His hips drove up against me, the demanding hard line of his want pressing directly between my legs. I was soaked already, overcome by a tsunami of arousal, and I ground back down against him with a desperation to have that shaft buried inside me. My world narrowed down to Dain. Nothing mattered but him, the movement of his body and the heady taste of his mouth and the demanding throb of his heartbeat pushing against my skin. I needed—needed—needed—

Dain tore his mouth away from mine and buried his face against my shoulder, breathing in great gasps, shaking. I whined, needing more of him, and he shoved me off of him with so much force that I had the wind knocked out of me when I hit the ground. He strode across the path and grabbed fistfuls of the hedge, holding himself there while his tails moved like angry snakes, in dangerous curves and sudden lashing arcs.

Anger and confusion flared in me, with a feeling of dislocation akin to a bad concussion. I'd never been consumed by sexual attraction like that, not once in my life. I'd gone into it with the desire only to enjoy kissing Dain, and to see him enjoy it, in return, but I'd been overwhelmed. Dain had obviously been enjoying it a great deal, too, until he'd chucked me off of him like an arachnophobe reacting to a daddy-long-legs on his lap.

I staggered to my feet and swayed.

"Wh-what?" I asked, my voice coming out weak and wavering.

He growled, the ferocious deep growl of an angry predator. I backed up without intending to, hitting the bench hard enough with the back of my legs that I collapsed down onto it, pain singing out from my tailbone as I smacked into the wood.

"It's not you," he snapped out in a guttural voice. "That wasn't your—" The words strangled in his throat, a lie he couldn't say. "That wasn't only your desire you were feeling," Dain said, sounding as if he forced the words out through gritted teeth.

Oh.

Shit.

I'd heard it a thousand times. Everyone had chirped to me about how wonderful soulmate bonds were, how you were so in sync with your soulmate, the most magical beautiful connection a person could have. When we'd chosen to aim for affection, Dain had worked hard to learn to be a good friend to me, but no bff feedback loop had kicked in. Nor had a familial one, or any other kind of platonic emotion. I'd thought it was me.

I'd been wrong.

Dain wanted me desperately. He wanted me with a singular focus, as if I was the center of his world. That's what had happened to me. I'd leaned not into mere sex and not into friendship, but romantic love, and the instant Dain had let go and responded the same way, the soulmate bond had started to bind us together as lovers.