Page 62 of Blade

“That sounds like I have something else to research.” He wasn’t the only one who could do that. “My list is going to be longer than yours eventually.”

Narrowing his gaze, he tried to look serious but ended up looking like a kid playing pretend. “Am I going to need to keep an eye on your search history? There are ways I can go back and see what you’ve been looking up. You were very focused on the tablet while I was making dinner.”

He didn’t want to play that game.

“Do you really want to know what I was looking up?” Leaning forward and bracing my arms on the table, I couldn’t help imagining how he’d squirm and blush. “I won’t hide what I was curious about. You’re my mate.”

He swallowed hard as his cheeks flushed. “Oh. Um. No, you deserve privacy too.”

“We’ll have to work out what privacy looks like between us, but I have come up with a few questions I need you to answer so we’re both on the same page.” I waited until he nodded to continue. “I need to know your safewords.”

Ha.

His mouth dropped open for a split second before he closed it.

“I know we’re putting off some conversations, but I need to understand those to make sure I understand your limits.” If he was used to what the internet called BDSM, he was probably going to fall back on using more of the curious terminology without realizing it. “I also would like to know if you’re still comfortable with me sleeping in the same bed as you.”

The form I’d been in before was concerning for entirely different reasons, but he needed to have the choice.

Oh, that adorable glare.

“You didn’t seem to need my permission before.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he latched onto the easier emotion. “You were dead set on making sure I wasn’t going anywhere.”

I’d been a wonderful pest and he’d loved it.

“You were my mate.” Taking his hand, I stroked my fingers over his and did my best not to smile as he shivered again. “That form was more focused on my instincts and you smelled very good when I stretched out on top of you.”

Blinking, his frustration deflated and he wiggled bashfully in his seat. “You were…you needed attention.”

“Not every mate would’ve understood that under the circumstances.” Turning his hand over, I ran my fingers over his palm and down to his wrists, gently caressing him. “You were amazingly sensitive to what I needed and you handled a difficult situation incredibly well.”

Taking a bit of a ragged breath, he sat straighter again. “The ranger said we were mates and I already knew you’d claimed me as your friend. It wasn’t hard to fill in the rest.”

He wasn’t giving himself nearly enough credit.

“It could’ve been for a lot of people.” He really couldn’t see how remarkable he was. “You talked through everything you were doing to help me understand what was going on, and being around you so much strengthened our bond and helped the fog to clear.”

He was an amazing mate and one day I’d make sure he understood that.

“You…you needed me.” Latching onto that aspect didn’t surprise me. “The mates I met…they…they were very happy together.”

“We’re going to be that happy together. It’s just going to take time getting to know one another and letting the love we’ll have grow stronger.” The mix of being human and his background and the information he’d gathered made it hard to understand what kind of questions he had about being mates. “We were made for each other, but we’re not in a rush to the finish line. I’m enjoying getting to know you more.”

Smiling, he rolled his eyes. “Now that I’m not the only one talking.”

“Personally, I enjoyed having you talk to me, so be nice to my mate.” I was fairly certain I could technically make a joke about punishing him, but he wasn’t ready for that yet. “He’s important to me and he likes sharing his thoughts.”

Swallowing, he licked his lips and nodded slowly. “As long as I don’t think about it too hard, I’m not worried or anything.”

But he couldn’t stop thinking all the time.

Picking up his hand, I slid out of the small booth and stood up. “Don’t see this like we’re dating or that I’ll get frustrated andleave. This is us knowing exactly how the painting will look when we’re done, but we’re carefully working our way there.”

Smiling, he stood and followed me toward the bed. “We’re making happy little trees, huh?”

The painting man.

Henley had turned him on when he’d been explaining some of the shows he’d watched growing up.