The Rogue Anthology

Appendix 11 - His Mute Luna

~ Mars gives Morgan a ‘pep talk’ on his first time sharing a bed with a woman. This takes place in chapter 15 and at this point, our female lead character is still referred to as June ~

Morgan

I wasn’t prepared for this. I assumed I would sleep on the couch downstairs, not share my bed with her. My eyes were trained on the bathroom door from where I sat, perched on the edge of my mattress and waiting for the inevitable moment when June exited the bathroom.

‘Jeez, you're sharing a bed, that's it. She hasn't asked you to put a pup in her… unfortunately,’ Mars whined his last word. ‘And if you seriously want to sleep downstairs with the dog rather than the glorious woman in the bathroom, then we need to get you checked out with a specialist, pal.’

‘I've never shared a bed with a woman before! Can you, for once, try and be understanding?!

‘What is there to understand? She is mate, we want her, she wants us and not because we're Alpha, but because she likes us… despite you setting the house on fire.’

I pinched my brow, trying to forget that yesterday evening had happened. ‘Why do you have to remind me?’

‘Because you’ve done some epically dumb s**t in your time, and this is your crowning glory. It almost makes me want to slap you between two pieces of bread and upgrade you to an i***t sandwich.’

I bunched up my shorts from the previous night in my hands, my knee bouncing wildly with nerves as I chose to ignore my wolf. I was so immersed in my bizarre mix of dread and anticipation, that when the door opened, I nearly jolted from the bed.

Mars sighed, burying his snout in his paws. ‘Oh jeez, just get in the bathroom before you embarrass me anymore.’

June glided from the en-suite, still dressed; I figured she would have changed into something to sleep in. If she had seen my little slip, she didn’t let on. All she did was incline her head that the bathroom was free, hovering by the doorway.

“I’ll be out in a few,” I gave her a strained smile, trying to act as chilled as possible.

She flashed me a seductively sweet smile, purposely brushing herself up against me and slowly sweeping her hand along my chest. My pulse raced, pounding in my ears, matching the ripples of our mate bond sparking across my skin.

I shut the door with a louder bang than I meant, leaning back against it.

‘Wow, you were really natural. I’m impressed,' Mars was uncharacteristically supportive. This was a trap, I just knew it.

'I was?' Immediately suspicious of his tone, I decided to bite and find out what snide remark he had lined up.

'No! You’re bright f*****g red and reek of panic. Yet, for some unknown reason, she digs it.'

I pushed away from the door, throwing my shorts down on the sink counter. I was about to snap back at him, but I caught sight of myself in the mirror; I was redder than a tomato. Dammit, my wolf was right. And the acknowledgement went straight to his cocky head.

Yanking my clothes off in a huff, I threw them in the hamper by the corner, fisting the shorts in my hand and not looking forward to another night sleeping dressed. I hadn't slept in clothes for years, preferring to sleep as all wolves did: naked.

'I hate this, I feel all constricted,' Mars whined. 'Can you just get over this weird hangup and strut out there naked? She'd probably love it.’

‘No! I can't go out there naked!’

The idea of just my shorts was bad enough. Her ravenous stare across my skin from this morning was enough to repaint my face in a punishing blush.

‘You just fought down a mine shaft, bare ass, with a bunch of our pack warriors. And now you've gone all shy?! She's our mate!’

Trying to argue with an animal about inhibitions was like trying to fight a brick wall; dense and wouldn’t listen to reason.

‘The pack is different... June is… She’s…’

‘Gorgeous? Sexy? Intelligent? More beautiful than the first full moon?... Experienced?’ He finally guessed my correct worry.

We hadn't spoken of past partners, not that I had any. But I could tell from how June moved her body against mine, how she kissed me expertly. She knew what she was doing and I was an awkward i***t that turned into a hopeless klutz and tripped over my feet around her. I hadn’t the first clue how to act around a woman I was attracted to, much less a mate that made my body react in a rapid way I had never experienced before.

‘Look here, i***t sundae,’ my wolf was losing his short thread of patience. ‘You can't hide in this bathroom forever. You're already taking a suspiciously long time, as it is. Brush your damn teeth, put on your shorts since you're so damned insistent on preserving your modesty, and get your ass out there.’

My hand paused on the doorknob, giving myself a final pep talk and trying to ignore the badgering from my wolf that had plagued my skull for the last ten minutes. Opening the door and flicking the light off, my eyes nearly popped from their sockets at what June was wearing… one of my t-shirts that wrapped and marked her in my scent, and showed off her curvaceously long legs.

Oh goddess, this was going to be difficult.

‘She’d look better out of it if you ask me,’ Mars stalked in my mind, eyeing every angle of our mate.

‘I didn’t ask you, animal!’ I continued to remain immobile like a statue.

‘Dude, you're standing, staring, and blushing like a moron. The only way this could be any worse is if you were drooling.’

‘Because she’s in one of my t-shirts and on my bed!’ My face burned with its heat and I willed an erection with everything I had to not pop up.

‘By the great moon above,’ Mars threw his paws in the air. ‘We’re never getting laid in our future, are we?’