4. Sage

Chapter four

Sage

T here’s a hot-as-sin alpha in my bed. A hot, shirtless elf with familiar brown hair, the top now wild and unruly. In all honesty, this god of an alpha looks like he spent an entire night making love and satisfying some lucky omega. The image causes me to grow hard and squirm. It doesn’t help that we are still lying in bed.

His half-hooded eyes and cocky smirk only add to this elf’s sex appeal.

No. Not just any elf.

Xavier. My Xavier.

Only, he isn’t mine. Is he? My inner fox growls his disagreement.

Suddenly, he leans forward, and his thumb is stroking my bottom lip. My eyes widen with shock while, at the same time, arousal leaks from me. What is he doing? Oh gods. I need to pull away or he’s going to scent how turned on I am.

“You’re an omega?”

I jerk back as if slapped. Of course, he thinks I’m an alpha. Gods, what must he think? Guilt swirls through me. Does he blame me for being a figurine for so long? I mean, it wasn’t until last week that the idea popped into my head. It was one of the rare times I found the figurine by itself. Bootsie was curled up by the window, sunbathing. I picked up the figurine and felt its strange warmth. Then it seemed to shimmer, almost as if covered in golden magic. But then I blinked, and it was gone. Then, that story of the elves being shipped off to their mates by Santa surfaced. There were three of us here that night; surely if my suspicions were real, then Xavier was meant for one of my friends.

Embarrassment washes over me, and I’m about to get out bed, when his long, lean fingers circle my wrist. I turn, and he throws his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.

When I relax, he doesn’t let go. Instead, he squeezes me tighter, inhaling my scent. There’s a slight tremble in his embrace. “Thank you for saving me,” he breathes out. His breath caresses my ear, and I have to fight back a moan.

All I can do is nod.

As if reading my mind, he pulls back slightly and tips my chin up with his fingers. “Look at me, Sage.”

My eyes bounce to his. The command in his voice does something strange and tingly to my insides. “Ye—yes?”

“I can already tell you are doubting my words. You saved me, okay? Now, tell me what month it is?”

“May,” I reply. “May 19 th .”

He blows out a deep breath. “Five months. I’ve missed out on five months.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, sweetheart. There’s nothing to apologize for.”

I gasp at the endearment. “No one has ever called me sweetheart before.”

A wide genuine grin breaks out across his face, and I don’t understand it. Is that smile meant for me? Why? He should be mad that I’ve kept him from his fated.

“Why don’t you change into your pajamas,” he says. “It’s late and it looks like you’ve had another long day at work, if I had to guess.”

Heat floods my face, and I sit up. Oh gods. Did he hear all the things I’ve told him while he was a figurine? When I just sit there, frozen in mortification, he scoots out of the bed, walks right up to my dresser and without any hesitation, pulls open the second drawer. The drawer where I keep my nightwear.

Xavier pauses before pulling out the bottoms with the candy canes. “This pair is my favorite.”

“But it’s almost summer,” I squeak out.

A cute blush spreads across his sharp cheekbones. “I know, but they remind me of home.”

Oh.

“And it’s the first thing I ever saw you in.”

Oh. Oh, wow.

He walks back over to my side and hands me the pajama bottoms. Then sits at the edge of the bed. Waiting.

I shuffle off the mattress and rush to my bathroom. Once there, I immediately turn on the facet and splash water in my face. Holy shit. This can’t be happening. Am I dreaming? I had to have knocked my head or fell asleep as soon as I got home from work. All week has been insane. For some reason Corporate thought that a merger would be a good thing right after tax season. And thank fucking goodness we aren’t dealing with hundreds of clients walking through our door every day, but the new computer system has crashed three times.

Okay, yes. This makes total sense. I pat my face dry and change out of my work clothes. I just fell asleep when I got home. When I open that door, Xavier will be a sexy little elf figurine and nothing but plastic.

I open my door and about swallow my tongue when I see him lounged out on my bed. His red and white scarf folded into a neat rectangle on my nightstand. He lifts the sheets as soon as he sees me.

“Oh fuck. I can’t sleep with my best friend’s fated mate.”

Xavier smirks and arches a brow. “So, you’ve decided who I belong with then?”

“What?”

“Well, is it Mark or Jill? Who do you think I should be with, Sage?”

I let out a deep breath, not wanting to picture Xavier with either of them.

“Ah, I see. Looks like you haven’t decided, then.” He chuckles, low and raspy, a sound I’m sure I can get addicted to. “Then why don’t you just come to bed, and we’ll figure everything out in the morning.”

My feet shuffle forward before I realize what’s happening. I freeze again. “I can’t—”

“Yes, yes. You can’t sleep with your best friend’s fated. I heard you. Don’t worry. We will keep things pg. I just want to hold you. That’s it.”

My resolve breaks. I really want someone to hold me.

Crawling into the bed next to him, I stare into his large chocolate eyes and for some strange reason it feels like I know him. He feels safe. It’s more than me spending time with him as a figurine, and more than me reading and rereading the articles of him in that gossip magazine.

It's my fox, urging me forward and insisting we can trust him. I’ve never gone against my fox’s intuition, and I don’t plan on doing it now. I relax in Xavier’s arms again. If I only get one night with him, then I want to pretend he’s mine.