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If he kept asking me book questions, I was going to fall in love with him.
But I was too damn excited that he was asking me about Earth, about my life, to care.
So I explained tropes, and styles, and then we got back around to what kinds of books I liked the most.
The dangerous question.
I heaved a sigh. “You’re going to judge me,” I said.
He laughed. “If I intended on judging you, I would’ve done it by now.”
Okay, that was kind of harsh.
But also extremely accurate.
“My favorite ones were fantasy romance books,” I admitted. “With found family, and fated mates. And sex.”
He was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment.
I tried to pull myself out of the hole I’d just dug. “I always loved the idea, you know? As someone who never really had family, who never really fit in on Earth. The idea of being whisked away to a magical world where I was loved intensely by some sexy elf guy, or werewolf, or… fae.” I watched his face closely, positive that I’d only buried myself deeper with the words.
He wasn’t usually good at tempering his emotions; they showed constantly on his face. Which was helpful, but also made me nervous sometimes.
This was one of those times.
But his eyebrows only lifted, showing me his surprise.
I waited for him to ask me something.
To push for more.
But he didn’t.
And… I opened my mouth and kept talking.
“The fantasy is different from the reality,” I said quietly. “In the fantasy, I wasn’tme, you know? I didn’t have the baggage. I was vibrant, and bright, and happy, and alive. Not my usual panicky, suspicious self. It wasn’t the fantasy of the hot guy who loved me no matter what that really appealed to me—although looking at you, I’m damn sure there’s an appeal to it. It was the fantasy of being someone entirely different, in a completely different world.”
Quake—dammit, Odin—set his hand on mine.
My throat swelled with emotion when he squeezed lightly.
He said gently, “Unlike the way you appeared in Bluhm, the stories weren’t a burnt bridge or a fresh start. They were an escape. A pleasure.”
“Exactly. Being here now isn’t an escape, or a pleasure. It’s being thrust into a new world with no skills or talents. It’s not trusting anyone, because I never trust anyone. It’s fighting everything, because my first instinct is to fight everything.”
“Instincts like that keep people alive, Velvet. You should be proud of them—even if you have to wrestle them sometimes.”
My eyes stung. “I just want to be free of them, you know? I want to trust someone. I don’t want to fight everything and everyone. I just don’t know how.”
“Then perhaps you should accept my invitation to be my friend-mate, instead of my lover-mate,” Quake said simply.
I laughed quietly. “Friend-mate, huh?”
“Mhm. As I said, sharing our thoughts and our time is still a level of intimacy. And in time, intimacy builds trust. If you trusted me, you wouldn’t feel the need to fight everything, because you’d know that I’ll protect you regardless of the cost.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
He squeezed my hand lightly before removing his palm from it. “Good.”
