by Moxie North
Her eyes came to rest upon him and those beautiful eyes; dark green with gold flecks in them narrowed in his direction and her expression became a frown directed straight at him. She was not happy to see him.
Rain on the other hand, wasn’t happy to see her either. He was shocked, amazed, stunned, and sinking fast into a swirling pit that he’d never want to get out of. His feet went numb, his body felt like it was on fire, and his bear was roaring like he’d never heard him do before.
In the middle of History of Feminism, stood the woman he would die for, the woman he would worship until the end of time, the woman the universe had deigned to be his.
His mate.
Chapter 6
After the last few years of taking women’s studies classes as a minor, she’d almost gotten used to seeing the lone male in class. They came as a joke, a bet, or because they thought the class was about something sexual.
“Excuse me, are you in the right class? This is History of Feminism. If you’re supposed to be in beginning writing, it’s down the hall in room 313. ”
She watched the man looking at her with something she would have thought was anger, but there wasn’t any aggression coming from him. It was something else entirely. He looked like he was in pain, struggling to form words. He must be embarrassed that he had parked his ass in the wrong room. She could almost take pity on him. Then again, he could just be a dick that thought it was a joke to take the class.
“Are you okay? It’s okay if you are in the wrong class. We aren’t going to force you to stay. Just grab your stuff and slink out. We won’t laugh.”
There was a funny rumbling sound in the quiet classroom that rolled towards her like a wave. It came from his direction.
The man just stared at her. He didn’t look like many of the guys she knew. He looked grown, having lost that boyish appearance so many college men were hoping to slough off in their freshman year. He was good looking; there was no doubt about that. His hair was brown and a little messy, but cute. All in all, not bad. His staring at her was possibly an attempt to try and get the upper hand. If that was what he thought, he had another thing coming.
Now Quinn was in a position where she had to play a game with a potential asshole. She did not like playing games. In fact, she thought anyone that did that deserved to get punched in the neck. It was bullshit to twist people around either out of ignorance or for mean-spirited amusement.
“I’m sorry, do you not speak English? I can get an interpreter in here…” Trying to be the bigger person, she was thinking through the reasons he wouldn’t respond to her. She watched his mouth open again and waited. Every set of eyes in the room was bouncing between her and the man near the back.
Before she could say anything else, the door opened again and Professor Burrell walked in. She stopped short when she noticed the standoff between Quinn and Rain.
The professor’s eyes cut to the class and the man. “Mr. Rochon, glad to see you made it. If everyone would quiet down, we can get started. Quinn? Do you need something?”
Quinn broke her eye contact with the man and looked to the professor. She respected and admired Burrell, and wanted nothing more than to be like her when she was the same age. She’d hoped that the professor would take the man to task. But now she had thrown her a twist she wasn’t ready for.
“No, I’m fine. Do you want me to take attendance?”
“Just pass around the list and we can start while they are telling me whether or not they are physically or mentally here.”
It seemed the professor knew the man in the class. He hadn’t acknowledged her when she came in, his eyes were still trained on her.
Quinn went back to her desk and even as she turned her back to him, she could tell that he was still watching her. She glanced down at the attendance sheet and scanned down to Rochon. Rainier Rochon was his name. He must be a local with the name Rainier. It was also apparent that he was in the right class. That was an interesting turn of events.
Handing the clipboard to the first person she came across; she kept her eyes from turning back to Rainier Rochon. Though she knew without a shadow of a doubt, if she had looked up, she’d see him staring right back at her.
Rain gripped the tiny table that passed as a desk and hoped he didn’t break it. His heart was beating out of his chest. His skin felt hot and uncomfortably tight. His animal was clawing to get out. He was struggling to maintain his composure.
There was a roar in his mind that was mostly his bear, but some of it was him. His mate was standing at the front of the class, just feet away from him. He must be dreaming. Did he already get bored and fall asleep in class? That would be embarrassing, to say the least. His life couldn’t change that fast, could it?
The minutes ticked by and he worked to control his voice, his hands, but he couldn’t control what was happening on the inside. His heart wouldn’t stop its double-time staccato, his cock was hard and that was doubly uncomfortable given the jeans he was wearing. He wanted nothing more than to grab her and run from the lecture hall and into the forest.
His fingers itched to touch her, his mouth wanted to taste her. His desire was overwhelming to someone who had managed to control their physical needs for most of his life. Now his emotions and sex drive were spinning inside him like a tilt-a-whirl. He was a starving man in front of a buffet. A man hobbling through the desert and seeing an oasis. Desire took on a whole new meaning for him. It wasn’t a thought, it was a drive, a pull at the core of his being that demanded to be acknowledged.
Grabbing her and dragging her from the classroom wouldn’t be acceptable or advisable. His twin souls had a partner and they needed to think about how they were going to be treating her. For the first time in twenty-one years, he could feel himself stitching together a space inside him that he hadn’t realized had been empty. His souls melding with another person, a perfect fit. She was a beautiful, strong woman and he got the feeling she didn’t have the best first impression of him.
That was something he could overcome. He had to. He needed to come up with a plan to talk to her. She’d already formed opinions about him based on the fact that he was even taking the class. It threw their dynamic completely off. Never had so much ridden on first impressions. Now he had to show her, convince her he was not only a decent person but her person.
He was in the negative already and he hadn’t even met her. As he focused on the class, taking in the words by osmosis, his animal memorized every little nuance of their mate. Her eyes, hair, her skin, the frown lines on her forehead. She was distressed by him or the situation he had caused by just being there. This was bad. He needed advice, a game plan, maybe even a script.
His feet wanted to move, they wanted to beat a path towards her. He wanted to touch her face, wrap his hands around those cheeks, feel the smoothness, and brush his thumbs over her cheekbones. If he was closer he could smell her. The room was awash in scents. He needed to know her scent, what her skin smelled like when she was warm when she was cold. After a shower what did she smell like? After she woke from a nap, soft and dewy?
What did she like to eat? Her favorite music? What were her goals in life? What did she hate, or hope to change about herself, or to change in the world. Did she like the woods or was she a city girl? Was he even her type? These were all things he had to know, things he needed to experience to even begin to know who she was.
None of these things were things he could know sitting in class. They weren’t even things he would be able to find out with a single encounter. They were the things you would learn about a lover with time spent together.
Rain didn’t want to wait. He didn’t want to learn about her piece by piece. He wanted to know everything about her all at once.
There was too much happening for him to think of anything beyond what he was feeling. He was so fucking over the moon. His mate, a human, was in the same room with him. His desire to protect her was overwhelming. There was no immediate threat in the classroom, but it didn�
��t change that his bear would have been happier if she was stashed safely away in a den somewhere.
As the minutes ticked by, he tried to get a hold of himself. Resisting all of his instincts, which was not something he would normally ever do, Rain managed to make himself relax. Releasing the edge of the desk, he took deep, measured breaths, his eyes on his mate the entire time.
The woman was named Quinn. He did manage to catch that when the professor came in. Quinn--it was a beautiful name. If fit her, he could tell that. But now he was making assumptions about her based on how she looked. His instincts told him that that was a dangerous way to go. Nothing about how she looked would tell him the truth of her.
Chapter 7
With class winding down, he was trying to figure out how to talk to her. He could apologize for not answering her when she first spoke to him. That would be a good place to start. A reasonable place even, it had been rude to leave her hanging. He at least owed her an apology.
As the class wrapped up, he sat while the rest of the students filed out. Professor Burrell left giving him a quick nod of her head. He returned it and waited until there were just a few people left, including Quinn.
He got up from his chair, grabbed his bag and walked towards the front. Controlling his steps so he wouldn’t break into a run that might scare her. He casually strolled towards the front of the room, or at least attempted to. As he got closer, the scent of chocolate and citrus got stronger. It was a warm, sweet, sharp smell that made his mouth water. Under the fresh scent was all woman. Warm, hot, and heady to his senses.
Clearing his throat, he watched her turn towards him, her eyes wary. “Hey.”
That was a classic opening line. His brothers would be giving him shit right about now if they were there.
“Hi?” she said this as a question. Her surprise that he approached her was obvious.
“Sorry about earlier. You kind of caught me off guard. I’m usually more verbal.” That wasn’t any better of an opening line.
“I caught you off guard by asking you a question? Are you normally a selective mute, or are you just trying it out to see if it might be a fun party trick?” She said this with enough sarcasm that it made him want to flinch.
“I was a little tongue-tied after you walked in. I don’t talk to pretty girls that much and I didn’t expect you to address me. Especially in front of everyone. I don’t like being the center of attention.”
She tried to hide a blush, but her cheeks gave her away. Recovering she said, “Really? Pretty girl? Does that line work on girls? I have only seen that used on television or in the movies.”
Rain gave a shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve never told a girl that she was pretty before. Well, not counting my mom and my sister. I’ve told them, but it was just for descriptive purposes only.”
“Wow, you’re like a master at the pickup lines.”
“Pick up lines?” Rain was confused. Was there such a thing anymore? Did guys really walk up to girls and give them lines to start conversations.
“Yes, the—do you come here often? Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? That kind of crap.”
“I was just trying to apologize for leaving you hanging before. For the record, I am in the right class. I’ll be here all semester.”
“I figured that out for myself, thanks. Did you lose a bet or something?” This was asked with more aggression. It appeared that she had already judged his reason for being in the class.
“What kind of bet?”
“Oh, please. You and your frat buddies playing beer pong? The loser has to take History of Feminism. You’re probably wearing silk panties too or they made you wear lipstick all night. I’ve heard it all.”
“Not in a frat. I don’t play beer pong, and no, I didn’t lose a bet. I don’t think we know each other well enough to be talking about my underwear yet. I was actually missing a graduation credit and my options were limited. I chose this class because it was the only one that could be useful for my post graduate work and my career.”
She stared at him for a long moment. “You’re being honest, aren’t you?” There was disbelief in her voice.
“Of course, I don’t lie. I’ve been known to avoid the truth, but I find that just causes as many problems as lying would have. I’m Rainer, by the way.”
“Quinn,” she said offering her hand. He happily grabbed onto it for a short shake before forcing himself to let her go. He saw her curling her fingers and knew she felt the tingling connection between them. It left an imprint where their skin had touched.
“Who names their kid Rainier? Is it after the mountain or the beer?”
Giving her a dazzling smile that made her suck in the tiniest of breaths, with his hearing he could still hear it. “The mountain. My mother had a penchant for naming her children after where they were conceived. It’s embarrassing as hell.”
Quinn gave a short laugh. “Middle name mountain by any chance?”
“No, Mowich. After the lake. They were camping. You get the picture.” He could feel her relaxing. Her shoulders dropping, her brow smoothing out. He liked being able to make her feel comfortable.
“Wow, that is ridiculously awesome. Sorry if I came off a little rough at the beginning. We get the occasional person who isn’t really here to learn. It’s frustrating to the rest of us that really want to take in all that the class has to offer. I’m usually a very nice person.”
“It’s fine. I get it. I just hope that the rest of the class doesn’t take me for one of ‘those guys. I’m not going to worry if they do. They will eventually get to know me. I’m going to do the work, and I honestly need to get a pass in this class or my future is doomed. I will be at the top of the class if I can make it.”
“Dramatic much?”
“Only when I need to be. I’m intense when it comes to my education. You know, as the TA aren’t you required to help me out? Tutoring and such? If I don’t pass won’t that look badly on you?”
“Required, no. But I’ll let you know when there are study groups. I know a few of the girls; they will be cool about it. If you don’t pass this class, that’s on you, homeboy. Since grading is mostly based on proving that you’ve absorbed the knowledge, I can only suggest that you study up. The professor doesn’t go in for memorizing shit. You need to give your opinions. Don’t hold back, even if you think she won’t agree with you. She’s all about open dialogue.”
Rain didn’t want to wait around for a study group. He needed to spend time with Quinn now. This was going to take some finesse. He sensed that asking her out after her initial opinion of him was not going to go over well.
“So, you dorming it still?”
She made a scoffing sound. “That’s kind of personal. Do you want my address, social security, blood type? Why do you need to know? Planning on stalking me later?”
“Sorry. I wasn’t trying to pry.” That was a total lie. “I’m just still in a dorm because of my little brother. I don’t know many seniors that haven’t moved out by now. I dream of the day I can live somewhere that I don’t have to hear someone else snoring. The fact he’s a horrible slob doesn’t help anything. I grew up with him and he used to be just as tidy as me. He’s become his own version of Oscar the Grouch. It’s disgusting.”
“Your brother goes here too?”
“Yeah. I feel responsible for him. He’s kinda distracted right now. My mom, hell, my whole family would have my hide if someone didn’t keep track of him. I’ve gotten used to the dorm, I may even stick around when I start law school next year.”
“Eesh, a lawyer. That’s the creepiest profession. Well, besides taxidermy.”
“Ouch, creepiest? Really?” Rain was trying to keep the conversation going, as well as trying to stay casual and was feeling quite proud of himself so far.
“I mean—an ambulance chaser? How can you live with yourself? Bad suits and getting criminals off on crimes they should be locked up forever for?”
Quinn had leaned back so she was s
itting on just the edge of her desk. Rain took that as a relaxed pose and stayed where he was, not wanting to press his luck. He was as close as he was going to get to her right now. It wasn’t close enough; still, he could almost feel the heat of her skin.
“Sorry to disappoint, but environmental law is going to be my focus. I won’t lie and say that I’m not interested in at least dabbling in criminal law. But I’ve always planned on being a lawyer to help out my family’s business. We have a need for pretty much every profession to keep things running smoothly. We don’t currently have an attorney that is a family member. I’ll be the first. I plan to move back home and do my part. Our parents are always trying to convince us to stay close and take over the reins of the businesses.”
Quinn gave him a studied look. “Mama’s boy?” she said with a grin.
Rain laughed, “No. Although my mom is just about the most awesome person I know. I’ve never been one to wander far. I like my family too much to be too far away from them.”
Her smile wavered a little. “I guess some people get more homesick than others.”
“You’re not lonely here?” he asked.
“Nah, I kind of think of this as home now. I have some friends, my roommate. I guess that’s enough.”
Rain didn’t think that was enough at all, but he didn’t want to say anything that might insult her, or make her uncomfortable.
He’d hoped that talking about family would be some common ground to start from but she didn’t seem to feel the same.
“I love my family, but I love where we live even more. I’m a happy tree hugger, even though we cut them down for a living. I’m never more relaxed than when I’m out in nature. Even though I miss them, it’s been nice to be away too. It’s nice to get out on your own, be your own person.” It was a lame attempt to negate the uncomfortable feeling that settled between them.
Her eyebrows rose up. “How does that work? Cutting down trees but loving them? Seems to me that would clash. Either you love the environment or you’re trying to destroy it. You don’t care about the bunnies and deer?”
