Free His to Claim by Alice Cain Page B

about each other.
    Kyle shrugged and tried to look nonplussed,
but it was clear that he was disappointed that Alex hadn't said the word. The
sad part was, in Alex's experience at least, the word didn't mean all that
much. Actions were far more important.
    "But you like me a little," Kyle
said, trying to turn his earlier question into a joke.
    " Ky ,
I like you way more than a little, and I wouldn't be offering this if I didn't
care deeply for you and know that you care deeply for me."
    "Sounds like love to me," Kyle
said in a voice almost too quiet for Alex to hear.
    "Maybe it is," Alex conceded,
"but I've said and heard the word before. In the end it didn't mean as
much as it should have."
    Kyle frowned—not exactly an unexpected
reaction—but it was the thoughtful look that followed that left Alex confused.
    "You're right," he said.
"Actions are far more important." He leaned in and kissed Alex until
his head spun. By the time he lifted away, Alex was having a tough time
remembering how to stand up. "Go take a shower, babe. Dinner should be
ready in ten minutes."
     
    ~*~
     
    Kyle stepped into the kitchen and took a
deep steadying breath. He hadn't expected Alex to make the offer he had, and he
needed a moment to fully process what it meant. He'd fucked up the
conversation—as usual—but even with Alex's assurances, he was nervous about
what it all meant.
    Fuck, he truly wanted to share that intimacy
with Alex, but only if it was what the man wanted—really, really wanted. Kyle would never push his mate into trying something
he didn't want to try. The man was already too important to risk losing him,
especially over something that Kyle could live without if he had to.
    He stared at the pot of water on the stove
for so long that it actually boiled…
    "You're overthinking it," Alex
said from the doorway.
    "Probably," Kyle conceded as he
finally remembered to grab the pasta. He threw several handfuls into the
boiling water and then turned to face his lover. The fact that he was wearing
only a towel certainly derailed some of his overanalyzing thought processes.
    "Maybe we should just get it over
with."
    Hell, no.
    "Hell, yes," Alex said as if he'd
heard him. "If just the idea of fucking me has you this wound up, then the
best thing is to do it now before you give yourself a heart attack worrying
about it."
    "I'm an Alateeka," he said by way
of denial even if he vaguely wondered if a heart attack was possible. He and
his siblings might only seem to be
immortal. Just because they hadn't physically aged in centuries, didn't mean
they wouldn't. And they all knew from bitter, painful experience that injuries
could be life threatening.
    " Ky ?"
Alex asked, leaning over to turn off the boiling water. He grabbed one of
Kyle's hands and placed it over his heart. "Do you trust me?"
    "Of course," he said without even
having to think about it. Humans might not feel the mate bond as strongly as
paranormals did, but it was obvious Alex really did care for him. It was just
another thing to make Kyle worry that this wasn't what Alex really wanted.
    "Then trust me when I say, I want this.
I want you."
    "After dinner," Kyle said
stubbornly, reaching over to turn the stove back on. "You've been away for
three days. Give yourself a moment to acclimate."
    Alex laughed softly. "I never expected
it to be this hard to seduce my mate."
    Kyle pulled the man into his arms. "You
seduce me every moment of every day."
    "Good to know," Alex said happily.
"So you won't mind helping me with this then."
    Kyle could feel a blush warming his cheeks.
"Where did you find that?" he asked, even though he knew exactly
where it had been. He'd cleared out most of his "toy" collection one
day when Alex had been at work, but it had gone against his personality to
trash a brand new butt plug still in its packaging.
    Alex winked and put the bright green,
glow-in-the-dark butt plug and the bottle of lube he'd given Kyle earlier on
the kitchen bench. "I already washed