Page 34 of Beginning Fate

“Okay. I'll take you back to the hotel.”

“Thanks, but I drove here. I just need to get back to the cafeteria.”

I was not ready to let her go. I didn't say anything as I led her back across campus, but dammit I wanted time alone with her. We had a lot to talk about.

When we got to her car I opened her door and then ran around to the other side and climbed into the passenger seat while she settled in.

She looked at me, surprised.

“What are you doing?”

“Sticking with you. I think we should probably talk or something, you know, about all this mating stuff.”

She sighed heavily, leaving me with a not very good feeling.

“I'm going back to my hotel room, Denny.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So? So that would be like bringing you back to my bedroom, and that's not something I do,” she blurted out. Her cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink. “Oh my God. I can't believe I just said that out loud.”

As I considered her words, I realized I liked them. She wasn't promiscuous. That wasn't a bad thing, preferable even.

“We can just talk,” I told her.

“You're not listening to me. I'm not good with this sort of thing. I've never even had a boyfriend. My sole focus has been on Kylie since I was nine years old."

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay. Lauren, you're my mate,” I said, letting that word linger in the air between us.

“Exactly.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mate implies certain things that I am absolutely not ready for.”

“Huh?”

“Do I have to spell it out for you?”

“Apparently you do.”

She groaned, looking completely mortified. I probably should have stopped and let her off the hook, but I had no idea what she was talking about.

“I've never even kissed a guy before. Just being alone in the car with you is way out of my element. I'm not ready for this. I’m not ready for any of this,” she confessed.

I heard her words, but they weren't quite having the same impact on me that I think she expected them to have.

I growled and leaned over to kiss her. My lips brushed lightly against hers, almost like a whisper. She froze and when I lifted my hand to gently caress her cheek, I felt a slight tremble as she relaxed with a sigh.

Slowly I kissed her lips, swiping my tongue along the seam of them until they parted and I was able to deepen the kiss.

She kissed me back fervently as we tested and teased one another.

It was such a new sensation for me.

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