Chapter 4

Colby

Okay, I could figure it out.

Deviate meant something about deviating from the norm. Norm for them. What was norm for them?

They charged right in.

They were confident.

They were super smart.

They liked rules and laws.

They liked order.

They liked lightning.

In books, the Doms didn’t share and were like the sexiest control freaks ever.

Hmm.

“Whenever you’re ready, you can tell me about deviating from the norm.” Yes, whenever he was ready. “I’m curious to learn all about you.”

Him having something interesting about him probably shouldn’t surprise me since he was an alien…and a Dom…they usually had something interesting about them too.

I wasn’t sure what Saint was actually thinking, but he was a wonderful over-explainer and didn’t let something like being deviant stop him. “Our species is very…singular. Individual.”

When I nodded, he kept going, either eager to share or wanting to get it out before we got too far into whatever this relationship would turn out to be. “Those that have found their human submissives are often highly private with their pleasures and domination.”

Okay, that meshed with what I’d read in a lot of the romance novels…but not all of them…and certainly not those two that were doing porn.

“Some of your species are in…adult entertainment. They’re not private.” Not in the slightest. “And I’ve read books where some of the Doms are more…open.”

I wasn’t sure if that was too subtle but Saint perked up. “I have spoken with one of the members of my species who does the human pornographic electronic theater with his mate. That was highly educational.”

No laughing.

No laughing.

He hadn’t meant it to be funny.

I had the sense of humor of a teenager sometimes.

“The conversation was educational? I’m glad.”

He was trying to kill me.

“Their movies have been highly educational as well. His additional commentary explains much.” Saint barely paused to take a breath before it looked like he was going to shift gears, but I stopped him.

“Wait. Commentary?” I was pretty sure I knew which couple he was talking about…but commentary. “Where?”

Whatever he saw on my face had him chuckling and leaning over to pat my head. “Humans and their curiosity.”

Yeah, curiosity.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to find another way to explain it.

“There is an…” He paused, thinking about what to say next. “There is an image. A picture? An icon. Yes. There is an icon that is not English on the menu called settings. Touching that activates what some have called the director’s cut ? Nothing has been cut. However, the information provided is highly educational.”

There was a dirty book version of the porn I’d been watching.

Amazing.

Fuck.

How had I not thought to click on any weird icons?

I was back to not knowing what to say as my brain spun in circles, but after a few seconds, I nodded and did my best. I wasn’t trying to hide that I’d watched porn, but I didn’t want to look brain-dead over it. “Thank you for explaining what that did. Most movies like that don’t come with education.”

The smart freaky people would definitely want to educate everyone else, though.

It was going to end up like dating a kinky genius.

“You are welcome.” He gave me another pat like I was cute and didn’t see anything weird about the conversation. “I am glad to provide you with edification.”

I wasn’t completely sure he’d used that word right, mostly because I couldn’t remember ever using it in a sentence, but that wasn’t important at the moment. “I appreciate it.”

It almost felt like the conversation was done but we had a few things to circle back around to. “So when you were talking about not being highly private like a lot of your species, what did you mean?”

I wasn’t going to do porn no matter how hot he was.

My ass wasn’t sexy enough for that…it was flat and I had love handles.

Porn was out of the question.

I needed carbs in my life too much to get a porn body.

“Very good communication, my human.” Another gentle stroke over my head made it clear he was happy with me, but it took him a second to get to the question. “Queries are important and provide many opportunities for discussions.”

Okay, well, my dick liked that we’d made him happy but my brain still wanted the answer.

Thankfully, Saint got us back on track before my dick or my brain could protest too much. “I have discovered a preference for displaying my submissive.”

Displaying?

Like showing off a sub?

“I don’t think that sounds deviant as far as human standards go.” We did a lot weirder things on a regular basis. “But can you give me an example of a scene you liked?”

Examples would be helpful…so I didn’t agree to do something actually weird.

“Specific information is helpful in discussions and sexual limits negotiations. You are correct.” He smiled and gave me another happy pat, so I had a feeling he saw me as his smart little human.

As far as first assumptions went, I could live with that one.

“I have seen humans in businesses called clubs where human submissives are given painful pleasures in a variety of ways. I have also seen and enjoyed a scene where a human was displayed in our swimming pool while his Dominant mate pleasured him.” Saint listed them off like he was giving me his grocery list.

It was so distracting that it took my brain a second to catch up. BDSM club. Pool sex. Okay, we still hadn’t gotten into deviant yet.

They really put a lot of stock in the whole mine thing if that was considered weirdly kinky.

“So from what you’ve discovered about yourself, you like the idea of pleasuring your partner while other people are watching.” When he nodded, I inched forward in the conversation a little more. “Humans and people like you might be watching?”

As far as Doms confessing stuff they wanted to do, I was glad we were on the milder end and I was glad I wasn’t too far off the exhibitionism side of things.

“Yes.” Saint seemed pleased with the way the conversation was going because he rubbed my leg that time. “I am clearly aware that your limits are significant as well, and boundaries would need to be specified in detail.”

Pushing away the image of a contract a lawyer would love, I nodded and did my best to ignore the shivers his caress had sent through me. “Getting the limits for that clearly spelled out is important. But none of that is something that I would immediately push back against.”

Had that made sense?

“Nothing you’ve said is something I would say no to right away.” Deciding that was clearer, I relaxed back in my seat. It felt like we’d jumped over a huge hurdle even though it was probably simple as far as limits discussions went. “I don’t need to be displayed to be happy, but it’s not something that’s a turn-off for me.”

We weren’t at that point yet, but objectively, the idea didn’t bother me.

Hell, him showing me off and making me come could be fun as long as we were as compatible as I thought we were.

“I would like to discuss turn - ons for you as well as gain more insight into your history and your food preferences.” Saint’s list was adorable. “Another important topic for discussion is your personal holiday preferences. I have thoroughly studied Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. However, I am proficient in a variety of other holiday traditions and religious observations.”

His list of what was important to know was fascinating.

“I celebrate Christmas, but in more of a fun secular way. I’m not specifically religious.” That was not a sentence I’d ever said on any first date. “Um, I like the food and the tree. The lights and decorations are really fun.”

I wasn’t sure what else to say, so turning it back around to him seemed like the best idea. “What have you decided to celebrate this time of year?”

The closest thing I’d heard to them having an organized religion was something very logical and philosophically based. I remembered it had a long name and focused around doing good things. There’d been no mention of a god or anything like that…and I couldn’t remember what they’d defined as good.

Saint went very still for several long moments before coming back to life again. “I do not know if my participation is inappropriate. However, as long as it is not offensive, I will explain that I am celebrating Christmas.”

When he went quiet, I realized he was making sure I wasn’t offended. “I think that’s a great idea. It’s a fun holiday, and even if you take out all the religious aspects, there are a lot of reasons to celebrate it. Giving everyone a nice reward for being good and a reason to spend time with family doing happy things together can’t be wrong.”

Saint wiggled again, which seemed to be a good sign and I got another pat which was definitely a good sign.

Unfortunately, it was on my head again.

I wasn’t sure how to move us back to the thigh good-job zone, but Christmas didn’t seem to be working.

“Humans value presents as well.” He seemed to find that fascinating, so I could only assume they didn’t see it the same way. “Giving possessions to strangers is even valued during this time.”

We were clearly interesting creatures.

“I don’t know why we do that, but yeah, I think a lot of us like the feeling that giving gets us. So maybe there’s a selfish reason for it too?” I wasn’t going to look at that too hard, so I kept rambling. “There’s something nice that happens to you when you watch someone open a present you got for them.”

He was right.

Humans were weird.

We made Saint smile, though.

“There is much to research and document.” That was definitely something that made him happy.

“Was that your job before?” We wrote everything down, so I could only assume they did too in some way or another. “Most of the people I’ve seen on TV or just around seem to be working in the sciences.”

They couldn’t just all be scientists, though.

Hell, every society needed a variety of jobs to keep going even if they were super-high-tech space aliens.

“Yes.” Doing another one of his wiggles, he looked very pleased. “I was worried I would not have enough to document with our journey to become members of your society. However, that has proven to be what you would call ridiculous .”

I wasn’t sure laughing was the right response but I couldn’t help myself.

When I could breathe and he was still looking proud of himself, I shook my head and grinned. “Yep. Ridiculous. But in your defense, it was hard to picture exactly what would happen when you guys moved here.”

That was such an understatement, I just ignored it.

“And there’s a lot to document…new jobs, new food, new types of people…new relationships.” It wasn’t subtle, but his smile said I didn’t need to be.

“I am finding the possibility of a new relationship to be educational and inspiring.” Something made him pause and he looked serious for a moment. “My lessons on human relationships and what is sometimes called subtext encourage me to explain I am not dating you for research purposes .”

That came out so carefully it was cute, but I managed not to smile as he nodded to himself. “Yes. Humans are prey, so their minds attribute negative connotations as a safety mechanism.”

Huh?

“We have a tendency to worry…and sometimes assume the worst, but I will do my best not to do that and to bring any worries to your attention.”

Because he wasn’t human and offending him seemed like it would be almost impossible.

“As the dominant partner in a human domination-based relationship, I must strongly encourage that you bring all worries to my attention.” Saint reminded me of a teacher I’d once had, going very stern but not sounding mean.

I might’ve had a crush on him too.

“Your ability to manage your life is not in question. However, human submissives do not always handle the stress that goes with management well.”

We could do it but we went nuts doing it…well, he wasn’t wrong.

“I’ll do my best.” I thought that was a good response based on the fact that it was our first date, but if he’d been human, he’d have raised one eyebrow and sighed.

“We will discuss an adequate system of rewards and punishments to help make that transition easier for you.” He was totally serious and completely convinced that rewarding me would get what he wanted.

To take care of me.

I liked that he was right and kind of hated that he was right.

At the very least, he should’ve been more subtle about getting me to be a good boy.

“What kind of rewards?” I should probably figure out what he was going to bribe me with before I got all huffy about it.