“You did, love.”
His tension faded when she blushed and quietly said, “Oh, sorry. I guess that walk wore me out.”
“Let me take you home.” Luka shot a glance to his pack, picturing the feast he’d prepared for them.
“What about dinner?” She attempted to stifle a yawn.
He helped her to her feet, loving the feel of her hand in his but hating that the touches were so brief. “I’ll come by tomorrow instead. Is that alright?”
After she gave a small smile and nod, he began directing them back toward the cruiser. To his surprise, she reached for him, entwining her fingers with his. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed not to shout with joy and kiss her until her toes curled.
As they approached the vehicle and she released him to climb inside, he worried the return to the real world after basking in the romantic haze of the reserve would cause her to pull away again. To his delight, she didn’t complain or argue when he lifted her hand into his lap once more.
Earlier in the day, on the way to the reserve, he’d stroked her hand, learning the type of touch that aroused her. Now, he simply relaxed, contented from feeling her small soft palm in his.
“Thank you for bringing me here today. I see why you love it so much,” she said, pulling him from his musings. “I’m sorry I’m so tired. I was nervous and didn’t sleep very well last night. Out of curiosity, what did you have planned for dinner, anyway?”
She’d been nervous? “I made us a picnic.” He nudged the black bag on the ground with his foot.
When Jade had first given him the idea, he’d thought it ridiculous. Tremantian females wouldn’t enjoy eating on the ground in the woods. But after some time, he’d realized this wasn’t any female, this was his mate. It made sense that if he enjoyed the reserve she would too.
Still, a lifetime of experience had him holding his breath, waiting for the derision to show on her face at the idea. His breath had caught in much the same way earlier when he’d decided to share a personal fact about his relationship with his father. She’d surprised and delighted him with her tender response then, and he hoped the same happened now.
Alice stared at the large bag with wide eyes.
Dread knotted in his stomach. He’d been wrong. He only hoped the mistake didn’t set them back too far.
“You packed me a picnic?” She looked at him with an odd expression.
“Yes. I’m sorry. I thought you might enjoy eating outside and I believed the manta would do a good job of keeping the insects away from us, but I see now—”
“Whoa, wait,” Alice interrupted. Surprise lit her face, and he was gifted with a glorious unguarded smile that stole his breath. “Don’t apologize. I love it! I’m so upset you didn’t tell me about it earlier. I would’ve rallied if I’d known you’d gone to so much trouble. I thought we were just going to get takeout from a restaurant or something.”
Her intoxicating scent washed over him. The happiness radiating from her made him feel drunk from pleasure and had his cock stiffening.
“I didn’t know you could cook.”
It took him a moment to find his voice again. “Yes. I’m not the best. I only received a score of seven in my cooking exam, but I have a few meals I make well.”
Turning toward him and tucking her leg under her, she asked, “Cooking exam? Did you go to culinary school or something?”
Attempting not to eye the seductive jiggle of her breasts as she repositioned herself, he replied, “No, husbandry school.”
Her eyes rose to the ceiling, and she squinted in concentration. “Oh, yeah. Metli told us a little about that. I didn’t realize you had to learn cooking. What else did you learn?”
How will she feel about my schooling? Jade had recounted her introduction to the concept, explaining she hadn’t taken to some of their studies favorably.
“We learn about different things a wife might need or desire from her husband. Cooking, childcare, anatomy, sexual proficiency—” Luka tried to speed through the last, hoping she wouldn’t question it, but she interrupted all the same.
“Excuse me? Sexual proficiency?”
He attempted to recall Jade’s issue with the practice before speaking, hoping to assuage some of Alice’s dislike. “Yes. It’s an optional class that teaches males close to graduation how to properly please their partners.”
He held his breath, waiting to see if she’d be understanding or disgusted. Jade’s response to the class had surprised him, and he’d tried to imagine how a male’s schooling might look to an outsider.
While in school, he’d never thought of the practice as disagreeable—quite the opposite. All of the males he knew, including himself, had been a bundle of nerves and embarrassment entering the class, and by the time they’d left, they’d had confidence.
They taught young males how to seduce a female and what to look for in her responses to know whether she was enjoying herself. The males had also learned the importance of consent and how to harness your sexual energy and control it when no willing females were available.
She blinked at him a moment, her beautiful blue eyes searching his face. Unexpectedly, she reached out, cupping his cheek in one hand while gripping his fingers with the other. “And you were okay with that?”
He let out the breath he’d been holding in a whoosh, a purr exploding in him. She’s concerned for me. Warmth spread through his chest at the thought that his mate was worried about him.
“Yes, love. I was more than okay. Without those classes, I wouldn’t be able to arouse my mate with just a touch to the wrist and hand,” he murmured, recalling her intense
