Page 125 of Mates: Posy

"Is that all, little flower," he whispered, "or is there something more bothering you?"

My bottom lip trembled as I met his gray eyes.

"I'm scared," I whispered. "I don't know anything about mating. You'll think I'm dumb."

"Baby, you were locked away when you weretwelve. Unless your brothers slipped you books on anatomy and sex, how could you know?"

"They didn't, did they?" Ash growled.

I shook my head.

"And your mom never discussed mates or mating with you?"

"She was sick for a long time before she died," I explained. "Nearly a year. By the time I got home from school, she was usually asleep or in too much pain for any serious conversation."

"Either way, you were a little young for 'The Talk,' anyway," he sighed.

I watched as they exchanged looks, then turned as one to Cole.

"Um, so, our parents gaveus'The Talk' when we individually turned fourteen. We can share what they told us." When I nodded, he continued. "As you know, the mating process has three steps. Finding each other, marking, and mating."

He swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck, and the other boys shifted or shuffled their feet.

Are they scared of that part, too?I wondered.

"After that, the bond will be completed. Rather than have a human period, from now on you'll go through heat once a year. That's the only time you can get pregnant."

"Pregnant," I repeated in a flat tone.

"Conceive. You know." His cheeks flared red. "Have a pup."

"Yes, I know what the word means. I just wasn't expecting to hear it." I grabbed a strand of my hair and played with it. Their nervousness was rubbing off on me. "So, um, what is mating?"

"All right, here's the short and sweet version," Wyatt said before Cole could answer.

"Oh, no. Anyone but you," Jayden cut him off. "You'll either scare her or traumatize her."

"What? Of course I won't!"

"Your filthy mouth is too crude and graphic."

"Hey! Just give me a chance!"

"One chance," Mason warned him. "Don't screw it up."

Wyatt rolled his eyes, then turned to me and took my hands in his. His eyes held mine.

"Okay, Posy, so you know boys and girls have different parts in their pants, right? The boy's part, which is called a penis, fits into the girl's part, which is called a vagina."

I nodded. I may have never seen a boy's part, but I knew what both were called.

"The penis mostly hangs around until it wants to be inside the vagina. When it does, it gets big and hard so it can fill it up. With me so far?"

"Wait. You mean you would put— Um,down there?!" I squeaked, squeezing my legs together tightly.

Ash's chest rumbled against my back and I knew he was laughing quietly. With a frown, I turned and slapped his bicep.

"Stop that," I hissed.

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