Page 32 of The Nixie and the Frost Elf

"You were saying that you wanted to try more things," I say, using my knife to spread the paté onto the thin slices of toast that came with my starter.

"Oh, right, yes. Well, I would. I have a few ideas"

"I'm glad. But erm, maybe we should talk about what you want to do when we're in private, rather than in the middle of a pub."

"Oh, maybe." She tucks a strand of deep green hair behind her ear, showing off the slightly greener tops of them.

"It's not that I don't want to hear, it's just that I'm not sure here is the right place for the conversation."

"I know." She smiles, and I can see from her expression that she really believes that.

It helps things settle within me. Now that we're talking about this, and doing it in a way that makes her feel safe, I have every reason to hope that we can avoid a situation like when she discovered we were mates. We're working out how to communicate with one another, and hopefully, that will mean that we can work through other things too.

"There's one thing I do want to ask before we're in bed again." She eats some more of her whitebait.

"Oh?"

"Is it okay that we haven't already done it? I mean, it's been five days, right? So that'll be about a week. And I just want to make sure that it's okay with you and that it's not disappointing..."

"I'm not disappointed," I promise. "And I really don't think that a week is very long. I've thought more about when you asked me about how things were with my exes, and it's strange, because I've never thought about it before. But now that I have, I'd say that I don't have a high sex drive." I speak quietly so that I don't make either of us uncomfortable by having anyone overhear us.

"Oh."

"And my exes were often the ones who initiated." I eat some of my paté, pleasantly surprised at how good it is. I've heard good things about the pub from other students, but I didn't know if it would live up to the reputation. I'm glad it is. It's a reasonably priced place, and not far from the academy, so I'm sure we'll find ourselves here for a date again.

Lexi laughs. "That could be a problem if I'm not an initiator."

It's hard not to join in with her laughter. "Then maybe we're better suited than we thought."

"Maybe."

"We'll figure it out if we keep talking," I promise.

She meets my gaze. "I'm glad you think so."

"I do. And not because of the mate bond."

"No, it's not because of the mate bond," she responds. "Though maybe that helped me be brave." She gives me a small smile, making my heart squeeze in response.

"Then we're going to be really glad about it," I respond.

"I am sorry. About not being brave three years ago. I didn't want to hurt you. I did the only thing I could think of in that moment to protect myself, and it was completely the wrong thing, especially because I ended up hurting both of us in the process."

I swallow hard, trying to think about how I want to respond. There's still the lingering hurt about her running away that day when we were eighteen, but it's growing fainter by the day. "I probably wasn't ready then either," I say slowly.

She lets out a sigh of relief, and I admit to feeling it too. "We were young."

"We still are." I take her hand back in mine and meet her gaze across the room in the pub. "But that just means that we have a long time to work this out."

"I hope you're right," she responds.

"I am." I smile at her, feeling everything settle within me. If there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that I want a future with Lexi, and I think we're going to be able to have one.

Chapter 15

Lexi

I'm less nervous being in Edur's room to have sex for a second time. It feels a little strange to be planning it out like this, but I know that's how it's going to have to work for me. If I have the time to prepare for the interaction, then it'll be less intimidating.