At first, I didn’t really believe him…that was until I bfelt /bit…the proof of his erection pressing against bmy /blower abdomen. I felt my cheeks heat up from embarrassment when it finally registered how far bwe /bhad both been turned on.

Caleb gave a bark ofughter,fortable with him own body’s reaction, but he still sat up on the bed and moved away from me, so that I wouldn’t feel ufortable.

“Then why did you stop?” I asked in a small voice, ted yet giddy.

“Because I want to wait till you’re eighteen.” He told me, his bvoice /bsoft but firm. “bI /bscrewed up a lot of things, Aurora, but I don’t want this to be one of them. I want you to have your firsts the way you wanted them to be.”

I think it was a little toote for my first kiss, but Caleb was right…I still had a lot of firsts to tick off of my list and I was d that Caleb was stopping me from doing something that I might regretter.

With a heavy sigh and a still throbbing libido, I got off the bed, wanting to head back to my room so I could take a cold shower. The fact that the room was still icy cold still helped in calming down my nervesb, /beven if a little bit.

Reaching out, I ced my hand on his forehead, just to make sure that he was alright. “Your fever seems to have gone downb, /bbut I think you should rest. I’ll visit when you’re better.”

“Thank you, Aurora…” Caleb gave me a relieved smile. “For trusting me…for epting me.”

I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach at his words, a tingle shooting down my spine.

Caleb had marked me…we were now officially mates…I was his and he was mine.

But as much as the thought made me giddy, I couldn’t help the fact that my senses were still on overdrive and the longer I stayed in his proximity, I was in danger of doing something that I might regretter.

“I…um…Riley…he’s probably waiting for me.” Iughed nervously as I backed away from the bed. “I’ll…I guess I’ll see youter.”

I didn’t wait for him to answer; I simply turned around and I ran. Thankfully, when I came out of his room, there was no one in the hallways or near the elevator, so I made a run for it. Only when I reached the privacy of my room did I let out a sigh of relief.

I was also thankful that Riley was back in his room and I was all alone in my room. So I didn’t waste any time before I took a change of clothes and headed straight for the shower.

I made sure to turn the temperature down as low as it got to douse this fire burning in my body. The cold spray felt weing, and slowly but surely, I started to bfeel /ba lot better. My heartbeat was back to normal and the ache between was legs was gone as well.

After I was done, I wrapped a towel around myself and came to stand in front of the mirror, wiping the steam from the ss, It didn’t take long to notice bthe /bbite mark, but when I had thought it would be the shape of teeth…I was surprised to find that it had taken on the shape of a crescent moon instead.

Didn’t heb…/bbuse /bhis teeth?” I wondered out loud, but no matter which angle I turned, the shape was that of a tiny red crescent moon.

bCautiously/bb, /btouched the area lightly, only to flinch back. There was ba /bslight pain, but more like a difort.

bMarked/bb. /bI was marked as Caleb’s mate. Even though the idea had felt foreign not too long ago, now, it felt like a wee knowledge, a bond that I didn’t want to run baway /bfrom anymoreb. /b

I had been a fool to think that I could bget /baway, but in realityb, /bI had been scared, letting my fear of bthe /bunknown dictate bmy /bdecisions.

But bI /bbwasn’t /bscared anymore. And no matter bwhat/b…bI /bwanted to stay by Caleb’s side…for bas /blong as I could.