Sawyer bit his bottom lip and waited for Logan to field that one too. “It means we don’t have any specific ceremonies that bind us. We just have sex.”
She lifted her face and twisted sideways to face them both. “So we aren’t exactly united or whatever yet?”
“No.”
“And when we have sex, we will be? Just like that?”
“Yes,” Logan’s face was serious. “And we’ll be able to communicate without speaking too.”
“What? Like telepathically?”
“Exactly.”
“No matter where we are?”
“Right.”
“Jesus. That’s freaky weird.”
Logan smiled. “It can be. You’ll get used to it. And you’ll learn to block us from clambering around in your every thought eventually too.”
She shuddered. “Shit. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“It’s only slightly easier for wolf females. Wolves can all communicate with each other when they’re in wolf form. But only mates can speak to each other in human form.”
“That’s so far out there. You realize that, right?”
Logan chuckled. “I guess so. But it comes in handy. We don’t even need cell phones.”
“If claiming me is so private, how do the others even know it happened? What keeps someone else from deciding to hone in on someone’s mate?”
Sawyer jumped in. “Scent. We can smell it. It’s overwhelming, and it fills a room. When a woman, or a man for that matter, is claimed, their pheromones change. Everyone knows it. Even if they’ve never met. It’s immediately obvious.”
Logan added to that. “The tricky part is that you won’t have that ability. But every wolf will. Even strangers on the street will recognize that you’re human and mated to a wolf. You, however, will be at a disadvantage in that area.”
“That doesn’t seem fair. Why does Nature have wolves mating with humans, anyway?”
Sawyer shrugged. “No one really knows. It just happens sometimes.”
She paused, seeming to soak that in, and then continued. “So everyone in your family will know we had sex?”
“Yes.” He scrunched up his face, hoping to convey chagrin, but that was just how it was.
She shuddered again. “That’s so weird.”
“It’s normal for us.”
“And that’s it? That’s all we do. We have sex, and then we’re like united or something for life?”
“It’s that simple. With two mates, anyway. It’s slightly more complicated with three, but we’ll work through it.”
She furrowed her brow. “More complicated how?”
That was the last question Sawyer wanted to field. He knew they had to face it and have a frank discussion about it at some point anyway, but he would give his right arm to put it off.
Judging by the look on Logan’s face, he agreed. He cringed a bit and then blew out a breath. “Let’s just take things one step at a time and cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Amanda blinked at him, seeming to decide if that idea suited her. Finally, she dropped her shoulders and nodded. “Okay, but don’t blindside me. I’m scared out of my mind enough as it is. I don’t need any more surprises.”
Logan stepped back a pace. “You hungry? We could make lunch and get to know each other a bit more.”
Sawyer wanted to groan at that idea. Sure, he hadn’t eaten much that morning. And he was fairly certain neither of them would have either, but he wanted to move to the bedroom and get this sexy outfit off his mate before his cock exploded.
Logan shot him a glare. He was right. They did need to eat. And they also needed to ease Amanda into their life. No matter how far she’d come and how well she was taking things, she was still human. And it seemed obvious to Sawyer that no human man had ever rocked her world the way he and Logan had that morning.
The look on her face told him everything he needed to know. Amanda wasn’t a virgin in the traditional sense of the word, but she also hadn’t had decent sex with anyone either. What was the matter with some human men that they couldn’t take proper care to ensure their women were satisfied?
That thought had made him light-headed several times since they’d met her. The idea that she would surrender her body completely to him and Logan made his chest swell. It was unlikely she’d ever come undone with another man before. She was his. She was Logan’s. She was a blank slate whose world was going to be rocked and turned upside down in a matter of hours.
The honor didn’t escape his notice.
He wanted her more for it.
He also had to slow the fuck down more because of it.