Page 17 of The Rhino's Rose

“You,” I say, cutting her off. “You’re the reason. Every time.”

Leaning forward, she blinks her beautiful eyes at me. “Since when?”

Shame floods me like a tidal wave. “My answer may change your feelings or what you want, but you, more than anyone, deserve complete honesty.”

“Because I took a leap and literally bared it all?” she says, a self-deprecating smile curving her lips.

“That’s one reason.” Before she can ask what other reasons exist, I clear my throat and lay bare the truthful answer to her previous question. “I’ve been drawn to you since the day we met. It hit me hard, and so did the shame. I didn’t want to feel that way about you. You were too young for me. You still are. You deserve better than a nonhuman twice your age.”

“All this time? You’ve wanted me the way I’ve wanted you?”

“I’ve been fighting the pull toward you every minute of every day for five years,” is the wording I choose. Telling her she’s my mate, that I’ve known it since I first laid eyes on her…that’s a whole other level of honesty. “Tonight proved I’m losing the fight.”

“I’m glad you lost,” she says, shimmying along the pool’s edge until she’s at the curved area made for my shoulders, which puts her directly in front of me. “Though your math is lacking. You’re not twice my age. I’m twenty-four and you’re thirty-five, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Plus, I was an adult when we met. Not just in the legal sense. The life I came from, the one I escaped, it made me a lot more mature than most nineteen-year-olds, even though you couldn’t have known that when we met. Regardless, I was a woman. There’s no reason to feel weird about seeing me as one.”

It doesn’t sound so bad when she says it. Or maybe that’s me rationalizing so I can have what I want.

“As for the nonhuman part,” she continues, “Does it bother you that we’re different? Because I don’t care that we’re not the same species. You being different just makes me want to learn about you. Like earlier today, when I found out you’re a vegetarian by nature of your species. And tonight, when I discovered that your…equipment,” that last word comes out on a choked breath, “isn’t the same shape as a human man’s. Which I only know from pictures and the toys Lexi sells in her store. I…I’ve never seen a real human one. Or any other species.”

Gods above, is she saying what I think she’s saying?

“I’ve been on some dates,” she says, as if reading my mind. “But I never felt anything, even from the goodnight kiss. When I’m near you, or even thinking of you, though…I feel things. A lot of things.”

“I feel a lot of things too.” More than just desire. A hell of a lot more. Maybe if I told her about the mating pull, how I know with every fiber of my being that she’s the only one for me, it’d spook her. But I can’t bring myself to do it, just like I couldn’t let her believe I’d rejected her again. For all my five years of good intentions, I’m still selfish. Getting more so with each passing minute.

I move toward her, my big body slicing the still water until I’m standing before her parted legs. Close enough to touch her, but I keep my hands at my sides. “I’m sorry that my attempt to keep you at arm’s length made things uncomfortable.”

“One thing I’ve come to realize is that things happen when it’s time for them to happen. All those times I triedto talk to you but got tongue-tied means I wasn’t ready to talk to you. The times I did things to get you to look at me the way you’re looking at me now, but you turned away, you weren’t ready to see me this way. And now we’re both ready, I hope.” Whether consciously or otherwise, her legs part, wide enough to give me an unobstructed view of her pussy.

Somehow, my mouth goes dry and waters at the same time. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

The way she nods, you’d think I asked if she wants to win the lottery. If she says yes, it’s me who’s going to win the prize, even though I have no business claiming it.

“Rhinos don’t have the best eyesight, especially in the dark, so I’m going to need you to say it. Do you want my face between your legs, making you come with my tongue inside you?”

She squeaks, her hands flying up to cover her face. A muffled “yes” comes through.

Unable to resist any longer, I move closer, wedging my big body between her knees and gently peeling her fingers from her face, then holding her small, soft hands inside mine. “After showing me your beautiful body and sharing your heart, you’re embarrassed by a question about consent and receiving pleasure?”

“Because now that it’s finally,finally,really happening with you, I don’t know how to act.”

“Don’t act. Don’t think or guess or worry. There’s no right way of being intimate. Just do whatever comes naturally.”

“You’ll tell me if I do something wrong?”

“I won’t need to,” I say, guiding her hands behind my head. “Nothing you could do would be wrong.”

“At the risk of scaring you off again, you’re putting a lot of faith in a completely inexperienced virgin.”

A chuckle rumbles in my chest. “Unless you tell me to step back, I’m not going anywhere. Except down, between your legs.” This close to her, I can see her pulse point hammering in her neck, and though her scent is still flush with arousal, it also carries notes of nervousness. “You can always change your mind. At any time, any point, just say no, and I’ll stop.”

“Okay.” Her voice is as soft as her touch against the back of my neck. “Can I say start instead?”

Five

ROSE

In the years I’ve lived next door to him, I’ve heard Cornelius make a variety of rumbles and grunts during various moods and activities, but the sound that rolls out of him now is unlike any other. It’s powerful. Hungry.

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