Page 39 of Tides of Fate

Only then does he run out and wait with the dog for Grayson to throw it again.

Settling on the grass at Nix’s feet, Gideon chuckles. “He knows he can just throw it back to you, right?”

Grayson nods with a sexy smirk. “You’d think so, but we haven’t told him. He’s such a good boy, though, don’t you think?”

“Turns Grayson on.” Finn’s voice is muffled by the mouthful of Nix’s t-shirt. “I think we might need to add puppy play to Grayson’s list.”

“Are you projecting, Finn?” Grayson teases, accepting the ball from the dog this time.

Gideon knows Finn enjoys being agood boy, too, but wearing ears and a tail hadn’t been enough to float his boat.

“List? Puppy play?” Nix is looking at him curiously, so Gideon turns away, his back to thepuppiesplaying in the yard.

This discussion needs his full attention and while it’s not the way he’d imagined having it—this part could be handled here as well as anywhere.

Gideon hands Nix a fork and a bowl of fruit, then twists the cap off his water.

“Thanks, Gideon. You take good care of me.”

The words are simple, but they hit Gideon in the gut—the groin as well,if he’s honest, and he always tries to be. Especially with himself.

He lets his happy rainstorm scent flow out, and Nix lifts his nose while Grayson and Finn snort simultaneously.

“Do you remember that conversation we had in the library? Just you and me?”

Gideon accepts a piece of watermelon off the end of Nix’s fork before he continues.

“That night you played with Luca and us in the living room?”

Nix shivers and sucks the juice off his bottom lip causing Finn to groan as the scent of slick grows stronger.

Grayson has stopped mid-throw, and the delay has Rowan jogging back this way as the dog wanders off toward the woods.

“I remember.”

Nix feeds Rowan—a piece of tangerine this time—and wiggles a bit on what Gideon is sure is Finn’s very hard dick.

“Do you want to talk more about what I said that night?”

He hopes the answer will beyes, please, sir.

“About BDSM? Or, um…kinks? I’m not sure about what it all means. I mean, I have heard of kinks before. But…”

He hands the bowl to Grayson and leans forward just the tiniest bit, tilting his head, eyes dark with curiosity. “Kinks like…things we like in bed?” His hands drift unconsciously, fingers rubbing slow circles over his bare thighs.

Gideon watches his kitten explore himself without even knowing it, the way his fingers twitch, the way his breath hitches.

Fuck, he’s so pretty when he’s thinking.

“It’s okay, lots of people don’t know about this stuff, and even in poly packs, they might not have an understanding beyond what their partners might like in bed.” It’s a sad truth, in Gideon’s opinion.

“Oh, but because you and Luca, um…play, you have a better idea. And because everyone plays with you sometimes, you have a—what? A list of what everyone likes?”

“Well, I would want to know what my partners like even if they didn’t play, right? Like, if you hadn’t wanted to play with me and Luca, I wouldstill want to know what makes you feel good. Does that make sense?”

It’s the most basic of intimacy as far as Gideon is concerned, but that’s not what they’re talking about.

“We do have a very detailed list. It’s a spreadsheet, actually,” Finn says. The alpha has his nose tucked up under Nix’s ear, and the tips of his long fingers tease at the bottom of their omega’s tank top.

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