Page 11 of Paper and Passion
She looks up with a tentative smile. “Are you sure?”
“There’s nothing we’d like more than to help you.” Cupping her face, I kiss her, but keep it brief.
“Besides, I’m your employee now,” Alex says. “This is exactly what you pay me for.” She takes Tillie’s hair out of her ponytail and combs her fingers through it.
“I haven’t paid you anything yet.” Tillie’slaugh is a little shaky. “And I don’t think orgasms were in the job description.”
Alex finishes redoing Tillie’s ponytail. “No, those were just for fun.”
We both step back and look at our human mate. She’s still a little disheveled, but we’ve done a pretty good job putting her straight. Hopefully, whoever is waiting for her is human, because she’ll reek of sex to any creature with a decent nose, and I don’t like the idea of someone else smelling my mate’s pleasure.
“Gorgeous,” Alex says. “Now, be a good girl and go help your customer. We’ll bring the wedding invitations out as soon as we find them. It won’t be long.”
The moment Tillie’s out of the room, Alex throws herself on me, kissing me so hard I can barely breathe.
“She’s ours,” she gasps when she comes up for air. “You feel it, don’t you?”
“Yes.” I draw back so I can look at her. “This time, I really think you’re right. But…”
There’s still so much we haven’t told Tillie, so much that could scare her away.
“No buts.” Alex steps back. “Help me find those invitations so we can support our girl.”
She’s already opening the boxes on the table, digging through each one.
“How will we know what they look like?” I ask.
“I guess just look for pretty papers and elegant scripts?” Alex shrugs.
I pull boxes from the shelves and search them one at a time.
“Do you remember our wedding?” I ask, thinking back to the day I made Alex mine. We were both already living among humans, so we had a human wedding before we had the bonding ceremony just the two of us.
Alex throws me a quick smile. “Are you thinking of the wedding or the wedding night?”
“Both,” I answer. “It was the best day of my life.”
The wedding was small, just the two of us, two friends, and a minister. We did it on the cliffs overlooking the sea—our other home. It was simple, but beautiful. I’ll never forget the way Alex looked at me as she took my hand and we exchanged rings in the human tradition.
“Get ready to have another great day.” Her gaze flicks to the door Tillie left through. “I can’t wait to bond her.”
The ceremony for bonding a human is different. It won’t be like Alex and my wedding night. I’ve never seen it, or done itbefore, but I know innately what needs to happen, and just thinking about it makes me hard.
The same is true for Alex. I can feel her arousal grow through our bond, scent her sweet pleasure in the air.
“Come here.” I pull her into me. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“Of course I do,” she says, all fiery confidence. “I’m not the insecure type.”
“I know.” I shake my head, unsure where I’m going with this. “It’s just, we don’t really know what it’ll be like having a human mate.”
We’ve shared men and women before, but this is entirely different. This woman might become our mate. Bound to us for life. Already I feel as drawn to Tillie as I do to Alex. It’s different, but it’s so similar to what I felt when I first met Alex that it scares me.
“We’re good, Adrian.” Her voice is softer as she gently strokes the smaller tentacles at the base of my neck.
“You didn’t finish,” I whisper.
“Is that what this is about? Do you think I care? I was more than happy to enjoy your pleasure and hers.” Alex looks right into my eyes, her own dilated and dark. “Relationships are about equity, not reciprocity.”
