Page 61 of Dark Voyage Matters of the Mind

He frowned. "That's not my name. Are you sure you are thinking clearly?"

"Ugh, you are insufferable. Watson is a fictional character from a famous detective series. The detective is the very astute Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Watson is his assistant."

"Oh, okay. I get it now. I've heard of that detective. British, right?"

As if that had anything to do with anything. "Yes. He is. Or was. I don't remember the name of the author, but he was British."

Dagor nodded. "I'm still waiting for you to convince me that you are not affected by drugs and that your judgment is sound."

Frankie huffed out a breath. "My judgment is probably not sound, but it has nothing to do with me being under the influence of drugs or not. For some unexplainable reason, I want you despite how annoying and hardheaded you are, and it has nothing to do with you being a damn god, so don't you dare say that." She pointed a finger at him.

"I'm not saying anything."

"Good. So here is what I've been thinking. It made sense only minutes ago, but I'm no longer sure. So, I know that you don't want to get attached to me because I'm human, and I'm not going to live long even if I die from old age. But if I was immortal, that objection would be out, and the only one that would remain would be me not being a god like you, but that's just snobbish on your part, and I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to beat it out of you."

He shook his head. "It's not about snobbishness. I don't care whether you are a pureblooded goddess or a hybrid half-human, or even ninety-nine percent human and one percent goddess, as long as it makes you immortal. What I care about is that if I bond with you, I would never be able to go home. Hybrids are considered an abomination on Anumati, which means that I can't take you with me, and I can never introduce you to my family or live near them. My parents' greatest wish is to see their son bring home a mate and perhaps one day bless them with a grandchild. It's the greatest wish of any parent in my home world, and it's my duty as a son to do my best to give them that."

Frankie swallowed.

As much as she would have loved to poke holes in his reasoning, she couldn't because she knew precisely what he was talking about. One of her biggest objections to becoming immortal was her family and how she could manage to be with them while keeping her immortality a secret. She hadn't even thought about the complications of bringing her mate to meet her parents, her brothers, her cousins, and aunts and uncles. Would she be willing to give all of that up for a guy?

For Dagor?

She'd only known him for such a short time. There was no way she would give up her entire world for him.

Or was there?

Her gut was whispering quite loudly that she would because he was the one for her, and he was worth it, but her mind didn't agree.

Given that her heart always spoke louder than her mind, she might have followed her heart's advice, but Dagor was much too cerebral for that.

His mind was in the driver's seat, and he was putting up a ferocious fight with his heart, which she had a strong feeling was whispering the same things to him as her gut was whispering to her.

With a sigh, she reached for his hand and clasped it. "It seems to me that the one who needs more time to decide is you, not me. I love my family, too. They are very important to me, so I understand why this is difficult for you and why you cannot commit to me yet. But you will. It's only a matter of time."

Dagor

Frankie's certainty that he would commit to her in the end was both unsettling and comforting. The notion that she believed so firmly in a future for them was both a balm to his conflicted heart and a challenge to the barriers he had meticulously constructed around it.

She wasn't wrong.

He knew in his gut that she was right, but his mind was still refusing to cooperate. He had too much to lose. But he also had so much to gain.

To have someone else grapple with the enormity of the choices he had been wrestling with in the silence of his own mind was a novelty.

Aru and Negal knew his preference for a traditional mating that would meet with his parents' approval, but they had no idea how close he'd come to giving it all up to be with Frankie.

Hell, he hadn't even admitted that to himself.

"Are you okay?" She smiled. The warmth from her hand clasping his was spreading through his body and bridging the chasm of differences and uncertainties between them. "You look a little shell-shocked."

"I am." He smiled back. "You are very confident. I like that."

"Do you still think that I'm under the influence of drugs and not thinking clearly?"

He shook his head. "You have more clarity than I do."

He was still acutely aware of the complexities of their situation and the expectations and responsibilities placed on him. Choosing Frankie would entail a price he wasn't sure he would be allowed to pay, but he was starting to believe that if the choice was left to him, he would choose to pay it because it was worth it.