Reaching You

Chapter 16: Liam

I wake up to find my little mate curled up against me. Our legs are tangled together. Her cheek rests against my chest. Her face is relaxed. Her lips are slightly parted and her eyelashes rest on the top of her cheeks. She was a vision. Her red-brown hair lies spread across my pillow. I flick the tip of her nose. She swats my hand away and rolls away. I chuckle and flick her nose, again. "Stop." She mumbles, looking frustrated. She was adorable.

She turns to look at me with half-lidded eyes. "Morning," I say, pulling her body flush against mine. She yawns and smiles at me. "Morning." She says, shyly. She turns to look at the clock on the bedside table. She gasps as she sees the time. "HOLY MOLY!" She screeches, stumbling out of bed. I pull her back into my arms. "I have to make breakfast." She says, flailing her arms. I pull her so that she sits right between my legs. "Chase and Louise are preparing it," I said, calmly.

"You've had a long day, yesterday. Just relax." I said. She nods and leans back against me. She suddenly turns her head towards me. "Don't you have Alpha duties?" She asks, anxious. I laughed. She frowns at me. "I took a day off," I said, burying my face in her hair. She pushes me away and says, "I think we should go help." I watch as she puts her hair up. I slip on shorts and a t-shirt. I watch as she grabs her clothes. As much as I liked seeing her in my shirt, I didn't want anyone else to see her like that. She was mine. She clears her throat.

"Go ahead and change sweetheart," I said, lying on the bed. She flushes red and gives me a look. "Do you mind?" She asks, gesturing me to turn around. She was so innocent. That wolf of hers was a different story. I turn my back towards her. I take a little peek. She catches me and shrieks. She tosses my shirt so that it lands on my head. I double over, laughing at my mate's shyness. I hear her walk over to the bed. She takes the shirt off of my head. I grab her wrist and pull her so she lands on top of me.

"Goddess, you drive me insane," I say, kissing her nose. She sighs and takes my hand as she leads me downstairs. I enjoy watching her pert behind move as she walks. We enter the kitchen to see Louise cooking. Chase grins as he sees us. Not mated yet, huh? He says through the mind link. I rolled my eyes. As much as I wanted her naked and bent over, I knew that she was not ready. Besides I wanted her to know how precious she was to me. I watch as she talks to Louise.

Louise whispers something that makes my mate flush pink. She glances at me and I wink. She looks away, mortified. I take her to take a seat beside me. I lazily wrap my arm around the back of her chair. "What did Louise say?" I asked, amused. She pretends to be occupied with her mug of coffee. "Nothing." She says, quickly. I tuck a stray curl of her hair behind her ear. I grin as she unconsciously leans into my touch.

"Sweetheart?" I whispered as Louise puts down plates of toast in front of us. She turns to face me and for some damn reason, I get nervous. Her green eyes stare me down. "Would you like to spend the day with me?" I asked. The corners of her lips curve upwards and she looks at me coyly. "Are you asking me on a date, Alpha?" She asks, teasingly. I close my eyes to keep myself from pouncing on her. "Fuck, this is so much harder than I expected," I muttered to me. She looks at me confused. "What's hard?" She questions, making me burst out laughing.

Chase spits out his coffee and gives me a high five. Louise giggles as my mate slaps her hand over her mouth. "You know what I meant. I-I" She stutters, the trace of her previous confidence gone. I pull her onto my lap. "Oh the things I want to do with that pretty little mouth of yours," I whispered, pleased by my mate's reaction. Chase groans loudly. "Superhuman hearing. Dude, no one needs to hear that." He says, turning green.

"Yes." My mate mumbles, diligently spreading butter on her toast. I beam at her and she looks down at her toast but I see her cheeks turn pink. We continue talking. Louise complains about the mess Chase left on the doormat when he shifted in the rain. I watch as my mate smiled at them as they began to bicker. She slips me her bacon. I stare at her and she looks at me sternly. "You're still on the mend." She says I grin widely at her gesture. Louise sighs loudly. She points at us.

"LOOK!!!! See they are so nice to each other!!!" She says, Chase rolls his eyes. He takes Louise's hand in his. "Lou, they are newly mated. We have history." He says, making me choke at his words. "We are clearly the better couple if that's what you mean," I said, shaking my head at his stupidity. Lucas runs into the kitchen. He shoots us a glare that shuts everyone up and he slams the door shut. "What's up his ass?" Chase whispers as he helps himself another serving of bacon.

"Just protective daddy wolf instincts," Louise says, warmly. My mate raises her eyebrows in confusion. "Lucas's mate, Cassie is pregnant. She's scared of loud noises." I elaborate, making my mate smile. "Oh, I love the blueberry pies that she makes," Paige says, as Chase grunts in agreement. "Well, it's time for us to head out," I said, sweeping my mate into my arms. She gives up and wraps her arms around my neck. She just waves at Chase and Louise.