Chapter 23 - Riley
The silence fell over us, and I could see Cayden looking uncertain about himself. I wondered where his mind traveled.
Mine traveled to Brad. I thought of the endless night of tossing and turning, worried about what I'd done or what I would do wrong. I remembered so many nights staying up trying to think of how I could fix my mistake. But no matter what I did, he was never happy. Nothing I did seemed to please him.
"You okay?" I asked, taking a bite of my egg roll.
Cayden glanced at me and sighed softly. "You know I told you I left because my parents and I were fighting about you."
I nodded my head, remembering his words from earlier. He told me he was fighting about me, but I didn't know what it was about. I had thought much about it.
"Yeah…" I said, nodding my head. "You said that."
He licked his lips. "I left because they were wanting me to pursue you."
My eyebrows went up. "When…when we what?" I couldn't form a sentence, let alone think about that.
I tried to think about the first time I realized that Cayden was my mate. I couldn't remember how old I was. We had an age difference, and while I hadn't thought it was a large gap if you looked back, some people might cringe if you looked at the numbers. I always thought Cayden and I were the only ones who knew about us being mated, but his parents knew the entire time.
He frowned. "You were eleven. And I made the mistake of telling my folks you were my mate. I figured it out the first day you came over. And they wanted me to move fast with you."
I felt suddenly sick. It suddenly made sense why his folks were always so nice to me, why they never bothered if I stayed over, and why they never even batted an eyelash when they found Cayden and me alone.
I was suddenly questioning everything they had done for me. Was it all so I would want Cayden back? Was it because they wanted Cayden and me to be together?
I pulled my hand up to my mouth, feeling sick. What had they been saying to him? And how hard were they pushing?
Cayden noticed and placed a hand on my knee. "Are you okay?"
I shook my head, finding it hard to process what he was saying. I set my egg roll down, pushing the food away. "They wanted you to pursue me while I was that young?"
He nodded. "They wanted me to spend as much time with you as I could, but they really started pushing the issue when you were fifteen. And while a lot of people were…doing things at that age, I still…." He paused, looking like he was in pain. "You were still underage. And I didn't want to push anything. Like I told you before. I wanted you to have a childhood. I didn't want you to be pushed into something because that's what everyone was wanting."
"What happened? The day you left, what happened? You said they pushed you too far?"
He nodded. "They had brought up the fact that you were getting older and that I wasn't getting younger. And they brought up that the pack wouldn't care about the age and that we needed to focus on breeding and the importance of growing the pack." He sighed, pinching at his eyes. They wanted me to take you out and make a move. Well, their exact words were to take her out somewhere and get it done. We're tired of waiting."
I frowned. "They said that to you?"
He nodded. "My father was angry I had waited. My mother explained that the pack would understand because we were mated. No one would care about your age, and I was thinking about it too much."
I thought back to when I was fifteen and my plans. I remembered telling his folks my dream about having a career and having a life rather than being a mother. And yet, they were trying to convince Cayden to knock me up instead.
I couldn't believe this. His parents had made it seem they cared about me, but they didn't. Because if they had, they wouldn't have said anything to him. They would have understood what I wanted.
I suddenly wished I'd spent more time at home. But I always thought my parents were overbearing while April's were chill. My folks wanted me to pursue the same careers they had, but I wasn't sure what I wanted.
"So you left?"
He nodded. "I couldn't be around the toxic mindset anymore. Everyone was so focused on having babies rather than letting people grow up and think about anything else." He smiled at me. "So, I know what you're going through and how it feels. But trust me, it will get better. It just takes time."
I stared at him in shock and in love. Cayden had been thinking about me since the very beginning. He had been thinking about my feelings and my future long before I even knew it. He'd been caring for me long before I thought he had. All those years, he'd been standing and waiting for me.
Brad hadn't done anything like this. Not even when we first started dating. I tried to think of what Brad had done that came close, but there wasn't anything. There was nothing anyone could do that came close.
It brought tears to my eyes, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Cayden truly did love me. He cared about me, and this is what it felt like to have someone on your side.
I knew I should feel guilty, considering how long Brad and I had been together. I should have felt bad that I was moving on so easily, but I didn't. This was effortless, and it felt right. Maybe if Brad had cared about me more or treated me better, I would have felt bad, but I didn't.
I leaned forward, quickly jumping against him, and kissed his lips. Cayden jumped, shocked. I wrapped my arms around his neck and moaned against his mouth as he kissed me back.
"You are so amazing," I said, leaning back slightly. "Do you even know that? Do you know how amazing you are?"
He smirked. "You think so? Do tell me how amazing you think I am," he teased.
I nodded, reaching down and pulling at his belt. "I do. You've waited years to be with me. I would love to show you just how much that means to me."
Cayden's hands quickly grabbed mine, pausing them. "Riley, hold on a second. You were the one telling me you didn't want to have sex. Let's not jump because I was telling you the truth."
"Yes, I did say that, and I'm taking those words back."
Cayden scowled at me. "What do you mean you're taking the words back?"
"That was all before."
"Before what?"
"Before I realized you've been on my side for so long." I looked up at him. I ran my nose over his chin, batting my eyelashes. "Are you saying you don't want to?"
He made a face, his fingers loosening over mine. "No, I'm not saying that, but I want to make sure that you're sure about this. Riley, you were the one that stated you needed to find yourself. You were the one that took sex off the table. I just want to make sure you're sure about this."
I smiled as I leaned forward, pressing my breasts against his chest. I felt his fingers let go of mine, so I continued to undo his pants. I unzipped them, making sure to kiss his lips as I did. I reached my hand in, sliding my fingers over his cock. His cock was already hard, and it pulsed against my palm.
Cayden inhaled sharply, and I kissed his neck. "Would you like me to stop? Because I can if you want to continue talking?"
He shook his head, and his hands clutched my hips. "Nope, we're good. You wanna put sex back on the table, I'll gladly take it."
I worked my fingers up his cock, being sure to tighten my grip slightly as I pulled it down. Cayden inhaled sharply once more, and I pressed a kiss on his throat. I pumped my hand slowly over his dick, listening as his voice changed with each stroke.
"You have done so much for me for so long, Cayden, and you don't even know how amazing you are. You waited for me. You fought for me. And I want to return the favor."
His eyes met me, and I smiled, jerking my hand slightly, tightening my hold ever so slightly. I wanted to make him cum so badly.
Suddenly, he kissed me roughly, pressing my back against the counter. I moaned as his hands pulled me up, hoisting me onto the counter.
"Hey, I was thanking you," I grumbled as his mouth traveled down my neck, his lips going over my breast and down. He pulled at my clothes, and I could hear them rip.
"I know, but I want to be in you."
I wanted to tell him no and thank him. He'd done so much for me, and he had no idea. But as his fingers pulled at my skirt, hiking it up, I didn't. I didn't care how we did this as long as we did.
I felt wet, his fingers pulling at my underwear, sliding them off quickly. His eyes sparkled as he looked at me. I wanted him so badly. I wanted him everywhere and all over me. I wanted to feel him deep inside me, and I wanted to ache afterward. I wanted to go rounds and fuck all into the night.
He kissed my knee, and a smirk pulled at his lips. "Well, you can thank me as soon as I'm done."
His fingers pulled up, hooking my knees as he spread me wide. My heart leaped as he leaned forward. My head rolled back, and a moan escaped my lips as his tongue slid over my folds, taking my breath away.
"Oh god," I tried to cover my mouth, but the moan still escaped. I could hardly breathe as my world tilted upside down.