Chapter 6

Thebes

I didn't make a single video all weekend, or Monday or Tuesday.

Or rather, I snapped a few pictures, grabbed a few vids—mainly Ashlyn, looking excited to visit another Eastshore landmark…but those were for me, not for my followers. It felt strange not to be thinking of them all the time, not to be watching the world through a viewfinder of my phone's camera.

Instead I was focused on Ashlyn. One hundred and ten percent.

Okay, yes, the sex was mind-blowing. It was the first time I'd ever really regretted wearing a condom; my Kteer so desperately wanted to claim her, to mark her as mine .

But she wasn't mine, so I wasn't going to disrespect her. Giza had once told me it was impossible for a human-orc pairing to create a child unless they were Mated, but I wanted to keep Ashlyn safe from anything else too .

And trust me, we were going through condoms at a ridiculous rate. I'd spent every night so far in her room in the bed-and-breakfast, holding her as we slept.

And then in the morning, waking her with my tongue.

In between our athletic romps in the bed—and the shower, and the bath, and twice up against the door—I wooed her with Eastshore. Somewhere around Sunday afternoon's tea-with-macarons—turns out those were the cookies I meant—I realized I was trying to gift wrap the town and present it to her like a…well, like a present.

Yeah, I was schmoozing her alright, just like Giza and Sakkara asked.

And the reason I was so damn antsy right now, despite feeling the most sexually satiated I ever had? The reason I felt itchy and irritable?

Well, pretty sure it was because, deep down, I was afraid I was only making love to Ashlyn because that was part of the schmoozing.

Over the years, I've had physical relationships with different women for different reasons…but I've never seduced one as manipulation. This felt…dirty. I felt dirty, no matter how right I felt when I was holding Ashlyn.

There was something in my chest that wasn't satisfied. I was jumpy, irritable, angry at myself. I kept catching myself scratching at my chest with my claws out, as if I could rip through my shirt and dig into my flesh and pull out whatever was itching me.

My Kteer was to blame, pretty certain. Stupid biology.

It should be pleased I was getting my balls drained daily, right? I liked Ashlyn—I liked her a lot!—and sex with her was a remarkably satisfying experience. When I was wrapped up in her delicious body, everything was right with the world. I could see clearly; I could breathe freely .

And then after, I'd go back to feeling like…like this . It must be guilt, right?

The guys would know, but I had no intention of telling them what was going on. I mean, I was the playboy, I was the one they'd turned to for this mission, because I knew women, right? I didn't need their advice.

So how come, when Sakkara invited me over Wednesday afternoon to give an update, did Giza take one look at me, cluck his tongue, and demand I tell him everything? Could he tell there was something wrong just by looking at me?

It took two beers before I'd finished the list of things Ashlyn and I had done in the last four days…and I didn't even mention the mind-blowing sex.

Giza was sitting across from me, nursing his own cold bottle, while Sakkara was standing with his back to us, hands clasped behind him, studying the trees around his backyard. Or maybe the birds, or maybe he was just staring off into space. It's hard to tell with that guy.

"So what does she think?" Giza finally rumbled.

"She seems…" I shrugged and leaned forward, propping my elbows on my knees, staring down at the beer I was spinning around between my hands. "She's giving every impression that she loves this town. Every place I show her, she's excited, going on about how cute that is, or how sweet this is…" I trailed off. "I dunno."

"Has she said anything about the sale?"

I glanced at Sakkara, who'd asked without turning around. "No," I said quietly. "But she's meeting with the buyer—or the guy who represents the buyers—this afternoon. That's why I'm here."

Sakkara muttered something that might've been shit .

"Did you take her to the beach?" demanded Giza. "The diner? "

I nodded. "We had lunch at the diner, and we spent Monday afternoon on the beach." I almost mentioned how fucking delicious she looked in that two-piece, but that memory—and the memory of the way I'd almost chewed it off her later in the shower—was for me alone. "She really had fun."

"Meli's bakery?" Giza shot out.

"Yep. Three times so far—once for sandwiches, twice for pastries." My lips twitched at our macaron/macaroon confusion, but defeat and worry quickly pulled them back to a frown. "And Saturday morning, I took her to the town fair. Holy crap, Geez, you should've seen it."

"Don't call me that," he grumbled, but he was looking anxious. "What happened?"

He was the oldest of us to come through the veil together in that first cohort, and when the scientists had given him the name Giza , and Tanis—who'd learned English faster than any of us—explained the meaning of the word geezer , it obviously became the perfect way to tease him. So of course I used it again.

"Well, Geez , she actually did that animated-princess-cartoon-thing where she spun around in a circle." She'd been so fucking adorable in that little sundress. "There were puppies from the rescue society, and I think I took fifty photos of her cuddling with them, we were there for so long. Everyone was coming out of the woodwork to talk to her, and she was just going on and on about how sweet everyone was, how kind, how wonderful this place is."

"She's right," murmured Sakkara, his back still to us.

"She's got to love Eastshore by now, right?"

I met Giza's eyes when I answered his question. "I think she does. We…found out she has a family connection to it." I'd already bought her a frame for the copy of the photo of her parents I got from Patti and Ashlyn had it sitting on he r dresser in the B have you explicitly told her that if the historic district is sold to a developer to make high rises for tourists, Eastshore is going to be irrevocably changed?"

"No," I admitted quietly. "But we've spent a lot of time in the historic district. She really liked Patti's."

Sakkara held my gaze for a long moment before humming and turning away once more. "Hopefully it'll be enough."

We were all quiet, and suddenly the beer wasn't quite as appealing, even though the afternoon was hot. I straightened and placed my half-full bottle on the table beside me. When I looked up, Giza was watching me thoughtfully.

"What?" I barked, that itchy, irritable feeling welling up in response to another male's scrutiny.

But he just shook his head. "I'm pleased for you, T'mak . You've found happiness."

Had I? What a strange thing to announce. "I'm just doing what you asked me to do."

Except for making love to Ashlyn. That was for me . For us .

"Perhaps." Giza's smile was a little sad. "But you have done it well. I have to believe that your Mate won't make any decisions that will affect your home—"

"What?" I blurted, not realizing I'd sprung to my feet until that moment. "My what? "

Giza blinked, tipping his head back to hold my gaze. " Your Mate, T'mak ." Little brother . "Ashlyn is your Mate, yes?"

My mouth opened, but no sound came out.

It was Sakkara who calmly spoke, still looking out over the trees. "Next time you're in front of a mirror, Thebes, look at your eyes. They're glowing. You're in the Mating thrall."

Holy shit.

Holy fucking shit .

Good thing I was standing in front of the chair, because when my knees gave out, I plopped down into it. Holy fucking shit.

Mate ?

That would explain the way I was feeling, right? My Kteer knew Ashlyn was mine, and since I hadn't properly claimed her, couldn't properly claim her, it was causing me to feel this antsy and testy.

"She's my Mate," I whispered.

And the moment I said the words, the moment I accepted it as true, it was as if my Kteer took a big breath and calmed the fuck down. I felt…at peace.

Giza sounded almost amused as he fiddled with his bottle. "I've never seen it this fast, but I should've known it'd work like that for Thebes. When you love a female, you don't leave her wanting."

I was shaking my head. "Ashlyn isn't…she's…"

"Is she different than the women you've been with in the past?" Giza asked mildly.

"I know she is," I whispered, still dazed. "I knew from the first moment I touched her. Hells, even before that."

"Well there you go," Giza announced with a nod. "She's your Mate."

Sakkara turned back to us slowly. "You understand what this means, Thebes? Your future is with her, whether or not that includes Eastshore. Obviously, we'd like it to include Eastshore, but this Mating bond is more important than the town. You have a new concern now."

I nodded and gripped the arms of the chair so I could push myself to my feet. I did have a new mission.

I had to convince Ashlyn to love me.

And that meant coming clean about why I'd been schmoozing her.