Lover

Breakfast and Distractions

Bella:

"You're a nightmare to get up, you know that?" I commented as I watched Azriel with a smile on my face, my chin on my hand, my arm propped up on my leg.

I couldn't help but stare at him, stare at how the morning sun casted a glow across his tanned skin. His skin was blemishless, soft and hard and delicious. His cheeks heated under my gaze, and if you looked close enough - you could see the light freckles that dusted his pert nose.

"You have a really cute nose, you know that?" I asked as I ghosted my fingers over the freckles. He groaned sleepily and scrunched up his nose. My heart melted. "It's a Disney Princess nose."

He smiled sleepily up at me and tried to pull me to him, back into his arms where he wanted me to stay all day. I didn't resist and allowed him to tuck me into his chest, allowed him to wrap his wings around me protectively and kiss my lips softly.

"What's a Disney Princess, Kitten?" he mumbled as he lazily kissed down and around my throat as if he had all the time in the world. I tilted my head back.

I knew what I said last night. I had chosen my mate over my family. And I knew it was so selfish of me - so, so selfish but I couldn't find it in me to care. But I also knew it made me a terrible person, because the lengths my parents had gone to to protect me . . . I would always choose Azriel.

Because I knew what type of man he was. He was passionate, loving, affectionate and loyal. And he knew just how powerful I was, yet he did not belittle me. He encouraged me to become stronger - to fight.

"A Disney Princess, is a Princess from animated films. They are always gorgeous and have cute little noses. You have one like Rapunzel." I giggled as I kissed the tip of his nose. Azriel groaned again and rolled on top of me, holding my body close to his warm one and tucked his face into my neck, snuggling in with a purr of bliss.

This was heaven, this was worth living for. My mate was worth living for.

I snuggled into him and sighed. Yesterday had been the worst and the best moments of my life. I had been ready to delve deep into my magic, yank it all up and destroy Beron for everything he had said, for threatening everyone I loved if I did not align with him and Tamlin.

Azriel had let me take control, he knew I knew what I was doing - he knew I meant everything I had said. He knew I meant everything I said last night had been the whole truth - my confessions. And the way he had made love to me - I had never felt anything like it.

Frankly, I hadn't because I was a virgin. Not anymore. My mind wondered to his confessions as I stroked a hand through his hair that send him purring and snuggling closer as he dozed off to sleep again. Which meant it would take another solid hour to wake him up again. But it was worth it if he stayed in my arms.

His stance and relaxation told me he had no intention of going anywhere. I thought about Azriel's half brothers, I thought about his step-mother, his father and biological mother. I thought about his stunning face, his elegant features - he was classically beautiful and it made me wonder if he looked more like his mother rather than his father.

I would ask him later.

His hazel eyes always glowed, a hint of mischief and amusement. A barley there smile. But he was always grinning when he was around me. Always. And I knew it shocked everyone.

Mor had told me that even with his previous lovers, he had never smiled. Certainly not a broad, unrestrained genuine grin that he always had around me. He was so passionate and loyal that his brothers and step-mother had to be sickening to look at to hurt him. And it made me wonder if they were still alive, because if they were, I might just have to pay them a little visit that only I'll walk away from.