Page 19 of An Uncertain Claim

“Tempting,” I quipped with a wink, then pulled the sheet up to cover me. “But if I don’t put some food in my body, I won’t have the energy to orgasm.”

“We can’t have that, can we?” he replied as he set the tray of golden pancakes, eggs, fruit, and a glass of milk on my legs.

“Nope,” I said, letting the P pop. Then I dug into the incredible meal.

Nathan meandered a few feet away and lowered his large frame into a similarly sized chair, positioned in front of a desk that reminded me of the one in his office, but much simpler. “Did you have all of your furniture custom made?” I asked after swallowing a bite of buttery, sticky-sweet pancake.

He’d picked up a book but set it back down at my question and settled more comfortably into his seat. “Most of it. Some I ordered, but Jax made a good deal of it. My mother upholstered the padded stools at the bar and the ones around the table.”

“Is there anything your mother can’t do?” I shook my head, still in awe of the incredible woman who’d raised this dark and dangerous Alpha.

Nathan chuckled. “After a couple of millennia, I’m convinced that no matter how many times my father and I try to explain them, she’ll never understand the rules to any sport.”

I pressed my lips together, suppressing my snort of laughter. The afternoon I’d spent baking with Beth, she’d told me some fun and embarrassing stories about Nathan, most of them from his childhood. Before he’d become “too serious to have fun.” Her words, not mine. But the one I’d found the most hilarious was when she told me that she’d picked up the rules to every sport the first time they explained them to her. But she used mixed metaphors and called out the wrong things during games just to drive her son and mate crazy. She’d made me swear not to tell, but I wouldn’t have anyway because I really wanted to see Nathan react to her fake bumbling.

“My turn,” he announced. I raised an eyebrow, but after a second, I nodded and gestured for him to go for it. “Why are you so uncertain that you are my mate?”

His query was so unexpected that I choked on my bite of strawberry. After I managed to swallow it, I took a big gulp of milk, then I coughed a few times before pounding on my chest. “My question wasn’t that personal,” I rasped.

Nathan tilted his head to the side a fraction and shrugged. “The next one you ask me can be personal. Answer mine first.” His determined tone held a thread of steel that told me he wouldn’t be letting this go.

“We already talked about this,” I stated, unsure as to why he wanted to rehash this subject.

“The fact that you are a panther, a breed that is generally known to be loners, isn’t enough justification for your attitude toward being my mate.”

I glared at him, but his expression remained deadpan, his silver eyes trained on my face. “Why not?” I asked. It was the truth.Right?I asked my panther, who’d been annoyingly silent on the subject. She ignored me and retreated into herself.

“Because I don’t believe it.”

“Believe what? That I’m a loner by nature?”

“No, I felt the restlessness and the isolated quality to your personality the moment we met,” he explained.

I shook my head. “I’m confused. Then what is it about my reluctance to believe I have a mate that is tripping you up?”

“There’s something else about you, Peyton. Something more.” He rubbed a hand over his beard and his silver eyes probed mine, as if he could see inside my head, and it sent little tingles over my skin. “I haven’t been able to figure it out yet, which is unusual for me. I have no doubt I’ll figure it out eventually, but it would be a hell of a lot easier if you would just tell me.”

I played with the ring on my thumb as I considered what he might be picking up on. As far as I knew, no one had ever “sensed” my genetics—being half wolf—but at this point, I wouldn’t put it past Nathan. I didn’t know if it came with his age, or if he’d been born with the ability to read people so thoroughly, but it unsettled me. “You know all the important stuff,” I insisted.

“If that were true, I would know why you hide from the world.”

I reared back, offended that he would think of me as a coward. “That’s bullshit, Nathan. I don’t run from the tough shit, and I don’t hide.”

He nodded in acknowledgment of my defense. “You’re right, I worded that poorly. I just meant that you don’t leave a trail for anyone to follow. You face things head on, then disappear.”

I watched him carefully for a few breaths. It was true that I left nothing of myself behind when I left a place. I didn’t make friends, therefore, I left few memories of myself. But...it sounded almost like he referred to the digital footprint I always wiped clean. I had no doubt he’d done a check on me and knew about my degree, so he probably assumed I possessed some hacking skills. But how would he know about what wasn’t there? You’d have to be searching for the absence of something to see the pattern that indicated it had once existed.

Until I knew what he was fishing for, I didn’t want to engage on the subject.

“Would it satisfy you if I told you I’ll think about the mate thing?” I deflected back to the mate discussion.

Nathan studied me in silence and utter stillness until I gave up waiting for an answer and went back to my food. “Honesty goes both ways, Peyton.” He broke the quiet after a while.

“I’m being honest, Nathan.” I sighed. “I will think about it.”

“I believe you will, Peyton. I know you keep your word.” His comment rolled off his tongue easily, and I saw the truth of it in his eyes. It soothed some of the underlying tension I hadn’t realized still lingered from our argument. I didn’t like the idea of anyone doubting my word.

Which meant he was talking about a different sort of truthfulness. My dishes were empty, so I set the tray aside before twisting in the bed to face him. “I’m assuming we are talking about omission now?” I guessed as I swung my feet over the side of the bed.

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