22

Grayson escorted me to my room after the music had stopped and our hearts were beating. He did it gallantly and considerately, as if we had been on a date. It was the perfect ending to such a contradictory evening.

I leaned against the door and listened to his footsteps, which didn't go away. After realizing he stopped outside my door, I knew how serious he was with what he said. He wouldn't leave me alone anymore.

I paced my room indecisively for a while and finally opened my door. He was leaning against the wall, exhausted, one leg stretched out in front of him. The other was bent and his arm and head rested on it.

His jacket and bow tie lay carelessly beside him. His blond curls were no longer orderly, they lay wildly over his pretty face.

I had to kneel down in front of him for him to even notice me. I had placed my hand on his cheek and his dark brown eyes had looked at me in surprise.

Stubborn as he was, he refused to go to his room or to come to mine. After a long discussion, I sat down next to him and leaned my head against him and told him that we would both stay here for the night. I could be stubborn too.

That was a few hours ago. Now I was lying here in my bed next to Grayson after he finally relented. Pulled me onto his lap and, after a deep sigh, carried me into my room and laid me on my bed.

Unlike him, I hadn't been able to fall asleep right away. His heavy arm was across my stomach and whenever I had moved he would immediately pull me back to him. All I heard for hours was his even breathing, following the rhythm of his beating heart.

He himself was lying on his stomach, his curls covering his face. Only since last night did I know how many he actually had. His hair had grown longer over the past few months and he usually wore it neatly back. They slipped silky smooth through my fingers as I lifted a few of them.

His normally hard features were soft and relaxed, he looked ten years younger when he relaxed. Thick, long black lashes appeared. His nose wrinkled a little and his full lips were slightly parted. He mumbled something unintelligible as I turned to him.

I brushed the last of his curls off his face and took one last look at him before slightly lifting his arm that was resting on top of me.

"Don't, Pebble," he mumbled and I immediately dropped him. He pulled himself in closer to me and rested his head next to mine. He buried his head under my chin on my shoulder and his hand, now tracing gentle circles across my back, told me he was awake.

"Just a little longer," he muttered. How could I say no when it was exactly what I was enjoying. He was so relaxed and content, it almost hurt me to disturb him. The clock was already half past nine and it was more than time to pack up and leave, apart from our empty stomachs and it was a good three hours by car to the airport.

"We must go, Grayson." He pulled me completely against him now and I snuggled up against his chest.

"You coming with me?" he mumbled sleepily.

"You have to decide that." I made my decision as soon as I realized what he meant, but there was something he needed to know.

"I asked you, forgot?" he murmured.

"I have a mate, Grayson," I blurted out, more tentatively than bravely.

He was instantly wide awake, as I had suspected. At some point I should have told him, there wasn't the right time for that. This place didn't hold romance, nor did my words.

He rolled me onto my back and is now bending over me. His forehead was wrinkled, his eyes sleepy, but they were still searching.

"He's an Alaiser," I choked out. Grayson squeezed his eyes even tighter and a throaty sigh escaped his lips. If I went, there was a chance he would find out about it anyway, as well as my feelings for him. The latter had certainly not escaped his notice since last night.

Grayson got up and pushed his body onto the edge of the bed and remained seated. We weren't a couple, nor were we acquainted, I didn't owe him an account. But my feelings for him would not allow me to keep him in the dark.

"Grayson. I just want to be honest with you." I sat up and rubbed my face, hoping the tiredness wouldn't take hold of my speech center. How am I supposed to tell him all this? Did I even have to? My mate was probably history since I turned him down.

"Fate is cruel, Grayson. I rejected him because he is an Alaiser. And now I've lost my heart to an Alaiser." I looked at his back, shaking from his long breaths.

It was what I wished for, to be able to give away my heart myself. Who would believe that after all the events with Caspian, I as a wolf wished for everything else, to be allowed to fall in love without compulsion.

Even if someone understood, what wolf would accept leaving your mate just like that. It wasn't in our nature. reasons or not. There were only reasons for yourself.

If Grayson found his mate, I'd be history anyway. But until then I didn't want to think about it. I got up and walked around the bed and leaned against my window across from him. He rubbed his palms and stared at the floor.

"Come closer," he urged me.

I pushed myself away from the window and took a few steps toward him. When I was within arm's reach, his hands gripped my thighs and pulled me between his legs.

I was standing right over him now and his head was resting against my stomach. His forehead rested on mine for a long time before he looked at me. His eye color was slowly changing between dark brown and amber. Again and again the colors flickered alternately in his eyes.

The mix of looking down at him and him looking at me almost plaintively, there was something vulnerable I had never seen about him before.

"Sit down, Pebble," Grayson murmured against my stomach, gripping my thighs tighter and pulling me onto his lap so that I straddled him.

"Come closer," he murmured, pulling me closer. He rested his head on my shoulder, cradling my back and I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist.

"As close as you want," I murmured, hugging his shoulders tightly. That little tremor in his muscles was the answer I so desperately needed. Snuggling up against him was so comforting and knowing he was enjoying it that much more.

"I want you to do me a favor, Pebble," he murmured against my shoulder while drawing little circles down my back.

"Hmm," I murmured, letting my head fall onto his shoulder myself. "Everything you want."

"Tell me how you feel."

It was definitely something I wasn't capable of yet. I didn't know how to package my feelings in a user-friendly way.

"What if I show it?" I lifted my head from his shoulder and pulled his into my hands. A few curls were caught above his long lashes. His eyes still held that warm amber color with small flecks of gold.

"Show me, Pebble!" The moment he uttered the first word, his hands quickly traveled up my sides and lifted me slightly. Just in time for my lips to land on his as he said my pet name.

At first it was only a short, waiting and yet so gentle pressure on my lips. Lips slowly moving against mine. An alternation of small and large circles circled my lips until it gently bit my upper lip.

It was playful and challenging at the same time, not least as he rested his forehead against mine in anticipation as he pulled away. I gently felt my tongue against my lip. It was perfectly fine, but the gentle tingling didn't seem to stop.

"We're leaving in half an hour, Pebble," Grayson got up and put me to my feet. When I swayed slightly, he caught me and gave me a dreamy smile.

"Pack what you need, if something is missing, we'll get it at home." He gave me a small kiss on the forehead and walked to the door. Before grabbing the doorbell, he smiled at me again. "I'm glad you're coming, Pebble."

He left me speechless. He looked at me satisfied and I had never seen him like that before. Was he even aware of what he was saying? I certainly read too much into it, he just said 'home'.