Page 88 of Taken By the Blood God
“Oh, yeah,” I answered, my smiled growing wider. “I’ll date you,” I said, pointing my thumb at my chest.
Then, I realized what I said and went on to clarify. “Wha’ I mean is, we’ll preten’ to date for the next couple of months so your dad stops pressuring you to go to tha meeting. It’ll give ya time to figure out how to find your actual fated mate instead of settling for whoever he tries to shove at ya.”
Zeke cocked his head, which made him go out of focus again.
I swatted his arm. “Stop moving. I can’t see you when you move.”
A crooked grin tugged up one corner of his mouth, revealing the dimple in his left cheek.
“I dunno if that’ll work, Poppy,” he drawled. “Anyone who knows us also knows that we’ve been friend—only friends—for a lon’ time.”
I waved a hand. “All we hafta do is say that we fought our attraction so we didn’t ruin our frien’ship until we couldn’t resis’ anymore. It’ll work. I swear.”
Zeke blinked at me some more before he finally said, “Okay, tha’mightwork. Shifters are nothing more than a bunch of gossiping busybodies anyway. They’ll probably believe it because it’s such a ‘romantic story’.”
He said the last two words while making air quotes, which struck me as funny for some reason.
I started giggling and asked, “Why are we making air quotes?”
The entire sentence, I used the first two fingers of each hand to make actual air quotes.
Zeke ignored my teasing and rubbed his chin. “But wha’ would ya get out of it?”
I rolled my eyes, picking up my bottle of tequila. There was one teeny tiny swallow left in the bottom, and it would be a shame to waste it. I tilted it back, letting the smooth, smoky liquor slide down my throat. Licking my lips, I lowered the bottle and looked at Zeke. His gaze was locked on my mouth.
“I keep telling ya that our relationship doesn’t hafta be transhacshunal.” My tongue didn’t want to form the last word, so I repeated it slowly. “Trans-ac-tion-al.”
It was something I said at least once a week. I never understood why Zeke thought he owed me any time I tried to do something nice for him. It was weird.
Those bright blue eyes were making my lips tingle, so I ran my tongue across the bottom one to try to make it stop. Finally, Zeke’s attention moved up to meet my gaze.
“And I keep tellin’ ya that I don’ like it when you do things for me and won’ let me do things for you.”
This was an old argument, and I was tired of it.
Waving a hand, I said, “Fine. You can han’le my household chores. Washing tha dishes. Doing tha laundry. Vacuuming.” I chuckled. “Well, you might have to fix them all first. I think tha only appliance I own that does i’s job is mah vibrator, and even tha’s hit or miss.”
Silence fell between us like a stone sinking into a lake.
Oops, I’d made it awkward.
Before I could backpedal, Zeke straightened up on the couch, bringing his hands back to my shoulders so he could hold me still.
“Tha’s it. I’ll take care of your house and you,” he said.
“My house andme?” My voice cracked on the last word.
He nodded, his expression serious. “I’ll fix your appliances, clean your house once a week, and be better at giving you orgasms than any vibrator you’ve ever ha’.”
I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open as I stared at him. “I was joking, Z.”
“I know, but I’m not. If you’ll help keep my dad off my back, and keep some she-cat from getting her claws into my ass, your house will be clean the entire time, and I’ll make you come so hard that your eyes roll back in your head and you pass out.”
I had to scoff. “Oh, please. You’re no’ the first one to talk a big game, bestie. But everyone who’s ever said tha’ to me has barely even made my toes curl.” I laughed again. Damn, tequila made the craziest conversations funny. “But I’ll tell ya what, if you can do that, I’ll fake date ya for the next two months. And if your dad won’t let ya out of the regional meeting, I’ll go with you and pee on the shoes of any female shifter who even looks at ya a second too long.”
Getting to his feet, Zeke held out his hand for me. I took it to shake, but he used his grip to pull me to my feet as well. Then, he stood there, looking into my eyes while he held my hand.
“Issa deal,” he rumbled.
I’d never heard him sound like that before. The deep growl of his voice made goosebumps erupt all over my body. The wolf inside me whined with pleasure. She liked the sound.
I gave his hand a shake and tried to release it, but he wouldn’t let me. His grip tightened, holding me in place.
“So, when do we start?” I asked, trying to change the subject and to distract myself from his big, rough hand cradling mine.
His gaze moved over my face, down over the thin t-shirt I wore with skimpy cut-offs, and my bare legs and feet. There was a look in his eyes I’d never seen before—hot and intense.
Using his grip on my hand, Zeke pulled me closer until my body was pressed against his, one of his thighs between mine and his other arm looping around my hips to hold me tightly against him. Then, he answered me.
“Right fuckin’ now.”
