Page 31 of Stone Cold Alien

“How do you know what to do?”

“Training. Experience. We monitor everything their bodies are doing and respond to any changes. We also talk to them, even when we don’t know whether they can hear us.”

I understood now why she had apologised. She spent her life caring for people unable to speak or move.

“Do they recover?”

“Some of them.” Sadness briefly changed her scent. “Not all.”

I wanted to ask why she continued if the work brought her pain, but I thought I already knew. She would not abandon someone who needed her.

That was why she had offered me her blood.

“A patient arranged this meeting,” she continued. “Keira persuaded me to sign up to the dating agency.”

“Why would a patient arrange your mating?”

“Because she thinks I need a love life.”

Georgie laughed. “And was she right?”

Robyn took a drink of water. “She isn’t entirely wrong.”

I ignored the others at the table, my attention entirely fixed on her. “Have you had mates before?”

She almost choked. “Relationships. We call them relationships.”

“Have you?”

“A few. None of them lasted.”

I did not like that other people had touched her. The reaction was unreasonable. They had existed before she knew me, and she had made it clear that she had not accepted the mate bond.

My tail tightened around her ankle anyway.

She glanced beneath the table again but didn’t remove her foot.

“You knew a great deal about these vampires,” I said. “Was one of your… relationships with one of them?”

This time, she did choke. “No,” she coughed. “They’re not real. Just stories. At least I think so. Although yesterday I didn’t think aliens were real either.”

“Why do you know so much about fictional blood drinkers?”

Robyn hesitated. Her gaze flicked to the other humans at the table, as if debating whether to continue. “I write vampire romance novels.”

I stared at her. So did everyone else.

“Not full-time,” she added. “I started writing for fun, then published a few. Nursing pays the bills. They didn’t sell much, but I love to write.”

“And your stories are about females mating with blood-drinking monsters?”

“Sometimes males mate with male monsters. Or females with female monsters. I’ve written all kinds.”

Cairn laughed. “You have found the perfect mate, Sten.”

I tore off a piece of bread and dipped it into the sauce. Her smile remained in the corner of my vision.

“Do you have a family in your city?” I asked.