Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Nolen
With the others dropped off near the portal, I hurried back to the car, running through the forest as fast as I could.
I needed to return to my mate. Derek. He was so beautiful.
His blonde hair was a perfect match to his brown eyes.
Eyes that held so much grief and sorrow.
I could feel his emotions now that we’d met.
I could feel how much he was hurting, how broken he was.
I wanted to mend all of his broken pieces together, one by one.
I wanted to lick his scars, even if they were invisible. I wanted to make him smile.
I hoped Nix and Juno would tell the rulers about Derek being my mate, because there was no way I was wasting time calling them now.
They would be busy tending to Remi, so I was excused for not calling them myself.
Mint had messaged me as we drove towards the forest where the portal was located, but I hadn’t checked it yet.
I knew he was likely apologizing for leaving me alone at the restaurant, even if he didn’t have to apologize for something like that.
I would’ve done the same thing. Leaving Derek was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do, but one look at Juno and his unconscious mate was enough to snap me out of it.
Derek and I would be fine with waiting for a few hours, but Remi wouldn’t.
I broke the speed limit as I drove back to Derek, not caring one bit that I was breaking the rules.
My magic was working on concealing me as much as possible, and since there weren’t many cars now that it was night time, I was able to make an hour’s drive, into a forty minute one instead.
I parked and ran back to Derek’s room, knocking three times so he’d know it was me.
A girl answered the door, confusing me for a second.
Had I picked the wrong room? She smiled brightly, then stepped aside to let me in, not even saying a word.
I could see it was the correct room now that she’d stepped to the side, but who was she?
And what was she doing in Derek’s room? I stepped inside, not able to stall for even a second longer.
Derek sat on the floor; a few open books littered the ground in front of him and I knew then that they were studying together.
I was frowning before I could help it. I wanted alone time with my mate, but it seemed I wasn’t getting it.
Derek’s brown eyes met mine and I saw the hurt in his expression. Did he think I was mad at him? I was mad at the strange girl who was taking away my precious time with him. I could never be mad at my mate. Never.
I sat down next to him on the floor, instantly noticing how big I was compared to him.
I was on the bulky side, and he was thin and lean.
I pictured how easily he could sit on my lap, and then reached out and placed him on said lap.
He gave a yelp in surprise, but instantly settled when I placed my arms protectively around him.
“So… This is your boyfriend?” the girl asked, her eyes filled with humor as she eyed Derek.
“Um,” Derek began, sounding unsure.
I knew from talking to Juno that people here weren’t used to mates, so I answered instead. “Yes.”
“I’m happy to meet you. My name is Amber. Derek and I are working on an assignment for our computer science class.”
“Nice to meet you,” I replied, stroking Derek’s arms with my fingers. “I’m Nolen.”
Amber sat down and rearranged the books. “We can do this another day, if you want? I can tell you’ll likely be too distracted to continue tonight.” Her tone was teasing, and I found that I liked her. My mate deserved good friends.
“Would that be okay?” Derek asked, his voice strained.
I placed my hands under his shirt instead, hoping that would help calm him.
He made a strangled sound as soon as my fingers made contact with his belly.
I let my fingers trail the top of his pants, caressing him without going further under his clothes, even if I really wanted to.
That would wait until Amber had left though.
“Yep!” she replied, standing back up and collecting her books. “I’ll text you tomorrow and we can plan our next study session.”
Derek nodded. “Thank you.”
She waved him off. “If I had a boyfriend that hot, I wouldn’t waste time on studying either. But we still need to, so I’m only giving you today.”
Why was she referring to me as hot? Could she feel my temperature from over there? Was I getting sick? Gods, I hoped not!
She closed the door behind her, leaving me alone with my mate. “I’m so glad I finally found you,” I whispered into his ear, nuzzling his neck.
He made the cutest sound, a mix between a whimper and a swallow. “You, um,” he began, sounding nervous. “You said I was your mate.”
“You are,” I replied, kissing his cheek. Damn, he smelled wonderful. I let my nose trail down his neck next, letting his scent fill me.
“What does that mean?”
Oh, right. My exploration would have to wait; my poor mate knew nothing about this stuff. “You and I are fated to be together. That is what it means. Where I’m from, we have mates. Like you have boyfriends here. Only we never part.”
After Juno found Remi, we’d all started researching how people did matings here and it sounded awful to me. People could cheat and hurt their partners, finding others more interesting and leaving them broken hearted. I was glad I never had to deal with that. And neither did Derek.
It was weird having this conversation when I couldn’t see his face, so I lifted him and turned him around on my lap.
His face was beet red and he was biting his bottom lip.
I placed my thumb to his lip, trying to pry his teeth off it.
“Please don’t bruise your lip, darling. I like your pretty lips intact. ”
He sucked in a breath, staring with wide eyes at my lips.
I licked my top lip, loving how his breath stuttered again.
I leaned in, unable to stop myself from claiming his lips, and then my slate rang, mid almost kiss, alerting me the rulers needed my attention.
I sighed, leaning back from Derek’s tempting lips. Our first kiss would have to wait.
“Sorry, darling. My rulers are calling so it must be important.”
Trise’s face projected from my slate, causing Derek to fall off my lap in fright. “Nolen! Do not kiss your mate!”
I grabbed Derek before he hurt himself on the floor, and gave all the rulers an incredulous look. “Why am I not allowed to kiss my mate?”
No one could keep mates apart, and from their joy earlier, it couldn’t be because they were against our mates coming from another world. Could it?
Derek began to shake next to me and I felt his fear. Our short kiss had been enough to affect him.
Trise continued, not realizing Derek was shaking in my arms. “Remi fainted when Juno kissed him. You need to come home with your mate before you kiss and mate. We fear he’ll faint, too.”