Page 21 of The Nixie and the Frost Elf

I snort. "Innuendo?"

"I can still enjoy making jokes about it, even if I don't desire to have sex," she points out.

I frown, trying to work out what feels off about the way she phrased that.

"What?" Her eyes widen, and I can already see her trying to work out what she's doing wrong.

"You said desire," I say. "I was wondering about that."

"Mmhmm. It's different from saying that I don't want to have sex. I can want to have sex for reasons that aren't desire, so I don't want to misrepresent what I'm saying by using the wrong words. Though I'm sure I'm going to do that at some point."

I reach across the table and take her hand in mine. "Even if you say the wrong thing, that's okay. We'll figure it out. So you don't desire sex?" I ask, using her words.

She swallows hard, completely ignoring her food now. "Yes. Erm, I'm not really sure what the best way to say this is," she says slowly. "So I don't think about sex as sex very much. Not in a way that turns me on. And when we kiss, it's nice, and I enjoy it, but it's not causing the same kind of reaction in me that it does in you."

I nod. "Okay." I search for the right question to ask, but don't really find one.

"But I am open to having sex. But I don't know how I'm going to feel about it. I've not had the best experiences in the past, and I'm a little worried that I'm going to try it but not like it again, and then where will that leave us?" She looks up and meets my gaze, and I can see the pain in her eyes.

"I don't know," I admit.

She clears her throat. "How often do you want sex?"

"I've never thought about it," I admit.

"What about with your exes?"

I think back over the few and fleeting relationships I've had over the years. After I discovered that Lexi was my mate, none of them lasted longer than a few months. Even before that, I didn't have anything particularly serious with anyone. "I guess we were having sex once a week or so," I respond.

"And was that enough for you?"

"Maybe."

She gives a nervous laugh. "Reassuring that you don't know yourself."

"I don't have any specifics to tell you," I respond. "If I did, then I would. But I know that I never felt annoyed about the amount of sex I was having with any of my exes, in either direction. And I've never been interested in one night stands."

She nods. "Okay, that's good to know."

"But I do get turned on. Like when you kissed me."

She touches her lips. "I didn't intend to do that."

"I know. And it wasn't a problem. We didn't plan the kiss, and neither of us knew how we'd react."

"So, you don't want me to kiss you like that again?" she asks.

I grimace. "I don't know. I like it, a lot. But it could be a little frustrating if you leave me like that all the time. But sometimes? I don't think it would be a problem. Unless you have a problem with me dealing with it myself?"

She shakes her head. "No, I don't. Did you?"

I swallow hard. "Yes."

"Was it...good?"

I close my eyes and try not to think about it too hard. "Yes."

"That's good." She picks up her fork and starts to eat some of her pasta again, which I think means that she's not feeling too uncomfortable.