He was right, but I never felt like I was going to be a leader. I was more of an accessory. I didn’t make decisions, I barely made any party-planning choices without his mother changing it at the last minute.
I shrugged, “That’s a pretty thought, but I don’t think that’s what they wanted from me.”
“Then thank the Goddess you left,” He gave me a half smile, “You’re too strong of a person to have to live up to such mundane expectations.”
I smiled at him, “Well put,”
“It’s the truth,”
“Sorry, now back to you. What were you saying?”
“Don’t apologize, but I was saying that besides that gorgeous silver dress fit for a powerful Luna, the fact that you were unaffected by my presence caught me off guard. You speak to me like a person, you’re not afraid to tell me what you think, and I find that extraordinarily s.exy,” I bit down on my smile.
“I’m being serious, I find it hard to talk to people like I said. Much of that is because of what they think about me, the image they created for me before even meeting me. People don’t know the real me and honestly, I was starting to get worried that the person I was playing would become me.” He swallowed, “Until you.”
“Until me?”
“I feel like you’ve tethered me, you remind me who I was, who I still am, under all the weight of the titles and responsibilities. I felt myself slipping into the persona that others created for me, and I didn’t like that.”
I nodded at him to go on, not taking my eyes off his.
“I’m not saying that it’s all rainbows and sunshine under here,” He laughed, something that was becoming more frequent and I loved hearing it, “I still have a standard, and I expect near perfection from my team, I’m used to getting my way, and I hate waiting.”
“Oh,” I murmured.
“I hate waiting for anything that isn’t you,” He corrected and I smiled, I hoped he was serious.
“I think I am both of them, I don’t know if I can fully shed that persona because part of it became me, and it gets me the results I need. But when I’m around you I feel like myself for the first time in, I guess forever.”
A lump formed in my throat and my stomach flipped at his words, “I don’t understand exactly how you feel, I grew up not being a princess,” I smiled, “But I feel like I can talk to you in a way that I never talked to Nolan. I feel like I’ve known you forever and I don’t have to f.orce myself to be open with you, I want to be.”
“Good,” His smile was genuine and he tightened his grip on my hand, “I’m honestly so glad to hear that, Willa. And if you ever want to become a princess, just say the word.” He smirked.
My mouth hung open at that but I chose to ignore it, for now.
We moved on to more menial topics, he asked how I met Cali and I shared a bit about what Emmett was like. I was hesitant to get into that topic with him for many reasons. I was worried that he wouldn’t want to take on that role. It was one thing to find your mate, and another thing for them to already have a child. Werewolves were possessive by nature, and I was worried that his affection toward me wouldn’t extend to him. It was a conversation for another day, but one that would have to happen.
We finished dinner with some ice cream he called Mochi, it was wrapped in something and melted in your mouth.
“Emmett would love this,” I commented without realizing it.
“Anything else you want?” He asked, I knew if I asked for anything right now he would give it to me.
“This has been perfect, more than perfect. Thank you.” He helped me out of my chair and the blonde handed us a bag as we left. We didn’t pay, and I didn’t want to know how much this cost him, or maybe he owned the d.amn place.
“Here,” He handed me the black bag with the name of the resturant in gold font. Inside was a box.
“Don’t open it yet, it’s freeze-dried.”
I looked at him questioningly.
“It’s some mochi, for Emmett to try,” He continued staring out the glass wall of the elevator not meeting my stare.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“I’ll walk you up,” He opened my door before my seatbelt was unbuckled, taking the bag of mochi from me.
“You don’t have to, I know the way,” I laughed.
“I want to,” He held out his arm for me and I wrapped mine around his.
“Thank you for allowing me to take you out,” He held the door open for us, “Thank you for trusting me with your past.”
I nodded, not knowing exactly what to say. It felt good that he knew. I didn’t want to keep anything from him, but there was a part of me that was worried that once he realized what happened to me he wouldn’t want me anymore, that he would view me as another Alpha’s rejects. I should have known better. Just because that happened before, didn’t mean it would happen again. I didn’t want to paint all mates or all Alphas like that, and I didn’t really. I didn’t think it was fair to do that because of one bad experience, but I had to give myself some credit, that experience really f.ucked up every aspect of my life.
We reached my door sooner than I wanted to, the more time I spent with him the more time I craved it.
“You have my number, use it,” He looked down at my taking my chin in his hands. I nodded closing my eyes, letting his scent and the solid steady warmth coming from him envelop me.
Another moment I wanted to memorize.
His lips brushed my forehead in a soft kiss and he pulled back. I opened my eyes to see his filled with need and what I hoped was desire.
He started to pull back, I instinctively grabbed his shirt so that he couldn’t put any more space between us.
“Willa,” He studied me, it was a question.
“Yes,” I breathed, tugging him a bit closer.
I closed my eyes before his lips touched mine, my breath hitched in my throat at the feeling of his soft lips sending tingles erupting through me and settling in my core. One of his hands gripped my waist and pulled me to his chest as the other made its way behind my neck and tangled in my hair.
I couldn’t think, I couldn’t breathe, everything in my body was focused on the kiss, on his proximity, on his closeness.
His lips moved against mine, soft yet hungry. He dragged his tongue over my bottom lip. I opened for him, tugging him closer, as our tongues danced and he explored my mouth.
Heat curled below my stomach, and an acute need awoken within me.
“Willa,” He breathed pulling back slightly, he spoke my name on my lips and it sounded like a prayer.
“Caspien,” our breaths intermingled and I placed one last kiss on his lips, knowing that I would never get enough of him from this moment on.
With that kiss alone I felt some scattered pieces of me return to myself, I felt some of that gaping wound in my chest stitch up, and it was more than I expected.
(Willa)
“Goodnight,” He brushed his lips across my knuckles.
I had to f.orce myself to turn around and fumble with my keys. I felt his presence behind me as I finally unlocked the door and turned back to him.
I had nothing else to say, actually, I had a lot to say but nothing that would even make sense, my brain was mush.
I nodded to him, “Goodnight, Caspien,” I whispered closing the door.
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