7. Hazel
7
HAZEL
M y eyes flutter open and I'm in an unfamiliar bed, covered in unrecognizable blankets and wrapped in the warm arms my body recognizes as only one person— my mate . My human mate. My chest squeezes tight in panic.
This will never be accepted. The whole situation is unheard of. If my father ever finds out, he will punish us both. I can't let that happen.
The only way to ensure we both remain safe from my father's turmoil is to Ieave and never return. The very thought has my stomach twisting in knots but the alternative leaves me even more nauseated.
I wiggle out of his hold, sighing in relief when he remains sleeping as I climb off the bed. I grab a random pair of pants, a t-shirt, and a pair of tennis shoes, hurrying out the front door. I'm halfway down the driveway when I stop and look back, my heart squeezing.
My feet latch to the ground and each step I try to take feels like I'm walking with weights. Going back is easier than moving forward. It also doesn't leave a deep pain in my bones.
I turn around, quickly walking inside, my body happy to oblige with my decision.
Closing and locking the door behind me, I strip out of my clothes.
Heading back to the room where soft snores are coming from, I climb back under the covers and snuggle into him again, welcoming the large arm slinging around me.
“Where'd you go, little one?” His soft spoken words tickle my ear.
“Bathroom. Shifters use those too.”
A chuckle slips from his lips, and he drags me closer to his body. “Is it still dark out?”
“Mhm.”
“Let's go back to sleep then,” he whispers between yawns.
“I gotta say.” I turn into him, nudging my head against his chest. “Your bed is way more comfortable than my cage.”
His fingers slide down to my hip, gripping me tighter. “And I'm able to sleep better in it with you here, so I think it works out well for everyone involved.”
“Yeah and you're also not so great at shutting cage doors.”
“No, but maybe that's not such a bad thing.”
I close my eyes, smiling into his skin. “No. Not a bad thing at all.”
Parker's right. We can figure everything else out tomorrow.
My growling stomach wakes me and when I open my eyes, Parker's spot is empty. Looking around, I toss the covers off me and follow the savory scent into the kitchen. Parker is dancing in his underwear in front of the stove like yesterday, and my shoulders sag when I imagine not being able to wake up to this sight ever again. Will he realize he wants me to leave today? I don't think I can if he doesn't ask me to. Will I be able to if he does?
Flipping pancakes with one hand, Parker stirs the eggs with the other. Bacon rests on a plate on the counter next to him and he starts singing, not turning around until I pull a chair from under the table.
His brows lift and his cheeks flush when he realizes he has an audience. “Morning.” The corners of his lips lift. “Sleep okay?”
“Yeah. Better than I have in a long time.” I take a seat, resting my hands in my lap when his gaze drifts between my legs and I remember I'm naked. My cheeks heat and his throat bobs.
“You can borrow some of my clothes if you want. If it makes you feel more comfortable.”
Scooting closer to the table, I say, “Thanks, but I'm okay for now. I'm normally used to being naked around others. I guess being here just makes it feel different.”
He frowns. “Like in a bad way?’
I shake my head, wiggling in my seat. “No…it's just.” I nibble on my bottom lip, looking everywhere but at him. “When you look at me like that I…it….I get…” My breaths stutter and my cheeks flush.
“Oh. I see.” He wiggles his brows, smirking as he shuts off the stove. “I don't see a problem with that, and it really is difficult not to look at you.” He looks like he wants to say more but doesn't.
“You're still not freaked out about everything?” I ask, a flutter of nerves taking hold of my stomach.
“Oh, I am a little.” He plates the food and carries everything to the table. “I woke up this morning not sure how I'd find you but was really glad when it was in my bed and as a human.”
“You can find me like that for a second morning if you want.” I bat my lashes gently.
His lips turn up into an easy smile. “We did say we'd figure things out tomorrow but we didn't say which, did we?”
“No. No, we didn't, and it does happen every next day.”
“That's true. So tomorrow it is again.”
“Yeah, tomorrow. What should we do today?”
“I don't know. I don't have to work since it's a weekend so we can do whatever. What do you do for fun where you're from?”
“Probably the same as everyone else does here,” I answer flatly.
“Yes, but what do you do? As in you yourself. Do you go places? Like to the park or movies? Do you enjoy watching live music or going out for dinner?”
“I'm not allowed to leave the house without a chaperone and there aren't too many days anyone has the time to be one for me, so everything I do mostly takes place inside.”
“Then we will go outside and stay out until dark.” He slides a piece of bacon between his teeth and I reach for my own food, humming around my first bite of fluffy pancakes.
“No one besides my mom has ever made me breakfast before.”
“Really?” His eyes round. “Well in that case, I'm happy to be the first. What about dinner?”
I shake my head and he frowns.
“Alright, so I'll be making that for you too. What do you like to eat? Have any favorite foods?”
I tap my mouth with my fork. “I like just about everything. Lots of vegetables like carrots and broccoli. Salads are my favorite. I really like dandelion soup too.”
His eyes sparkle with interest. “I see. Not at all what I was expecting but I think I can manage that.”
We finish our food in silence and when we're done, I help him clean up the kitchen, finding any reason I can to touch him in some way. I purposely reach for the same dish from the sink and rest my hand on his back when I move past him. After a while he notices, sliding his fingers over mine with that large beautiful smile on his face. I don't have to find excuses after that. He reaches for me first, rubbing a hand down my spine as we walk back to the bedroom and squeezing my neck as we wait for the shower water to warm.
He grabs my hand as I step into the tub and climbs in after me, guiding me closer to the water as he rests his hands on my hips. “I like touching you too,” he says lowly in my ear.
“Feel free to do it as much as you want to then.” I press my ass to his groin, circling my hips. His cock comes to life and he kisses my neck, sliding his fingers to one of my nipples.
“I’ll gladly take you up on your offer.” He rolls his hips and I crane my neck, lifting myself on my tiptoes to seal my lips over his. Rolling my tiny nub between his fingers, his other hand curls around my cock, giving me gentle strokes as his tongue thrusts deeper into mine.
“I've never wanted someone this much before,” he says when he pulls away from my mouth briefly before attacking it again with his.
I spin around, kissing him harder, our tongues intertwining and growing sloppy. His cock grinds over mine and he lifts me so effortlessly by my hips, pressing my back to the wall as my legs wrap around his waist. Sliding me up higher, he lines himself up with my hole and brings me back down, impaling me onto his thick cock. I wiggle my hips, my body taking him all the way in on one go as a gush of slick rushes out of me.
The soreness eases the more he moves inside me. His thrusts are slow at first and then he picks up the pace, sucking on my neck and holding me tighter to his body. “You feel so perfect, you know that? Fuck, you feel incredible. I could be inside you forever.”
My head tilts, back arching as bright colors flash behind my eyelids from the exploding sensations of his cock hitting me in all the right places. He feels incredible too and if I died right now, I'd leave this earth the happiest man who ever lived. Sex with your fated mate was everything they said it would be. It's fireworks lighting up the night sky, heaven on earth and the flowers blooming after an April shower.
Nibbling on my shoulder, he slams upward harder, grunting as he fills me with his cum for the second time. My greedy hole holds onto it, clenching and pulsating as pleasure has me spiraling out of control. His cock kicks inside me one last time and I sag against him, my body singing as I cum hard on a silent cry. His mouth captures mine and I melt into him. He rinses us off and lowers me to my feet. His fingers scrub at my scalp and he washes my hair. I stay in a daze, eyes half closed and legs wobbly.
He grabs onto me when I start leaning too far to the left, laughing into my hair as he carries me out of the shower. I doze off, not knowing how I got from the bathroom to the bedroom. I open my eyes to him dressing me in his larger clothes and shaking his head as his gaze lifts. “We’ve got to get you some stuff that actually fits you.”
“I like being in your clothes,” I say groggily, slowly lifting myself up.
He offers me his and I hook our fingers together, not letting go until I'm sure I can fully hold myself up. I feel boneless, muscles overly relaxed and skin vibrating.
“As cute as you are in them, I'm not sure how long they'll stay on you once you start moving around too much.”
“That won't be a problem for when we stay in.” I lower my gaze, and he quirks a smile.
“You're right. Although no clothes at all will always be my number one choice when at home.”
My belly heats. “You sure you want to leave the house today?”
He stifles a laugh, straightening his stance and quickly pulls me to my feet. “I'm sure.” Sweeping hair from my face, he leans down to kiss my forehead. “There are a lot of tomorrows, remember? Plenty for us to decide on major future plans and plenty for us to stay naked in bed. Right now, I'm more focused on the second option.”
“You feel that way because you're still drunk off all the sex we recently had.”
“No. I said it because I'm truly starting to believe I was meant to find you too. They always say you know when the right person walks into your life, and I didn't understand that statement until I met you. Hearing it out loud sounds as ridiculous as it did in my head but kissing and touching you feels the exact opposite.” His hand wraps around my nape. “Waking up to you does too. And so does talking about future tomorrows. You don't want to leave yet, and I don't want to hear you talking about going. It leaves me with a bad feeling when you do, so I'd rather keep going after the good. Want to chase the good with me?” His hand moves to my chin, tilting my head back as he traces his thumb over my lips.
“Yes.”
“Then let me take you out to dinner and to a movie so we can have a naked night on the couch before enjoying a naked tomorrow morning.”
“What about a naked afternoon?”
“I certainly won't say no to it.” His smile matches the one I feel stretching across my lips and he kisses me softly. When he pulls away, I move forward for more and he chuckles, lips brushing over mine as his tongue lavishly pushes into my mouth taking my next breaths away.
We don't leave for at least another hour, struggling to break away for too long and finding each other's mouth again in the car. He holds my hand, occasionally sneaking glances at me as he drives us to our first destination. The restaurants here are different from ours. So big and full of so many strangers. Where I'm from everyone knows everyone and every place you go you've been a million times before. There are bikes hanging and other strange items on the ceiling where we are.
We follow a small blonde to a table in the center and we take our seats at the same time, Parker's feet kicking against mine. Butterflies run rampant in my stomach and my sip of water leaves my stomach uneasy.
“You okay?” he asks, peering down at the menu, brows bunched together.
“Yeah. I may have eaten too much at breakfast, or perhaps something that didn't agree with my stomach.”
“Could it be your heat still?”
I sit up taller in my chair, rubbing my belly and my body stiffens as I realize how quickly it ended. Normally that means…no. That's impossible. My parents have said numerous times that a human can't get a shifter pregnant and vice versa. We learned it in school too. I ate something that didn't agree with me. That's all. Or it could be nerves. This is all happening so fast and nothing has gone how I thought it would this week. I'm supposed to be married and on my honeymoon with my new husband. Not on my first date with my fated mate I had convinced myself didn't exist. But here I am, smiling and talking with him. I'm so happy it scares me. Yeah, that's what the queasiness is from.
“It doesn't feel like it but maybe. I've never been in heat before so I'm not sure. I was mostly kept away from alphas who were of no relation to me, only seeing the guy I was supposed to marry within the past two months.”
“We can always grab the food to go if you need to.”
I reach across the table, grabbing his hand. “No. I'm fine. I promise. I'm really enjoying being out of the house with you.”
“Me too.” His face relaxes and we discuss what we want to eat. I order a salad with steamed carrots on the side while he gets the chicken tender basket. Our conversations come so easily as we wait for our food, and I'm the one who asks all the questions this go around, enjoying learning more about the man fate has chosen for me. He doesn't have to choose me back though, and what if in the end he doesn't? Distracting my mind from overthinking all the answers I don't want to hear, I ask him more about him.
“So what do you do for work?”
He shifts in his seat, looking too proud to answer. “I'm a tenured college English professor. I teach four days a week currently and love my job.”
“That's good. I've never had one before but teaching sounds like something that could be very fulfilling. You get to help people learn. I think if I did something for a living, I'd want to help others in some way too.”
“You've never had a job before?” His mouth hangs open.
“I told you I wasn't allowed to leave the house much. It's not the omega way.”
“You're right. I guess I'm still having a hard time believing someone would willingly hold their child as a prisoner all their life.”
“A prisoner?” I arch a brow. “I was never held in a cell.”
“You were forced to stay in your room so not much different. They kept you away from so much and it wasn't fair. It should have never been your parents' choice to make.”
“It won't be once I'm mated. It'll be my alpha’s,” I say pointedly.
His jaw tenses. “What? That's not how it's supposed to be and I hope you don't accept that with anyone. I'd never expect anyone I'm with to allow me to make all his decisions for him.”
“You wouldn't?” Does this mean he wants to be my mate? I'm jumping too far ahead here. There's a reason we don't mate with humans. We don't do anything the same way. Our courting time is different and we don't move in together before marriage. We don't do anything me and Parker have done before exchanging rings. I don't regret what we did either way and never will no matter what the outcome is. An alpha might never want to be with me after Parker tires of me but I'd rather have had all this with him for a short time than not at all.
“Of course not.” Neither of us say anything else about it when the food arrives. We move to other topics and he tells me about the trails he loves to hike on some of his weekends off.
“Eric never wanted to come with me. Nature and walking for long periods of time was never his thing.”
“I've never been but don't mind trying it out with you.”
“Should it be a thing for tomorrow's tomorrow?”
“Sure,” I say a little too enthusiastically. “After all the naked time we're supposed to have.”
He grins. “We can do it in between all that.”
“Works for me.” I take another bite of food, my stomach cramping as I swallow. “Excuse me,” I say and rush to the bathroom.
He reaches for me, standing from his chair as I flee the table, following the large blue sign. I enter the first stall I cross, bending over the toilet as all the food I've eaten today lurches forward. Once my stomach is no longer hurting or urging me to keep going, I wash up in the sink. My face wrinkles when I get a good look at my reflection. I'm pale and my eyes are swollen. When I exit back into the restaurant, Parker is waiting for me outside the bathroom door with a bag on his arm.
“We can save the movie for another day. You really don't look well.”
“We can watch one at your place, can't we?”
“Yeah,” he says with a weary smile, wrapping an arm around me. “We can see whatever you want too.”
I'm feeling more like myself again by the time we reach the house, sliding out of the car without any lightheadedness or being hit with onset nausea. I follow Parker into the house and he keeps his eyes on me the whole time, not wanting to look away for too long. He puts his food in the fridge and fixes me some tea after helping me settle on the couch with the remote in my hand.
I browse all the movie selections and he sets two mugs on the coffee table. After reading over several premises, I land on a romantic comedy and hit play. Parker tucks an arm around my neck, pressing closer to me and I rest my head on his chest, falling asleep for the first half of the movie.
I wake up to his laughter filling the room and look up into his green eyes, rubbing a hand over his jaw. He pecks at my nose, sliding a hand up my shirt and caresses my stomach.
“Didn't we agree to be naked while we're here?”
I nod into his chest, moving quickly to undo his jeans. “Yes, yes, we did.”
He laughs at my enthusiasm and joins me in getting our clothes off as fast as we can. We start another movie after the first finishes, tangling our limbs together and exchanging not so innocent touches for the next two hours. Parker gets up to cook dinner and we eat at the table before returning to the couch to watch one of his favorite comfort shows. In between episodes, he rummages in the cabinet for some snacks. I've never gotten to pick from so many choices before.
“I think Twizzlers are my new favorite thing to eat.” I shove another long piece of red candy in my mouth, savoring the sweet flavor.
“I think mine will be you,” he says as he crawls down my body, licking at my stirring cock. I choke on my next breath, bucking my hips and seeking out his warmth and he pulls away, giving me a teasing smile before swallowing me all the way down. I hit the back of his throat and he constricts around, sliding his mouth back up before squeezing tightly around me again, his tongue lapping over my sensitive skin.
Writhing and moaning, I dig my nails into the couch and let out an annoyed grunt when he pulls off me. It's quickly replaced with a sound of pleasure when he lifts my hips to bury his tongue in my hole. Slick rushes into his mouth and he sucks it all up like I really am the best thing he's ever eaten. He keeps coming back for more, tasting as much of me as he can reach and I press my ass close to his face, needing more.
He flattens his tongue, darting in and out, while adding a finger alongside it. I thrash on the couch when he adds another while sucking on my outer rim. I come with my skin feeling like it's leaving the rest of me behind, elated and beaming from the inside out.
“So beautiful.” He kisses one of my inner thighs. “And delicious.” His mouth is pressed to the other side and then he works his way to my neck, lightly biting as he keeps my hips raised to shove his cock inside me. One thing us omegas get to enjoy that human men can't is back-to-back multiple orgasms. Our partners often do too in order to accommodate our needs.
Parker keeps up better than I expected him to, mounting me into the couch two more times before we finally fall fast asleep in his bed. Although I can only see it as ours, especially when I wake up in his after ten tomorrows in a row.