Page 36 of Rejected Forced Mate
I smiled up at him, wrapping my arms around his neck, and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "No, Alpha. You were wonderful."
I could tell he didn't believe me, his eyes scanning my face, "Are you sure?"
"Mm," I nodded, and pulled him in for another kiss. I felt impossibly full, but also impossibly content. In the back of my mind, the hesitations I'd felt about getting too close to Noah were still wrapped in the bubble of my heat, and they weren't bothering me. At least not yet.
For the time being, I was simply content in the arms of my mate.
Noah carefully rolled us over so we were lying on our sides, facing each other, his hands rubbing up and down my back in a soothing gesture. My leg was thrown over his hip, and my cheek was pressed to his chest. The slow rise and fall were comforting.
"You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he murmured, brushing my hair out of my face. "I still can't believe you're real."
I huffed, burying my face in his shoulder. "Stop it."
"Never," he chuckled. "My beautiful mate. You have no idea what you've done to me."
His voice was like warm honey, and I was helpless but to smile at his words, snuggling closer. We were connected, and my body was starting to settle. There was no lingering heat ache left. It had finally been satisfied, and thankfully, I'd have some peace until my next cycle came around.
I wanted to tell myself that I'd be long gone from this pack by the time that happened, but with each passing day, that looked less and less likely.
I pushed the thoughts aside, focusing instead on the way Noah's hands moved across my skin, and how his breath felt as it fanned out across the top of my head. We were stuck together for some time still, and it would be all too easy just to fall asleep and stay with him for the rest of the night. In fact, the idea was so tempting that it was hard to resist.
He was in my room anyway. What was the harm in it?
There in Noah's embrace, I could see a future with him. A future where I helped him continue to modernize his pack, where I used my magic to help the land, and where our marriage became something legitimate. Maybe in time, I could find work as a healer again. It wouldn't be the same as the life I'd created in the Brokenclaw pack, but it could be a good life. A life where I loved Noah, and he loved me in return.
Would it be giving up? Would I lose part of myself if I gave in and became the Luna of the pack that I'd fled so long ago?
Would I regret letting myself care for the man who had rejected me so terribly years ago?
"You're thinking ridiculously loud, just so you know," Noah chuckled. He wouldn't be so amused if he knew what I was thinking about.
"It's nothing," I lied. "Really." "Anything I can help with?"
I smiled and tilted my head up to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw, "Not yet."
Noah seemed pleased with that answer, and he kissed me softly, his tongue tangling with mine. We traded kisses for along time, and the knot at the base of his cock finally deflated, allowing him to pull out of me. Once again, I was in awe of how good the experience had been, and the way Noah had brought me to heights I hadn't even known were possible.
Noah had changed. It didn't heal the wounds he had left behind when he rejected me as his mate, as old and scarred over as they were, but it was impossible not to feel something for him. We had been friends back then for a reason, and that connection, that chemistry, was still there.
I liked the man he had become, but was that enough reason to accept him as my mate and give up my old life? The question ate at me and made me feel restless.
The bed was soft, Noah's body was warm, and I was so tired...but it was impossible to fall asleep. It was like my brain had been on standby while I was overtaken by my heat, and now that it was gone, I was drowning in all my worries.
"Why can't you sleep?" Noah grumbled, sounding half asleep.
I was laying on his chest, and his arm was draped across my shoulders. If he hadn't been talking, I would have thought he was already asleep.
"Sorry," I whispered, feeling guilty, "Just...can't. I'll go lay on the couch."
I made a move to sit up, but Noah tightened his arm around me, stopping me from going any further.
"Stay," his voice was rough with sleep. "I want you here with me."
I didn't point out that he was in my bed, and that I could ask him to go to his own bed if I wanted. Instead, I gave in once more to the temptation that Noah offered, snuggling up againsthis body and letting my eyes flutter shut. After all, I'd already slept with him. Surely there was no real harm resting with him, at least for a little while.
I was safe. Noah would take care of me, as long as I allowed him to.
The last thought was the one that finally made the tension drain out of me. Listening to the metronome of Noah's heart, warm and content, I allowed myself to drift off.
