Page 149 of Fractured Fate

“Blaire and I got close while I kept watch over her when she first arrived. When you sprinkle in the weird tie the magical connection adds, it was a recipe for attraction.” He shrugged. “I don’t feel attracted to her now, though. I still felt it for a bit after I backed off. It’s not like an attraction can turn off like a light switch, but I grew to understand how much stronger my desire to be her friend was than desiring her sexually.”

Her nose scrunched. “Does that mean you didn’t feel anything for me before we became close friends?” That’s how it would work if he was demisexual, but she felt something for him from the moment they met. At least, physical attraction.

“Oh, I did.” At her raised brows, he laughed. “The first time I saw you, it felt so strange to get a hard-on from just seeing you in that mini-dress uniform at the diner. I had to hide it from the others.”

Her mouth gaped. “What? I don’t understand.”

“I think my body recognized you as my pair before my mind realized it. Even your scent seemed familiar.”

“Scent?”

“Yeah, you smell like pineapple upside down cake.”

“I do not.” She lifted her shirt and sniffed. All she smelled was Aiden’s laundry detergent. “I don’t even have anything that smells like that.”

He chuckled. “No, you wouldn’t. It’s a pheromone unique to you that only I can smell. There should be one for me that only you smell, too.”

There was so much to learn about this Korrena stuff she couldn’t keep up.

“You usually smell like a blend of orange Creamsicle lotion and the cologne you put on at my apartment.” She’d smelled the bottle one day when he sprayed it. “Oh, and my bathroom supplies.”

“I don’t wear lotion.”

“Really?”

“Really. So I smell like ice cream to you?”

“Like Creamsicle, yeah. That’s not something you have?”

“No. That would be the pheromone I have that would appeal most to you. Probably why I slept better beside you than not. Your scent calms my mind. It’s supposed to soothe you and draw you in. ”

“All it’s doing right now is making me hungry. Cake and ice cream? Yes, please.”

Aiden laughed. “I haven’t eaten either since before the club. We were planning to grab something from a late-night restaurant afterward, but things went… Well, you were there.”

The last thing she wanted was to think about the rogue who attacked her. She didn’t want to burst the bubble of comfort and peace they had at that moment, but the look on his face let her know unpleasantness had already seeped in. She put her hand over her bandaged forearm and winced.

“It hurts?”

She moved her hand and grimaced. “A little, yeah.”

Heavy black brows speared together over forest green eyes, swimming with insecurity. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“For what you went through. Because I’m a monster? Take your pick.”

“No. No, you’re not.” When he looked away from her, she snapped her fingers. He wouldn’t do this to himself. “Aiden, look at me.” His gaze slid back to hers. “Monsters hurt others. Monsters steal, kill, torment, and destroy without remorse.”

“But you were afraid of me.”

She reared back. “When?”

“In the alley. After I killed that piece of shit who hurt you. You were terrified. I felt your fear.”

“I wasn’t afraid of you. I was afraid of him, not you. You surprised me, but I wasn’t afraid.”

She watched the muscle in his square jaw jump and flutter with his clenched teeth, and she sighed, reaching out with her bandaged arm and placed her hand on the side of his face. The anxiety on her chest lifted when he leaned into her touch.