Senan figured he had nothing to lose by putting his cards on the table, or at least being as bluntly honest as Finlay had apparently tried to be.
He didn’t want to think about Morgan. He didn’t want to think about the ramifications of what might happen if Morgan was finally in jail.
There was a part of him – a petty side that, like many people, he kept hidden most of the time - that thought longingly of Morgan behind bars, never allowed to be free again.
But the thought that Finlay was or at least had been the Alpha-heir of the same pack was enough to keep his petty side quiet. The last thing Senan would ever do, or ever want to do, was to be living as part of a pack.
In the meantime, Finlay was clearly shocked by his question, or perhaps it was the way he phrased it.
Senan had no idea. But Senan had been telling the truth the way he saw it.
He was tired. He wasn’t going to be able to sit up for hours as they walked through awkward conversations before jumping into bed together.
He’d be asleep before the good stuff happened.
Although the moment Finlay had walked in the door, Senan’s magic had started sizzling and he almost felt like he was ready to let off fireworks the moment he burped. That helped.
But Senan didn’t know anything about the serious-looking wolf shifter who was sitting on his chair looking so damned uncomfortable.
I might as well find out something about him because I’m sure as heck we’re going to end up in bed together .
He clicked up another can of beer, noticing how effectively his magic was working again – another thing that had improved from the moment Finlay entered his house.
There must be something about this mating business.
There was also the little matter of Senan thinking sexy thoughts as well.
There was nothing wrong with his eyesight.
Finlay was a sexy man – tall, broad, with shaggy blond hair and intense dark eyes.
Senan wasn’t a virgin. He’d lost that a long time ago.
But he still felt cautious. For one thing, Finlay looked a lot like Morgan, and Senan didn’t need that reminder.
So he was hoping that something Finlay could share with him might show the differences between him and his twin brother.
“I’ve got to admit this is a bit awkward,” Finlay admitted, looking up and catching Senan’s eyes. “I’ve never been in this position, and I worry that something I say might send you running from me again.”
Finlay had a lovely chuckle, especially when he was clearly embarrassed. “One thing I’ve already learned from you is that if you disappear, not even in a puff of smoke, but just cease to be in that space in front of me, I can’t follow you. I find that disconcerting.”
Senan kept his grin to himself. “Let’s make it easy then, shall we?
Put bluntly, I feel I should know something about you.
I need to see how different you are from your brother.
” He held Finlay’s gaze, making sure the wolf shifter knew he was serious.
“This is not going to be easy for me, but I’m trying,” he added quietly.
For some reason Finlay gave the impression that Senan had given him a gift – he seemed actually happy by what Senan had said. Or maybe he’s just glad that I haven’t rejected the mating out of hand, Senan thought. That was equally possible.
“What do you do for hobbies?” Senan asked.
“You told me you work as a negotiator for the Paranormal Council, and I can only imagine that’s very secretive work that I don’t need to know anything about.
But what do you do when you’re not working?
What do you do when you’re with your friends? Do you even have any friends?”
“I have a few.” Finlay chuckled again. “And no, not from the pack – just some of the guys I work with sometimes. Being friends with anyone in the pack wouldn’t have been a good idea, even before you and I met.
After my parents died, the pack wasn’t happy with two Alphas in the pack house, and as I was the younger son, I left and started working for the Paranormal Council instead.
I am part of their national task force, so I do travel all over the country.
But because of the nature of the work I do, I do have a lot of down time.
“I like to barbecue – I’m considered a mean grill master.
I enjoy having drinks with friends. Actually, now I’m thinking about it I’m afraid you’ll probably find me quite boring.
I don’t have a hobby, although I like the idea of perhaps fixing up an old car one day.
I’m not really into sports – I’ll watch a game to be sociable, but I don’t follow any particular team. ”
The wolf shifter was looking down at his hands. Senan noticed he had very capable-looking hands. “I see an awful lot of bad stuff that goes on, and I work hard not to let that affect me. When I’m home, I just want my life to be normal.
“I like watching TV shows and movies. I keep the garden tidy. Even simple things like vacuuming the house can make me feel good about my day. I know it sounds weird and probably does to someone like you, but that’s who I am.
I don’t have the urge to go crazy and take up skydiving, or travel to exotic locations.
After leaving the pack house, all I’ve ever wanted is to have a home of my own, and I believe that’s important enough to be worked for. ”
Finlay wasn’t lying. Senan had already explained to Gabby that mates couldn’t lie to each other, and he knew that to be true.
“It’s not as if I do anything exciting either.
If I had any worries going into this, aside from the obvious, it would be that you might have misconceptions about the fae and expect me to act in a way I probably couldn’t live up to.
“From what I remember of the fae when I was living on that realm, they were all about appearances. They spent so much time maintaining elaborate lifestyles. But none of it meant anything, if you know what I mean. Everything about the fae life was surface level because they never cared about what a person might be like on the inside. I know that’s one of the reasons why they shunned me when this happened.
” Senan flicked his hand at his face. “A fae prefers it if they never have to confront ugliness – they never want to. Perhaps that’s because underneath they can be some of the cruelest people I know. They simply don’t care.”
Senan felt embarrassed and shrugged. “I’ve never been like that.
I’ve always been fascinated by people. It’s not that I’m overly sociable, but I’m fascinated by how people…
how they interact with each other, the things that they say, the way they express their affection, and their connection with each other. It’s always been interesting to me.”
He bit his tongue. There was no point in mentioning that was something else that Morgan took away from him. Maybe now Finlay was in his life, Senan might have the chance to be able to people-watch again. They might even do it together.
Senan quickly moved on. “You know I work – my job as a server for the Gourmet Company, and before you ask, yes, one of the key reasons I took the job was because I knew it wasn’t something a typical fae might do.
Serving people, taking orders, doing a job and being paid a wage.
I didn’t want to be doing something where I was a figurehead or someone who was employed just to look pretty.
“I’ve made some good friends with the other servers, and if I can ever get my wings to go down again, I imagine that I’ll probably want to continue working, at least in a limited capacity.
” He glanced at Finlay who was watching him so intently it was as if Senan could feel the heat in his gaze.
“From what I know about wolf shifters, they prefer to be physically near their mates most of the time. Is claiming me going to make your work a problem?”
A frown crossed Finlay’s face. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought of it.
But I think it’s something that we’ll have to work on together.
I don’t get sent out on cases very often, probably once a month, once every six weeks, or something like that.
But when I am away, I can be away for anything up to a week.
Usually it’s only two or three days, but it really does depend on where I’m going and why.
“Cases like chasing rogues for example, can take a lot of time, and in other cases, I could be in a meeting for days investigating concerns of abuse from a leader of a pride, coven, pack, or similar groups. The job isn’t easy.
And that’s one of the reasons why the Paranormal Council likes people like me to have as much downtime as possible.
But then I suppose I could get a regular job instead. Do you think your boss is hiring?”
That was such a surprising thing for an Alpha wolf to say Senan laughed. “You’re not exactly the sort of person to blend into the background, which is one of the chief things Jeffrey expects from his servers.”
“Your friend Gabby doesn’t look like someone who blends into the background, either. She looks like a person with an amazing sense of style. If she can do it, I could give it a try,” Finlay suggested.
“I’ll be sure to let Gabby know what you said about her.
That will make her day, and with regards to the job situation, how about we put that idea on hold for a moment?
” Senan said, still chuckling. “Super quick. What sorts of movies do you like to watch? What sort of books do you read, if any? Are you on social media or do you think it’s a waste of time? What are you passionate about?”
Senan’s voice caught as he asked the last question.
Finlay held his eyes, and it was as if Senan could physically feel the arousal, that need to be closer to him.
It was so much more than a person being hot for him, or him for them.
The four or five feet between the couch and the chair suddenly felt like an insurmountable separation that his body really couldn’t bear.
He could see the answering heat in his mate’s eyes.
“Can we talk about this later?” Finlay said, as his tone deepened. “I really need to hold you right now.”
Senan nodded. As if that was the cue his magic was looking for, Senan’s wings melted into his back where they belonged.
Which meant, when Finlay crossed the distance between them, Senan could fully enjoy the strong arms that held him firmly, wrapped right around his back.
I’ve found my home, Senan realized as he sunk into the embrace.