Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

46. Morning bliss🌶️🌶️

AIDEN

I couldn't take my eyes off the magnificent woman that lay on the pillow next to me. If I didn't know better, I would have guessed that heaven must have been missing an angel because she was truly spectacular. 

Cliché, but it was the truth. 

Her beauty, her fiery personality, her clearly fated role as a leader. The Sun Goddess really knew how to pair mates because even if I tried to, I would not have been able to describe my perfect mate so well.

Last night was everything I wanted our first date to be and more. Being with her, in every sense, made me feel more alive than I had ever felt. Holding her in my arms, kissing her and burying myself in her was like nothing I had ever experienced in my life. It felt like two missing puzzle pieces coming together, like everything in the world aligned perfectly and I had reached my heaven.

I watched her sleep peacefully and I knew right there and then that I wanted nothing more than to wake up next to her every morning and fall asleep wrapping my arms around her every night. I wanted to give her the world if she would let me, but I knew that ultimately she held my life in her hands because living a life without her in it would be merely existing, not living.

Riley rolled over and my day was immediately brightened by the gorgeous smile that appeared on her face as she was sleeping. Was it us that she was dreaming about? I would never know. It didn't matter though- as long as she was happy, that was enough for me.

My fingertips were itching to caress her soft skin and my lips were burning with desire to pepper her body with kisses but I did not want to wake her up - it would have been selfish of me to do so.

For a second I wondered if Rafe had finally seen what I was seeing- the magnificence of the woman chosen to be our mate. I knew that the two of them had given in to their mate pull at the cottage- I could smell her intoxicating scent all over him. It would probably sound crazy to anyone else that had found their mate as shifters tended to be very territorial, but I was actually happy that they had crossed that line. My best friend and my mate- I could never be jealous, not when the Sun and Moon Goddess had decided that we were to be a triad. If anything, I was thrilled to know that the pull was stronger than them, as the possibility of either them wanting to break the bond put me at unease. Plus, I knew that Riley having both of us simply meant that we could worship her like the queen she truly was, while still having our respective relationships with her and still being a triad.

I dragged myself out of the warm bed, carefully pulling my arm away from Riley, and I made my way to the kitchen. I whipped up a batch of pancakes and got some fresh orange juice ready, setting everything on a tray for a breakfast in the bedroom.

I saw Riley stir in bed as I walked in. Goddess, she was beautiful even early in the morning.

"Good morning." She smiled and my whole body tingled at the sight.

"Good morning, beautiful." I smiled back.

"Mmmmm, I smell amazing food," she whispered as she rolled around in the bed naked before she covered her face with her arm, still trying to wake up fully.

"Hungry for more, are you?"

I laughed because it warmed my heart to see that my mate was not shy when it came to food. In fact, Riley was not shy about anything at all. She told things as they were, she didn't need anyone's validation, she feared no one and she bowed to nobody. The admiration I had for her was endless.

"What can I say- last night whetted my appetite." Her sultry voice made my cock twitch, while the mischief written on her face made me want to rip the sheet that she was holding as a cover and have her screaming my name all over again as she falls apart because of me.