Page 13 of Once Upon a Rec Center Wish
Vern held out a large wooden bowl with four smaller ones inside. “Hi. I made these for you.”
I couldn’t help but smile as my body filled with warmth. He’d brought a gift for me every time he arrived for dinner. Yet, I didn’t know where he found the time to make them. As I took them from him, I pushed up to the tips of my toes and cupped the back of his neck before kissing his cheek. “Thank you. You really are the sweetest.”
His cheeks flushed and he chittered his buckteeth, a reaction that seemed to happen when I flustered him.
Not wanting to make him any more distressed, I took the bowls and headed into the kitchen. “These are ideal for serving leafy salads. You really are the perfect mate for me.”
Though he had followed me, he froze at my words.
“What?” I set the bowls on the counter and rubbed his elbow. “What did I say? You have to let me know what makes you uncomfortable so I can change that.”
He shook his head. “It’s not that. It’s just… I thought you would have changed your mind about wanting me as your mate. I know you’re still being approached by possible suitors. And courting you is something I just don’t know how to do. I’m not fit to be your mate.”
With a sigh and a smile, I stood toe-to-toe with Vern and held him around his waist. Glancing up at him, I contemplated how to tell him everything I needed him to understand. “Vern, I don’t want anyone else. I only want you. I’m one hundred percent sure of my decision. Plus, you have already been courting me for a while now.”
He wrinkled his forehead but didn’t make an attempt to back away from me. “I have?”
I nodded and smiled. “You customized my house to be exactly the way I wanted.”
“My brothers helped. It wasn’t just me.”
Leaning my head against his chest, I listened to his rapid heartbeat. “Yes, but you were the one who volunteered to do it in the first place. And you spent the most time here.”
“It’s my job in the community though. It’s expected of me.”
I took a deep breath and cuddled even deeper into his chest. “You come for dinner every night and we spend time together after.”
He sighed. “Only because you invited me. I don’t want to seem rude.”
“I invited you because I like spending time with you. Plus, you bring gifts every time you come. That’s definitely something a suitor would do.”
He finally wrapped his arms around me. “That’s because I like to make things for you. I always wanted to be able to craft things for my mate.”
I smiled against his chest and lowered my hands down his back to just above his buttocks. “Then will you finally agree to make me your mate? Will you spend the night and be intimate with me?”
He chittered again. “But I don’t know how. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I stepped back and gazed up at him. “I don’t mind taking the lead, showing you how to be intimate with an outer-worlder.”
Though he spent most of his time in his human body, that didn’t mean he knew everything about how it worked. I had a feeling most of the shifters didn’t fully understand their bipedal form.
He gulped and I had the sudden urge to show him just how good he could feel with all that magic running through him.
“Will you let me touch you? Intimately?”
With a slow nod, he began taking deeper, more controlled breaths.
I started by reaching around him to undo his tool belt. As I set it on the ground, I lowered to my knees. “Are you okay? Still all right with me going to touch you?”
“Yes,” he hissed as he ran his hand across my hair.
I wanted to make the encounter so good for him, wanted to bring out his sexual prowess. At the same time, I didn’t want to overwhelm him if he’d never touched himself before.
Reaching for his cock, I ran my palm along the underside. I needed to know how he would react to my touch before I went much further. I couldn’t take him in my mouth right away to suck him off until I made sure he wouldn’t scream or run away.
As his shaft began to harden, he moaned and leaned his hips forward.
“You like that, do you?”
