Quinn was having a complete and total out of body experience. She’d never actually experienced one until this moment. She wondered if this was how you felt when you did drugs or got ridiculously drunk. Two things she’d never actually done.

One thing was certain, there could be no assumptions when it came to Rain. She wasn’t quite sure what she had been expecting from him, this being his first time and all. What she didn’t prepare herself for was the fact that Rain was either completely lying about his previous experience or he was very gifted in the bedroom department.

Quinn had found in her experience that most men were selfish lovers. Not always intentionally, just by the nature of what they were. They were men, football, beer, bro’s. That was the majority of what they thought about.

She didn’t think less of them for it; it was the nature of the beast. Rain wasn’t anything like any of the men she had met before, so why did she think that she could begin to guess what he would be like in bed?

She was used to finishing herself off after sex. Younger guys didn’t have the stamina to hold out for a woman to find her own climax. She was great at making herself come. Quinn didn’t blame the men she had been with, women were tricky. Maybe not so much tricky, as they were exceptionally unique in every way. Women had it easy in her opinion, men had to work hard to figure out each woman’s hot buttons, especially when it came to sex.

Somehow, Rain seemed to know all of her buttons, he hit all of her likes and avoided all of her dislikes. Either he was incredibly lucky, or it was something else. Something she still wasn’t sure she was willing to fully accept.

Honestly, Quinn was proud of herself for not laughing in his face when he had dared to tell her that he wasn’t completely human. There weren’t many women in her circle that wouldn’t have mercilessly mocked him for saying such a thing, or run screaming from the room.

Quinn had been trying to figure out Rain. Everything that made him so different and new to her didn’t have an easy answer. So his explanation actually made sense. With every touch and every kiss, she felt closer to him.

A strange ache in the center of her chest had started, the ache had turned into warmth, and then into a heat that spread through her body that had nothing to do with his touch or his kiss. It was coming from somewhere deep within her, like it was reaching out to touch him.

Now she lay wrapped in his arms, their sweaty bodies pressed together. She had never been one for cuddling after sex. And she was loath to admit it, but this didn’t feel anything like plain old ‘get it done’ sex. She wasn’t sure what to call it, if it had a name, or one that she wasn’t ready to use, but all of it had felt right. The feeling of safety in his arms was new. It felt like she was home. It was a strange sensation considering she’d never really felt that way before in her life. She’d never had a stable home, or even a place to call her own. Her mother had always moved them too much to ever label one place as home. The closest she’d ever come to it was her dorm room, but even then that was shared so it wasn’t truly her own. But laying next to Rain, she felt like this was her own version of home, her own man. It was scary and left her feeling vulnerable.

She was trying to think of what she should say as she drew circles with the fingertip against his chest. Before she could think of anything deep or possibly meaningful to say, Rain pressed a kiss against her forehead and wrapped his legs around her, pulling her tighter towards him making sure there was no space between them.

“My girl, my beautiful girl. I don’t think I’ll ever let you out of this room.”

“We do eventually have to go back to school, Rain. I’m quite content where I am, though. At least for now.”

“You hungry, thirsty?”

“Just sleepy, oddly happy and sleepy.”

“Oddly?”

“This might have been your first time, Rain. But this is all new to me too. This,” she gestured between them, “I’ve never done this before. So I don’t know the rules. I don’t know how I should act, or what we should do next.”

“That’s what’s so amazing about being fated mates, Quinn. There are no rules. We’re exactly as we’re supposed to be. And even if we aren’t together physically, we will always be together, our souls are now connected, and someday in the future when you choose to be with me forever, that connection will be set in stone.

I can’t tell you how happy I am right now. I don’t think there are words for it. But I will tell you this, and then I’ll let you go to sleep. This wasn’t a one time thing. This isn’t a fling, this is our future. Mine and yours, whatever we make of it.”

Quinn felt her eyes start to well up. She had never been much of a crier, but around Rain it was different. Her emotions felt raw and exposed, even as she relished the new sensations of caring for someone that wasn’t herself. It wasn’t lost on her that everything that Rain was offering came with a price.

It was true that she could easily take everything he was willing to give her even if she offered very little in return. Her instinct told her that he would take it, gladly. But it wouldn’t be fair to him, it wouldn’t be right for her.

Quinn was only good at thinking of others when they were acquaintances. Yet Rain did it so easily, like it was second nature to him. Maybe that’s what it was like growing up in a big family, taking care of siblings, being taken care of by those that were older than you. What must it have been like to have uncles and aunts, grandparents, cousins, all being part of your life from day-to-day?

She didn’t know if she could be that for him. What if she failed even before she started? What if he needed something and never asked her and she failed to give it to him. Would that break what they had? She had already grown accustomed to the feeling of belonging with someone. It was a sneaky feeling that was wiggling its way into her heart, and she worried that it was making a permanent spot that if it ever left, she would feel its absence for the rest of her life.

“Rain, what if you need something from me and I didn’t realize or recognize you wanted it? What would you think of me? How would you feel if I took more than I gave? That’s a possibility because I’ve never had anyone need anything from me before.”

Rain pressed his lips against her forehead and breathed out a deep sigh then said, “Don’t you understand yet? You breathing, you being alive is the greatest gift I’ve ever had. I’m strong enough for both of us. I don’t need you to support me. I’ll gladly take anything you give, because you being with me is more than I could have ever hoped for. As soon as you spend any time with my family, you’ll learn to smother like the best of them if that’s something you want to do. But what I need from you? I need you happy, I need you healthy, I need you loved and protected. That’s what I need from you, Quinn.”

Quinn wanted to believe him. He made it sound so easy, such a simple thing. Why he thought giving yourself, your mental wellbeing over to someone else’s care was easy, she clearly didn’t know. Of all the scary things she could think of in her life, like bungee jumping or swimming sharks, this was probably more terrifying.

Then again, Rain had grown up differently than she had. He made it sound like he had never worried as a child, never doubted his future. It seemed like all she had ever done was doubted or dreaded what the next challenge was going to be. Now there was a man lying next to her that was promising to take away that worry and the fear of the unknown.

She was struggling to figure out what to say to him, what wouldn’t sound ridiculous, or worse, make her sound fragile. She had never been fragile with anyone, except him. Rain had made so many dents in her armor, that she wasn’t sure it would hold up to much more of his attention and affection. The real question was whether or not she wanted that armor when she was with him. Letting him in was scary, but the idea of letting him go was much worse.

“Rain, I need more time. I need to think this through. I like you a lot, but it feels so unfair because I think you have stronger feelings about me that I can’t reciprocate. How can two people be together when one person loves the other and they don’t know if that level of love will be returned?

What if I say yes right now and two years or three years from now my feelings change? You have so much faith in this thing you call your true mate, but I’ve never had any faith. I don’t even know what it would mean to put so much faith in something that is unknown, unseen. What if I end up hurting you because I can’t feel the same way?”

Quinn searched his face trying to see if he understood that she wasn’t being flippant, she wasn’t trying to be hurtful; she was actually baring her soul to him. Something she had never done with anyone else.

“Quinn, my sweet, complicated Quinn. Don’t you see? We have all the time in the world. And I have all the patience in the world because I have everything I need right here in my arms. There isn’t anything else that could get between us that would make me change the way I feel about you. So you can take all the time you need to figure out how you feel about me because I’m not going anywhere, I’ll never leave you. I don’t need an answer right now, because I’m so confident that I can win you over, or at least make myself so indispensable that you can’t live without me,” he said with a grin.

Quinn returned his smile, it was no use debating him, and she decided to stop the conversation and appreciate the fact that she’d just had two orgasms, she was warm, comfortable, and for the first time in her life she was in the arms of a man that loved her.