Page 11 of His Theo

I had a split second to wonder if that’d been stupid before I knew his reaction.

He liked it.

My new friend made a deep, pleased sound and I got another full-body hug.

“I am happy to provide you with safety and emotional security.” Limbs rippled over me, making it clear how happy he was. “You are a human who should be protected and who should have their submission nurtured. It is my pleasure to provide that for you.”

That definitely seemed to indicate we were both moving in the right direction, so I turned my face into his body and peeked my eyes open. I wasn’t brave enough to pull away and meet his gaze yet, but he stroked my head again and cuddled me tighter. “Good boy. Your trust is not misplaced, human Theo.”

“I…I’ve never even dated anyone of your…your species before and my track record with human guys is…well…it’s terrible.” There was no point in hiding that. “So you need to tell me if I’m doing something wrong or something that you don’t like. I…I won’t know how to make you happy if you don’t explain it to me.”

Limits list.

Rules.

Something so I wasn’t blindly guessing all the time.

I didn’t think that was so hard, but the last couple of human guys I’d tried to date who said they were Doms thought I should be able to read their minds or have some kind of behavior list already memorized. It’d been so stressful I’d ended up with a small ulcer and the doctor said I had to get rid of the stress in my life.

So I’d broken up with the guy I’d been seeing at the time and stopped dating completely…and my stomach had finally healed.

But maybe I wouldn’t end up single forever if I didn’t date humans?

“I do not completely understand the human concept of submission. My instincts are for you to submit and me to provide care and structure. You submit. I care for your submission. You are not required to make me happy. That is…that is contradictory to my biological imperative.”

Oh.

That was why Nicholas didn’t drive Larry insane.

“I want you happy too, though, so…so you’ll tell me if you don’t like something that I’m doing or not doing or just…” Realizing I was rambling, I tucked my face into what probably would’ve been his shoulder if he were human.

There was still a nice indent to hide against, though, so I didn’t care what it was called. “I submit. You care for my submission. I’ll do my best to remember that. But I need you to be happy too. It’s part of my biological imperative. It’s part of being a human submissive.”

Not the same species.

I had to remember that.

We were not the same species even if we were crazy compatible.

I got more pets and soft thinking sounds as he processed what I said and eventually something about his movements changed and I knew he’d figured out what he wanted to say. “There will be what I think humans call a learning curve as we process adapting to such distinct cultures and instincts.”

Oh yeah.

The understatement in that sentence was so big it could rival Mount Everest.

But I was polite and just nodded since being snarky wasn’t a good start to any new relationship.

“I will do my best to take my happiness into consideration as well, but I have not been trained to process emotions or thoughts in that way.” He paused and he was quiet enough that I eased back just enough to see him frowning off into the distance.

After a few seconds, he tuned back in and realized I was looking at him. “My brave human.”

More snuggly caresses seemed to make him more relaxed because it didn’t take long before he was a lot less stressed…even though I had no idea how I knew that…and he was back to being his chatty self. “I have spent long stretches of time alone. I may need you to help in deciphering my happiness from yours.”

Oh, my questions had questions.

“I’ll help you.” Feeling brave and probably stupid, I kissed his cheek before snuggling back into him and finally realizing for the first time that we were in the restaurant’s employee lounge. “We can figure it out.”

I wasn’t sure how I’d know what made him happy if he didn’t know, but he seemed smart and I knew scientists, so we’d figure it out.

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