18. Thoren

Erik and I are laughing when the pain in my chest begins to ease, and we both hear footsteps coming down the back stairs that lead to the kitchen. Erik perks up, his eyes softening as Natalie walks in first. She goes straight to him, sitting in his lap and kissing him sweetly. My heart yearns to do the same.

And then my mate walks in, her eyes showing just how unsure she is of this revealing moment. Natalie has tied up her hair in braids that wrap around her head like a crown. It shows off her neck and all the pretty little marks I left on it last night. The dress she is wearing cinches tightly around her waist, accentuating her hips and breasts — some of my favorite parts about her.

When she sees me, she smiles. Her eyes light up, and she does a little spin, causing the skirt of the dress to flare out as she does. She finishes in a pose that has Natalie and Erik laughing. But I am stoic. I am taken aback by just how stunning my mate is. She makes the sun look dull in comparison. I am kicking myself for not asking Aggie to make her dresses like this.

“My mate,” I breathe, standing and walking over to her. Erik and Natalie be damned, I pull her in for a kiss, dipping her low as I seize her mouth with mine. She lets out a surprised yelp and then kisses me back, running her slender fingers through my unruly hair. “You are stunning.”

“Thank you,” she says, clearing her throat and fixing her dress as I break the kiss and step away, giving her some room to breathe. “It’s all Natalie and her magic,” she jokes.

“I used no magic,” Nat says from where she sits atop Erik’s lap. “That’s all you, Kaia.”

As if she couldn’t be more embarrassed standing in front of all of us, her stomach chooses that moment to growl… loudly. She wraps her arms around herself, cheeks and neck turning pink, before trying to laugh it off. “Someone said something about breakfast?”

I pour Kaia a cup of coffee, adding some milk and sugar to make it more palatable for her, and then she and Nat get to work. I try to butt in multiple times and am promptly shooed away. I grumble and sit back down at the table. Not letting Erik cook, I totally understand. But me? I’m fantastic in the kitchen, and they’re missing out.

“You know, he made some fantastic stew,” my mate says to Natalie. “I had it the first night, when he found me. Might be the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”

“Until you’ve had Nat’s pumpkin muffins,” Erik chimes in.

“I’ve made you other things besides stew,” I say, feeling the need to defend my cooking skills. I used to cook for my siblings all the time, most of the legwork falling on the eldest when there are so many children. Erik always likes to joke that it’s what made me so grumpy, having to take on the brunt of the household work so that our mother and father could both earn a wage. When you have so many children to take care of, you practically need a fortune.

“True.” Kaia shrugs as she swipes her finger through the empty bowl that held the batter. As she licks it off, I audibly groan. She can’t do this kind of stuff around me, not when she looks like that. Not when the bond is urging me to take her back to bed until she’s round with my child. “Down, boy,” she whispers as she closes the distance between us, patting me on the bicep and leaning forward to kiss me gently on the lips.

When the muffins and the rest of breakfast is done, we sit down and fall into comfortable conversation as we eat. My brother and his mate ask Kaia endless questions about her world and what it was like. They ask her about falling into our world and how she’s liked it since being here.

I’m surprised how Kaia talks about this place with love and excitement in her eyes. She tells them about Aggie and how she made her clothes and washed and bandaged her feet. Erik asks her about our sister Selah, and how she took it when she got to see her vision come to life in front of her. Everyone knows that Selah has been able to see things since she was a kid, but this one was so far-fetched that we didn’t think we’d ever see the day it happened.

“How have you found it?” Erik asks her. “Living with this grump of a gargoyle?”

Kaia laughs and looks at me briefly before answering. “He is a bit of a grump, isn’t he?” she asks, causing Nat and Erik to giggle along with her. My mood begins to sour, realizing I probably haven’t treated her as nicely as I could have the past week or so, but she quickly puts my worries at ease. “He’s come around,” she continues. “I’ve actually seen him laugh a few times.”

Kaia reaches over and grabs my hand, squeezing it in an act that feels incredibly intimate and important. Especially in front of my brother and his mate. To have her show affection — to initiate the affection — feels incredible. If we were alone, I would bend her over the table and show her just how happy she has made me.

“He’s not grumpy,” Nat says, shoving Erik playfully. “He’s just focused.”

“Have you seen the beautiful works of art he creates in his forge?” Kaia asks, her eyes lighting up as she continues to talk about the things she discovered I made. Erik looks at me out of the corner of his eye, but I ignore him. I know he wants me to tell her about the ring, about her ring, but it’s not the time yet.

“Much of the ironwork in this place was done by him,” Nat tells her.

“He makes the most beautiful daggers with intricate designs.”

“Yes, and she almost hurt herself playing around with one,” I add, winking in her direction.

“That was a blunder on my part.” She laughs, still holding tightly on to my hand as she looks over at me. The happiness there takes my breath away. My mate is too beautiful for words. And when she looks at me like this, I can’t help but think she is coming around to the idea of staying. She could be happy here. I would do anything to make her happy here. “I was holding it, and I just thought I could totally flip this around and catch it.”

“She could not,” I finish for her. “But it was cute to see the determination in her eyes.”

And after we’ve finished breakfast, they see us off. Nat hugs Kaia, whispering something to her as Erik does the same to me. He tells me I shouldn’t wait, that I should just tell her. It’s obvious that they are playing matchmaker, and any other time, I might resent them meddling in my life. But this time, when Erik tells me to just be honest with her, to ask her to stay and see what she says, I take his advice.

Because a mate comes around once in your life, and this is my one shot at happiness. So why shouldn’t I be honest with her? Why shouldn’t I tell her how badly I want her to stay with me, to be with me forever? I won’t pressure her to stay. If she really wants to try to go back to her world, I will help her with that. And I will respect her decision. But I can’t let her go without telling her how I feel.

“So, where to first?” she asks, looking up at me with warm, umber-colored eyes.

“I would like to show you around some today,” I tell her. “Natalie and Erik have lived here for many decades, and I’ve come to like this place. It’s bigger and louder than my little village, but there’s a lot to do and see.”

“I’m down for anything as long as I don’t have to get back on the horse just yet.” She rubs her ass through the dress. “Pretty sure that saddle wore me down to the bone. Do I even have an ass anymore?”

I chuckle and wrap an arm around her waist, tugging her flush against me. My cock is hard and straining against the tight fabric of my pants. If it weren’t for the jacket I’m wearing, everyone would see just how much I want my mate.

“Oh, you have an ass, Goldilocks.” I grab a handful. “And it’s tempting me even through all this fabric you’ve covered it up with.” Kissing her temple, I step away and grab her hand, holding it tightly in mine. “Don’t worry, mate. We’re walking today. First stop, the downtown shops. I want you to see all the beautiful things this world has to offer.”

She looks genuinely excited for the first time since she arrived. The anxieties that have been weighing heavy on her shoulders seem to have lightened. Her eyes are wide, taking everything in as we walk down the street, away from my brother’s inn. The smile on her lush lips is blinding. My love, my mate. Maybe she just needs to hear I want her after all. Maybe she will love this place enough to choose me.