“Shit, are you too sore, angel?” No matter how much he needed to own her in this moment, he could never hurt her. He’d rather cut his own heart out.
“It’s okay,” she breathed, and pushed back against him.
He groaned, conflicted with wanting to do the right thing and needing to take her…as much as he could take her right now.
“Please,” she whispered, and the internal battle was decided. Rob slowly pushed the rest of the way into her moist heaven. “Yes.”
Her barely vocalized acceptance was like fire licking at his balls. He came over her and thrust into her repeatedly. He wouldn’t be able to hold out like he had last night. His emotions were too raw, his need too overpowering, but his lion wouldn’t allow him to come before its mate. He snaked his hand around her hip and down between her legs. She yelped when he made contact with her clit and flinched away. Rob bit her shoulder to hold her in place and growled low, warning her not to resist as he strummed her clit and fucked her hard.
“You’re gonna make me come,” she panted.
He released her shoulder. “Do it, angel. I’m dying here.” When her pussy began to flutter, he knew she was done for. “That’s it. Shit!”
She screamed, and he came inside her as he flattened her to the desk and rocked against her with his own orgasm. He bracketed her and panted, breathing in her angelic scent, a smell that would forever be burned into his very soul. He was falling in love with her. He always knew that he would. She was his mate, so love would naturally come, but to actually feel it and know it was happening, well, that was one of the greatest feelings he’d ever experienced.
When he gently released her and pulled out, he winced. “Um, angel, I’m sorry. I didn’t use a condom.” He knew better than this shit. He and his brothers were always to protect themselves, and Rob definitely wanted to protect his mate. But his lion didn’t care. Taking her without a condom meant marking her in the most intimate way possible. Yeah, he should’ve known better, but it was hard to fully feel remorse.
She gasped and turned around to face him. “What?” The color fled from her face, and Rob reached for her. She jerked away from him.
“I said I was sorry and I meant it. Why are you backing away from me again?” He frowned as she kept moving back.
“Does this mean I could get pregnant now?”
Why in the hell did she look disgusted? He growled. “No.”
“Are you sure? I mean, you can get women pregnant, right? Or is that not physically possible?”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Ariel? I’m a man, not a fucking creature. Just because I shift into an animal doesn’t mean I’m not one hundred percent man.” When she didn’t say anything else right away, Rob was felt his heart dropping. She thinks I am a creature. Not capable of being a man she needs. His lion demanded he prove her wrong, make her see him for the person he was and not the science experiment she thought of him. But all he really wanted to do was flee. Maybe it was because of the medication that he didn’t want to stay and fight. “You know what? Just forget it. I’m through with your fucking tests.”
And he ran. He barely cleared the door before he shifted into the animal she would always think him.
Chapter Eight
Ariel had spent the last week with her nose buried in one book or another, reading about the history of civilization and chemical compounds. Rob was avoiding her, and she couldn’t say that she completely blamed him. After the last time they were together, she’d freaked out when he hadn’t used a condom, but he’d taken it all wrong. Since her marriage to Will soured, she hadn’t been using birth control. The medication had always made her sick, so she only took it if she absolutely had to. The bottom line was she wasn’t protected against pregnancy and she wasn’t ready to be a mom. That was all.
And the fact that she hadn’t originally questioned Rob’s humanity and ability to conceive like he’d assumed she was worried about made her realize he’d somehow knocked her off her game. She was a scientist, biochemist here to do a job, and the first thing that should have popped into her mind was the scientific probability of the Woods men being able to conceive. If it wasn’t possible, then Rob and his brothers wouldn’t be here.
But that wasn’t Ariel’s first concern. Over the last week, she’d tried telling herself that her reaction was a typical woman’s reaction…and she was a woman. But she couldn’t help but acknowledge that in such a short amount of time Rob had become more to her than a test subject. She didn’t want to analyze what he was to her because she was analytical by nature and would pick it apart until she discovered the answer.