Page 19

I’ve been alone for such a long time, deprived of any sort of relationship outside of my ancient landlord or at-work-only coworkers, of course I’d find the first female to show me any attention at all attractive.

Hell, her emails are probably to blame for even entertaining the idea that Zia is pretty.

I’d be attracted to anyone who goes into great detail over sucking my cock or letting me fuck them in the ass at this point.

I need to stop thinking about this, though.

It doesn’t benefit anyone, because at the end of the day, she kidnapped me, and I don’t need to add Stockholm’s syndrome to the long list of shit that’s wrong with me.

“Where’s Roger?”

Zia tilts her head as one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows raise in confusion. “What?”

“Roger.” I nod as I take a step back, putting a little more space between us. “What did you do with him?”

“Who the hell is Roger?”

“He was with me when I left work, but he’s not here now, and I want to know what you did with him. He needs me.”

Zia’s entire demeanor changes and I swear she growls as lunges toward me. “He needs you? The guy you were with at that tiny building where you make your podcast? Is he this Roger person? Because if you’re with him in any—”

“My cat,” I say quickly before she explodes. “Roger is my cat. I was carrying him while I was walking home.”

She frowns. “The alien?”

“Alien?” What the hell is she talking about?

Zia nods as she visibly relaxes. “Roger is the alien. The ugly naked thing with the big eyes that hisses. He’s in the bathroom.”

I blink and ignore the fact she called my grumpy good boy ugly. “The bathroom?”

“Mhm.”

“Why is my cat in the bathroom?”

“He made it very clear that he doesn’t like me. Probably because I tried to show dominance by hissing at him.” She smiles a little as she turns and sits on the edge of the bed. “I wanted to leave him in the trunk, but Draven wouldn’t allow it because he had other things to do, and a hissing alien was not part of his plans for the day. He also thought you’d be mad.”

“I would,” I snap. “Did you hurt him? I swear to god, if you hurt my cat—”

“Calm down, Felix. I didn’t hurt your naked mole rat. I put him in the bathroom while I waited for you to wake up.” Zia looks up at me as I sigh in relief. “Why is he wearing a sweater? That’s freaking weird. And it’s super itchy. He’s probably going to get a rash.”

“He doesn’t have any fur.” I sway a little on my feet, my stomach rolling with hunger and forcing me to sit down next to her. How long have I been here? “He’s a sphinx. They… they get cold because they don’t have fur like…”

“Felix?”

I shake my head as my gut rumbles. “How did you know I’m a—”

“Your fangs.” I turn to her with a furrowed brow as she scoots closer. “The blood bag in your messenger bag burst. Scared the hell out of me. I thought I hurt you and when I was looking over your body to see if I had, I noticed your fangs. Are they always out like that?”

She reaches over with her finger like she wants to poke one, but I jerk away.

“Yes,” I grunt, closing my eyes against the way my head starts to pulse. “I’m not—I’m not feeling so hot.”

“Of course not, silly,” Zia says with a laugh. “Vampires are cold-blooded. You shouldn’t be feeling hot. Not yet, anyway.”

Unsure what exactly she means by that, I choose not to address it in favor of finding out the severity of the issue we’re both about to be facing. “How long have I been here?”

“Just a few hours.”