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I shrugged. “The mates called Dominants make the rules, so there are no consequences as long as Shiloh is not upset.”

Our Earth mate was trying not to laugh but his emotions were giving him away. “Well, Doms have to follow the rules everyone agrees to and they do that because they’re trying to take care of their subs.”

“I will take very good care of you.” And make rules that did not require me to follow them. The wording would have to be precise, so practicing my English would be very important.

Raxius cocked his head like he was dramatically thinking. “A Dom would want to make good rules to protect every mate. A sub would want to follow the rules to please their mates. A switch sounds like the mate who would try to create rules, break them, and then explain why the rules did not apply to begin with.”

Ridiculous.

I had every intention of explaining why Raxius must be wrong but we both paused our…enthusiastic discussion when Shiloh’s gaze flicked back and forth between us. His humor had faded and he also appeared thoughtful but with much less drama than his cranky mate.

What had changed?

“I…” Pausing after one word, he licked his lips and seemed to be forcing himself to be still as he spoke. “Um, all the different types of needs are important and…and they all mean people need to be taken care of.”

Yes.

He would not have repeated the explanation without importance, though, so we both waited for him to continue his thoughts. Thankfully, he was able to give us more information. “I met a guy one time who was dating a Dom and another sub.”

Shiloh paused but he seemed to have an easier time talking about someone else. “He’d…he’d always had a hard time figuring out what kind of relationship he needed until he realized he was a switch. Some people could be happy with just one partner but he figured out he needed both types to be happy.”

Interesting.

“I know there are mate bonds of three individuals and I even met one of four several years ago. However, I never thought something like that would affect my life.” I could not help glancing between my mates. “I simply thought I needed to be patient.”

I was not a patient person, but forming a mate bond was not something magic or research could prompt to form faster.

“I can understand that. And who’d ever expect to get two.” Taking a deep breath I thought was supposed to be subtle, our Earth mate licked his lips and continued the conversation I knew he was leading somewhere. “I never expected to get one mate, but it’s got to be harder when you want to submit to one mate and dominate another.”

Before I could gather my thoughts and make notes about what our mate might be talking about, Raxius gave another sigh because he clearly liked pretending to be a dramatic human. “And with our people having no experience with domination and submission, emotional needs or responses that were seen as out of the ordinary would be deemed bad manners and…and corrected.”

Shiloh winced. “That’s terrible…it’s worse than just being confused on Earth until you found the right stuff online to explain what you needed.”

Online…their internet.

Glancing between us again, Shiloh turned to the couch. “Let’s…let’s go sit down?”

“Yes.” Having him between us had been very nice and I wanted to experience that again. “You must use your fingers if we sit too closely this time.”

I had every intention of finding the line between comfort and acceptance and sitting right on it. Getting close to my mate was important but so was his happiness, and I could find that balance.

Something made Shiloh giggle and shake his head. “I’m not sure I want to know what you’re thinking.”

“Something inappropriate or what the dragons from Earth would call ridiculous.” Raxius was the one being ridiculous, so I ignored him. “See? What did I say?”

“Nothing of importance.” Placing my hand on Shiloh’s back for a moment, I smiled at him as he pressed his lips together. “He is being silly.”

So I didn’t have to listen to him.

He was also practicing making sound effects that I did not have to listen to either.

“I…” Shiloh paused to think as he sat down in the middle of what he called our couch. “I think he might like teasing you to get a reaction, so silly might not be the right word. He’s your mate too.”

“He is.” Somehow. “Is this too close? Do you need space between us?”

Generally speaking, our people seemed to leave more separation between mates but that may have just been public behavior. Shiloh blinked before looking down at how we were seated with my leg pressing against his as I positioned myself sideways beside him. “This is nice. I.”

I hadn’t considered the questions difficult but something triggered his anxiety response and his mouth closed.