Chapter 8

Sleep may not be possible tonight.

My mate felt our bond, didn't deny it, and openly voiced her sexual attraction and the difficulty she's having containing it. Down the hall, she's watching video of a male Minotaur fucking a human woman. And she's enjoying it.

I probably should have been forthcoming about my Minotaur senses. Told her that my hearing and olfactory receptors far exceed those of humans.

Even with two closed doors and many meters between us, I heard the video when she pressed the play button, heard her gasp of embarrassment, and the sharp stabbing at the keyboard as she muted the volume. Now I can hear her soft moans. I can smell her heightened arousal.

I couldn't fall asleep now if my life depended on it. Not with my cock harder than it has ever been, throbbing with need for my mate. I don't dare take myself in hand. Natalie wouldn't require heightened senses to hear me. Minotaurs are not quiet when sexually engaged. That's all I need—for Natalie to knock on my bedroom door because she hears me lowing while I relieve the pressure in my heavy balls.

Closing my eyes only serves to heighten my other senses. Lying on my back, I grab fistfuls of bedsheets as the sound and scent of her climax—the third one—fill my head. A cold shower won't help, but I'll take one anyway. The pounding water may drown out the sound of things I crave to experience up close.

Light tapping on the door stops me in my tracks as I'm crossing to the en suite bathroom. I glance at my raging erection, then at the door. There's no way to hide my physical state. I could pretend I didn't hear the knock, but I did tell her I'd be available if she needs something.

I pull on a bathrobe and cinch the belt tight, restraining my cock in an upward position against my body, then open the door.

"I watched the video," she says before I can ask what she needs.

My gaze drops from her glassy eyes and flushed cheeks. The baggy sweats from earlier are gone, replaced by a pale-pink bathrobe that ends above her knees and molds to her body. The hard points of her nipples strain against the thin material, proof that she's not wearing a bra underneath.

Like a glutton for punishment, I inhale deeply, unable to prevent the animalistic huff of breath from rumbling out of me when her scent fills my nose. I should apologize, but I can't. Holding back from touching her takes every resource I possess.

"I—" Her gaze trails down from my face, following the front edge of my robe to the V where my furry chest is exposed, then lower, to the bulge of my cock behind the ties. "I don't think I'll be able to have sex with you." Her eyes flick back to mine. "Not if your… equipment is the same size as the Minotaur in that video."

It's bigger. But I'm not about to tell her that and send her running. "I'll never pressure you to do something you're not interested in."

"But I am interested." The tip of her pink tongue darts out to moisten her lips. "I'm very interested. In you. Like, uncontrollably interested. Going-out-of-my-mind interested. Is there something about this town that causes that reaction in human women? Because, obviously, my cousin is experiencing the same thing, after I watched her practically going at it with Dak, right in front of us."

"It's not the town, it's the mate bond."

"Theirs?" she asks, and I nod. "And… ours?"

"Yes. And ours."

"The mate bond is why I'm standing at your bedroom door when I know I should have stayed in my room? Why I feel like we've known each other forever, even though we've just barely met?"

"That's how it is with mates, yes."

"So… there's nothing I can do to stop what's happening, to control these feelings and urges I'm having for you? Fate decided we're supposed to get together, so it's inevitable?"

Getting everything I want might be as simple as telling one small lie she'd never have to know about. But she would never be truly mine that way. "There is a way for you to be rid of the feelings you're experiencing." Tightness twists in my chest, in my gut, making it difficult to say what needs to be said. "You can reject me."

"It's that simple? Just say I'm not interested, and it all goes away?"

"A little more formally than that, but yes, it'd be that simple for you."

"What about you?"

I shake my head. "If you reject me as your mate, the bond is broken for you, not for me."

Her delicate eyebrows draw together. "But you could reject me, too, right? Then we'd both be free to fall in love with whoever we choose."

"I assume you, as a human, would have that option. If our bond is broken, I could have sex with others, but I would never find another mate. I'd never love someone. Fate gives each Minotaur one person for that."

"You're saying if I reject you as my mate, you lose any chance at love?" The air goes out of her in a whoosh when I nod. "If I don't want to commit to a fated mate bond I didn't know existed until today, I'm robbing you of your only opportunity at a happily ever after? That's a huge amount of pressure."

"Don't let my feelings or future affect your decision." I tuck a strand of hair that's worked free of her braid behind her ear, the trail my fingers along her cheek. "I want your happiness more than my own."

"Let me guess," she scrunches her nose, "that's because of the mate thing."

Even with everything hanging in the balance, and her obvious frustration, I feel light enough to smile. "Yes, but also because I'm a pretty decent man."

"You are pretty," she says, laughing softly. "And from what I've heard and seen so far, decent, too."

"Nobody's ever called me pretty before." I tilt my head. "Well, aside from your cousin, but she only said it to piss me off."

Once again, she pinches her eyebrows together. "I meant it as a compliment."

"And that's how I took it." Touching her after the heavy conversation might be pushing it, but I do it anyway, capturing one of her hands and weaving her fingers between mine.

"What if, after you get to know me better, you realize I'm going to drive you crazy with my grab bag of quirks? Because I've got lots. Would you reject me then?"

"Of all possible mates, fate chose you for me. Made me wait fifteen years for you. I already know you're exactly right for me. I promise you, now and always, I will never reject you."

"Then…would you walk me to my room and kiss me goodnight?"

"It would be my honor and pleasure." Shifting my hand to the small of her back, I guide her down the darkened hall, my cock hardening more with each moment I feel her warmth beneath my palm.

At her bedroom door, she faces me and gently curls her hands around the front edges of my robe. "I like you." Color rises on her cheeks as she slips her fingers beneath the fabric and through the short fur of my chest. "And you know I'm attracted to you."

"Both good things and feelings I share," I say, wrapping my arms around her snugly enough for my cock to make itself known against her belly.

"But everything about this is new to me, and it's all happening so fast. I have a lot to think about before I do something that will permanently affect both our futures."

"I understand. And I'm grateful you're willing to take some time before you decide."

"Is there a line I should know about? A limit to how far things can go between us before the mate bond kicks in officially? If we kiss, are we sealing it? Or if we have sex, if that's even possible, is that what makes it final? I would hate to hurt you later because I got caught up in the heat of the moment, and unknowingly committed to more than I'm aware of."

Whether she's ready to admit it yet or not, she is my perfect one. She's willing to sacrifice pleasures she obviously wants if that pleasure would make my future painful. Fate chose well.

"Whether we enjoy each other sexually or never share a kiss, we're already mates. We will be until the end of our lives, unless you break your bond."

Her lips part as she blinks up at me. "Then…kiss me. Not a goodnight kiss. The kiss you'd give me if it were the only kiss we'd ever share."

Desire to please my mate roars to life inside me. Sliding my hands up her back, I find the end of her braid and tug the elastic away. Her hair is damp around my fingers as I thread my fingers through it and let it sift free. "Beautiful." I lean down and press my nose to her crown, breathing in the floral scent of her shampoo. "Lovely, but nothing compares to the scent of your arousal."

A soft gasp rises between us, then a sharper one when I wrap her long locks around my hand and gently tug, causing her head to tip back.

"Are you sure you want me to kiss you as if I only have one chance?"

"Yes," she whispers. "God, yes."

"Then I hope you aren't in a hurry to sleep." Angling above her, I inhale the scent of her skin, of her breath, then seal my wide mouth to her smaller, softer one.

She opens for me instantly, welcoming my tongue with a moan that drives me to kiss her deeper, harder. The tip of her small tongue touches mine, igniting sparks that race straight to my cock. Soft, breathy sounds rise to my ears like sweet, sexy music. And the taste of her—gods, the taste of her. One kiss will never be enough.

Inside my robe, her hands glide over my chest, up to my shoulders, then down to my abdomen, as far as our position allows. Close enough to feel the head of my cock where it protrudes above the level of the robe's belt.

She gasps again, whispering against my mouth, "I know I told you to kiss me, but can I see you?"

"You can have whatever you want, Natalie. In all ways, for all things, I'm yours." Releasing her hair, I ease back to give her full access to do whatever she wishes.

Looking up at me with glassy eyes, she unties my robe and slides it off my shoulders. "I—" Whatever words she thought to say morph into a choked gurgling sound as her gaze travels over my naked form. "You're huge. Everywhere. So, so, huge."

Pride at impressing my mate brings my bullish nature to the forefront. A loud, assertive huff pushes from me, my hooves scrape against the floor, and my tail swishes like a flag in the wind. And my cock—it juts tall and hard, the wide, bulbous head shiny from the milky precum beading out.

I step closer, cup her face in one hand while cradling the back of her head with the other. Then I taste her lips again, teasing them apart with my tongue.

She melts beneath me, her body pressing to mine as her hands explore my fur-covered muscles, my waist, then, finally, my cock. Her fingers curve around the shaft—both hands, the tips barely meeting.

I groan into her mouth as she strokes me, and when she drags one fingertip through my leaking slit, the groan turns into a near-feral growl. I break our kiss, capture her tiny wrist, and draw her hand up between us. "Taste," I say, guiding her finger to her lips.

Her tongue peeks out first, tentatively obeying. Her eyes open wide, then she sucks her fingertip between her lips, humming until her finger pops free. "It's sweet." A laugh bubbles up from her glistening lips. "If all men tasted like you, there'd be no more complaints about not getting enough blowjobs." She lowers her gaze to my cock. "Though I don't think giving you one is within the realm of possibility for me."

I tip her chin up so our eyes meet. "There are many other ways we can enjoy each other."

Holding my gaze, she releases the tie at her waist, slides the robe off, then brings my hands to her bared skin. "Show me."