what it might seem, I don’t do just sex. I’m a relationship kind of woman.” She cringed, wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
Rush was starting to understand. She was feeling used as if he could only want her for her deliciously curvy body.
“That’s my fault. You’re too damn irresistible. I can’t get enough of you.”
Chantal blushed. It didn’t take having a Ph.D. in psychology to see that she was uncomfortable with the compliment. Rush knew he had to do something and quick. He couldn’t lose his mate. Not now. Not when he had her in his arms.
“I have a proposition. How about we actually go on a date. And—” he swallowed hard. He couldn’t believe the words he was about to say. “And we just table any further physical contact until you feel like our relationship has progressed.”
“No more sex?”
“No more sex,” he repeated. It was difficult to say who was angrier, his dick or his wolf. But he had to believe it would all work out in the end. “No more sex until we’ve dated for a bit.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “You’d do that?”
Rush shrugged. “To show you that it is not just about the physical stuff? Yes, absolutely. I know we’ve only just met, Chantal, but I like you. I know I do. There’s nothing I could learn about you that would put me off.” Shit, it would be way easier to just tell her about the mate thing. Rush knew Chantal wasn’t ready to hear that just yet. “So, let’s go out on some dates. When you’re ready to be intimate again, I will be right here.”
“I would really like that. But let’s say that starts tomorrow. I kind of want to cuddle right now.”
“Thank fuck,” Rush lay back onto the rug, taking her into his arms. “That’s what I wanted to do right now too.”
She giggled in his arms, and when he asked what was so funny, she lifted her head to look into his eyes. “Well, I just learned something about you. You’re a cuddler.”
He chuckled. “Hell, yeah, I am. Anything to touch you, Chantal.” He kissed the palm of her hand before laying them back down.
He could do this. He could be this man for his mate, for his Chantal.
Try to keep it in your pants with her sexy self around, his wolf huffed. This is going to be a losing battle.
The beast wasn’t wrong. Now that he had spent some time with his mate, it wasn’t just her rocking curves, killer smile, and captivating eyes that did it for him. She was a creative force of nature and a sweetheart to boot. He was so happy she wasn’t a hifalutin lady, but a down-to-earth, honest to goodness, real woman. His real woman.
Chapter Twelve
Chantal
The whole no more sex until we know each other thing had been a stroke of pure shit!
Chantal didn’t want to stop having sex with Rush. If she was honest with herself, she knew it had been a test that she had put him through to make sure he wasn’t like her ex. Rush had proved he wasn’t.
After agreeing to set aside the naked sexy times, Rush had cuddled with her while watching a couple of old movies. They’d only gotten dressed to open the door for the delivery guy who brought over some Italian food. Chicken penne and garlic bread didn’t exactly scream, let’s make out more.
But the chocolate mousse did.
Chantal blushed with the memory of what they had done with the sticky chocolate dessert. Rush had literally eaten it off her breasts, only to help her shower off later. They had rebooted the no-sex policy about seventeen-thousand times during the evening. In the end, they had decided that as soon as midnight struck, they would start. For real, that time.
Rush had left her tiny apartment after making out with her against the door. He’d only begrudgingly left when Mrs. Feldman had opened her own door to see what all the commotion was about. Now, the old lady was sure Chantal and Rush were pervs who dry-humped in the hall like a pair of wild teenagers.
Chantal was positively giddy. There was a lightness in her step and a smile on her face that nothing could temper. Rush had texted her before going to bed and when he had woken up. Tiny little notes had dinged on her phone throughout the day as she had worked at her sewing machine. He even had a bouquet of yellow roses