A/N: Things are heating up now. haha, get it? No? you will.
CHAPTER
THIRTY SEVEN
C A R O L I N E
Two weeks passed of a similar pattern. Each day, I would train with Jeff for an hour and to put it lightly, he was kicking my ass. But I was learning his techniques and quirks. I now knew his giveaway of where his next move would be, so my blocking skills were getting better and better by the day. The last fifteen minutes of each training Jeff would have us actually fight and it was hard to keep myself in line and not completely throttle him, especially when the man teased me.
With the big battle being only a couple weeks away, I knew I had to really start paying attention to the little things if I were to help Dominic out at all. Both my mind and body were getting stronger and by the end of these two weeks, I was beginning to see a pattern in Jeff's combat.
Following the training sessions, I would go on a half hour run. This way I could tell Dominic that I had been working out and he would believe me.
When I woke for day fifteen of training, a pain similar to menstrual cramps lit up my tummy. I frowned and groaned in discomfort, rolling over onto my stomach and bumping into Dominic. He tensed and quickly moved away from me, making me pout at him. "I'm sorry," I squeaked. "What-"
"It started."
I blinked in confusion at him, my mind foggy. "What?"
"You've had a fever all morning, Caroline. This is the heat. Dammit, you smell so good," he groaned, putting his hands over his face. "We never discussed what we were going to do so we need to do it now, before you're overcome with the heat."
I sat up, looking down at myself. It did feel unreasonably warm in here, the back of my neck was damp. "Maybe it is just a fever. Maybe we ate something bad yesterday-"
Dominic shook his head stiffly. "No, sugar. I can smell it."
"What?"
"The arousal."
My face flushed and my thighs pressed together, as if that would stop the smell. "I'm not ready to have sex with you," I blurted. "I'm not ready. And I can't get pregnant. I can't do it, Dominic, please."
My mate's face softened and he let out a sigh. "It'll be alright. Relax. We don't have to have sex. If anyone can get through the heat, you can. You're strong. And we can use protection, so you don't get pregnant. But before I can help you work through this, let's set the guidelines."
For some reason, my eyes became misty. "I don't care about any of the other stuff. Just the actual sex part. If... if it gets to the point where I'm in pain, we can do other things. Am I going to be in pain?"
Dominic gave a shrug. "It is hard to say. You'll feel like you're in pain, but it isn't physical pain. It'll be emotional pain, really, but the fever will get worse and you'll need ice baths to help with those. I already had my men stocking up our freezer with ice this morning."
"You won't do anything if I say no, right? Like you'll listen to me?" I quizzed.
"Of course. Of course. But that isn't what I'm worried about. The issue is if you start saying yes. Females can become blinded by the fever and it makes them think they truly want it when they don't. That's where the problem lies because you may not be truly consenting," Dominic explained to me, still avoiding my touch.
