"Laina, I am fine!" Tate sighs as I fluff his pillow for the umpteenth time today. It has been three days since he woke from his coma. Three days that I spent hovering over him when not taking care of Julia. Eeva announced to the pack that due to Tate waking up, I would be focusing my energy on his recovery and thankfully her and Loren took over our duties for us.
"No, you're not, so stop complaining and let me pamper you." I argue back, hearing Tate mutter something about me being a worrywart. How the tides have turned. When I ended up in the pack hospital due to the twins, he hovered over me until I was released, then hovered some more when I finally returned home. Now it is my turn to take care of him. Thankfully, Chris and Jack have Julia for the day, allowing me and Tate some time alone.
"If you want to pamper me, there is a great way that I can think of." Tate says, catching me off guard as he grasps my wrist and pulls me on top of his body. I feel him wince when my knee hits the wound on his thigh, and I try my best to get free and off of him, only to be held tighter by my mate.
“Tate you need to be careful.” I scold lightly, looking into his eyes as I stop struggling, realizing I might cause more harm to his wounds.
“Cuddle with me, please. We haven’t spent much time alone, and I just want to feel you close.” His voice is a low, hoarse whisper sending shivers down my spine. I relent to his request and rest my head on his shoulder, snuggling in close. The room is silent as his hands slowly moved from my back, under my shirt to run up and down my sides slow and gentle, sending tingles of pleasure through me where his hands touch my skin. I sigh in contentment, gently kissing Tate’s jawline and relishing in the fact that he is alive and healing. That soon we can return home with our daughter and focus on his recovery before we destroy Pin Paw for that they did.
"I love you, Laina." He whispers, turning his head to kiss my forehead. I giggle, relishing in his affection and thanking the Goddess once more for not taking this man from me. I have never felt so happy then I do with him and I am grateful that this happiness isn’t going to end any time soon.
"I love you too Tate." I whisper back, moving my head and connecting our lips together. His hands stop moving, pulling me impossibly closer to his body wile my hands snake up his chest and around his neck, bringing his head closer to mine as our kiss deepens. I squeak in surprise when Tate manages to flip us so that my back is pressed against the bed and Tate on top. My legs wrap around his waist as our lips continue to collide with our passionate kiss. Tate slowly grinds against me, sending more pleasure travelling inside me, causing me to gasp and moan. Taking this opportunity to plunge his tongue into my mouth as one hand slowly explores along my stomach to rest on my breast, Tate lets out a possessive growl sending shives along my body once more. Another moan escapes my lips, and I flick my tongue across his, gaining a feral moan from him as he presses his bulge against me, and I curse the jeans I decided to wear today. Slowly we pull apart, panting from the kiss. His eyes are dark and filled with lust, and I have a feeling my eyes matched his as he leans his forehead on mine and takes a deep breath.
"God, you're so beautiful." He groans out before claiming my mouth in another passionate kiss, one arm supporting him above me, while his free hand explores under my shirt, my own hands feeling every muscle, every scar and every movement of his body. I wanted him. I wanted him above me, below me and inside me. I wanted to completely mate with him. The kiss ends prematurely as the door opens, causing both of us to growl and glare at the intruder.
"Hey, this is a room for patients. If the two of you want to make love, then go home, for crying out loud!" Rex exclaims, holding his hands up in surrender and rolling his eyes. It takes a while for my hormones to settle down before Rex’s words settle in, and happiness fills me.
"Wait, I can go home?" Tate asks with hope lacing his voice. I smile and push Tate off of me gently, making him sit on the bed before I push myself up to sit cross-legged on the bed, my hand reaching out to hold onto Tate’s.
"Yes, you’ve healed nicely over the last few days, and your scans show that your brain is surprisingly functioning normally, although that’s still medically debatable with you.” Rex answers, chuckling at Tate’s enthusiasm.
“Just take it easy at home and rest, and no rough sex. I get you two haven’t completed the mating process yet, but I don’t need to see any of you as a patient again for a while.” I blush as Rex continues his instructions of what Tate needs to do when we return home. Part of me understands that he still needed time to rest, but another part wants to fully be mated to him as quick as possible. Rex stays for a moment to do a quick check-up on Tate before allowing Ashlyn to come in and remove the I.V. from his arm. After getting the final go-ahead to leave, Rex and his team remove the medical equipment to be stored away in the pack house for emergency use leaving Tate and I alone.
"Now, where were we?" He asks, his voice husky as he leans his head towards mine and kisses me passionately once again.
"How about we go home first, go for a relaxing bath-" I start to say the moment we pull away to catch our breath.
"And continue where we left off before being so rudely interrupted." Tate finishes my sentence twirling a lock of my air around his fingers. I smile and nod, climbing off the bed and holding my hand out for him to take. I watch my mate slowly stands to his feet wincing from the almost healed injuries before taking my hand and pulling me in for a hug.
"I'm driving." I state sternly, looking up to catch Tate's frown at me.
“No, I am." He counters, rolling his eyes at me. I sigh in exasperation and push him playfully onto the bed, watching my mate wince and groan for a moment I smile apologetically at him before taking the keys to his jeep out before offering my hand out to him once more.
"You are in no shape to drive Tate, so I will. No arguments." I rebut with, watching him slowly stand and try to take the keys from me, growling when I jump back out of his reach. For a few minutes, he tries to take the keys away, and I focus on staying just out of his reach. Every time he would swipe left, I would doge right. If he tried to grab me, I jump pack. I watch as frustration builds inside my mate, his body slowing with each move he makes.
"Fine, you can drive." He relents frowning at me and pouting like a child. I chuckle at his behaviour and make my way into his arms, standing on my toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. From there, I take his hand and the two of us walk into the hallway and take the elevator down to the main floor. On our way out of the pack house, the two of us pass by pack members that congratulate Tate on getting better. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off the pack now that their Alpha is better.
After chatting with a few of the wolves, Tate and I manage to finally find solace in the Jeep. I catch Tate sighing, taking a deep breath of air that doesn’t smell like the pack hospital and reach out to squeeze his hand. No more hospital trips for us for a while. Turning the Jeep on, I put the vehicle into drive and head in the direction of home.