The Alpha’s Pen Pal (Crescent Lake Book 1)
The Alpha’s Pen Pal: Chapter 23

WESLEY

Our food arrived, and I reluctantly released Haven’s hand so we could both eat. I almost wished I had sat beside her instead of across from her. I wanted to be as close to her as possible, as much as possible. But if I’d sat next to her, I wouldn’t be able to look at her as much as I had been.

Goddess, she was beautiful. The shy little girl from the photos she had sent me over those short months was long gone, and in her place was this woman. A gorgeous woman who was slowly but surely working her way further into my heart with everything that she did and said.

Even her little act of defiance of not dressing up was adorable. And a bit of a turn-on. I was so used to having everyone listen to me and follow my orders as I prepared to become alpha that it was refreshing to have someone who didn’t know or care to listen to me and be obedient.

The conversation between us flowed with ease. She told me more than I ever thought I would know about ballet, and I did my best to tell her about me without revealing anything she might view as weird. I still hadn’t worked out how I would tell her about my world. My dad said to wait and see how things worked out between us before worrying about it too much.

But I already knew what I wanted with her. A life. A future. I wanted her as my mate and my luna. I just had to hope she didn’t get scared away when I told her the truth.

“Would you like any dessert?” our server asked after she cleared away our dinner plates.

Haven’s eyes lit up, but then she looked at me and frowned. “No,” she said, shaking her head at the server.

“You can order dessert if you want,” I told her, leaning forward.

“No, it’s fine,” she muttered, looking down at her hands in her lap.

It was my turn to frown. She wanted dessert. That was obvious. And if she wanted it, then she was going to get it.

“We’ll share the profiteroles,” I told the server, and she nodded and left to put in our dessert order.

I turned to smile at Haven, and she just stared at me, considering me, as if she was seeing me in a new light.

“What?” I asked her, but she shook her head and looked down at her hands again.

Fuck this. This wasn’t the Haven I knew, the Haven who had been flirting and laughing with me all evening. This wasn’t my Haven.

I lifted my napkin from my lap and moved from my side of the booth to hers, scooting in close and putting my arm behind her on the seat back.

She shifted herself, angling her body towards me, and I moved just a tad closer to her so our knees touched.

“Hey,” I said, moving my hand to her shoulder.

“Hi,” she replied with a small smile.

“Want to tell me why you didn’t want dessert?”

She shook her head, her loose curls bouncing. “It’s silly.”

“I’m sure it’s not,” I said.

She gave me a nervous look, then tucked her hair behind her ear.

“My ex…” she began, and my eyes darkened, and my jaw clenched to block the growl threatening to escape.

She gave me a look that said, “see, this is why I didn’t want to say anything,” and I took a deep breath and gestured at her to continue.

“My ex didn’t like when I ordered desserts,” she confided. “Or did anything, really,” she added.

I held back my growl again. I didn’t even care that she’d been with men before me. Well, okay, I did a little. I couldn’t say anything, though. I had a past too. What I was more upset about was this asshole thinking he could control her and her free spirit.

“What a jackass,” I declared.

She chuckled a little. “I can agree with you on that,” she said. “I broke up with him because of that.”

“Let me guess. He didn’t like you dancing?”

“Nope,” she said.

“Jackass,” I repeated. “He asked you to stop?”

“Wanted me to be Susie Homemaker for him,” she said. “Never mind that I’m barely in my twenties. He wanted me to quit so we could get married, and I could get pregnant right away.”

I grimaced at that. Partially because fuck, what a bastard to force her to quit something she loved just to be a baby-maker. And partially because at the mention of her being pregnant, I imagined just that. Imagined her pregnant with my pup, looking radiant and happy, and I didn’t want her to notice how much that thought excited me.

Because I wouldn’t be like that ex of hers, some immature and insecure ass who dimmed her light to make himself feel more important and powerful.

And I realized now she wasn’t being defiant towards me just for fun. She was being herself and, in her own way, showing me she trusted me. Showing me I made her feel safe, and knew I might tease her for her “disobedience” but would never lash out at her for being independent and sassy.

Because she was independent, and that was part of what drew me to her. She could live her dream of being a ballerina for as long as she wanted before we started a family. Hell, if she never wanted pups, I would be fine with that, too.

Oh, Goddess, I was turning into one of THOSE males. The males who got all gooey and swoony for their woman. And the worst—or maybe best?—part was, I didn’t even mind in the slightest. And my lycan was right there with me, making mushy faces and sighing at Haven in my mind.

Thankfully, the server brought our dessert just then, so she saved me from my sappy thoughts and swooning lycan.

Haven’s eyes lit up as the server set the plate in front of us. I turned towards the table but lowered my left arm so it wrapped around her and rested on her hip. I’m not sure if she realized she did it, but she scooted closer to me as she dug into the cream-filled pastries, making our thighs touch under the table.

I pressed mine closer to hers, my arm holding her a little tighter, my hand rubbing her hip.

Only three profiteroles were on the plate, so we each ate one and then began arguing over who should get the third one.

“You should take it,” Haven said, pushing the plate towards me.

“I want you to have it,” I told her, pushing it back.

“Seriously, Wes, just eat it.”

“Rock paper scissors?” I asked.

She blew out air through her nose. “Fine. I win, you eat it. You win, I eat it.”

“Deal,” I said, smiling.

We lifted our right hands above the table, played one round, and we both picked paper. I made a face at her, and we played again, and both picked rock. She laughed, and we did a third round, only to both get scissors.

“How about we split it?” I suggested, since our rock paper scissors plan was going nowhere. “We’ll be at it all night at this rate,” I added with a chuckle.

She nodded through her own laughter, and I picked up the dessert, lifting it to my mouth and taking the smallest bite I could manage, leaving most of the treat for her. She rolled her eyes when she saw how tiny of a bite I took.

“Here,” I said after I swallowed, holding it out to her, just in front of her mouth.

She locked her eyes on mine as she wrapped her mouth around the dessert to take a bite, her lips brushing my fingers as she did. I didn’t look or pull away from her, but I had to grit my teeth to prevent myself from groaning at her touch and the teasing glint in her eyes. My dick hardened in my pants, and I forced myself to not reach down and adjust it.

She took the rest of the pastry from my hand so she could finish it, a little moan of delight escaping from her as she chewed. I finally had to close my eyes because that one noise conjured many naughty ideas in my mind, ideas I knew she wasn’t ready for. Not yet, anyway. She’s human, I reminded myself. We have to go slow.

When I looked back at her, she still had that little sparkle in her eyes, and I knew she’d done it on purpose. I smirked at her, then reached forward to wipe off the small amount of whipped cream that ended up on her nose from when I fed her the dessert.

“Sorry,” I chuckled.

I wanted to lick it off my thumb, but before I could, she grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand back to her face. Without pausing, she stuck my thumb in her mouth and swirled her tongue around the tip as she sucked the whipped cream off.

My lycan purred, my knee jerked upwards and hit the table, making the dishes and flatware rattle, and Haven released my thumb with a popping sound as she laughed.

She still giggled as she moved her napkin from her lap to the table and reached for her water glass when I lunged forward to place my lips against her ear.

“You’re playing a dangerous game here, Twinkle Toes,” I warned her, my mouth and warm breath making goosebumps appear on her neck.

My fingers on her hip drew small circles, then I pulled her as tight as I could against me without turning her body. Her sweet jasmine scent mixed with the scent of the vanilla whipped cream we just ate, and Goddess help me, she smelled good enough to eat.

She turned her face, and my nose brushed along her cheekbone until her nose touched mine. I lifted my other hand to caress her face as I angled my mouth towards hers. But the clearing of a throat interrupted us, making Haven jump and scoot away from me and out of my arms towards the corner of the booth seat.

“Your check,” the server said with a sly smile.

She was lucky she wasn’t a wolf from my pack because if she was, she’d be getting an earful from me through the mindlink.

I pulled my wallet out and tossed several hundred-dollar bills on the table. Haven’s eyebrows shot up, but she said nothing. I stood from the table and held my hand out to her, and she took it without hesitation and walked with me out of the restaurant.

The early fall air was cooler now that it was dark, so I pulled her into my side and put my arm around her shoulder as we walked back to her apartment building. She tucked her body closer to me, and her arm slid around my waist, her other hand touching my side.

Unlike our walk to the restaurant, our walk back was quiet. But not an uncomfortable quiet. It was a familiar quiet. There wasn’t much that needed to be said at the moment, and we both enjoyed just being with each other.

When we reached her apartment door, my lycan whimpered in my head. He didn’t want to let her go, didn’t want to leave her. He wanted to either follow her inside and stay with her or demand she come back to the pack with us.

I was totally on board with either option, but I had to remind myself yet again that she was a human, and we couldn’t rush these things with her. I didn’t want to scare her off by being too forward or moving things too quickly for her.

She seemed reluctant to turn in for the night, too, though. We removed our arms from each other, but she stayed close to me, not even attempting to get her keys from her purse.

“Haven,” I said.

She looked up at me, and before I could stop myself, my hands were on her hips, pulling her body against mine, and her palms rested on my upper arms. I slid one arm around her waist to hold her in place as my other hand moved up into her hair, gripping the strands and tilting her head to the perfect angle for what I wanted to do next.

The split second before my lips touched hers was the most tension-filled moment of my life. Everything that passed between us as our eyes closed said more than any words could.

My mouth met hers in a slow, tender kiss. Her lips were delicate and warm, and her bottom lip slipped between both of mine. I sucked on it a little, my tongue swiping against it, tasting the lingering sweetness from our profiteroles.

A delightful little sound escaped her throat, and she pressed her body closer to mine, her arms wrapping around my neck.

Goddess, she felt so good in my arms, her lips a perfect fit against mine. I wanted to lift her up, wrap her long legs around my waist, carry her into her apartment, throw her on her bed, and cover her body with mine. I wanted to bury myself inside her, to hear those little noises turn into loud moans, to feel her wrapped around me as we came together.

Instead, I pulled my lips away from hers, staying close enough that our breath mixed.

“I had a really good time,” I murmured to her.

“Me too,” she replied.

She leaned forward and gave me another gentle kiss, her hand stroking the back of my neck. My lycan purred again—it seemed it was becoming a habit of his around her—and I held in a shudder from her light touches.

“Good night, Wesley,” she said as she pulled away.

I forced myself to stay where I was as she unlocked her door and stepped inside, even though I wanted to chase after her and stay with her all night. I waited until I heard the door lock and her footsteps fade away, unable to leave without knowing she was safe and sound inside her apartment for the night.

I was on cloud nine and didn’t even remember the drive home. I practically waltzed into my house, humming a little to myself as I dropped my wallet and keys in the little dish in my entry.

But a voice popped my happy little bubble. “Dude. Are you humming the Sugar Plum Fairy music?”