14. Drew

Ihad experienced heats before. I was twenty-six. I’d had over a dozen already in my lifetime. But this one seemed to hit me harder than any of my previous ones. Was that because I’d been claimed? I had no way of knowing, but what I did know was that Sebastian had been amazing.

I wasn’t talking about the sex. Although that had been mind-blowing as well. But what I meant was he had been so very incredible with me. He’d taken care of me for five long days and had only left my side long enough to run to the bathroom.

Five days was another new thing for me. I didn’t know if that was going to be the new normal or if my heats would go back to three days, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it now except wait for another year and see what it was like.

I woke up for good a day and a half after my heat ended, completely famished with a dry throat. Sebastian, being the amazing man that he was, served me breakfast in the bathtub. Yes, he had a bath ready for me, and whatever he’d put in it made me feel amazing and rejuvenated. While I soaked in the steaming water, I did my best to not snarf down the food he’d provided. It was so good though. Every breakfast food you could imagine was on my plate and then some. Sebastian added a medium-sized steak as well as bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, and a large bowl of fruit chunks. I ate it all and drank the juice and coffee as well. It was going to take some time to get used to having a magical warlock as a mate. He could just make things happen with just a thought.

Sebastian, once more showing me how amazing he was, used magic and set up a little table and chair for himself, and he joined me for breakfast. While he had a smaller meal, he carried on a conversation with me, answering any questions I had about the past several days.

“Maybe I should go on suppressors now?” I suggested.

“If that’s what you wish. I do not have any issues with helping you through a heat cycle every year though.”

I moved the bite of sausage around the plate a little before finally stabbing it. I didn’t bring it to my mouth just yet though. “Yes, but what if I’m pregnant?”

Sebastian looked up at me with a smile on his face. “Yes, what if? We had discussed children, I thought? You wanted them, as did I. Why would that be an issue? Do you not wish for more right away?”

I would absolutely love to have several children right away, but even I knew that most likely wasn’t going to be possible.

“Well, if I were to go into heat again, and say we have a one-year-old.” I looked at Sebastian, hoping he would understand what I was getting at. He remained silent, staring at me with a grin on his face. “How will we take care of the baby?” I blurted out.

Sebastian chuckled. “Well, are you saying you don’t intend to have sex if we have a baby? How will we get more?”

I narrowed my eyes at Sebastian when I realized he was messing with me. In response, I threw a piece of fruit at him, which only caused him to laugh.

“I’m being serious here. It’s not like I would be able to take care of the baby while having another heat cycle.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Nor would I. But I have cousins and uncles here on this very mountain who would most certainly help in that situation, just as I would them if that need ever arose. Don’t worry about things so far in the future. You have to also remember that my fathers would absolutely jump at the chance to get their hands on a grandchild or two. Or three or four.” Sebastian chuckled again. “They’ve been waiting for a long time for one of us to find our fated mate or one.”

“They would come all this way? Just to watch our kid?” I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with that. They would know we were…yeah, that was a bit uncomfortable.

Sebastian shook his head, and in a blink, the table and chair he’d been at were gone, and he moved to kneel beside me in the tub. “Cutie, you have to realize that they have been mated for a very long time—almost two centuries. They’ve had children themselves. They know all about heat cycles and what happens during them. There is nothing to be shy or embarrassed about when it comes to heat cycles and how babies come about.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. I knew he was right, and I was being silly. “This is still new. I’m sorry.”

Sebastian reached for my face, and when he gently cupped my cheek, I melted a little. He was so sweet and gentle with me and had been since the very beginning. How had I gotten so lucky? I actually knew the answer to that. I had been paired with Sebastian because I needed someone just like him, and he needed someone to look after and care for. “Don’t be. You will understand more once you meet them. For now though, please just take my word for it.”

I nodded because what else could I do? Sebastian grinned at me again and then pointed to the tray that was spanning across the bathtub. “You didn’t eat your mangoes,” he said. I looked up at him and wrinkled my nose.

“I don’t actually like them all that much.”

Sebastian looked at me with a serious look on his face for a moment before he started laughing. After a few moments, he stopped and shook his head. “It’s probably a good thing I’m your mate, then, because I gave you a mango that day.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, but you couldn’t know then if I liked them or not. I try them every so often, but their flavor just isn’t one I like a whole lot.”

“You truly are the sweetest,” Sebastian said. He leaned down and gently kissed me. I leaned into the kiss a little, but sadly, my mate pulled away too soon for my liking.

“There will certainly be many more kisses in the days to come. I have an idea since we both have the next three weeks off from reality.”

I leaned on the side of the tub, my interest definitely piqued. “What’s that?”

“How about I take you away for a few days? We can stay gone as long as you’d like, within reason. But I promised you the beach, and although it’s early morning here, it’s afternoon halfway around the world. I could show you the ocean in the daylight. What do you say?”

Was he kidding? My face showed my excitement, and I knew it. Sebastian started chuckling.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said.

“You’re joking, right? Are we really going to go to the ocean?”

Sebastian smiled. “We are. You finish your breakfast, and I’ll get us packed.”

I nodded, and Sebastian got up and left the bathroom. It was difficult to finish eating now that I was so excited about something else. I had been to the ocean with Sebastian just a few days ago, but it had been such a dark night that it was difficult to see anything, even for me. And when you grew up like I had, you simply didn’t make it to the ocean. Not by choice anyway.

I ate the rest of my food, skipping the mangoes and leaving them for Sebastian to deal with. I didn’t know if he liked mangoes or not, but maybe he did? We’d had such drastically different upbringings. I was always lucky to get an apple once in a while, let alone something exotic like a mango.

Once I’d finished my food, I pushed the tray to the front of the tub and leaned down low in the water. It felt wonderful, but I really needed to get out. My body was going to turn to a prune if I stayed much longer, and I didn’t want to make Sebastian wait.

I closed my eyes, staying deep in the water for another minute before I sat up and reached for the plug. I had just stood when Sebastian came back into the bathroom. He’d changed and was wearing very nice-looking cream-colored slacks and a short-sleeved light blue button-down shirt. On his feet were a pair of comfortable-looking shoes. His hair was, of course, perfect, and I suddenly no longer wanted to go to the beach. I had nothing that could compare to what he was wearing, yet again. I was destined to always look like the poor person that I was when standing next to my mate.

“What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked.

I reached for a fluffy towel, quickly wrapping it around my waist. I almost didn’t catch it in time and grabbed it just before it dropped into the still draining water. Sebastian was there in a blink, the water gone and his hands holding my arms and helping me out of the tub.

“I’m good,” I told him.

“Yes, but tell me, what’s wrong? Your aura changed again when I came into the bathroom. Did you not wish for me to be in here?”

“No, it’s fine. I need to dry off though. And then find something to wear.” I was trying to think if I had a pair of khakis still. I used to. But I was certain they’d gotten ruined while wearing them at work. Not the smartest moment, for sure, but I didn’t ever have anywhere to go, so I’d never bothered to purchase nicer clothing.

“I put some clothing on the bed for you. If you don’t like them, we can work on different styles until you’re not only comfortable but like the styles.”

I froze while reaching for the towel around my waist. “You put clothes on the bed for me?”

Sebastian nodded. “I know you have clothes, but we’re going to the beach, and I thought more beach-appropriate clothing would be good. Not only that, but it’s going to be quite a bit warmer there than it is here.”

I nodded slowly. He’d given me clothing? Did they look anything like his? Did they look like my usual jeans and a T-shirt?

I was getting nowhere here in the bathroom thinking about what the clothes looked like instead of getting myself dried off and into the bedroom to see what they were.

Sebastian leaned close. “They’re linen pants like mine, but I gave you a polo instead of a button-down. It just seemed more you.”

My mouth dropped open. “I didn’t…how?”

Sebastian pointed to the side of his head. “You’re projecting all of your thoughts. For the record, I don’t think how you dress makes you look poor. You dress much like every other twentysomething I know. If you like, I can switch to jeans, but they’re going to be heavier than we will want on the beach.”

I wish there was a hole that would swallow me up and hide me away from everything. I cannot believe he actually heard all of that in my thoughts.

“Heard that as well,” Sebastian said. “It’s good that our bond is open on your end. Would you like for me to share with you how to stop projecting your every thought?”

I really would. “Yes, please.” I was afraid to think about anything because what if I thought something in my head that was embarrassing? Oh my fates! Had I already done that during my heat?

Sebastian grinned. “Nothing that I would consider embarrassing. In fact, it’s quite helpful during sex to know exactly what your partner wants or needs. Quite helpful indeed.”

I felt my entire face turn red. “Umm…I really think that maybe I should go now.” I tried to leave the room, but Sebastian stopped me by loosely wrapping his arms around me. It was amazing how seamlessly he could do magic. One second, we were in our bathroom in Montana, and I was wearing nothing but a towel. The next, we were in a completely different room, one that was well-lit but definitely not our house. I was still in a towel, but when I heard the ocean, I froze. “Where are we?” I asked, nervous.

“Barcelona. If you’d like to go elsewhere, we can. And we don’t have to stay here for our entire vacation. I thought it would be nice to see the beach that we walked on during our midnight walk.”

We were in Barcelona. We were in Spain. I let my hand run down Sebastian’s arm where it was still wrapped around me, and when I reached his hand on my shoulder, I grabbed it with my hand and pulled it off my shoulder. I held his hand while I slowly walked to the large door that was on the far side of the room.

“This is our room?”

“For the time being, yes. We can check out other hotels in the area if you don’t like this one. I’ve stayed here with my brothers before when we were visiting this city.”

I nodded. I could see blue out the glass wall already, but it wasn’t until I was standing directly in front of the door that I realized I had been looking at not only the sky but the ocean as well.

“That’s the ocean,” I said quietly as I pointed.

“The Balearic Sea, to be exact. If you want to see the actual Atlantic Ocean, it’s on the other side of Portugal. Maybe I should have taken you there instead. We can still go there if you’d like.”

“The Balearic Sea?” I shook my head. “I don’t ever remember reading about it. I know of Spain, but I never really learned about all of the seas that surround other places.”

Sebastian shrugged. “It’s not that important, really. I didn’t even think about it when I said I’d take you to the ocean and then didn’t technically take you to the ocean.”

“It’s all right. It’s the same thing almost, right?” It was so much more than I’d ever seen before and possibly ever would again.

“Would you like to go for a walk? We can spend a little bit of time walking in the surf if you’d like.”

I glanced down at myself. “Umm, maybe we should go home first?” It was an odd feeling to go from being wrapped in nothing but a towel to suddenly wearing gray linen pants and a light blue polo shirt. I looked over at Sebastian in surprise. “Maybe warn me?”

He at least had an apologetic look on his face. “That I will do. Now, shall we go for a walk on the beach? I can explain to you how to share some thoughts while keeping others to yourself.”

“Yes to the walk. But unless you need me to not share things with you, I don’t really see a need to keep things from you.”

Sebastian opened the door, and after I walked through, he followed and closed it behind us. “Yes, but perhaps someday you will wish to surprise me and not be able to keep that thought from me.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.” I looked out and realized we were on a balcony. “Umm…how are we going to get down?”

“This is me warning you once more,” Sebastian said. He leaned down, kissed my nose, and when he stood back up, I looked around. We were now down on the beach, standing in the sand.

“Okay, why didn’t my stomach do that swirly flip thing this time? And how can you do that in the middle of the day without others seeing us?”

“I’m not sure about the lack of stomach somersault. I’ll have to ask others about that. As for not being seen, the beach is somehow not overly busy, and I put us down in a secluded area that is hidden from both people as well as cameras. Next time, we can take the hotel’s elevators, though, if you wish.”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure if I did or not. It was really convenient to travel Sebastian’s way. “I’ll let you know,” I said instead. Sebastian’s smile was slow, and when it reached his eyes, he winked at me. “So tell me about this ability to not overshare thoughts.”

It didn’t take Sebastian long to explain to me the difference between sharing and keeping things private. He had grown up knowing who he was his entire life. He’d known all about the mate bond, how it worked, and how to connect with me through it. He explained to me how to talk to him through our bond. He shared with how to project images, thoughts, sounds, and emotions through it. He did the same, and I found it not only fascinating, but it really put into perspective what others experienced with their mates. It was no wonder that so many fell completely and utterly in love with their mates in such short timeframes.

“What’s that?” I asked later that evening as we walked along the streets of Barcelona. I’d caught glimpses of a massively large structure here and there, but never had I gotten such a good view.

“That’s one of the cathedrals I want to take you to one day. We missed it today. It’ll reopen tomorrow if you wish to get tickets to have a tour.”

I had no idea if I did or not. I imagined I would love it, so I nodded. We’d spent a few hours walking on the beach, and I knew I was absolutely going to ask Sebastian to bring me back at some point. I loved the calmness that it provided.

“Tomorrow, maybe,” I said. We were walking down the street, our hands laced together, and although I’d slept for hours not that long ago, my energy was starting to fade.

“Tomorrow it is. Or perhaps the next day. I can sense you are tiring. How about we go back to the hotel and order room service?”

I snorted. By room service, we both knew that Sebastian was going to use magic to provide our room service.

“That sounds like a good plan. I know we walked for quite some time on the beach, and then we started exploring the city some. But where’s the hotel?”

Sebastian’s arm wiggled where I was leaning my head against it. “Our hotel is a few miles that way,” he told me. My heart sank at that. A few miles? Really? Honestly, a few miles wouldn’t normally be a lot for me to travel. But I’d just had a heat that ended yesterday, and my body was still feeling the effects of it.

“Don’t worry,”Sebastian told me through our bond.

I became worried he was going to use magic to whisk us back to the hotel. We were on a very busy street, surrounded by people, and that wouldn’t be safe. Instead, he pulled me several steps ahead and then into an alleyway. I couldn’t help but laugh when we went from the dark alleyway to our hotel room. It was the same as earlier, only now it was dark inside the room.

“Which do you want first? A nap or something to eat?” Sebastian asked. He leaned down and gave me another kiss. Now that we were in our room, I slid my hands up his chest and held on to his shoulders and kissed him back. I was torn though. Which did my body need more? My stomach was letting itself be known, but the rest of my body was screaming nap. Then there was my cheetah. He, on the other hand, was suggesting something entirely different. The real question was, could I convince my mate?