“Why you want what?” Ciaran’s voice was low and gruff, and when Sawyer met his gaze, the fire was back in his eyes.
“I want to do things with you I’m not entirely sure are legal,” Sawyer said. “Well, more specifically, I want you to do thingsto methat...”
Ciaran hissed and shifted his leg, bringing his knee up. “You probably shouldn’t say things like that to me,” he whispered, voice tight. “We need to talk. About everything, what it all means, before we...”
“Before we fuck?”
Ciaran groaned. “Sawyer,” he warned, eyes ablaze. Sawyer noticed then that Ciaran’s hands were fists gripping the blankets. “We were supposed to talk last night, but you decided seeing was better.”
“It was.”
Ciaran ducked his head, a brief smile tugging at his lips before he schooled his expression. “You were not...” He flinched. “Scared? Repulsed?”
Sawyer shook his head. “No.” Then he relented. “It’s still weird. It’s still a lot to get my head around, and I have questions. A lot of questions. But I wasn’t scared, or repulsed. In fact...”
“In fact what?”
“I felt safe. And it was fun. I wanted to stay underwater with you. I actually forgot I needed air.”
Ciaran growled at that. “You... you cannot forget such things. Do you know how dangerous that is? You cannot be reckless like that.”
“What is it about the water?” Sawyer asked. “Why does it call to me? Why does it feel like home to me?”
Ciaran’s nostrils flared and a different kind of fire burned in his eyes. “I don’t know.”
“Is it because of you? Because we’re... mates?” Sawyer made a face. “Is that the right word?”
“Yes. But technically, our bond is not complete, so we are not?—”
It dawned on Sawyer what he meant.
Why he said they needed to talk before they fucked.
“So, you fucking me will complete the bond,” he said, nodding sagely.
He slow-blinked. “Yes.”
“That’s why you need us to talk first.”
“Yes.” Ciaran flinched. “I would never do such a thing without your consent. It would bond us for life, and?—”
“Life?”
Ciaran’s gaze met his, honest and exposed. “Yes.”
Well, shit.
“Mine or yours?” Sawyer asked. “How long do you live for, anyway?”
“If we are bonded, our lives are entwined. One cannot live without the other.”
Sawyer looked at him then. “Well... well, that’s...”
“A lot.” Ciaran flinched and, after a long moment, pulled a thread on the blanket. “There is much we don’t know because you are human.”
“I’m the first, huh?”
Ciaran nodded. “We believe so, yes.”
