Chapter Sixteen
Noble
“Good morning or afternoon,” Oren whispered in my ear. I let out a moan of satisfaction. I felt settled. My wolf was content. Happy. Peaceful.
I turned, still in the cage of his arms, and kissed his lips. Who gave a care about morning breath when in the arms of their fated mate? Not me.
He pulled me flush with his body. Even after a full night of lovemaking, he was hard and so was I.
I couldn’t get enough of him.
“Good morning,” I said, dipping my head to kiss his neck.
“Hmm, that feels incredible. But my wolf is demanding I feed you. Food first, other needs after that.”
I realized how damned hungry I really was. “Demanding, huh?” I chuckled. “Can we shower first?”
We showered together. I still avoided looking in the mirror, but my scars faded from the center of my attention.
Being with Oren, even for so little time, was healing me.
Last night, he’d kissed every wound. Didn’t avoid them or ignore their presence.
Kissed. Each. One. Told me how beautiful and sexy I was.
Made me look into his eyes while he spilled into me and we orgasmed at the same time.
He was tearing apart all my walls, and it terrified me. And I leaned into it at the same time.
Letting go felt like freedom.
“Penny for your thoughts,” he said, wrapping me up in a warm towel. He had a warmer, and it was such a small detail, but it made me fall a little deeper for him.
“It’s nothing.”
He kissed my forehead and then the side of my face. That side of my face. “Liar.”
“It’s cheesy.”
“Hmm…” He moved his mouth to my neck. “I love cheesy. It’s okay to be sappy with your mate.” He brushed his lips over my mark, the one he gave me, and my body responded.
“I’m in love with you, and being with you makes me feel free.” Oren sucked in a breath, and we stared at each other for a moment. A moment more. Too many. “It’s okay if you…”
“Don’t you dare. I am in love with you too, omega. Completely. Totally. And I’m glad you can be free with me.”
My ex-partner would’ve called me silly or worse for expressing my emotions like that. He said I told him I loved him too much. I thought now that I told him so much because I was trying to drill it into myself. Prove it somehow.
There was nothing to prove with Oren. It could’ve been biology. Fated mates. Our bond making me see things differently.
No. I knew better. Oren was easy to love and he made me feel easy to love.
I leaned forward and kissed his mark. He hissed and grabbed my hips. “Eating food. Then other hungers. Come on. My wolf is acting like a brat.”
“I am starving.”
We put on some shorts—I borrowed some from him—and made our way to the kitchen. He taught me how to use his coffee machine. Slow. Patient. Smiling.
He was like that song. Easy. But every morning. Not just Sundays.
My alpha was a lot of things but…he was not a chef. He burned the toast. The eggs were scrambled to their second death. I leaned against the counter as he cursed and fussed over everything. I tried to step in and help several times, but he said he wanted to cook for me.
Sweetest man ever.
“I really need to learn how to do this better. I haven’t invited anyone over in a long time.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m not picky.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Good thing. If we put enough jam on this toast, it might cover up the burnt.”
We ate breakfast together and, in the end, it didn’t matter that things weren’t cooked to perfection. I was here, with my mate, and the birds chirped outside. The sunlight hit Oren’s brown hair in just a way to make it look golden.
Life was good.
For the first time in a long time.
“Spend the day with me?” Oren asked, putting the dishes in the dishwasher. He insisted on me not helping.
“I have to sleep at some point but, yeah, as much time as I can spare.”
He wrapped me up in his arms. We held each other for a long time. “I want all your time, omega. I know that’s selfish, but I can’t help myself.”
“I want that too, Oren. A part of me thinks this is crazy. We barely know each other.”
Pulling back, he smiled at me. The butterflies in my stomach never stopped fluttering. “We’re going to fix this, one day at a time.”
“That sounds great.”
Our embrace turned heated, and I reached between us to stroke his cock. “Naughty omega. I’m trying to be romantic, but you’re so needy.”
“Can’t have a needy omega, can you?”
“No. We absolutely can’t have that.”