Sweet Caroline
Chapter 12

Caroline woke up and stiffened when she realized she had a warm body snuggled up behind her.

Who?

Then her body relaxed, and she smiled when she remembered.

Andrew. The memory of him sneaking in late last night and asking if he could stay made her silently squeal.

Caroline knew she should have told him, no, but she just couldn’t make herself when all she wanted was him with her. She released a sigh as she thought about how she’d waited and desired him for so long.

Is it wrong of me to feel this way? I hope not because it feels so right.

Rolling over carefully, Caroline watched him sleep, his hair all tousled and his face slack. He was all she had ever wanted. He had a wolf that told him she was his, and though she didn’t have a wolf, she’d always felt as if he was hers. Not only that, but she loved him.

Unable to resist the pull he had on her, Caroline leaned in and placed a soft, barely-there kiss on his lips. Then she moved back and watched his eyes flutter open.

Andrew smiled a sleepy smile as he brought his hand up to caress her cheek. “Good morning, doll.”

“Good morning, Andrew,” Caroline whispered. “We have to get up and get ready for school soon.”

“I don’t want too though. I want to stay here and cuddle with you,” Andrew murmured before he leaned forward.

Caroline’s eyes fluttered at the feel of his lips, and she softly moaned as his hand moved along her side. At some point in the night, her gown had ridden up, and he was now touching bare skin.

Andrew softly growled as he brushed his hand over her bare thigh. “Ah, baby doll, your skin is so soft. It makes me want things with you. It makes me want to do things to you. I need you so badly.”

Caroline opened her eyes and stared into his. “But we can’t, not now, even if I was ready for those things.”

“I know,” Andrew agreed. “But knowing it doesn’t calm my body down.”

His words drew Caroline’s attention to Andrew’s aroused state as it brushed against her stomach where he lay next to her. She felt her face heat.

Andrew chuckled, and she buried her face in his chest with a groan.

“It’s okay, nothing a good run and a cold shower won’t cure,” Andrew told her. “What did you mean though by we can’t, not now?”

Caroline looked up at him and shyly answered, “Well, I’ve never done anything before, not even kiss. However, I’ve heard that being intimate can be, you know, noisy. My dad is just down the hall, and well, you probably don’t have any, um….”

“Condoms?” Andrew asked with a chuckle.

Caroline nodded in agreement as she once more buried her face in his chest.

“It’s okay, doll,” Andrew whispered. “When you’re ready for me to make love to you, I’ll have what we need, and I’ll bring you to my house.”

“What would be so different about your house?”

“I have a soundproof room,” he whispered into her ear.

Her head jerked back. “Soundproof? Why?”

“Wolves have super hearing, and so all bedrooms are soundproof unless the door is left ajar,” Andrew explained. “Sorry, but I really don’t care to hear my parents going at it like animals.” With a soft snicker, he added, “Animals.”

A soft tapping on her door had both of their heads sharply turning

“Caroline, are you up? I almost have breakfast ready,” Dad called from behind the door.

“Yeah, Dad, I’ll be down in a bit,” Caroline called out.

“I should go,” Andrew whispered.

Standing up, he gave her a quick kiss before he slipped out her window and was gone.

Caroline stood pulling books out of her locker, thinking about the last two weeks. She and Andrew had drawn closer, and he was coming over for supper tonight to meet her dad. He’d been slipping into her room at night and staying with her, and it was getting harder to keep their relationship platonic.

She wanted him badly, and she was woman enough to admit that. The thing was, she didn’t want to be sneaking around to do it. She wanted to be able to hold his hand, kiss him, tell him she loved him. She wanted to be free to take him up to her room if she wanted to.

She feared that her dad wouldn’t be so understanding since he was a bit old-fashioned and would expect marriage before sex. Well, she was too, but Andrew was making it extremely difficult to keep saying no.

Oh, she knew he didn’t mean to push her, but they were both becoming so hormonal and with him in her bed… well, honestly, they were just asking for trouble.

She also knew his wolf needed to be close to her, and it was hard for him if he stayed away. He’d tried it one night, and he had looked like death warmed over the next day. He’d told her how his wolf had kept him up all night begging for his mate.

When she’d explained how she felt about things to Andrew, he’d told her he understood. He’d also explained how once a werewolf meets his mate, there would never be another for them. Then he’d admitted that for a wolf, the marking was to them what the marriage ceremony was to humans, only stronger because there was no “divorce” for a shifter. No, once he marked her, there was no going back because she was it for him. And his wolf was pushing for him to mark her.

So, now Caroline really was confused as to what to do. She wanted Andrew but, she also felt the need to be married.

Warm arms wrapped around her, and a husky voice whispered, “You look like you’re thinking hard.”

“Yeah, I’m still thinking about what we talked about last night.”

“Have you come up with an answer yet?” He asked before kissing her cheek.

Caroline sighed as she turned her head to meet his gaze. Then she teased, “No, not unless you want to elope with me.”

“Hm… actually, I like that idea. Let’s do it!” Andrew exclaimed with a wide grin.

Caroline turned to face him fully. “Um… Andrew, I’m only seventeen. I’d need my dad’s consent to get married.”

Andrew’s grin disappeared. “Okay. Well, when is your birthday?”

Caroline laughed. “In a week, actually.”

Andrew’s grin returned, and he kissed her before saying, “Well, then prepare to be married in a week. Until then, though, I’ve been thinking.”

He turned her, and after placing his arm around her shoulders, he encouraged her to move forward.

“What have you been thinking about?” Caroline asked as they left the school building and headed for his truck. Remembering something, she stopped on the sidewalk and asked, “Wait, don’t you have practice?”

Andrew shook his head, and they began to walk once more. “Not today because tomorrow is our away game. So, the coach gave us today off to rest.” He helped her up into his truck and jogged to his side. Once he was in, he asked, “Would you like to go?”

“To your game?”

“Yeah. It’s the last one, and you’ve had to work for all the others,” Andrew told her.

Caroline smiled and leaned over the console to kiss him. “I’d love to go. But how do I get there?”

“Well, my parents were talking about going and could give you a ride. Or you could ride the bus with me,” Andrew answered.

“Are you sure the school will allow that?”

“Coach is part of the pack,” Andrew replied. “So, I know he’ll let you.”

“Okay, well, let’s ask dad tonight at supper then,” Caroline suggested. “You never did say what you’ve been thinking about, though.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about marking you as my mate,” Andrew said. “It will put my wolf at ease and make it a bit easier to be apart if we have to be.”

“How will that make it easier?”

“Well, with you marked as ours, it will keep other male wolves away. It gives my wolf a bit of peace knowing at least that many males will walk the other way,” Andrew explained.

Caroline chuckled. “Andrew, I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but I don’t exactly have boys lined up at my door.”

He glanced at her before returning his gaze to the road. “Doll, they do look, and they lust; you just don’t notice.”

“Uh, no, they don’t!” Caroline exclaimed. “I think I’d notice if a boy were paying me attention.”

“Doll, just today that boy… Zack, I think his name is spoke to you in English.” Andrew sighed, and Caroline turned in her seat to face him.

“So, Zack talks to me a lot, and he’s nice.”

“Yes, and he used every excuse to rub shoulders with you and put his hand on your arm. That, my dear, is flirting one-o-one for a guy.” He informed her. “And it drove my wolf crazy. By the end of class, he was ready to rip the guy limb from limb!”

Caroline frowned as she thought back to English class, where they’d been partnered last week for a project, boy with a girl. The teacher had put her and Zack. Now that she really thought about it, Zack had touched her arm more than necessary. He’d even winked at her yesterday.

I’m not about to tell Andrew that, though.

Caroline nervously cleared her throat and softly asked, “So… he was flirting with me?”

“Yes, doll, he was flirting with you,” Andrew quietly agreed as he pulled into her driveway.

“Oh,” she whispered. Now I feel so stupid. A guy was flirting with me, and I didn’t even know it.