As if he had read her mind he murmured, “That wasn’t easy for me to do.”
Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound escaped. She finally cleared her throat and went to check on the sauce. Her panties were soaked by that point, the cotton fabric rubbing against the lips of her pussy and causing her that much more frustration. “If it isn’t easy then why do it at all?” She couldn’t understand why he was denying both of them the pleasure that they could easily find with each other. Helina cared for him deeply and she wanted to show her feelings to him with more than just words.
“I don’t want to rush anything.”
She stared at him without conveying her emotions. He wanted to go slow, yet they had already been intimate. It made no sense to her. “I have been so insanely aroused since our first time. I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately.”
“It’s because of me.”
Crossing her arms across her chest, she stared at him in shock.
“As a DarkShine, we emit a potent aphrodisiac that aides in ensuring we procreate.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
He took a step toward her. “When I came in you, I marked you as mine, and because of that you will only crave me.” His voice had dropped to a sensual whisper. “That’s what a DarkShine male does when he finds his mate.”
“So, what? I’m like a tree you’re marking so that no one else can piss on your territory?” She was furious. “So the arousal that I’m feeling isn’t my own?”
“It is just a way that nature has ensured that once we mate, we mate for life.” They stared at each other before she closed her eyes and breathed out deeply. Every new revelation was starting to take its toll on her. Turning her back to him, she drained the spaghetti and thought over what he said. “What did you mean when you said once we mate I will only crave you?”
“When my kind finds their mate—the one being they want to be with for eternity—they connect with them on a very primal level. Other males will feel uneasy around you, will be able to sense that you are claimed. They can smell me inside of you and know that you are already taken.”
She turned around and crinkled her brow, raising her arm and smelling it. “I don’t smell anything. What do I smell like to them?”
“Like me.”
She remembered Gaijryc’s dark, delicious smell. “What does that all mean?” He had explained everything, but her mind was twisted, everything mixing together into a ball of confusion. She felt his arms land on her shoulders, and his lips kiss the back of her neck.
“It means I want you for as long as I breathe, for as long as my heart beats, and for as long as you’ll have me.”
Her heart skipped a beat at his words. Clearing her throat, she held back the tears that threatened to escape. “If we’re not going to do anything, then I suggest a no touching rule.”
“I just don’t want to move too fast with you.”
“A little late for that, don’t you think?” The way he kissed her neck was causing coils of ecstasy to travel through her. “I’d say we’re way past the point of moving too fast.” He chuckled against her neck as he gave it one last kiss before pulling away.
They sat across from each other at the small marble-topped table. The time seemed to go so fast when she was with Gaijryc. She was pleased and surprised when Gaijryc polished off three helpings of the spaghetti.
They ended the evening lying in bed together, reading passages out of Romeo and Juliet before she finally drifted off to sleep, perfectly content, and utterly happy.
The others
Gaijryc sat behind his desk, which was situated in front of the picture window. There were only a few days left before the ball and he was beating himself up about a way to tell his family about Helina. Worry for her protection filled him. He was now debating whether he should even tell them about Helina before the ball. He knew even if Helina wasn’t in the picture, no one would expect him to choose a mate right away. They would expect him to weigh his options and give his decision at a later date.
He stared out the window at the rolling green hills that seemed to kiss the forest. The bright blue skies were clear with clouds scattered around as if they had all the space in the world. Ryce hadn’t showed up since he had spoken with Helina, and it was making him on edge. Ryce had never done anything like this before. He had considered the warrior a brother, and the fact that he had disappeared without a word infuriated Gaijryc.
He knew it must hurt Ryce to see him mating a human, and he no doubt remembered the human female he had loved so long ago. It was inexcusable that Ryce had even gone near Helina—had even spoken with her with without the presence of Gaijryc there. He hadn’t smelled any kind of lust in the air that Ryce might have put off, just a thick confusion and a despair that had coated the air like tar on your skin. Even hours after he had left, that despair and sadness had lingered, making itself known. Maybe it was because of that, that Gaijryc hadn’t hunted him down and skinned him alive.