From what sounded like underwater, she heard Ben’s guttural shout of pleasure as he thrust in deep, once, twice more before he collapsed back down on the bench and over her smaller body as if he no longer could support himself.
If he felt anything like she did right now, she understood. She didn’t even have the strength to open her eyes.
A million years later she felt his lips at her ear. “You okay?”
She stretched, as much as she could with a two-hundred-plus-pound naked man on top of her. “Oh yeah.” She let out a happy sigh. “Now I know what all the fuss is about.”
Every one of Ben’s formerly relaxed muscled went rigid. Still comfortably clasped inside her body, he leaned up on his forearms. “Will.” He pressed a kiss to her nose. “When you said it’d been awhile, just what did you mean?”
She opened her eyes into slits, not liking the suspicion that glinted in his. “Uh. Long time?”
He moved onto his hands and she felt the shift inside. Such a weird and wonderful feeling.
“Try again.”
She licked dry lips. “Never?”
Ben’s eyes closed and he groaned. Easing out carefully from her, he rose to his feet. He turned in an agitated circle until he faced her once again. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Jeez, Ben. Being a virgin isn’t a disease. You won’t catch it from me.”
He made an exasperated sound and performed another circle, hands scrubbing over his face. “I took you in a damn locker room, Will. Your first time. In. A. Fucking. Locker. Room.”
What was his point? She eyed him warily. “I don’t need romantic music and rose petals strewn all over a bed, Ben.”
“But you deserve that.” His hands fisted at his side, his head flung back as he stared at the ceiling.
Slowly Willow moved into a sitting position. “Listen. How about we forget the all virgin thing and move onto the Jacuzzi thing? I have a cramp in my hip that I would really like to get rid of.”
He muttered something to himself before saying with reluctance, “All right. Get your suit on. I gotta take care of the condom.”
“Yeah, about that suit thing. I seem to have lost my bottoms.”
Ben eyed her bare bottom half as she stood, his features shifting into a wolfish appraisal. “Guess we’re going skinny dipping, then.”
Chapter Eighteen
Ben figured he was the world’s most unobservant shifter on the face of the planet, not to mention the biggest asshole of all time. He’d taken his mate—a virgin, for Christ’s sake—for the first time in a fucking locker room.
Part of him couldn’t understand what was wrong with the men in New York. The other part was supremely pleased they’d kept their grubby paws off. Maybe it was her upbringing, her hectic career, or possibly no man had sparked her interest. Whatever the cause, Ben would die treasuring her gift. Yeah, the mating heat made it near impossible to deny their physical attraction, but that didn’t diminish a damn thing.
Now he only had to get over his regret at the location.
Toweling off, he eyed the bench in question, knowing he’d never look at it the same way again.
Ben had come back from disposing of the condom to find Willow dressed in her sweats and ready for the Jacuzzi. Ben, knowing it would help ease the soreness of her muscles, tugged his trunks on and they walked barefoot to the next room, where she stripped and slipped beneath the water, naked.
Keeping his hands to himself proved difficult, especially when she settled next to him, placing her head trustingly on his shoulder.
Cuddling. His heart had done a slow flip-flop in his chest. Mentally berating his rigid cock that seemed to have no pause button where Willow was concerned, he placed his arms around her, holding her possessively at his side, and cuddled his mate.
When he brought up the subject of her innocence once again, she’d peeked up at him in clear annoyance, informing Ben he’d better not make her regret giving him her virginity. That, of course, snapped his mouth shut for good and they sat in a sort of lazy silence until Ben noticed Willow falling asleep.
He’d roused her and then given her privacy to shower in the bath adjacent to Dean’s office and dress. He did the same, only in the locker room, which was why the bench was now mutely glaring up at him in disappointment.
Great. Torn between laughter and wanting to beat his own ass, or maybe throttle Willow for keeping something so important a secret from him, he stared at the ceiling. I’m being chastised by an inanimate object.
There was also that pesky little niggle of unease twisting his gut. The irony wasn’t lost on him. If he was upset at Willow keeping her virginity a secret from him, how upset was she going to be when he told her he could shift into a wolf?