35

M y smart-ass little mate chose to watch Twilight again after I said she could choose anything. I should have known by the ornery twinkle in her eye. It was too similar to the twins' faces, pretty much all the time. I'll have to remember to stay alert if I ever catch the three of them potentially scheming. I have a feeling the three of them could definitely cause me some stress.

We didn't actually watch any of the movie except for when she'd stop talking to me long enough to quote her favorite parts. It was ridiculous, and adorable. The talking was everything, though. She told me about her life growing up with her parents. Regarding her parents, she's decided we're not talking about the poison right now either. I wonder if it has to do with why she's so small. There are small werewolves, but I mean, she's unusually smaller than most. I wonder if the size of her wolf was also impacted.

If we keep tabling all the weird things we learn about her, we're never going to get through it all. But she's been through so much, and I don't want to push her too hard.

She's starting to doze off now, but I can't bring myself to want to take her home.

"Leera, honey, you're falling asleep. Do you want me to take you home?" I ask softly.

"Y-you want me to leave?" she asks with the saddest, sleepiest eyes I've ever seen.

I scoop her body into my arms so fast that I worry she'll have whiplash. "No, baby, that's not it at all. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't be uncomfortable if you woke up here in the morning."

Her head is laying over my heart, and she grips onto my shirt. "Can we have a G-rated sleepover?" she asks in her sweet, sleepy voice, causing a gravelly laugh to escape me.

"Of course we can. Would you like something comfortable to sleep in? Do you want to sleep in a guest room or . . ." I trail off, and she stills.

She slowly lifts her eyes to mine, and while she's still sleepy, there's a bit of fire in her icy eyes. "I'd love to be with you tonight if you think we can stick to a G rating. I'm not ready for . . . mph—" I stop her with my finger on her plush pink lips. I shouldn't have touched her lips. Now I know they really are as soft as they look.

Growling softly, I think I regain my composure before she notices my internal struggle: "I promised you slow, and I meant it. I would like to hold you if you're okay with that."

She gives me a small nod with a soft smile, causing a light blush to bloom all over her face.

"Do you have a spare t-shirt I could wear? Is that okay? Should I just leave all this on?"

"I would love to see you in one of my shirts," I say, trying not to growl this time. Goddess, help me.

Her whole body is flushed with desire now. The sight and scent nearly bring me to my knees in the middle of the hallway, but I force myself to continue. She remains oblivious to my current struggle, just holding onto me with that soft smile on her face.

I carry her upstairs and into my large bedroom. My room is fairly bare. I've never cared to decorate, but she still looks around in awe. I show her the bathroom, closet, and my dresser, giving her access to anything she needs and giving her time to get comfortable.

I sprint back down to the kitchen and splash cold water on my face. It's going to be a LONG night.

After about half an hour, I make my way back to my room and slowly open the door. I find her perfect little body tucked under the blanket, with her head peeking out the top and a sweet smile on her face.

I walk over to the dresser, having already changed and showered in the locker rooms. I start to raise my shirt towards my head when I hear a small, sharp intake of breath.

Smiling to myself and pretending I didn't hear her, I very slowly remove the shirt the rest of the way from my body. Once I've tossed the shirt to the side, I hook my thumbs in my joggers and slowly pull them down my body, leaving only my lounge shorts I had on underneath.

I turn around just as the scent of her desire hits me again, but it's stronger this time, like a truck, and I find her eyes blown a little with lust and realize I'm only going to end up torturing myself.

"Is this okay?" I ask, not wanting to make her uncomfortable at all, even though I can clearly see she's happy with what she sees.

Still just a small nod and an embarrassed smile.

I climb into bed next to her and pull the covers over myself, before turning to her. She's lying somewhere between her side and her back, holding the covers in front of her.

"The princesses in kids movies get a kiss goodnight." I say quietly as I push the hair from her face.

Another nod, and she starts tangling her fingers together.

"Leera, we don't have to; I was just as—" but it's her turn to stop me with her small finger pressed against my lips. The electricity shoots straight to my dick. What was I thinking?

"I want you to kiss me, Roman. I just wanted to remind you that I might be bad at this. I've never done anything before. Please be patient with me."

If my name on her lips wasn't already my undoing, being reminded that I will be her first and only everything nearly causes my eyes to roll to the back of my head.

I slowly reach over, gently pulling her to me. My hand covers nearly the entire left side of her face, and I brush my thumb across her bottom lip.

Her eyes flutter closed as she leans in closer.

I meet her in the middle, softly pressing my lips to hers, and I know in that moment that if something ever happens to Leera, I won't survive it. Losing my mate once was hard enough. Getting her back like this, I just know I won't survive if I lose her.

I pull back, still caressing her soft skin with my fingertips, trying to memorize how she feels.

Her eyes flutter back open, and she just looks at me for a few moments. "Does everyone's first kiss feel like fireworks?" she asks breathlessly.

"No sunshine, that's all you."

She seems to be fighting herself on something. "What if we . . . what if we tried a PG-level kiss?" she asks, blushing furiously.

Rolling my neck to keep myself and my wolf in check, "I'll give you anything you want, Leera. On this, you're the boss."

She lifts herself so she's kind of kneeling beside me; it looks like my little mate wants to take the lead.

She grabs my hands and places them on her hips and asks, "Is this ok?"

I can only nod.

"Can I . . . can I sit in your lap?"

I smile and nod again, gripping her hips and reminding myself not to hold her too roughly.

Then, as if she's trying to kill me, she slowly moves herself to straddle my lap. I have to resort to mentally reciting hockey plays to try and keep a certain part of my body, which is currently only three layers of clothing away from her core, from startling her.

Once she's wiggled around an ungodly amount and made herself comfortable, she slides her hands up my chest. She notices the trail of goosebumps she leaves, she slightly tilts her head and asks, "I give you goosebumps too?"

"You have no idea," I try not to growl, but I fail.

She leans in, and less gently, I press my lips to hers. After a moment, I run the tip of my tongue across the seam of her lips. So incredibly slowly, she opens to me, and I'm unable to capture the growl that escapes me when I finally taste her.

She even tastes like fucking honeysuckle and spun sugar.

I move my tongue slowly against hers, letting her become accustomed to the feeling.

When a low and raspy moan escapes her, it causes her eyes to fly open. I meet hers and let her feel the heat in mine, and she closes them again.

She melts into my touch as my hands match the speed of my tongue as she starts to move her own as well.

Allowing myself a few more minutes of blissful torture, I slowly pull my lips from hers. I lost control of my need for her, though, and I know she can feel that need beneath her.

The haze of lust slowly leaves her eyes, and in an instant, she's blushing harder than ever before.

"How were your first kisses, then?"

"They felt like everything was right in the world. They felt like coming home. They felt like you're going to be trouble." She giggles, but she's not wrong.

I lift her off of my lap, careful to avoid my painfully hard dick. I gently set her back on her side of the bed and pull the blanket back up as I ask, "I'd like to hold you tonight, if that's okay with you."

Blushing so hard, she looks like she has a fever. She curls into my side and lays her head on my chest. I circle my arm around her, and we only manage a couple of sentences of conversation before she's asleep.

I stare down at her in sweet serenity and brush the hair from her face, kissing her forehead.

"I will do anything it takes to bring you happiness for the rest of my existence." I promise her in the dark.

I allow myself to follow her into sleep, and for the first time in hundreds of years, I sleep peacefully.