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I was Margo.
And I was Quake’s mate.
Odin’s mate.
They were two facts. Separate facts, but facts all the same. Ones I couldn’t protest.
Who I was, andwhoseI was.
Some parts of me despised the thought that I belonged to anyone. Especially a massive, cocky fae king.
But some other part of me ached at the idea that I might have finally found a place to belong.
I’d probably burn it down, but at least for this five minutes, or this five days, or this five weeks, I had found a place to belong.
Despite all the time Quake and I had known each other, and all the time I’d spent in Bluhm, I had never actually let myself accept the fact that we were mates. Mostly, I had never accepted the permanence of it.
Permanence was a big thing for me.
Ahugething for me.
Nothing was ever permanent.
But… what if we could be?
Bluhm was very, very different from Earth, after all.
“What if I hurt you?” I asked Quake, randomly. The water was boiling, and he was stirring the pasta lazily.
“You can’t hurt me.”
“I’m serious, okay? What if you kissed me or something, and I burned you somehow?”
“I suppose we’d figure out why, solve the problem, and try again.” He lifted a shoulder.
“What if I hurt you emotionally, though? What if we had sex, and I hated it? And I never wanted you to touch me again?”
He chuckled. “We would take things slow enough that I would be absolutely, completely certain that you were enjoying yourself long before we got around to the actual sex. I have no desire to rush things with you, Margo. We have forever.”
“I’m serious. What if I hated it? What if no matter what you did, our bodies just weren’t compatible?”
“Then we would be close friends, and nothing else. Because of our bond—which is permanent, regardless of any terrible situation you think up—we will spend our lives together. I would prefer we do so as friends. Sharing a bed, sharing our thoughts, sharing our time… are those things not just as intimate as sex? If not quite as pleasurable, perhaps?”
His words caught me off guard, so I was silent when he continued, “You feel as though you destroy things. You told me that much—that you’re afraid of burning me down. The thing is, Margo, that I’ve already been turned to ashes. If not by the man the other kings and I killed, or my own disability, or my own magic, then by the boredom I suffered through for so many years. You could burn, and burn, and burn—and all you would do is provide warmth and light to my ravaged soul.”
My breath caught in my throat.
How did he wreck my argument so damn easily?
And why did I hate it so much when he called me by my name?
“You arenotin ashes,” I finally said.
“How would you know that?”
“Because you’re smiling.” I tossed a hand toward him. “Because you make jokes, and laugh all the time. Because you have a family that loves you, and that you love.”
He chuckled. “Has your experience on Earth and Bluhm not proven that all people cope differently?”
