Xae grunted, his pale blue eyes shifting away and the cords in his neck standing out. Even the muscles of his chest and arms bulged, straining his tunic.
“I think we should start with your choice of suitor,” Rath went on.
“What's wrong with Keltyr?”
“Nothing, but we feel that we should have a say in who you bring into our . . . arrangement.”
“First of all, this is not an arrangement, we're together. Second, I need to find someone to fall in love with, and that's hard enough as it is without you two limiting my choices. You know it's going to be a Wraith Lord, that's the whole point, and you once told me that all Wraith Lords are honorable men, chosen by the Goddess. If they're good enough for her, they should be good enough for you.”
Xae grunted again, but it was more grudging this time.
“You make a good point,” Rath said, then sighed. “All right, choose whomever you want, but at least speak with us before you go out with him.”
“You mean as I did today?”
“No, not as you did today,” Xae snarled. “You gave us no time to discuss it, and you asked us in front of a room full of men. We could hardly say no.”
“All right. I'm sorry about that. Kel asked me out, and I acted on impulse. It was the only way I was going to get past my reservations. Next time, I'll be better prepared and will talk to you two in private first.”
“Good. Now, as far as intimacies go, we would prefer that you wait until you're in love with a man before you sleep with him.”
“Oh, come on.,” I huffed. “Sometimes sex is a part of falling in love.”
“No, it isn't, Ember,” Rath said as Xae growled. “Sex is about the needs of the body, not the heart. That you think it otherwise only shows how inexperienced you are.”
“Inexperienced?” I made a face at them, then grimaced. “All right, yes, I'm inexperienced. But I don't think that makes me wrong. I know sex is sex and love is love, but sex can be a physical expression of love. I didn't fall in love with Xae until after we had sex.”
“That's because all you were after was sex,” Xae said.
“Maybe, but it didn't stay that way. And you claimed me after the first night.” I pointed at him. “You had to fuck me to fall in love.”
“Things were complicated between us.”
I snorted. “No, things were complicated betweenus.” I waved my hand around to include Rath in the us. “They weren't complicated at all between you and me. In fact, they were as uncomplicated as they could get. We fucked, your wolf decided it liked me, then we fell in love.”
Xae grunted and looked at Rath for help.
“Be that as it may, you can fall in love without having sex,” Rath said primly.
“Listen to you.” I snorted. “Sure, I may be able to do that, but it will draw things out, and correct me if I'm wrong, but we want this to move quickly.”
Rath leaned back in his seat with a sigh. “Why ask for rules if you don't want to follow them?”
“I will follow them if we can decide on appropriate rules together,” I shot back. “How about, no sex until I think there's a good chance I will fall in love?”
Rath blinked, then looked at Xae. Xae scowled but then nodded.
“All right,” Rath said. “That's a good compromise.”
“Now, let's talk about how far I can go on the second date.”
Xae snarled and hunched forward to grab his knees.
“All right, all right.” I shot off the couch and went to kneel before Xae, laying my hands over his. “I don't want to do this either, Xae. Remember? I will happily stay with you and Rath forever if that's what you want.Please, tell me that's what you want.”
Xaedren shuddered and met my stare. “Ember.”
He looked so broken that I launched forward, sliding between his legs to wrap my arms around him. Xae sighed as he folded around me, his hot breath hitting my neck in jagged puffs. I stroked his broad back, then massaged his tight muscles until he shuddered into relaxation.
