“Then it shouldn’t be hard to believe I feel the same way about you.” I raised my eyebrow at her.
She opened her mouth as if to argue and then paused. Her nose scrunched again as if she was trying to figure out a complicated math problem.
“It’s going to take me a while to believe that,” she finally said.
“That’s alright, beautiful. We have time. Until you believe it, I’m going to make sure you eat regularly, okay? And if you want to come down and eat more at night, you don’t have to hide it. I’m never going to judge you for it. In fact, I rather like our late-night kitchen tradition.”
She leaned against my chest and I purred again, pulling her close. I realized how at ease I was feeling having my mate in my arms and knowing that I was the one who had soothed her.
“It made me sad when you all left this morning,” she said, breaking the silence.
“Wait, what?” I asked, confused. “When did we leave?”
“Never mind, forget that I said anything. It’s fine. I’m being stupid.” She tried to wriggle away from me.
“Wait, none of that. I want to know why you were sad. Please explain, beautiful.”
Her eyes shone with tears, and her lips trembled. “When you left the bed this morning. I just… I felt like you didn’t want me, like you were rejecting me, which is so stupid because you were just going to work out, and I shouldn’t be so needy, and I just need to get over it.”
I took a deep breath. Fuck, we messed up.
“Precious, I need you to listen to me. You have three alphas who are completely obsessed with you. You do not have toget overanything. You need to tell us when we do something to upset you. Of course, we weren’t rejecting you, but we should have realized that you weren’t expecting us to all leave before you even woke up. I can imagine that felt jarring. Good thing we’ve already established that it’s literally the last thing I want to do, so we’ll make sure it doesn’t happen in the future.”
“But I’m being unreasonable.”
“No, you’re not.” I gripped her chin firmly, forcing her to make eye contact. “I’m not saying there won’t be mornings where we have to get up early or you’ll be in bed on your own. But we’ll do a better job communicating and ensure you’re feeling okay. Before you protest, let me be clear that Iwantto do this. Beautiful, you’re my mate. I’m completely taken with you. I love you.” Saying the words felt like a huge fucking relief. I needed her to understand how I felt about her.
“You love me?” she asked, eyes wide.
“Yes, precious, I love you. You have my whole heart, and that’s not going to change.”
“I love you, too,” she blurted out, almost like she couldn’t get the words out fast enough.
“Don’t know how I got so lucky,” I murmured, smiling widely.
I ran my hands slowly up and down her bare thigh, getting closer and closer to her sex with each pass. She perfumed and I heard the slight hitch of her breath.
“Are you still hungry?” I asked, placing gentle kisses on her nose and across her cheeks. She shook her head, closing her eyes and leaning into my touch.
“Tired?” I slipped my hands under the bottom of her shorts, my fingers teasing the edge of her panties. She shook her head again and squirmed against me, trying to get my fingers to move where she wanted them.
“Are you feeling needy, precious?”
She let out a soft whine and tugged at my shirt. I quickly helped her pull it off me and groaned in pleasure as she ran her hands up and down my bare chest. I moved to strip her of her tank top. She made an anxious little noise and tried to pull away from me, but I held her firm.
I gripped her chin and nipped at her bottom lip. “Let me see you, gorgeous. I’m so hungry for you. I need to have you sprawled before me, naked, so I can kiss, lick, and bite every inch of your sexy body.”
She hesitated before finally nodding. I moved quickly before she changed her mind. I pulled off her tank top before gripping the waistband of her shorts.
“Lift,” I commanded gruffly. My cock was straining so hard against my boxers that I thought I was going to explode. I stripped her bare and ran my eyes up and down her delicious body. Josie sat stiffly, her eyes wide and breathing fast. I knew this was hard for her, but I had to show her that there was absolutely nothing about her body to be ashamed of.
“I think we need a new rule in the house,” I murmured, pulling her in tightly and resting her head on my bare chest. It was torture holding myself back from touching every inch of her, but I knew she needed some reassurance right now as I rocked her gently in my embrace. “No clothing for you when we’re home. It’s a crime to cover up this body.”
I moved one hand down to her dusky nipples and started teasing and pinching until she softly whined. She tilted her head back, searching for my lips, and I kissed her. Her mouth tasted so sweet, and her little moans and whimpers almost took me over the edge. I shifted her even closer so she rubbed against me, her core right against my hard cock, leaving a wet patch on the front of my underwear. I took a deep breath, needing to get myself under control so I could make this good for her.
“You’re going to be a good girl and let me do what I want with your sweet little body, aren’t you?”
Her eyes were glazed with lust, her cheeks flushed and mouth parted. “Yes,” she breathed out.
