Page 44 of Beginning Fate

Slowly I pulled her shirt up and over her head before tossing it onto the floor.

A shiver ran through her.

She was so beautiful. How the hell was I the lucky bastard that was going to get to spend the rest of my life with this goddess?

I lowered my head and sucked one nipple in my mouth while I teased the other with my hand. Her hips bucked of their own accord, and I smiled. I just knew my mate was going to be a fast learner and couldn't wait to be deep inside her.

She helped me take my own shirt off before I carefully removed her pants and underwear. My breath caught as I stared down at her for a moment before eagerly stripping off the rest of my clothes.

Getting a little too excited, I kissed a trail down the soft skin of her stomach, stopping to swirl my tongue at her navelbefore spreading her legs wide then stopping to enjoy the sight as I positioned myself between them.

I licked my lips. I couldn't wait to taste her and watch her come on my mouth.

“So beautiful,” I whispered reverently as I started to lower my head.

“Wait!”

I froze and looked up at her in confusion.

Did she just need a minute? What was going on?

“I can't,” she blurted out. “Oh my God. I can't do this.”

Stunned, I just sat there staring at her, too shocked to even notice the sting of rejection.

“You can't what?” I asked.

I was mesmerized by the pink color migrating from her cheeks down to her breasts.

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I promise to make this good for you.”

“Denny, no. Stop. I can't go through with this.”

She nudged me a little and I rolled to my back, staring at the ceiling.

My mate didn't want to have sex with me? What the hell? I'd already considered a million ways on how this moment could go and this was not like any of them.

Lauren jumped up and started pacing the room.

“I'm so sorry. I know you must think I’m a tease. I've never been in this position before. I've never allowed it to even come close to this. And I thought I could do it. I thought I could just throw caution to the wind and be normal for once without worrying about the consequences. Be young and carefree. But I'm none of those things and this is all happening too fast. And it's way too easy. Nothing good in my life has ever come this easy. So that must mean it's bad, right? I mean this can’t be normal, so it must not be right.”

The shock of the moment was beginning to wane as I listened to her nervous rant, my eyes following her movement back and forth across the room.

My balls were so tight it was physically painful, but I didn't think she was completely rejecting me. She was just putting the brakes on the moment because I'd let things move too quickly.

Cursing myself, and pushing my own needs aside, I jumped up from the bed and went to her. She didn't flinch away when I held her, but she did stop pacing, and I could feel her body vibrate and begin to calm.

Tears slid down her cheeks and onto my chest.

“It's okay,” I whispered.

My dick had other ideas as I tried willing him to calm down. There was no way to hide the evidence of my needs when standing naked and this close to her, but I at least tried to ignore it and pretend like this was all no big deal.

The last thing I wanted was for her to regret being with me. I'd much rather wait until she was absolutely ready. Besides, as far as I was concerned, we had the rest of our lives for that stuff. I didn’t think she wanted to hear that just yet though.

My mate acted big and bad like she was stronger than life and could take on the world. She was fiercely protective of those she loves, if Kylie was any indication, and I hoped one day that would include me, too.

This clearly wasn't going to be a simple mating. I doubted there was anything simple about Lauren. She was far too mature and logical for her own good, but maybe I could help with that some. She needed to relax and have some fun.

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