tried them, and then I was a convert and the extra money was worth it.
“All I can think about is having you again,” he muttered as I took a huge bite. He cleared his throat as I raised an eyebrow at him. “Is it just me? I mean, it was amazing for you too, right?”
I let him stew on that as I took my time and chewed, even taking another bite before wiping my mouth and answering. “It was good.”
“Good?” he coughed, staring at me, half like he was about to shake me until I admitted it was more than that, and the other half of him dying to show me how amazing it was again.
I shrugged and went back to my burger, taking my time to respond. “You made certain promises of how things would be that helped make me cave. However, you didn’t mention that your idea of fucking was at least four times, and with such vigor that I couldn’t even enj—finish the last time.”
I had started to say “enjoy,” but his face looked crushed at the idea I hadn’t. Yes, we did need to discuss this, and I did it this way to keep the conversation light, not to hurt him. No, I didn’t really expect him to seriously do that every time before any round of sex… But I also couldn’t always have sex like that. It had been way, way too much, and I needed to know it was like a first-time mate thing.
“I will gladly pay my debt, kitten,” he chuckled, leaning in and wiping something off my lip. “And yes, every time. And I know what you’re dancing around. Yes, bears do like to have sex like that, and yes, I will—at times—be that vigorous, maybe even worse now and again. It won’t be the norm though. I lost all fucking control for a few different reasons.”
I nodded, letting that sink in a few minutes. “Because we’re mates.”
“Yes, but also what I said about you running from me, my bear seeing you not being fair with me. Also, the serious danger you’re in and concerns of us being mates that could make things not work out.” He licked his lips as he stared over my body. “And lastly, because you just felt so godsdamn good, kitten. I didn’t know sex could be like that. You made me completely lose my head.”
I gave a happy hum, but then narrowed my eyes at him. “Before you lay the groundwork for the next time you maybe get laid, let’s discuss all the women you’ve had before.”
He frowned. “You aren’t—I wasn’t a virgin. You weren’t either.”
“I figured, but we’ve not discussed it,” I clarified. “You make the fifth man I’ve slept with though.” He winced and I nodded. “I get the feeling that number isn’t the same for you.” Technically, my number might be six, as Darby and I had started having sex when he’d almost drained me, but well… I chose not to count it.
It was my fucking body and choice. People could stuff it if they didn’t agree.
“Um, no, my number is higher. Much.” He cleared his throat and squirmed, looking almost adorable, no matter how big he was.
“Hmm, how much bigger? And when did you stop having all this sex while trying to—”
“None since I wanted you,” he cut in, nodding when I gave him a curious look. “Like, for real wanted you. You seemed to totally hate me when we met—understandably, now that I know the whole story—but it wasn’t like you were an option and um…”
“Mason made it seem like there was something between us,” I filled in, knowing the topic was still a hard one for both of us.
“Yeah, he did. Without getting into all the details, the last time was September last year.”
That took me a moment. Wow. Just wow. It was ridiculously sexy and sweet that he hadn’t slept with anyone since then because he was into me.
“Okay, so how many did you sleep with in high school and one year of college?” I asked.
“Um, so, well… The thing is that—so there’s no—it’s not a good answer.” He cleared his throat and about shoved his burger in his mouth.
“Really? I couldn’t tell from the way you’re acting,” I drawled, my tone dripping with sarcasm. “Can you tell me why at least?”
“Please don’t freak out, kitten,” he whispered, begging me. “Let me explain.”
I flinched, wondering if I had been stupid all over again. “If you have a fucking betrothed