Riley
I wake up to William lightly snoring. His chest is rising and falling to indicate he is still asleep, and his hand is resting over me. Large fingers make it hard to move, and I growl in frustration when I find myself stuck.
"William..." I growl.
There isn't a response.
My lips twitch, and I raise my voice. "William, it's time to wake up."
Again, there isn't a response, but when I lift my chin, I can see my mate's lips curling into a mischievous smile. William is awake. His breathing is different too, and I roll my eyes.
"Are you going to lift your hand or not?"
William stifles a laugh. "I can't hear you. I'm still asleep..."
"Seriously?!" I growl and squirm in an attempt to break free from his hand holding me. But I'm getting nowhere. William doesn't even put in an effort. He is playing with me, and I glare up at his chin. "This isn't funny!"
"I think this is plenty of fun," He teases.
"No, it's not!"
I manage to get my arms through the gap between two of his fingers. I try to push myself up, but he presses me down further to keep me in place with a chuckle.
"Having trouble?"
I growl at him. "You're a bully!"
"That is a serious accusation of one's mate." William tries to sound scary, but I can hear the smile in his voice.
I roll my eyes, too tired to fight him anymore. I'm drenched in sweat and sigh loudly. "Don't you dare bring your teacher's voice into this... We both know that you're a dick."
No longer able to keep himself from laughing, William's entire body moves as he chuckles. "You're feisty in the morning. I'm just innocently cuddling you, and you're calling me a dick? Wow. Just wow."
"Oh, don't you play coy with me—you know exactly what you're doing, you big dork!"
Without warning, William lifts me up and shifts around in the bed. I'm placed on the warm bedsheets, released by his fingers. But I don't dare to feel relieved. He is up to something; I know it, and I yelp when his nose bumps into my back.
"You're adorable like this," he murmurs behind me, making every hair stand on edge. His voice sounds deeper when he is newly awakened, especially in his fairy form. "I could just gobble you up."
I grimace. "Please don't..."
He presses a soft kiss against my naked back. I tingle at the contact and feel his lips curl into a smile. "You know I wouldn't do that. Although I must admit, you smell delicious..."
My heart races when I process the fact he called me delicious. Cuddling with a predator is nothing short of frightening.
"Your werewolf self is easier to stomach than your fairy one..."
He chuckles. "Why?"
"Because I don't have to worry about becoming your breakfast."
Right on cue, his stomach gurgles, and I hold my breath. Everything goes deathly silent. I can't even feel William's warm breath on my skin, and all the fear comes paddling back to me.
What if William is finally going to lose over reason, listen to his mother's advice, and just end me?
A shudder sweeps up my spine, and tears burn behind my eyelids. I want to go home. The fairy realm isn't half as fun as the werewolf one. I would definitely prefer the war over being stuck here.
I shut my eyes, and William chooses the moment to continue talking, this time in a dark, predatory voice. "Now that you mention it, I am rather hungry," he touches my bare foot with his fingertip. "Maybe I should start with your toes?"
What?!
Seriously?
Instead of responding, I go deathly still. I don't dare to utter a sentence, afraid it would further tease my mate. In my eyes, I'm the mouse, while he is the easily agitated cat.
I close my eyes and pray this will be over. That this is just a bad dream and that I will wake up in the human world—
"Hey, babe..." William whispers when he notices me shaking. His voice is back to being soft. "What is wrong?"
When I don't respond, he sighs heavily, and I feel the length of his nose press against my back while his hand comes closer. A finger stretches out, and he gently touches my belly.
It tickles, especially when he draws little circles.
"You know that I was only messing with you, right?" William mutters.
He sounds angry, but I think the tone is reserved for himself for scaring me. If we try hard enough, we can feel each other's emotions—he knows I'm scared of him. And it must hurt him because there definitely should be more trust between two mated people.
I inhale and exhale, letting some of my fear evaporate. "I know... But it's hard to tell with you being... You know..."
"A fairy?"
"A predator..."
He is silent for a while. "I understand that, but it doesn't change the fact that we are mated... I'm still a werewolf too, and—" there is a heavy groan as he nuzzles my hair. "We will soon make it back to the human realm. Things will return to normal then..."
His warm breath is on my skin, causing me to shiver uncontrollably. I find his words soothing, and I relax a little, letting myself enjoy this moment of being totally surrounded by my mate.
A smile tugs on my lips when William uses his pointer finger to lift my arms and trace it outward with his digit. Soon my tiny palm is resting on his fingertip, and he turns around my hand, seeming to study our size difference while still nuzzling my hair.
"Fairies are scary creatures..." He mumbles.
"You are a fairy..."
"I know..."
"You're not scary."
"Lies... You were shaking a mere moment ago."
"Can we pretend it never happened?" I ask, angry at myself because I know my fear hurt William. And he doesn't deserve that. "I'm kind of ashamed of it..."
"Why?" William urges, definitely fishing for reassurance.
"Because we are mates, and I should trust you... I'm sorry for being unreasonably afraid of you."
William breathes a laugh behind me, kissing the nape of my neck with surprisingly soft lips. I realize he must be putting in an effort, which warms my heart.
"Quite honestly, I would probably be terrified in your shoes. Your mate is a freak, and you're allowed to be wary of me. In the beginning, I had to fight every instinct telling me to eat you, but I can assure you that isn't the case anymore."
"It's not?"
"Nope, not since we mated."
My lips curl at that. "I'm glad... anyway, shouldn't you be training with your mother right now?"
His nose wrinkles behind me, and I feel him snuggling closer. It's a little bit odd having him act so sweet and tamed while in his fairy form. But I'm not complaining. I love his sweet side.
"I want to stay with you for a while," William says before he lifts his head to plant kisses on my side.
I laugh in response and curl up into a ball. It tickles so much that I end up kissing his lip. He smiles at that but doesn't stop. Instead, he trails searing hot kisses down the length of my leg.
My heart pounds, but this time it's not out of fear. The emotion awakening within me is something resembling longing. I look up at my mate and suck in a deep breath.
William is beautiful. High cheekbones, dark hair, and brilliant eyes that I'm sure could stop anyone on the street and force them to take a second look at him.
He is gorgeous.
My heart fills with yearning. "Can't you shrink back for a minute?"
Amusement dances in his eyes. "Only for a minute, huh?"
"Yes..."
"Will that be enough?"
I giggle. "Okay, maybe two minutes?"
He snorts at that. "We will need longer than that, but yes... I can't exactly say no when you're looking at me like that."