Chapter 64
“Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Rose's POV
As the days progressed, things seemed to get better between us.
It was like coming back home to an old friend, catching up and trying to pick up where you left off.
It was fluid and natural to fall into an easy camaraderie.
Aiden had even shown me pictures of our mating ceremony.
Every day, he told me small stories about our relationship.
Sometimes, Aiden laid with me in our bed before I fell asleep.
But he always left me at some point. He never stayed the night. I wished he would though.
I’d kissed him full on the lips when he’d taken my phone, found the file, and played my birthday gift for me. Aiden couldn’t help grinning down at me, telling me the first time I’d gotten the gift, it had been a kiss on the cheek.
“But, at the time, it was the best kiss of my entire life,” Aiden promised. “It was the first time you kissed me out of the blue like that. Until then, I’d always been the one initiating our kisses.”
I stood on my tiptoes again to give him another kiss.
I'd then asked him for another gift, my ring.
He'd slid it onto my finger a few hours later, explaining that when I'd had my seizure, the nurse had removed all of my jewelry.
I looked at the ring in admiration. It really was beautiful.
For that, I'd given him a kiss on the cheek.
“When are you going to start sleeping in your own bed again?” I asked off-handedly.
Aiden had picked me up after classes and we were eating cheeseburgers at the diner.
Aiden jumped slightly at the question. He hadn’t expected me to ask that.
“Do you want me to?”
I blushed, and Aiden smiled fondly.
“I don’t think I’m ready for…you know…” I waved my hands around me helplessly.
“Sex?” Aiden supplied and chuckled when my cheeks turned even redder. “Out of all the things that changed the most about you, Rose, it was that you definitely stopped being shy about your sexual needs.”
Warmth exploded in the pit of my stomach and my pulse quickened.
Could I do it? I was now almost four months pregnant with ugly red stretch marks across my stomach.
My clothes were becoming a little snug. I could no longer button my skinny jeans and my boobs were another story entirely, constantly sore and swollen.
I freaked out when I noticed my areolas becoming bigger and a few shades darker.
A quick google search and call to the doctor confirmed it was normal.
Even I hated my body right now. What would Aiden think?
Aiden who’d dated perfectly skinny Lexia who looked like a size zero.
“Maybe we could…after?” I asked with a squeak, referring to them having sex.
“After?” Aiden queried.
“After the baby’s born?” I supplied a little uncertainly.
I noticed Aiden was silent as he finished off his cheeseburger, pulling his milkshake towards him.
“Can I ask why you have such a specific timeline?” he finally asked.
I looked away. How was I supposed to tell him it was because I felt embarrassed about my growing body? It wasn’t the same body he’d first fallen in love with. I’d always been self-conscious about my curves, but now with a baby on the way, I felt even more unappealing.
Aiden looked at me with a deep gaze and then his hands reached for mine across the table, and lacing his fingers with my own, he gently pushed me to look at him.
“I know you well enough to deduce what is bothering you,” he said softly.
“I hope you know that watching your body change as my pup grows inside of you is a huge turn on for me,” Aiden spoke gently.
“Nothing is more beautiful.” He gave my fingers a squeeze with his own before leaning back in the seat across from me.
I let my eyes meet his steadily, completely sure about one thing.
“I’d like for you to come back and sleep in your own bed.” I spoke confidently.
Aiden smiled. “Gladly.”
We made our way home after lunch and Aiden left to go for patrols.
True to his word, he arrived in our bed late into the night and I woke up to him pulling me against his bare chest, hands going protectively over my stomach, breath tickling my temple, before he fell asleep.
It felt so right. Like I was always supposed to lay next to him and I molded myself against him.
It was the first night in a long time I wasn’t plagued by headaches or disorienting dreams that disturbed my sleep.
Rose's POV
“I’ll be back soon, Princess,” Aiden promised.
He stood in the foyer with a set of luggage in tow. It was the end of February and there was a regional alpha conference. It was going to be Dylan’s first time attending and Aiden wanted to show him the ropes.
“Four days is a long time,” I pouted.
For the past week I’d enjoyed falling asleep next to Aiden and teasing him about sleeping with socks.
He’d kissed me a few times but respected my wishes regarding not being ready to go further.
However, the more time we spent in that bed together, the moreI was starting to regret my silly request. We’d had sex before.
I really should just go for it. Because Aiden had unlocked something deep inside of me that made me crave him.
I wanted him…in every way a mate wants and needs a mate.
“Mom can come stay with you,” Aiden offered.
I shook my head. “I think I’m going to go stay with Dad while you’re gone.”
Aiden lifted a hand to cup my cheek and place a chaste kiss on my forehead before turning to leave.
I grabbed his arm, pulling him into me and before Aiden could blink,I’d kissed him, nipping at his lips, guiding him to deepen it.
When he did, I let my body press into his, allowing my tongue to dance around his.
Aiden pulled away, letting his forehead rest against my as he tried to regulate his breathing.
“I wish I could take you with me,” Aiden spoke, his voice full of need.
“But Dr. Danvers wants you to stay here. He doesn’t want to risk it because of the seizure you had that caused your memory loss.
Anything could trigger another one.” Aiden closed his eyes.
“I agree with him, but damn, it’s going to be hard being away from you. ”
I kissed him a second time and hugged him tightly. Aiden brought his arms around me and I wished we could stay like this forever.
I felt Aiden’s absence like one felt the absence of one's vital limb: like a right arm or one’s thumb that had been severed.
The days were long and desolate, and the nights were no better.
I found that I couldn’t sleep at all when I was in my own room at my father’s home.
Odd how the bed I remembered sleeping in no longer held any comfort for me.
So the next day, I found myself back in my own home, clutching Aiden’s pillow to me, wishing he’d come back already.
It was when he was gone that I realized all the small things he did for me like make me coffee, make sure there was a glass of water by my bedside table in case I got thirsty at night.
Aiden even made sure I had a full tank of gas in my car.
I missed the way he’d hold me close as we watched a movie and ate dinner together.
I missed his smile, I missed his kisses, I missed his eyes that were the color of clear blue sky when he was happy and dark blue when he was upset. I realized that I missed my mate.
Rose's POV
I enjoyed the sounds of the rippling water as the bubbles floated around me in the tub.
Had it only been three days of Aiden gone?
it felt like more. I sunk lower into the tub, moaning in bliss.
It felt so good to relax like this. My knotted muscles came undone, and I couldn’t help moaning Aiden’s name, aching for him to be here.
To run his hands across my body. My hand tentatively flitted over my breasts.
I moaned his name again, on a deeper tone than before.
Suddenly, the bathroom door opened with a loud creak. I smelled Aiden's scent before I saw him. I flailed about in the water in shock before sinking lower into the tub, hoping the bubbles would hide my body.
“Let me in.” His voice was gruff,pleading as he eyed me in the tub while standing in the doorframe.
“What are you doing back early? When did you even get back?” I asked, horrified that he’d been on the other side, listening to me moan his name.
But when I didn't tell him to leave,he determinedly strode over towards the tub.
“A little while ago. I left the final day in Dylan’s hands.” He gave me a wink and smile as he rolled up the sleeves of his crisp white dress shirt. “I missed you too much.”
He swiftly knelt down next to the tub, his hands tentatively dipping under the water to reverently trail the outline of my stomach with his fingertips. When I didn't stop him, he allowed his hand to splay across the swell of my baby bump.
“How’s the baby doing?” Aiden asked,eyes on my belly immersed underwater.
“Fine.” My voice was a tad high-pitched as I tried sinking into the tub some more, thankful the bubbles hid most of my swollen body.
Aiden's fingers lovingly stroked my stomach under the water.
He looked at me with a gleam in his eye.
"You pregnant with my child and moaning my name is the hottest thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing."
He chuckled when I blushed tomato red. Then his hand devilishly began moving down south to explore a part of my body he probably knew better than I even did.
I squeaked when his hand trailed seductively down my abdomen to rest over my womanhood.
"Let me do this," he pleaded.
“Let you wha-what?” I managed to stutter out.
My breath caught when his hand wedged itself between my thighs.
Aiden looked at me. “I heard you moaning my name. I can smell your arousal despite the water. Let me do this for you.” His finger entered my folds, circling my clit.