“Fucking does not count as courting!” Damon said dryly.
“I do not know why not!” Kane said indignantly. “In fact, I am certain that it is part of it and it is my favorite part, gods damn it!”
“The objective of courtship is to convince the one you adore that you cherish them!” Damon said tightly.
“I have cherished every inch of her … several times!” Sebastian said tightly. “And I would have more than that if I had gotten the gods damned chance!”
“What I would like to know,” Kane snarled, “is what a fucking fuck droid would know about courting! That is not inmyprogramming!”
“It isbecauseI am a fucking fuck droid!” Damon growled. “Do you think the women only came to fuck? They came to complain, gods damn it! Sometimes they complainedwhileI fucked them! I am as certain as I can be that I know all of thewrongways for a man to court a woman! And even appearing towantto fuck when they want courtship is the wrong way to go about it! You must convince them that you cherish them for other things.”
Sebastian frowned at him in confusion. “Whatother things?”
Damon sighed irritably. “They never got around to explaining that … or if they did, I was not listening by that time. They do not want to be wanted for sex, however, and they were equally incensed if a man mentioned that he needed a woman to keep house, or mother his children if he had them by another woman, anything to do with domestic chores. I did not understand that, especially when they would say they needed to be needed in almost the same breath. That is completely illogical.”
Jared frowned. “Reuel suggested that we build her a nest.”
Kane gaped at him. “What the fuck would she do with a gods damned nest? She is not a bird! Unless he thinks that we could catch a bird for her like that and that she would like to have a bird? But I certainly do not recall that she ever mentioned that she likes birds.”
Jared gave him a sardonic look, his lips tightening.
“I think he meant a house,” Lucien said helpfully.
“Well if he meant house, why did he not say house, gods damn it! It sounds to me as if he istryingto confuse us, not be helpful!”
“The beasts!” Jared snapped. “He was referring to the courtship of the beasts!”
“Iam not a beast!” Kane said indignantly.
“We are all beasts,” Thor said. “Or at least, I do not suppose we are more than half since we are only part human, buttheyare beasts. They are civilized beasts, but they are still animals—because they are not plants.”
Kane frowned at him. “I do not see that that is at all helpful!”
“The males try to attract the females by showing them that they are a good mate. They can provide for them and their off-spring,” Jared said. “Except that we cannot give her off-spring.”
“We do not know that we cannot,” Kane said. “Six months ago, I could not make up my own mind and now I can, except that I am not certain any longer what it is that I want to do—much of the time.”
Sebastian stared at him. “That does not make any fucking sense!”
“Of course it does. Six months ago, I ate when I was hungry and it did not matter what I ate so long as it had the correct balance of nutrients and there was enough. Now I know what it tastes like and I like some things better than others!”
“Well, we cannot worry about that now!” Jared said irritably. “It is not as if Chloe does not know what we are. I think that we should build her a beautiful nest and show her that we can provide for her.”
Kane studied him unhappily. “Can we not also show her how much we want to mate with her?”
“Not if you mean fuck her!” Damon snapped. “Did I not justsaythat they do not want to be wanted for that?”
Kane stared him sullenly. “She enjoyed it, gods damn it! I do not see why she would notstillenjoy it!”
“I do not think she would mind kisses,” Damon said thoughtfully.
“Where can we kiss her?” Kane asked with renewed interest.
Damon gave him a look. “Where do you think?”
Kane heaved an irritated breath. “Well, I cannot kiss her andnotwant to fuck her!”
“And you do not feel the same way when you are kissing her breasts? Or her pussy?”
