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Reece

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I woke to the sensation of holding my mate in my arms. The feeling of her soft, supple body pressed against mine. The warmth of her naked flesh pressed against my bare skin. It was enough to arouse me again. I wanted her, there was no doubting that. As much and as often as I could get her I wanted her.

But now was not the time. I had a flight to catch today and a schedule to keep. I didn't want to leave without saying anything like last time, I got the impression she wasn't very happy about that, but I was reluctant to wake her up.

I adjusted, rolling us both in the process. The move brought us face to face as she was currently using my shoulder as a pillow. I didn't want this time to end, but I had to wake her.

Gently, I pressed my lips to her forehead. Somewhere I thought wouldn't intensify my arousal for her. It didn't work, I wanted her more. I had to fight my wolf back, restraining him and myself from going any further.

I felt her stir in my arms. Her full body stretch pressed her closer to me, squeezing her breasts against my chest. I hummed in satisfaction, the feeling was phenomenal.

"Hmm, morning already, huh?" She asked me as she fluttered her eyes.

"I'm sorry I have to wake you, but I need to leave."

"You do, do you?" She seemed playful this morning.

"I have to get to the airport. I know you're mad about having to stay behind, but-."

"Don't worry about it, I've got the start of the new semester tomorrow, and it would have only been for a couple days." She interrupted me.

"A business trip isn't what you want, maybe we can take a proper vacation soon. We can truly get away from all the trouble following you."

"It's fine." She sounded upset, I know she was not happy but I would work hard to make it up to her.

I pulled my arm out from under her with a light tug. She sat up with me, covering herself with the sheet from the bed. I tried not to be upset that she was hiding herself from me while I looked around the room for my clothes.

Everything I had been wearing was scattered in several different directions, it took me a little while to find it all. She sat watching me the entire time. I tried not to look at her too much, seeing her would make it too hard to leave.

Once I had pulled my clothes on, though I had left my shirt unbuttoned for the sake of time, I started toward the door, but I paused to look back at her.

"As you know, I'm leaving today, but I will be back by Wednesday morning at the latest."

"I know." She looked dejected as she lowered her eyes to stare at the bed instead of me.

"Look, about what I said before."

"Now that's specific."

"Stop interrupting me, please." I implored her. "I'm talking about what I said about what we are to each other."

"REECE!" I heard Noah yelling from outside in the hallway, his voice held a biting edge of anger.

"Don't worry about it, I know this didn't mean anything. Nothing's changed, you don't have to feel guilty. I wanted it too." I could see the pain in her eyes as she spoke.

"Look, it's-."

"Reece!" Noah pounded impatiently on the door to her room. "We're running late, hurry up and get out here." He snapped angrily. 'Well, someone wasn't very happy with me right now, and I could guess why.'

"Look, I need to go, but we will talk about this when I get back, alright."

"Whatever you say." She tried to smile but couldn't, her face was filled with worry and apprehension. Did she seriously still think I didn't care about her. I would have to find a way to convince her otherwise.

"Trinity, I-" I started to speak again, but the door to her room flew open, missing me by barely an inch as it swung in front of my face.

"Reece, let's go." Noah growled. I saw my Little Bunny pull the covers more securely around her, her face flushed crimson.

"NOAH!" She screamed.

"I'm sorry Trinity, but we need to hurry or we will be late." His face was full of a murderous rage. I glared at the man, he was my best friend and my mate's cousin, but he would not be allowed to see her naked, nor would I forgive his interruptions.

"I don't think I gave you permission to barge in here." I growled menacingly at him.

"It's not your room, I don't need your permission." He countered.

"She didn't give you permission either." I snapped.

"You were taking too long. We have to go, now." He glared at me, a red hot anger was burning in his dark eyes.

"Trinity, we will talk more when I get back." I looked at her once more. The blush that crept into her cheeks also flowed down her neck and across her shoulders. The sight of her blushing skin made me want to trace the heat with my tongue, but I didn't have the time. "I will see you later." I told her.

"Bye." She squeaked out in her embarrassed state.

I stomped out of the room, pulling the door shut behind me. I led the way down the hall while he followed behind me. I could feel the anger pouring off of him in waves, the intensity of it was palpable. His feet thumped loudly against the carpeted hall, echoing in the silent house.

"I need to get dressed, give me a few minutes."

"Make it quick." I growled loudly at his words. He had been trying to order me around ever since he barged in on me and my mate. I glared at him, but decided the conversation could wait, I was running behind already.

Ten minutes later I had freshened up and changed, and we were now in the car on the way to the airport. Noah was still angry, a furrowed brow and a scowl seemed to be the newest permanent additions to his face.

"What's your problem?" I asked him. I had let more of my anger into my words than I had intended to.

"I told you to keep your hands to yourself." He snapped at me.

"Excuse me?" His words had thrown me through a loop.

"Don't toy with her, Reece. I won't let you play with her heart. She's too nice of a girl just for you to be using her for your own sick games."

"You seem to have made up your mind about me already." I growled. "Did you forget about the part where she is MY mate."

"No, I didn't forget, nor did I forget about you telling her she's nothing to you and you hate her." He yelled. "She's my family Reece, the only sister I will ever have. She means a lot to me and I will not let you hurt her again."

"I have been working hard to fix my mistakes with her. The two of us have talked a lot about what happened in October and November. I have explained myself to her, I don't need to explain myself to you at all."

"Really? Because if I don't feel that you're treating her right then you'll have me to deal with."

"Do you really think you could take me on?" I inquired, my voice was full of bold superiority.

"If I couldn't handle you alone, then I would have backup. I'm sure Carter, and my parents would just have a field day if I told them how you treated her."

"Are you threatening me?"

"You bet your ass I am. You better treat her right, Reece, or I swear to the Goddess, we will all do whatever is in our power to take you down. I don't care if we're banished for it afterward. If you ever hurt her again-."

"That's in the past, Noah. How many times do I need to tell you that?" I snapped at him.

"I will believe it when I hear it from her." He told me.

"Fine, ask her when we get back. Or better yet, ask her now. Call her, right now. Dammit Noah, I love her. I'm never going to hurt her again."

"What did you just say?" He asked me, his face was full of shock like he couldn't believe what I had just said.

"Is it that hard to believe that I love her?" I asked him, sheepishly.

"Kind of." His smirk actually hurt, he had no faith in me.

"Well, I do, and I was about to tell her when you barged into the room." I snapped at him angrily again.

"So, she doesn't know you love her?"

"I haven't told her yet, no." I told him honestly.

"You're such an asshat." He spit the curse at me through clenched teeth. "You better treat her right."

"I'll treat her like a queen, because to me, that's what she is." I smiled happily as I thought of the future I had to look forward to with my sexy little mate.

"You better not forget that, ever." He warned me one last time.