He Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 1)

Their First Time

Aly

I couldn’t take any more of the lovey-dovey nonsense from Matt and Jessica, who have been attached at the hip and at the lips pretty much all day after my conversation with Matt outside the bathrooms. Apparently, that had the opposite effect of what I was hoping. Instead of reinforcing our connection, it seems to have inspired him to focus more on Jessica. So, after the umpteenth hour of watching them make out and be all over each other, I told everyone I was feeling tired and came in to lie down early.

And Tyler, bless his heart, didn’t want me to be in here all alone so he followed me in to keep me company. I can hear everyone else outside getting the campfire blazing to settle in for a second night of beers, marshmallow roasting, and enjoying the company. Tyler and I, on the other hand, are cuddled up and enjoying a quiet night in. Somehow, I don’t mind that I’m missing out on time with Matt. I like this, and part of me wishes I could stay here with Tyler longer than just this one last night.

He brushes back a few strands of my hair that had fallen into my face and partially obscured my eyes, and then seems to pause to admire his work, or maybe it’s my face he’s admiring. That thought makes my heart start skipping a little and takes my breath away for a moment. I don’t understand it, why does it feel so good to have someone who is not my mate be attracted to me? Am I really that needy and desperate?

“It’s called Kettlewell College, by the way,” he tells me out of the blue. “It’s a private school, way more expensive than it should be, kind of niche and not particularly well-known, but it’s in Maine.”

“Are you serious?” I ask him, acting like it’s crazy that he said the name of that specific college because I want to play it off like it’s a coincidence that we’ll be going to the same school and act like I am already enrolled there. “Did you go through my phone or something and figure out where I’m going?”

“Wait, what? You go there too?” he asks, obviously excited at the prospect of us going to the same school.

“I will be,” I tell him. I also attempt to open a mind link with my dad to see if he can make that happen. “I know I’m kind of old to just be starting out, but it took me awhile to convince my parents to let me go. They wanted me to go somewhere closer to home, or preferably not at all, but I finally convinced them it was for the good of all of us. If we can get more in-house professional teachers, then we have a better shot of our school getting chartered and officially recognized.”

The bullshit just starts flowing out of me. Goddess, I hope this college is the sort of place teachers go to be educated.

“And it took a fair amount of making stuff up that sounded good for me to convince them to let me go there, which I chose because it’s far away but also small enough that it won’t be overwhelming for me.”

Please let that make sense. I’m flying blind here, Dad. You can chime in any time now.

“Oh wow,” he says softly, then goes quiet for a moment and I can see the wheels turning in his head as he thinks.

The suspense is killing me. I silently plead with him to say something, anything to let me know how badly I’ve botched this. Finally, he does.

“That’s so weird because Matt is a secondary education major,” he tells me. “I wonder if you guys will have some classes together, though I guess maybe not because he is a few years ahead of you.”

Dad finally chimes in, too. What’s the name of your mate so we can look up his course schedule?

Matt Taylor, education major, and he’s in his last year. I told them I’m an education major too, I quickly shoot back to him so I can focus on Tyler again.

“Crazy,” I agree with him about Matt and I having similar majors. I also silently applaud myself for accidentally choosing correctly.

“What are you studying?” I ask him, though I don’t need to know about his educational pursuits. I am curious, though, plus it seems like something I should ask to show my interest in him.

“It’s going to seem weird, since Kettlewell isn’t exactly known for its art programs, but I am majoring in art history. I chose there because one of my favorite artists, this little-known guy named Izzy Montane, teaches there. I’ve had two classes with him, and it’s pretty much been the sort of experience where I could go at any minute and die a happy man,” he enthuses.

It’s heart-warming to see how he lights up talking about it. It feels like a small glimpse of some deeper part of Tyler he hasn’t shown me before. I like it.

“That’s so awesome. I wish I had some sort of connection or reason why I chose the way I did, but honestly, it was a mix of wanting to get out and experience things as far away from my parents as I could manage, and still wanting to choose something I thought I would be good at,” I explain. “I don’t think I have as much passion as you seem to, but I’m looking forward to it anyway.”

“Me too,” he tells me in this slow, husky voice that sends shivers down my spine. I know he means he’s looking forward to having me there, and the idea of that warms me to my core.

He shifts his position so that his face is even closer to mine and his leg sort of brushes up against mine. My heart is getting a bit over-excited again at how he is looking at me, and I get this sense that we’ve reached a point where I’m going to have to start making some important decisions.

“Aly, are you single?” he asks me pointedly, obviously wondering if I’m available for him to pursue.

I inhale slowly, debating what to tell him. I don’t want him to get the impression that I’m available and interested in something serious.

“Technically, yes, though in the interest of full-disclosure, I kind of have a thing for this guy, and I want to leave myself open to see where that goes.”

“Oh, I see,” he says, his face falling and his tone giving away his disappointment. “Is it that guy you were with the other day?”

I think for a moment, and then shake my head when I realize he means Ryan. “No, that’s my best friend. Besides, he already has a m-, uh, girlfriend,” I explain, catching myself before I tell him Ryan has a mate. I don’t think he would understand what I mean by that and it would likely just lead to questions I can’t really answer.

“Gotcha,” he says, and I can feel how the warmth and familiarity that had been developing between us has turned tense and frigid.

“But look, Tyler, I like you. I really like you,” I admit without even a hint of dishonesty. It’s true, and I hope it’s enough to keep our connection going. I like how things have been between us.

His face breaks out into a crooked grin with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

“So, you’re saying there’s a chance,” he says, seeming to have recovered from the dejection and disappointment he was feeling not even a minute ago.

He’s adorable, and I can’t help but giggle at him. “You’re still in the game, Ty. It isn’t over until it’s over.”

He grins, his face inching closer again and his eyes becoming fixated on my lips.

Uh oh. Here we go. Think, Aly. Do you want this? I must, because I had an opportunity to get him to back off a minute ago and I chose to encourage him instead. Yikes. I think I like Tyler. This could complicate things a bit.

Screw it. I’m going for it. Mari starts freaking out in my mind, and I block her so I don’t have to deal with that right now. I know she’s going to be mad, but I’ll figure out what to do about that later.

I reach out and wrap my hand around the back of Tyler’s head, grabbing hold of some of his hair and bringing him closer to me as I lean forward and press my lips to his. He lets out a surprised moan and leans into my kiss, attacking my mouth with enthusiasm. Before I know it, his tongue is forcing its way past my lips and swirling around tasting every bit of my mouth it can reach.

I’ve never done this before. The experience is overwhelming every one of my senses in the best way. The feel of him, the taste of him, even the smell of him is just incredible right now.

I feel his hand slide up my side from where it had been resting on my hip to where it is now threatening to plunge underneath the thin t-shirt I put on before climbing into bed. I realize his hand feels like it is shaking a little bit, and that makes me smile into the kiss. It looks like Tyler isn’t the confident playboy he pretends to be after all. Either that, or he really, really likes me, but I like the first option better, so I decide to go with that.

I lean into the kiss, widening my parted lips to give him better access, and lift up the side of my shirt to encourage him to use that hand to explore part of my body no one has touched before.

He retracts his tongue and removes his lips from mine, causing me to groan in frustration. I was enjoying that. He makes up for it, though, by softly kissing down my jaw and neck as he brings his hand up to palm the underside of my exposed breast and pinch my perky n****e between his thumb and forefinger, rolling it around gently.

Then he surprises me by pulling back entirely, repositioning himself so that he is kneeling and hovering above me. He reaches forward to grasp the hem of my shirt and yank it over my head, completely exposing my top half to him. I relish the expression on his face as he gazes down at me, admiring me like I’m some work of art he has just discovered.

I’ve been so focused on his hands and his face that somehow it escaped my notice until now that there is an impressive tent forming in his shorts. I glance down and feel a jolt of excitement shoot through my core at just the thought of him exposed to me, but he distracts me by pulling his own shirt over his head, displaying his gorgeous, muscled form to me once again. I can’t help but gawk at him and give into the urge to reach out and run my hands across his lightly tanned skin.

He grins down at me, obviously enjoying the attention I am giving him as much as I revel in his interest in me.

“Tell me if you want me to stop,” he says softly, gazing down at me with hooded eyes brimming with so much desire.

“No, don’t stop,” I demand, my voice coming out softer and huskier than I intended. “I want you, Tyler,” I confess to him, and in this moment it couldn’t be truer. Matt is the furthest thing from my mind right now.

He leans forward and pecks my lips briefly, then backs away and moves to the edge of the mattress. I sit up slightly, propping myself up on my forearms to see what he is doing, wondering why he left me when things were just getting heated.

“Just grabbing a condom,” he tells me as if he has read my mind, and sure enough, I hear him rifling around in his bag.

Okay, so this is really happening. I lean back and take in a deliberately deep breath to try to calm myself and steel my resolve. He’s not my mate, but he is a really great guy, super cute, sexy as hell, and he wants me. That already sets him apart from my mate, who does not.

He returns to where I am still lying on my back, slowly sliding his body across mine, kissing my exposed skin softly, working his way up to my face. I feel him loop his fingers into either side of my shorts and gently start to tug them down, maintaining eye contact with me.

“Last chance to change your mind,” he warns, his voice warm, seductive, edged with a hint of compassion and concern.

He really wants to make sure I’m okay with what we’re doing, and I appreciate that so much. I haven’t changed my mind, though. Tyler has sneaked his way into my head and maybe even a little bit my heart, and he is who I want in this moment.

In response, I lift up my hips and help him as he gently guides my shorts down and away, exposing me to him. As a shifter, this isn’t the first time I’ve been naked in front of a guy, but it has never felt like this. He gazes down at me with a look that tells me exactly the sorts of naughty things he plans to do to me.

“Please, Tyler,” I plead softly, a powerful wave of desire washing over me when I feel the weight of his body pressing down on me as he crawls over me with intent to capture my lips once more.

I didn’t expect to be so affected by the pheromones of someone who is not my mate, but the smell and taste of him is becoming so suffocatingly overwhelming that if I don’t find some sort of release for the tension building in my core, I might start to cry.

I don’t know why he is taking this so agonizingly slowly, but I’m almost to the point of flipping him over and just taking what I need. The crazy part is he hasn’t even done much to make me this way. It seems to just be the effect of his and my naked bodies pressed so closely together.

Finally, I hear him fumbling with the foil packet of the condom and feel him wiggling around a bit to put it on. He takes a deep breath of his own, closing his eyes and seeming to breathe in my scent and mentally prepare himself. When he opens them again, the sight of his dreamy brown eyes focused on me and darkened with lust and determination takes my breath away for a moment.

He leans back down to capture my lips with his mouth, then pulls away and leans his forehead against my cheek, exhaling his hot breath against my ear. I don’t know what his hesitation is about, but I wrap one arm around him, using the other hand to skim my fingers lightly up his side. It must tingle or excite him somehow because I can feel him shudder and tremble against me. Then he shifts his hips slightly and I feel the tip of him pressing against my entrance.

“Please,” I beg of him again, lifting my hips slightly to rub myself against him, needing that release.

He smirks down at me and chuckles softly.

“I love that you’re so eager,” he murmurs softly, and I can tell from the strain in his voice that he is as on edge as I am.

So, what is he waiting for? Why so hesitant? Thankfully, he doesn’t give me much time to wonder about it further and reconsider whether we should even be doing this. In the next moment, I feel him pushing his erection against my resistant opening and beginning to stretch me around him.

I take a breath, anticipating the pain of being a first-time lover. This is it. No turning back now. By the end of this night, I will no longer be a pathetic virgin waiting around for a clueless mate to come claim me.

-

-

Matt

I don’t know if it’s coincidence or not, but ever since I started hearing Aly moaning and sighing from whatever Tyler is doing to her in their tent, I started having the worst case of indigestion I’ve ever experienced. My stomach has gone sour and I’ve been fighting the feeling of bile pushing against the back of my throat. There is a dull ache in my gut too, and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s from something I ate, too much beer, or if it’s possible that I’m more affected by Aly than I realized.

I try to focus on the ridiculous story Trevor has been telling about some kid he was hanging out with in the robotics lab at school last semester. Unfortunately, I seem to be more interested in what’s going on in the tent. I hear her beg him for whatever it is she wants him to do, and it sounds pretty hot.

I have to admit I might be a little jealous of how steamy it sounds in there, which makes no sense because I could just grab Jessica and go have all the hot, steamy s*x I want. Yet somehow, I don’t seem to have any interest right now. My gut is bothering me too much.

Once I start hearing the distinct sound of flesh slapping against flesh, I can’t take it anymore. Her moans are starting to sound more animalistic and I can’t get the imagery of him pounding her while she screams and writhes beneath him out of my head. It’s not hot anymore, it’s just revolting.

“My stomach is acting up,” I tell everyone as I stand from my chair. “I think I’m going to call it a night.”

“Aw, baby. I was hoping for a repeat of last night,” Jess says.

I can tell she is trying to be enticing, but I am just not in the mood right now.

“Sorry. You know I’d love to, but something isn’t sitting well with me,” I tell her apologetically.

She stands to kiss me on the cheek, rubbing my belly sympathetically. I kiss her forehead and then turn to head into the tent, lying down on the bed gingerly and nursing my sour stomach by lying on my left side, hoping for whatever this is to pass before my last night under the stars with my fiancée is over.