Page 26 of Rooting for Kiran (The Mate-Cute #1)
KIRAN
Two weeks without my mate feels like how I imagine dying does…
Tonight is my fourteenth night working way past close, and I’m rearranging the dirt and soil room, in desperate need of sweating out whatever these emotions are.
Just as I’m about to put on my headphones, there’s a knock on the entrance door. I glance down at my watch, noting that it’s well after nine.
“That’s weird,” I whisper to myself. “Who the hell would be here?”
I huff, guessing it’s Colton who forgot something here, or both him and Magda coming to check on me for the third time this week.
Steps from the entrance, the sight through the glass has me frozen in place.
“Thea?”
My brunette goddess stands opposite me, with a familiar plant pot in hand and only a door separating us.
Ever so slowly, I open the door and stare at her as if she’s not real. “Hi,” I quaver, suddenly unsure of what exactly to say and worried I might scare her away.
She hugs the pot a bit tighter. “Hey.”
“Can I help you?” I clear my throat, pulling the door open wider to allow her the space to enter.
She walks by, carefully calculating her steps, then spins to face me. “Are you okay?”
I tilt my head at her, assessing her through squinted eyes. “Is that a loaded question?”
“Well…” She holds up the pot, showing me a shriveled, shrunken, sickly version of my cock. “Willy’s dying, and I didn’t know if that would have some adverse effect on you or something. So, I had to come and get him fixed. Ya know, to make sure you’re okay.”
Covering my laugh, I take the plant from her. “I feel like shit, but it has nothing to do with Willy.”
Thea’s smile is sad. “Why is he dying? I mean, I accidentally locked him in a room alone for about a week, but for the last few days, I’ve been following the directions on his tag. He’s been getting worse.”
I’m not prepared to share what I’m about to say, but at the same time, it has to be said. If she’s asking, I owe her the truth.
“If you don’t accept our mate bond, Willy will die.”
She gasps. “And if he dies, what then? You’ll grow another Talahecksiya and find another mate?”
As I push the pot across the counter, it makes an ear-piercing screech. “Then my love life dies with it.”
“What?”
I sigh, holding my hand out toward Willy. “Every male Cēd’oh receives a single Talahecksiya upon reaching adolescence,” I explain, holding up one finger. “It’s our job to raise it and keep it alive so that one day, it can attract the mate we’re destined to spend the rest of our lives with. If our mate refuses the bond, it dies, and that’s it.”
Thea wrings her hands together, her gaze bouncing between Willy and me. “I don’t want Willy to die.”
Those words send my heart soaring, but I settle it back down, not wanting to get my hopes up. “It’s okay if he does, Thea.”
“You’d make that sacrifice for me?”
I shrug. “I’d do anything for you, sweet girl.”
Her eyes glaze over at the endearment. “Kiran…”
“Don’t, Thea. It’s okay. Leave Willy here. I’ll take care of everything. Why don’t you come back tomorrow and we’ll find you a new plant?”
She moves even closer, placing her hand beside mine on the counter. “But I want Willy.”
I slump over a smidge. “I can’t fix him.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing that I’m rooting for you, Kiran.”
Standing a little taller, I cross my arms over my chest. “Rooting for me?”
Thea nods. “Yeah. I’m rooting for you and for Willy, too. I’m rooting for us.”
Movement catches my eye, and as I glance over at the Talahecksiya— my Talahecksiya—I notice the brown disappearing from the edges of the leaves, the stems and arm growing again, and the green brightening. “Did you?” I ask.
“Did I what?”
I step closer to my mate, taking her face in my hands. “Accept the bond? Just now?”
“Ummmm…” Her gaze bounces between both of my eyes before landing on a recovering Willy. Then she nods. “Would ya look at that! I guess I did. I was worried that your penis might shrink and die, just like Willy’s.”
A guffaw bursts out of me. “I assure you, my dick is just fine.”
“Prove it,” she orders.
Thea squeals as I bend down to grab her ass and lift her up. She wraps herself around me, her mouth hovering just within reach of mine.
“With pleasure, my mate.”
Wasting no time, I reach my office and shut the door behind us. Then I swipe everything off of my desk and set her down, boxing her in between my arms.
“Unbutton my pants, sweet girl. Pull it out and see for yourself.”
Thea gets to work, pushing my pants down to free me from the material. Wrapping her hand around my cock, she strokes me once before locking eyes with me. “Got any pepper?”
THE END