9. Wink

9

Wink

I t seemed so strange to be sitting on a stool in Derek’s kitchen in the light of day, mug of coffee in hand (so much better than cocoa). I’d been “living” here, for lack of a better word, for over a month, and this was the first time I’d been able to do this. As foreign as it was, it felt so right. This was where I belonged, at Derek’s side.

And I was wearing his clothes too, which I loved. He’d insisted, saying I couldn’t very well walk around town in my elf costume outside the month of December. I’d explained it wasn’t a “costume” but my everyday clothes, but he’d said, “You know what I mean.” And I supposed I did. Which was why I was currently wearing a pair of red-plaid pajama pants and a white t-shirt. I was a couple inches taller than he was, so I would have to make a trip into town to do some shopping soon, though I wasn’t a fan of spending Derek’s money.

What I needed was a job …

Chewy hopped up on the counter and headbutted me, begging for attention. He seemed to prefer me in my human shape. “Me too, buddy,” I muttered to him, scratching behind his ears.

Derek was currently on the phone with his parents, walking back and forth around the house, offering me snippets of conversation as he passed by. “What else can you tell me about my birth parents? What about… their health records?” He met my eyes and shrugged, pulling a face. There was no easy way to ask if they’d secretly turned into animals. He paused in his stride. “No, Mom, I’m not dying. I promise. Just curious, that’s all. It's the kind of information I should know before having kids.” He sighed again, shaking his head. “No, Mom, I’m still not pregnant.”

He stopped at my side and leaned in to drop a quiet too-brief kiss on my lips, and I heard his mom through the phone, “Where are all these questions coming from? Would you tell me if something was wrong?”

“Yes, of course I would tell you.” He continued his pacing, his touch lingering on me as long as he could before he moved down the hall toward the back of the house.

He’d been doing that ever since we’d had our discussion this morning. Little kisses, innocent touches. I thought I’d have to explain about what being mates meant, but in this case, his shifter instinct seemed to be serving him well. He’d simply said, “I know,” and then leaned in and kissed me like it was the most natural thing in the world. That was all we’d done so far, kiss a few times, and I was hoping I would have the chance to woo him a little before we took things further.

He’d been taking everything well, in fact—elves and shifters and magic—and I found myself holding my breath, waiting for him to freak the hell out. It couldn’t be this easy. I hated that I’d wasted so much time as an ornament, when I could’ve just revealed myself to him on Christmas. If only I’d known …

Derek came back into the kitchen, sighing as he set his phone down on the counter. “Well, that was a waste of time. They weren’t given any information at all, not even my birth parents’ names or the reason I was put up for adoption. She said she would reach out to the adoption agency to see if they have anything, but I doubt we’ll get any answers.”

Then Derek saw the look on my face, and he rushed to my side. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He slid in front of me, notching himself between my knees like we’d been together for years, not mere hours.

It felt natural to set my hands on his hips, drawing him closer and breathing him in, all cinnamon and honey. “It’s nothing… just wishing I’d accidentally fallen asleep in your bed sooner.”

His lips tipped up into a sexy smirk. “While I won’t argue about having you in my bed, I think our timeline was exactly right.”

I pulled back to look at him, to see if he was pulling my leg, and he laughed. “No, seriously. If I’d seen you that first night, I would’ve lost my shit. But you snuck your way into my dreams, night after night, until I’d already convinced myself that you were real. It was perfect timing.”

As if to punctuate his point, he leaned in and kissed me, slow and with more heat than the small pecks we’d shared up till now. He placed his hands flat on my thighs, sliding them up, his thumbs teasing at the crease of my crotch as they moved north, and my body reacted instantly. “So… tell me more about the whole mates thing,” he said, nipping at my bottom lip.

I closed my eyes and breathed deep, heat flaring in my core. “I’ve already told you everything.”

“Mm,” he murmured with a throaty hum, before he walked his fingers up my chest. “So, fate has selected you for me, and me for you, because we are exactly what each other needs. Is that right? ”

I gulped, my throat tight and my pants even tighter. It was a good thing the flannel material was fairly loose, or else I would’ve had a serious problem. “Uh, yeah, that’s the gist of it.”

“You know, I feel like I should be mad that I don’t get a choice in the matter, but… I’m not.” His fingers had reached the collar of my shirt and were dancing up my bare throat, setting my skin on fire, to thread into my hair.

“No?” I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done if he’d rejected me, but the mere thought had my hands tightening on his hips in panic, dragging him as close as I could get. Our bodies were flush, and I could feel how hard he was, our erections building friction as he ground against me.

“No, I think the only thing I might be upset about now is if we don’t christen this relationship ASAP, with… what was it again?”

“Marking?” I asked.

“Mm, yes, that was it.” He moved his mouth to my throat so he could drag his teeth across the sensitive skin, raising goosebumps as I tipped my head back, my breathing ragged.

All I could smell was the musky aroma of his slick, overwhelming arousal making my head spin as all blood rushed to my cock. Was he feeling as out of control as I was?

So it nearly killed me that I had to put the brakes on.

I dredged up every ounce of self-control I had to slide my hands to his shoulders and move him away from me, both of us gasping. “Then I really hope you can forgive me for saying… we have to wait.”

He blinked a few times, his pupils blown wide. “W-What? But you just said we were made for each other. Why the hell would we wait?”

Sliding off the stool, I moved to the other side of the kitchen island to put some space between us. “I haven’t told you about my job history. ”

Derek quirked a brow, confused. “Why would that matter? This isn’t a job interview.”

I pressed my hands flat against the counter, bracing myself to lay out some hard truths. “I’ve worked at the reindeer stable, as apprentice to the carpenter, the candy shop, bakery, present-wrapping station, the toy workshop… and every time, I’ve failed.”

“I’m still not following,” he said, trying to move around the counter to reach for me, but I moved too, mirroring his steps.

I sighed, feeling more vulnerable than I ever had, including when I got fired from the North Pole, but I owed it to my mate to get through this. He needed to know everything about me, even the bad parts. “Derek, I don’t have the best track record at… anything, really. I say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, and I’ve been given more second chances than I can count. I wasn’t just sent here to decorate your sad little tree—I was banished .”

Derek shook his head slowly. “I don’t understand. Do you think you won’t be happy with me?”

My shoulders sagged, and tears pricked behind my eyes. “No, sweetheart, more like I’ll fail at making you happy. Mating is forever, there’s no going back, and I would never forgive myself for tying you to me, dragging you down like some kind of anchor.”

“Hey!” he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t I get a say in this? I’d like to think I know what I want.”

“Except you literally just said you didn’t have a choice in the matter,” I said, repeating his words back to him.

“But that’s… not what I meant,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”

“It’s not an argument, but no,” I said matter-of-factly .

He wrapped his arms around his waist, his eyes getting watery. “So, what… that’s it? You’re just going to give up on us, all because of some hypothetical what-if?”

I reared back. “Of course not! I just think we should wait a little while, get to know each other, let our relationship progress naturally. And then if you decide you still want me—”

“And you still want me,” he interjected, trying to make a point. But of course I would still want him, that wasn’t going to change. I’d been watching him for over a month and was already halfway in love, but he wasn’t ready to hear that.

“Right. So, I’m proposing we… date.” I pulled a face at the word that seemed so small to encompass such a huge concept as mates. “How long do humans usually date before they decide to spend forever together?”

He snorted, smirking. “Well, my parents were together for less than a year before they tied the knot.”

I blushed, wondering if he’d intentionally brought up knots . My dick throbbed just thinking about it. “That doesn’t seem like the norm,” I said, clearing my throat.

He shrugged. “What can I say? When you know, you know.”

“Okay, fair enough. Shall we say… nine months then?” I asked.

Derek pursed those kissable lips of his and held his hand out across the counter to me. “It’s a deal.” When I went to shake his hand, though, he held tight. “We’d better kiss on it. Shaking hands is for humans, not fated mates.” He kept hold of my hand as if he thought I might make a break for it, then he used that connection to keep me tethered in place while he came around the island to stand at my side. “You know, a lot of things can happen in nine months,” he said, heavy with insinuation .

“You’re very right,” I said, my voice getting husky. I could see him now, round with my child, and I reached out to set my free hand on his stomach. Although who knew the gestation of a raccoon-elf hybrid.

I leaned down and kissed him, sealing the deal. He opened his mouth to grant me access, and I swept my tongue through, massaging his. The temperature quickly ramped straight back up to where it had been just minutes ago.

Groaning into my mouth, he mumbled against my lips, “I propose that our first date… be in the bedroom.”

I was already nodding when he tangled his fingers in my borrowed t-shirt and began dragging me toward his room. “Yeah, it’s a date.”