Page 7

“More!” Kaspian declared.

We were in Portland. It was only an hour away from Salem, but Kas had made it seem like a few minutes. He wanted to learn about everything. The mountains in the distance, the outlet mall we passed, even the fucking cows. I was glad I'd ordered him decaf.

But now, we were walking around Portland, fitting in with the “keeping it weird” crowd. Kaspian's neck was set to swivel, his stare drawn to everything and everyone. He was particularly fascinated with hair—the wild colors, how they dyed them, and the strange styles. We had gone into nearly every store as well. And I'd just come off a job, so after an hour or so of this, my feet were dragging.

“I can't do much more,” I said. “Let's get some dinner. Spaghetti Factory has a great view of the water. You can watch the boats go by.”

“A factory is a place where goods are made, correct?” He narrowed his eyes at me.

“Yeah, but they make food in this factory. Come on.” I had been leading him back to the truck, planning on taking a break for some food, so it was only a few feet away. “They have a parking lot too, which is like gold in Portland. I'll pick them over other restaurants just because I don't have to hunt for street parking or try to fit my truck in some underground lot.” I glanced at him, saw that he only understood half of what I said, and shook my head. “Sorry, I'm exhausted. I'd been working two hours when you arrived and after the drive and all the walking we've been doing, I'm spent, man. I gotta eat something and then we're going home before I pass out.”

“I understand. Perhaps I should drive back.”

I snorted a laugh. “Not happening.”

“I've observed you operating this machine.” He waved at the truck as I unlocked the passenger door for him. “It seems simple enough.”

“Yeah, but operating it is just the start.” I went around to my side and got in. After we were both strapped in, I started the truck and pulled out onto the street. When we got to a light, I motioned at it. “What do the lights mean?”

“Red means to stop. Green means to go. Yellow means to speed up because it's about to turn red.”

I snorted a laugh. “Yellow is a warning that you should stop or go faster if you're going too fast to stop. Now, the light is red.” I waved at it.

“Yes. Stop.”

“Uh-huh. So, why can I do this?” I put on my blinker and drove the car around the corner.

Kas looked back at the intersection, then at me. “I'm not sure.”

“Because you can turn on a red in certain situations.”

“Certain situations?”

“Yeah, sometimes you can't. It depends. You gotta read the signs posted at the intersections. Driving is the easy part. But you gotta know the rules of driving so you don't crash into other people. And you have to be aware of other people too. Look at this idiot.” I waved a hand at a guy who had turned into a bus lane and got stuck.

“Why are there poles separating that lane from ours?”

“Because it's for buses only. You see that huge vehicle?” I nodded at the bus that was approaching the little car. “That's a bus. It's public transportation.”

“Public transportation?”

“People who don't have a car can pay a small amount to ride a bus that goes through the city on a predetermined route. The bus has scheduled places where it stops. People get on at those places, ride the bus to another place that closer to their destination, then get off. You understand?”

“Yes, I think so.” Kaspian frowned at the people sitting on the bus. His frown deepened when the bus driver honked at the guy in the bus lane.

“You see? That lane is reserved for buses only and that guy turned into it. Now, he has to turn somewhere he probably didn't want to, just to get out of that lane.”

“This is very confusing.”

“Exactly. It takes more than a day to learn how to drive. We teach our kids around the age of sixteen, then they have to take a test just to get permission from the state to drive as they learn. After they take another written and driving test, they get a license that makes it legal for them to drive. Here.” I pulled out my wallet and handed it to him. “Open that and pull out the plastic card with my face on it.”

“Your face is on one of these hard panels?” Kaspian pulled out my credit cards, debit card, and license. “There you are!” He held it up triumphantly. “This is your permission to drive?”

“Yes, it proves that I have shown competency at driving. It also proves who I am.”

“This thing proves who you are?”

“That card there. Remember it? I bought the pastries with it.”

“Yes.”

“It doesn't have my picture on it. Only my name. If I need to verify that the name on the card is my name, I show the card with my face on it. It's called an identification card. An ID for short. If I do something bad, the authorities can arrest me. They use that card to note who I am and keep track of me in prison.”

Kaspian just stared at me.

“I'm rambling and not making sense to you,” I muttered. “Never mind. Just know that with the billions of people in our world, it becomes important to verify who you are. The government issues that card and so it's acceptable proof.”

“I don't understand why you have to prove what your name is. Why would anyone doubt your name? Why does it matter?”

“Because someone could pretend to be me and use my name to purchase things that I would then have to pay for.”

Kaspian digested this. “Commerce is complicated here.”

“Yes. That's what comes with technology. But it's easier when you've been raised with it. Every generation has it easier than the last.”

“That is evolution.”

“No, evolution is nature changing physical aspects of a race. What we do is called revolution. It's technological advancements. Innovations. Sometimes it can include evolution, but generally, evolution takes a long time while revolution is fast.”

We drove in silence for a few minutes while Kaspian absorbed my poor explanations of modern human life. Honestly, I enjoyed the silence while it lasted. I had never talked so much in all my life. And it ranged from fun to strenuous topics—straining my brain when Kas asked about things I didn't know or didn't know how to explain. Like the composition of cement, the reason we kept such large plots of land bare for golfing, or why people dyed the fur of their dogs. I'll never figure out that last one.

“It was night when I left Aravult. Now, it is night here,” Kas murmured. “And yet, it is nearly as bright as day.”

I glanced at him. He was staring out the window, but now I knew what he was staring at—the lights.

“It's only like this in the big cities,” I said. “A lot of people think it's too much light. They call it light pollution. It fucks with the wildlife because the animals that live in the area don't know when it's time to sleep. Insects too. Like moths.”

“Moths?”

“Never mind. It's just bad for nature when we fuck with the light. It gets dark for a reason. But humans learned early on that there's safety in light. It keeps the predators away. That stuck with us, passed down through the generations, and now many people are afraid of the dark. Even now, when we know how to protect ourselves.”

Kaspian chuckled. “That's a wise fear for humans. You don't have our eyesight. I imagine darkness is a type of blindness for you.”

“Extreme darkness, yeah.” I pulled into the Spaghetti Factory's parking lot. The building loomed on our right, its roof crowned with enameled blue tiles. For a chain restaurant, it had style.

“Oh, that's beautiful.” Kas got distracted by those tiles, just as I predicted he would.

“Wait until you see inside.” I parked.

Kas was out of the truck before me. We headed for the heavy front door with its big brass handle, and he opened it for me. Inside, a rush of air conditioning greeted us before the hostess did. As Kaspian stared at the décor, she led us into the restaurant and up to a table by a window with a river view, as I requested.

Kaspian was still taking it all in when she left.

“Nice, huh? Kinda the opposite of my place.” I followed his stare to the ceiling, covered in metal tiles. “Every inch has something adorning it. It's called Victorian, this style. It was popular a long time ago, but some humans treasure historical items. They call them antiques and greatly value them depending on their condition.”

“It's a lot.” Kas returned his stare to me. “I like the calm of your home. This feels . . . anxious to me.”

I grinned. “Yeah. I think so too. I like it for a few hours but then I want to give my eyes a rest. Okay, so let me help you with the menu.”

I went over the selections since Kaspian couldn't read them, and helped him pick something for dinner. He went with an extra large portion of pasta and so did I. I was hungry. I would have had a cocktail, but I was afraid that, combined with all the carbs, it would make me fall asleep on the drive home. So, in addition to my spumoni at the end of the meal, I ordered a cup of coffee. Kaspian wanted a cup as well, so I ordered him a decaf.

“What is this decaf? I heard you say it before. But you got something different.”

“Caffeine is a stimulant that's found in coffee.”

Kaspian lifted a brow. “I enjoy stimulation.”

The laugh burst out of me. “Not that kind of stimulant. It's a drug that stimulates your brain. I don't know if it would even affect you, but caffeine makes humans more alert. After such a long day, I thought I might need some for the ride home. But you do not need to be any more alert than you already are. So, I ordered a decaffeinated coffee for you. They've removed the caffeine.”

“A drug. Medicine?”

“Kind of. It doesn't cure disease, only sharpens the mind.”

Kaspian went quiet, turning his attention to the view. I wondered what he could see with his enhanced sight. All I saw were lights reflecting off the water and the nearby bridge. But whatever he saw held his attention until our dessert arrived. Then he focused on the food.

“I love that you're a foodie,” I said.

“Good food stimulates the senses like nothing else. I'd wager even your caffeine doesn't delight as much.”

“Even more than sex?” I lifted a brow at him.

“Sex is in a different category altogether.” He grinned back. “We could try combining them.”

I shook my head. “Been there. Done that. It gets too messy to be worth it.”

“It sounds as if you didn't choose the right food.”

I shrugged. “If my partner is hot enough, I don't need anything else.”

“I'm very hot.”

“Oh, I know. I set that up for you. Go on.”

“Go on?”

“Make a fire joke. I know you can do it.” I winked at him.

“I thought I had.”

I burst out laughing again. “Yeah, I guess you did, but it was pretty lame.”

“Lame?” Kas considered the word. “A lame joke. Ah, I see what you are implying. All right then.” He leaned forward, across his bowl of ice cream. “I'll show you just how hot I can get after we return to your home.”

I sighed. “I don't think I'm up for sex tonight.”

Kaspian jerked back as if I'd stuck him and stared at me with wide eyes.

“What? Did I say something offensive?”

“You certainly did!” He scooped up some ice cream and angry-ate it.

“Okay. What offended you?”

“I just offered to share myself with you, and you told me you're too tired for it. Too tired!”

“Share myself.” I snorted. “Holy shit! You've never been told no, have you?”

He gave me a look that said it all.

“Wow,” I whispered and sipped my coffee.

I could have gotten on him for his arrogance, but let's be real here—Kaspian had a reason to be arrogant. Several reasons. Reasons piled upon reasons. I wasn't all that surprised that every sexual advance he'd ever made had been accepted with excitement and alacrity. Hell, he was probably the one choosing which offers to accept, not making them. But I didn't want him to know that I thought that. Let my reaction knock him down a notch. It looked as if it was doing him some good.

If this was the first time he'd come onto someone, and he'd gotten shot down, it would sting. Especially when the one doing the shooting was a mere human. Oh, yeah, he deserved this shit.

I set my coffee down and glanced up. Kas was still glaring at me, but within those glittering eyes was more than anger. There was also interest. Classic. All alphas were the same. It didn't matter if they came from another world—they all wanted what they couldn't have.

I held his stare. “Arrogance isn't a good look for you.”

That interest intensified.

Normally, I'm not the guy to play hard to get. I mean come on. I'm a gay wolf—a power bottom. I fuck who I want when I want. I don't play those hetero games. Fuck that. Life is too short. Fucking gets right to the point. Fuck someone, and you know immediately if you're compatible. If not, you can move on. No harm, no foul. I intended to have sex with Kaspian. But I wanted our first time to be when I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as it were. I wouldn't fully enjoy him if I was falling asleep. I didn't think begging off tonight was playing games. Or that it would offend him.

Now, I wanted to do both. Just for funsies.

I was dealing with someone special. Someone who had everything handed to him on a silver platter. And that old saying was probably literal in his case. I wouldn't be surprised if some guy had himself carried into Kaspian's bedroom on a giant silver platter. Probably covered in something sweet and creamy.

A man like Kas wasn't looking for compatibility in a first fuck. He didn't give a shit about that. He just wanted to get off and move on. Normally, I had no problem with that. But staring at him, seeing a deeper interest bloom in his eyes, I realized how much I wanted Kaspian. More than one night. Maybe much more.

Let the games begin.