Page 40 of Dante
I nodded and kissed him again real quick, then got up and went back to my own chair. He was right. It had been a while since I last ate, and I needed to eat something before I got sick. I started tearing up my biscuits, and after dropping them on the plate full of stew, I stirred it all together and started eating.
“I’m sorry I fell asleep on you,” I said again. “What did you do while I apparently snoozed the evening away?”
Dante shook his head. “You needed sleep, so there is no reason to apologize.” He took a drink before he seemed to focus on me. “I worked on trying to make the furniture fit better in the new rooms. The sizes are all different, and the rooms feel a bit empty. I didn’t want to necessarily add more furniture because I think I just need to get used to how things look in the larger spaces.”
I smiled while chewing a bite of stew and biscuit. “That…if you want more furniture, get more furniture? You have to live here too.”
“Yes, but you do as well. And I didn’t want to make everything feel like it was stuffed.”
I chuckled. “All right. Well, what else did you do?” I knew that probably took him all of fifteen minutes, and then he was doing what?
Dante shook his head. “Not much. I read a little. That didn’t seem to keep my attention, so I sat and watched over you.”
I blinked at my mate. “What? You just watched me sleeping?” Dante nodded. “Why? That had to be boring. You should have woken me. We could have done something.”
“You needed to sleep. Your body has been going through too much. It is not an issue for me to watch over you when you are resting.”
I sighed. “I understand that. I just feel bad because of it. I don’t know. I’ve never watched you sleep. Maybe it’s not that terrible.”
I took another bite, and Dante snorted. “You are always asleep when I am. But I don’t sleep nearly as much as you do. I’m also not making an entire little being who not only is a shifter but has magical powers as well.” Dante reached for my hand andgave it a gentle squeeze before he started rubbing his thumb over my fingers.
“Yeah, that’s pretty cool,” I said. Long ago, I, like so many other omegas, dreamed about my future children and what they would be like. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever envision that my alpha would be a hellhound. I honestly assumed I would be mated to someone in our den. I took another bite of stew, and Dante and I seemed to settle into somewhat of a silence while we ate.
Before I got pregnant, I would have been able to eat everything on my plate and probably more. Now though, I wasn’t even showing, and already I found myself not able to eat nearly as much as I had before. Now, that was most likely the fact that we’d discovered several things upset my stomach. And Dante had taken a chance that the stew would be safe, because last week, I wasn’t getting sick. Thankfully, it seemed as if it was still a safe food.
“Did you want to go for a walk after we eat? I know it’s cold out, but there is nothing that says we have to go for a walk here.”
That grabbed my attention almost immediately. “You have my full attention,” I told him. “Where would you and I go walking at?”
“Anywhere. Is there some place that you would like to go for a walk? The beach? The mountains where it’s not cold and snowy? The desert?” Dante suddenly chuckled. “Right after I got your letter from Augustus, I went to Antarctica. I’m not saying we should go for a walk there because we shouldn’t. It’s colder there than it is here.”
I could only blink at my mate in disbelief. “Antarctica? How had that not been shared? Seriously, Dante? You went to Antarctica?”
Dante nodded. “Yes. I needed to be alone to think. It was a good place to do that. I didn’t want to say something to mypackmates that I couldn’t take back.” Immediately, I felt terrible. I’d said those words. To my mate. To him. “Don’t,” Dante said with an edge to his voice. “I know what you’re thinking, and just don’t. As far as I see it, we’re even. You said harsh words, and my actions of avoiding you were in response, so we’re even. All right?”
I took a deep breath. How and why was this conversation making me emotional? Seriously? I nodded but had to look away. I heard Dante’s chair move, and then he was suddenly kneeling next to me. “Look at me, baby.” I did, but he was a bit blurry. “Don’t be embarrassed that you are emotional. Warwick and I talked quite a bit while you were napping, and he pointed out several chapters in the baby book for me to read. I thumbed through them a little but decided not to read it just yet because we had said we were going to do that together. But being emotional is very much part of things, and you should not feel any sort of shame.”
I took a deep breath before I leaned forward and placed my forehead on his. “I don’t know how or why, but I’m so thankful that we are who they decided needed to be together. We’ve both made mistakes, and I hope to never make any of that magnitude again. I love you, Dante, and I can’t wait to spend my life with you.”
“I love you too.”
Dante and I sat there for a long moment before he moved. He kissed first my forehead and then my nose before he cupped my cheek and kissed my lips. This time, he didn’t pull back, and I suddenly found myself lying on our very comfortable bed naked with my equally naked mate on top of me.
Chapter 15
Dante
For as much as I had avoided my mate in the past year, it was incredibly difficult to kiss him goodbye this morning before heading back to work. Banner was still sleeping, and I left a note beside him, along with his tea and some shortbread cookies that he had really taken a liking to. It felt weird coming back to the council.
I had changed, obviously, but not that much. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. Those weren’t what I was most worried about though. I’d not talked to Augustus since he’d delivered Banner’s letter to me. He’d sent a text congratulating me, and I’d replied to say thank you, but that was it. We’d been close, and I’d considered him my closest packmate. We’d been in hell together, literally. But we’d been banished at different times and to different places.
Granted, Augustus wasn’t on my team, but he was in my pack, and at some point, unless some of us were out for the week, we all met up. With today being my first day back, and everyone knowing it, I had a feeling they would all find a way to at least drop in and say hello. But maybe not.
“You seem troubled.”
I shook my head at Reinhold’s comment. “No. I’m thinking about my pack and how things were when I last saw some of them.”
Reinhold knew. “You mean Augustus.” I nodded. “He’s here, as far as I know. Carrington’s team is out, as is Sebastian’s. But as far as I know, that’s it. Sebastian’s should be back today or tomorrow. They left midweek last week.”
