, making light of what was a disturbing revelation about who I was and exactly how deeply I was impacted by the things that went on in my childhood. It was as though I never knew myself until the night before. I had no shame over it, but it would take some time for me to learn to trust.

"Kiki, we like every part of you. Our experiences make us who we are. I'm certainly not running from you needing more affection and reassurance."

Something occurred to me and I had to ask, "How come you don't call me kitten anymore?"

The big guy blushed while shaking his head. "You noticed? I was hoping you could forget about that."

"I clearly didn't. So, what's the deal?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. The guys told me it came off kind of pervy and weird, so I stopped. I had never even called any female that before. It just came out. You were so little and cute. I'm sorry if it upset you."

This god of a man could probably call any female any name and get her to submit to his will, and he was worried that I was upset about a nickname?

"It didn't upset me, Artemis. I just noticed you stopped after that first time when I ran into you."

He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Best day of my life, kitten. I do have an idea though. How about I only call you kitten in private? Since you like it so much. It will be our little secret."

Yeah, that nickname made me purr. All kinds of body parts reacted to the name, in fact.

"You know," he said, looking around. "This is kind of the make-out corner."

"What? Is that why…" I had noticed that several couples had come around the stacks, holding hands but then saw me and left. I thought they were coming to study. Young people in a dark corner. I should've known better. "Oh."

He laughed so hard that he doubled over. "I was just kidding. Well, kind of. You should've seen your face."

"That was mean," I said, slapping his arm playfully. It was like slapping hard marble.

"I know," he said. "Can we just study together? We both have Shifter Mythology. Just at different times."

"That sounds good. I have a lot of catching up in that class."

We opened up our notebooks and compared notes. Artemis took intricate, detailed notes and even had things organized by outlines. He said his parents were big on histories and his mother loved to tell them stories at night. As he went on, he put his arm around my shoulders. I leaned into the embrace and even when we resumed studying, he would dip down to kiss my head everyone once in a while.

"This is nice," I said once it was time to go to dinner. "I don't want to leave."

"You've been working hard but you need to eat. Keep up your strength." He grabbed me by the waist and hefted me on his lap and kissed me until I couldn't think straight. "Strength for more of that." From my position, straddling his hips, I could feel his hard-on beneath me. My need for him and the others was so strong that I could barely deny the craving. I rocked my hips into his groin and he stopped kissing me and pulled away. "Mmm, kitten, you have no idea how much I want you, but I want us to get to know each other a bit first. We haven't even been on a date."

"But I want you," I whispered, feeling a bit defeated.

"And I want you. I know you can feel my want." He grabbed my hips and moved himself against my core. "This isn't casual for me, Kiki."

"It's not for me either," I said, resting my head on his boulder shoulder.

"Let's get to dinner before I change my mind and the others accuse me of not feeding our girl."

"Fine, fine," I grumbled but packed up my things. Damned logic and being a gentleman.