Chapter 13
Lexi
Waking up in Edur's arms is a new kind of bliss that I don't think I've ever experienced before. My whole body tingles where I've been cuddled against his cold skin, but it's a nice reminder that I'm not alone.
I push myself back into him, and he shifts, putting an arm over my waist. His hand brushes against the bare skin of my stomach, but it doesn't do anything to change how comfortable I am.
"Are you not too cold?" he murmurs.
"I'm fine," I promise. "I'm built to deal with the depths of wintery rivers, I can stand to be next to you for a few hours."
"Good, because I intend to share a bed with you a lot." He leans in and kisses the back of my head. "And I was a bit worried about that."
"About what?"
He clears his throat. "About certain acts and how cold I am."
"Oh." I think about what he must mean. "I don't think that will be a big problem. I am built to withstand the cold. And I suppose it's like anything else, we can try it and see how we feel."
"We will." He kisses the top of my head.
I pull away from him, but only so I can turn around and face him. His pale blue eyes glimmer in the slight morning light coming through the curtain, only making them more mesmerising than they already were.
I put a hand to his cheek and smile. "Morning."
"Morning," he responds.
"I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No, I was just about awake. But I thought you were still asleep until just now."
"Oh." I trail a hand over his cheek, admiring the contrast between my green skin and his blue. They complement one another well, making everything feel all the more right.
"How are you feeling?" he asks.
"Good," I respond, stretching out my legs and bumping them against his. "Last night was a lot of fun."
"It was," he agrees.
"And still a relief. I think." It's hard to fully put how I feel into words, but I'm sure I'll find them eventually.
Concern fills his eyes. "You think?"
I chew on my bottom lip and start tracing the patterns on his chest. "Are you sure you're okay that we didn't have sex last night?" I ask the question that's on his mind.
"We did have sex last night," he responds. "I remember it very vividly."
My cheeks heat in response to his words. "I like that. And knowing that you might think about it when you...you know."
He chuckles, the sound vibrating through his chest, and then through me. "I am definitely going to think about it when I do that." He brushes my hair out of my face and looks at me with an adoring expression. "Will you?"
"I don't know," I admit. "I don't touch myself very often, mostly when I'm trying to sleep and can't. But maybe I'll try."
The response I get from him isn't verbal, but it is immediate, and he shifts his hips so he isn't pressing into me. "It's the morning."
"And we're talking about it," I say. "That's bound to get a response."
"It is."
"But, erm, I'm not going to want to do it every day."
"I assumed as much," he responds. "But you do want to do it again at some point?"
"Yes."
"You were very responsive," he murmurs.
"I do like feeling good," I respond. "And it did feel good. I just don't feel the need to, if that makes sense."
He nods. "So long as you're comfortable."
"Very." I rest my head against his chest and let out a satisfied sigh. "I don't want to get up."
"Then you don't have to. When's your first lecture?" he asks.
I prop myself up so I can see his clock and wrinkle my nose. "In a couple of hours."
"You don't have to go," he suggests mischievously.
"I definitely do. I didn't work hard to get into university only to not turn up to lectures. Even for you."
"Fair enough. I have an early lecture too."
"Maybe we should have done this on a night where neither of us had anywhere to be the morning after," I muse.
"Next time." He trails his hand down my arm, the gesture full of affection. "And we should go out for a proper meal. I know we've been trying to recapture our twelve-year-old joy, but it would be nice to take you out properly."
"We could go down into the village," I respond. "I've heard good things about one of the pubs."
"Then we should go there."
"But I do still want to go on fun dates," I say quickly. "Someone in my art history lecture said that they went on a date to the magi-tag place, and it was really fun."
"We never did that when we were twelve."
"All the more reason to try it now," I respond. "We've already done several things we didn't do when we were twelve."
He lets out an amused laugh and picks up my hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing the back of it.
I melt inside. I worried for so long that this was going to be awkward, and that I wouldn't be comfortable in bed with him like this, but that's not the case at all.
Being here is easy. I know we're going to have to keep talking about things to make sure that we don't accidentally lose sight of what we have, but it feels a lot more possible this morning than it did when I came here last night.
I know that's partly because I decided what I was going to do, and taking charge of my emotions, and my body, is a powerful thing.
But it's also because Edur was thoughtful and caring, checking in and not taking anything for granted.
His whole attitude towards all of this has made me feel safer than I ever thought possible, and if that's not a good reason to embrace the mate bond between us, then I don't really know what is.
Unable to put any of what I'm thinking into words, I lean forward and press my lips against his, kissing him deeply and hoping that it conveys everything I'm thinking, and more. Because I want him to know how much his patience and kindness have meant to me, and how open I am to more.