Chapter 4

Fraser

Paxton could talk about work no matter what else was going on around him or to him. It was impressive but it made me wonder what else he could ignore. "They're just very good at natural camouflage. I need to work out how but I'm sure I'll figure it out."

Yes, the bugs that could fucking disappear were just blessed by nature.

Probably some fucking mage with a nature name, but he was close.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out." At the very least, someone had to figure out how to fix them, so we had to find them. "You say you've heard about them being all over?"

How far had they gone?

Who the fuck had messed with the bugs of all things?

"I've found verifiable reports of them in Scotland and here in your area, but there are internet stories about odd bugs in a variety of places in the US and abroad." Paxton didn't seem to realize how strange that list was, but I did. "I'm not sure if they're a localized species that was accidentally transplanted or if they've always been around and have just been well-camouflaged."

The first option.

Definitely the first.

Knowing my neighbors, some mage had been one-upping someone else and it'd gotten out of hand. It might've been here or one of the other towns that had a lot of mages and dragons, but the whole situation screamed mage shenanigans.

"Have you been able to narrow down their natural habitat?" That had him chattering away until we reached my place, but the only thing I really learned was that people needed to clean their kitchens more and the bugs might like McDonald's.

Yep, some mage had been fucking with people.

I wasn't so sure it'd been us, though.

The local mages were more of the flowers out of season level of stupid, and it was a really good thing that our new bug cutie didn't know much about the local flowers. The shenanigans were in full force but he hadn't seemed to notice.

"Oh, someone said one of the local residents had beetles?" Paxton lost track of what he'd been saying as we pulled in front of the cute Victorian I'd bought a few years ago. "I…this is lovely. Um, yes, someone has beetles?"

No one sane had beetles.

"Lorne has beetles of some sort but from what I understand he only has them because they're sparkly?" Paxton looked over, clearly confused and probably thinking I was fucking with him. "Seriously. He's into sparkly things and the bugs are really shiny?"

I hadn't seen them, but that was what I'd heard.

Paxton didn't seem to believe me, so I kept going as I parked. "He's not breeding anything weird if that's what you were thinking, but they've supposedly taken over his guest room and they're really freaking out his partners."

I turned the car off and was ready to get out before the word finally hit him. "Partners?"

Nodding, I glanced toward the door. "Let me get that for you."

At first, he was too busy thinking about Lorne's love life to overthink me opening the door, but by the time I got to the passenger side, his brain was multitasking. I wasn't sure which topic would get first billing in his brain, but I was stupidly excited to see that he'd waited to get unbuckled.

Such a smart boy.

As I reached in to release the belt, he swallowed hard. "Do…do you need more than one partner?"

Interesting.

"No. I've never dated more than one person at a time and nothing in me says I need to keep looking for more than one person to complete my family." When he just kept watching me, I had to resist the urge to kiss him. "If my partner thought he needed someone else, we could talk about it, but I really don't see my family forming that way."

I'd never thought about having more than one mate and I'd always know my mate wasn't local. There hadn't even been a push to date any of the local subs because I knew they weren't mine. But Paxton, well, he was mine.

"Okay." His brain still seemed to be going a thousand miles an hour, but he waited for me to steer the show.

As I stepped back and held out my hand, he studied it for several long seconds before grabbing his bag with one hand and reaching out to take mine with the other.

The weight of his hand was filled with the trust he was placing in me, but I wasn't sure he was ready to talk about that yet. "I'm glad you asked the question that was on your mind. It makes me feel more confident and just happier in general."

His gaze stayed on our hands for several long moments, but as he finally looked away and up at me, his brain skipped back to our original topic. "I don't date more than one person at a time and I don't want a poly relationship."

"Thank you for letting me know that's an important boundary for you." Mates were always compatible.

I'd heard Alick mumbling that to himself several times as he'd bonded with his mate, but he was right, so I wasn't worried about Paxton. I knew we'd get there eventually, but for the time being, I just soaked up his adorably polite responses. "You're welcome."

He probably had no idea why I thought he was so cute because he rolled his eyes and huffed, but he let me keep holding his hand and didn't pull away even when I shut the door. "We need to talk about our plans for tomorrow."

Instead of?

Paxton shot me a look that said he thought I had other plans, but I wasn't sure what his fascinating mind had come up with. Still, I nodded and took the curious statement seriously. "Yes, we'll do that first thing and then we'll have dinner."

Was he worried that I'd get distracted trying to get to know him?

Was he picturing something steamier than just dinner?

I wouldn't have been surprised no matter what had come out of his mouth, but he nodded slowly and didn't give me much to go on. "That sounds like a good plan."

Well, at least he hadn't just said thank you?

"Wonderful." Leading him up to the porch, I tried to keep the conversation light. "Any allergies I should be aware of or foods you hate? Even unreasonably so?"

"No." He answered quickly, then cocked his head. "Like the guy who hates soup? One of the men at the diner made it sound like the person named Kenzie hates soup?"

Paxton didn't seem to understand that at all, but I nodded. "Yep, if he gets dramatic in the diner, then Nancy, the owner, won't feed him anything else but soup."

"They all need more soup punishments." Paxton didn't seem to realize what he'd said until I laughed. "Sorry. That was rude."

"No, that was honest. This town is severely lacking in common sense lately." For a variety of reasons. "I think you're right, but it doesn't seem to be up to me."

He made a quiet, thinking sound as I took him into the kitchen. "You'd have more rules if you were in charge?"

I wasn't sure if he was connecting the dots or if it was a random odd question, but I thought about it before I answered. "More rules based around generally not driving everyone crazy. I don't believe in arbitrarily ridiculous rules just to assert control."

Paxton seemed to like that answer based on his nod and the way his brain jumped to a new topic. "Can I spread my stuff out on the table? I have some maps and notes to show you."

Well, that seemed to mean I'd answered his questions and he felt safe enough to continue, so I nodded. "That would be perfect. Maps. Dinner. Then we'll hang out some."

And see what happened.

Because based on the way Paxton blushed, he was picturing something naughty.

****

"I'm not telling." Teasing him with a grin and a shrug, I ignored his huff. "Besides, do you really want to ask Nancy if I asked her to tattle on you about your favorite foods?"

He paused mid-drama. "No. She wouldn't like that."

Smart cutie.

Except for the fact that he'd forgotten how nosy the town was. Once the rumors of our kind of date had started to spread, half the town had called me up to tell me what they'd seen him eating. It'd been easy to figure out that, besides pastries with chocolate in them, spaghetti was one of his favorite foods.

"Fine." He sighed, but something in his brain shifted gears again. "But thank you for dinner. It was very good and I appreciate the home cooking."

"You're welcome." His praise gave me an opening I slipped right into. "Do you travel a lot or just don't cook much?"

He didn't seem to think I was being too nosy, but he scrunched up his face and looked adorably dramatic again. "Both, I guess. About half the year I do field research as part of a grant and then the other half I do more lab-based work. But even when I'm home, cooking for myself isn't fun."

Because subconsciously he probably thought his Daddy should be doing it.

"Yeah, it's challenging." We could come back to the Daddy part another time. "But I don't mind cooking for you and I know you're one of Nancy's favorite customers."

That had his cheeks going pink and he looked down at his plate. "I think some of her other customers are more interesting than I am."

"That's not the way I would describe it." I nodded when he peeked up at me through long lashes. "You're polite. You didn't drive her crazy talking about more personal parts of your life. You also clearly enjoy her food."

When he chuckled, I snuck in the last one. "And you are very interesting in your own way."

It just took privacy and some one-on-one time to get his shell to soften. But once it did, he blushed adorably and rolled his eyes every time he thought I was being ridiculous.

Like right then. "I know my strengths and weaknesses."

Not from where I was sitting.

"Someone told you that you're boring? Or just not fascinating enough to show off?" There were plenty of assholes who thought sub meant sparkly or who thought being outlandish was more important than being authentic.

Paxton went still, showing me that I was right without having to use the words.

"Just be yourself around here and I guarantee that will be enough." Letting my words sink in, I rose and picked up our plates to give him a moment to think.

By the time I had the table cleared, he'd turned in his seat and was watching me closely. "Be myself because it's what people say to do or because it's what you would like?"

Oh, someone was getting more confident.

And curious.

"Both." Not willing to lie, I tried not to push things too much. "The locals are nuts but mean well, and I'd like to get to know the real Paxton, not the one you think I want to see."

"I have no idea what you want." The words popped out before he'd thought them through based on how quickly he clamped his lips shut.

Chuckling, I went back over and crouched down beside him, bracing my hands on the table and the back of his chair. "Are you ready to know what I want or should I just say I'd like to spend more time getting to know you?"

Silence stretched out between us but he didn't seem nervous or upset. It gave me hope and made it easier to be patient. Thankfully, that paid off after a bit. "I think I'm more comfortable with the getting to know me description for right now."

I could understand that, but he surprised me by continuing. "But I want you to be yourself too."

No strong labels yet but I hadn't scared him off?

I could deal with that.

"I think that's very fair and thank you for making sure I understood how you're feeling at the moment." I was going to keep reinforcing that until I was blue in the face. "Can I ask you a question, though?"

Swallowing hard, he nodded and sat straighter. "Yes, that's part of getting to know me."

He was adorable.

And not wrong, even though the idea clearly made him nervous.

"I agree, but consent is important and not rushing you is important too." Before he could overthink either of those things, I continued. "You might've said that you need a few minutes before I ask you something or you might've had limits on what you're comfortable talking about."

I could almost hear the wheels in his brain turning faster and faster, but his nod was slow and deliberate. "That's very logical."

He didn't seem to know what to say past that point, so I took control again. "Are things like touching you and kissing you part of getting to know you, or should they come later?"

Silence stretched out again, but it seemed to be an important part of his thought process. Wanting to make sure he knew I respected that, I did my best to keep my expression pleasant and neutral and not to look bored or worried.

I was going to be patient.

Patience was important to my mate.

He needed silence to think.

He moved.

Thank the dragons above.

"Touching like the way you rested your hand on my back and buckled me in?" His question made me want to smile.

"First, I would like to point out that I kept my hands in appropriate places and I didn't grope you." My response had his lips trying to curl up even though he was doing his best to keep his blank face in place.

"You're right." He nodded again, his expression turning slightly suspicious. "But that's not really an answer."

He was so cute.

"You're right too." But I'd made him want to laugh and he'd softened a bit again. "Yes, those would be included in the touching part, but I'd also like to touch places like your leg or your arms. Maybe your face?"

Licking his lips as he processed what I'd said, he finally let out a soft breath. "Those are reasonable places to touch in the getting to know you phase."

Perfect.

"Good. Then I also want you to know that you can touch me as well." Paxton went still but didn't move away or frown. "In any of those places or more intimate ones."

He blinked but seemed to go even more still, and I wanted to ask if any of his ancestors had a hoarding problem.

"If I asked for a hug and you wanted to touch my chest, or if we were talking and you wanted to curl up on my lap, those would all be acceptable forms of touching for me." My limits were broader than that, but he seemed to want us to move carefully while he sorted things out in his head.

I was hoping I'd explained it right when I went quiet and waited.

And waited.

"Everyone has different limits, so thank you for explaining yours and letting me know…letting me know what you're comfortable with." The way he structured the sentence said he was figuring a few things out, but it didn't seem like anything had scared him too much.

"You're welcome." Shifting my arms so they closed in around him slightly, I leaned forward just enough to get a shiver from him. I took it as a sign to stop but didn't pull back. He was too aroused for it to have been actual fear.

It'd just been a bit of spice that he loved based on how his pupils had gone wide.

"Do you remember how I said the locals would stop if you said red?" His eyes looked a bit like he was a cartoon character, but he nodded slowly to show me that he'd heard me. "I'm a local. I'll stop if you say that too."

There wasn't really a question that time, but as I inched closer, his head gave a faint jerk like he'd thought he nodded. "I…I'll remember."

"Good boy."

Then my lips brushed his and all thoughts of words and questions vanished from both of us as I swallowed his moan.