He narrowed his eyes at her. “You are not the type to just fool around.”
Damn it! He was right. She had to really care about a guy to let him get that close to her. “Spending time with me doesn’t mean we’ll end up together forever.”
His eyes filled with pain. “Nothing is forever.”
Her heartstrings pulled tight. Something happened to LemAN to make him feel such pain and be wary of any new relationships. “Are you mated?”
He shook his head. “No longer.”
“What happened?”
“I do not wish to discuss this with you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You owe me a real explanation. You kissed me back. You touched me in private places. You get me aroused and then leave me aching and hurt, wondering what I did wrong.”
“You’ve done nothing wrong. You are a brilliant, strong, and beautiful female. You deserve a male who can offer you a full mating.”
“Maybe I’m not looking for a full mating. I’m probably too independent. I get sidetracked all the time which makes having a serious conversation nearly impossible. I don’t have a lot to offer anyone and have often thought that no man would have me.”
He surprised her by moving quickly to stand right in front of her. He cupped her face with his large hands. “I can’t believe you would think such a thing. You have a very caring nature. Any male would be lucky to have you.”
“Just not you. You wouldn’t want to mate me?”
He let her go and stepped away. “I had a mate once.”
“Please tell me what happened.”
“She died with childbirth complications along with my son.”
Her heart ached for him. “I’m so sorry, LemAN. How long ago was it?”
“Five years, but it sometimes feels like only yesterday. My mate bled out and I was helpless to do anything. Then I held my son…he was so tiny he fit in my one hand. He lived two hours and went to the great beyond.”
Teagan couldn’t stand it. She rushed to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. It took him a few moments before he put his arms around her. She didn’t say anything, just held on to him. She had never had a family of her own but she couldn’t imagine losing both your spouse and your child in one day. No wonder his heart was broken.
“I’m so sorry, LemAN.”
“The pain was so incredible I didn’t want to go on but somehow I did. I promised I would never mate again.”
Now it was all making sense to her. His reluctance to let her get close to him. Maybe he really wouldn’t be able to let her in, but she had to try. What she’d said about wanting to just share sex was a lie. Already she could feel her heart falling for him.
She reached up to put her hands on his face and pulled him down so she could kiss him.
“Teagan, I can’t…”
“Shh, let me do this. Let me touch you. No expectations, just us here.” She kept kissing him.
LemAN responded with a groan of defeat. His big hands pulled her harder against him and it was like the gates had been thrown open. He picked her up and carried her to the bed, laying her down and coming with her.
His big heavy body lay on top of her and she loved it. The only problem was that they had too many clothes on. Reaching between them, she tried to undo the hooks to his uniform coat.
Chuckling at her frustration, he quickly opened his coat and shirt and shrugged them off so that his chest was completely bare. She didn’t waste any time in rubbing her hands all over his warm muscles.
“You feel so good. You’re so strong.”
He tugged the straps of her overalls and pulled the top part down to her waist. Then he slid her tank top up and off. She felt vulnerable about her body. She could get away without having a bra and hadn’t bothered putting one on. Her insecurities faded away as he cupped her breasts in his hands reverently.
“So beautiful,” he whispered as he kissed her nipples.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she held him to her chest. His lips and teeth were doing wicked things to her. Every time he sucked on her she could feel it reach straight down to her pussy.
“Do you like that?” he asked her.
“Fuck yeah!”
Then all hell broke loose when the lights began to flash and a loud, shrill alarm went off. LemAN jumped off her, and she had never felt so cold. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know but I’m going to find out,” he told her as he put his shirt and coat on.
She sighed but looked for her shirt. At least she’d got him to confess his secrets to her.That was something, right?
