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“So,” she says after a few moments, looking over at me. “It seems like the last couple of times we… talked, there might have been more you wanted to say to me. About the whole… mates thing.”

She sounds reticent, not sure of the words she should use or what she’s allowed to say.

“I do.” I wish I could let her know that anything she wants to say, any questions she has to ask me, none of it is off-limits. “But I also understand why all of this might be a lot for you, why you’re no doubt feeling overwhelmed by it.”

She gives me a hard, studying look. “Do you?”

There’s something in that look which tells me she might already suspect I’ve done my homework on her, learned more than I rightfully should. I wonder what Blair told her. He’s well aware of the lengths I’d go to know more about my mate, and the damned dragon probably took it upon himself to give her a warning.

“I want you to know you’re in control here, Nora,” I tell her.

Anything to do with Sorenson and her past doesn’t matter, not right now, at least. Besides, all of it’s just conjecture, a few scant details and my own imagination filling in the blanks. It’s not mine to know or ask for until she feels ready to tell me about it herself.Ifshe ever feels ready to tell me about it herself.

Nora’s eyes widen, and her throat bobs in a harsh swallow. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that there’s no pressure for you to do anything you don’t want to, or to make any decisions you’re not comfortable making. Anything that happens between us is entirely up to you.”

“So…” she says, processing. “How does that work? Practically, I mean. Where do we go from here?”

“I want to take you on a date.”

Her face scrunches up in adorable skepticism, apparently not convinced. How I’d like to run my thumb over the divot in her forehead and kiss the small, doubting frown off her lips.

“Just a date? Wouldn’t it mean a whole lot more to you than that?”

Of course it would mean more. What she probably doesn’t realize, though, is just how much more. If I had my way, our first date would end with us mated and bound, with Nora wrapped up in my tentacles, held open and bared for me, ready to take…

Stop. I have to stop.

“Just a date,” I tell her. “I won’t lie to you and pretend it’s casual for me, but nor will I ask for anything more than you’re willing to give. We do this at your pace, Nora. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“And if I decide I’m not comfortable with any of it? What happens then?”

My throat constricts, and every instinct in me calls out in protest, but I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile. “Then I respect your wishes. This doesn’t have to go anywhere if you don’t want it to.”

She’s not quite satisfied with that. “What would that mean for you? I don’t really… I don’t understand much about krakens or… mating.”

What would it mean? A black stain on my soul that would follow me the rest of my life.

Still, that’s neither her fault nor her responsibility. I wouldn’t be the first kraken to be rejected by his mate, and though it’s not something I’d ever want to live through, I could survive it.

“You let me worry about that,” I tell her. “All I want is a date. If you decide this isn’t something you’d like to pursue after that, I’ll respect any decision you make.”

Nora thinks about that for a few seconds before seeming to come to a decision.

“Alright. Alright, yeah, I think a date would be a good place to start. What did you have in mind? Drinks? Dinner?”

My mind is already racing, wondering how much might be too much. A private dinner at the top of the Space Needle? A weekend in Paris? Skipping it all and just eloping on the beaches of Bora Bora?

Gods, if she only knew. She’d run screaming from this office.

“Let me surprise you? Tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, tomorrow is good. And… nothing too elaborate,” she says, glancing around my office. “It seems like your tastes might be a little more extravagant than mine.”

“Nothing too elaborate,” I agree, internally rearranging my expectations and giving myself a mental reality check.

Nora leans over the small table between us and grabs a notepad and a pen, scribbling something on it and tearing the sheet off before handing it to me.