Chapter Fifty-Seven

“Lydia,” Adrian’s familiar voice whispers in my ear, grazing my skin with his lips. “Your phone is ringing.” The warmth of his body remains pressed against me, too warm and inviting for me to care about the incessant buzzing somewhere nearby.

I snuggle deeper into his armpit. “Answer it then,” I mumble, voice lost in the material of his sweater. He smells so good. I feel his chest rise and fall in a sigh before moving to grab my phone from somewhere above me. He must be able to remember the passcode, because he answers my phone, still cradling me with one arm.

“Hello?” His voice is like a drum against my ear, reverberating through his chest. “Yes, this is her phone. Who is this, if I might ask?” There’s a moment of silence to allow the caller to answer his question. “Ah, I see. She isn’t available at the moment, but let me take a message for her.” Another pause as the caller explains their reason for contacting my phone. “Yes, she mentioned that. Alright, I’ll relay that and have her call you back. Uh-huh. Okay, bye.” He settles back onto the couch beside me after ending the call.

I turn my face upwards to get some fresh air, attempting to open my eyes. “What was that?” I ask, voice still heavy with sleep. It doesn’t feel like I was napping for very long, but I do feel much better already.

Adrian chuckles as he looks down at me, amused by my positioning. “Your agent. She was asking about some jobs available in Dubai. She said the client asked for you specifically.”

The room is still bright with the afternoon sun, made warm by the fire in the hearth. I yawn and snuggle back into his chest. “Oh. I don’t think I’ll take it,” I murmur, wishing that I could go back to sleep.

Adrian traces designs onto my back, making me wish to sleep again even more. “Why not?” He surprises me by asking, keeping his voice low. I pull back enough to look up at him, seeing that he’s already staring down at me. “Why do you look so surprised?”

I furrow my brow and struggle beneath the blanket to prop myself up onto an elbow, feeling suddenly more awake. “What do you mean why? What about school?” I ask, confused by his willingness to let me travel across the world.

Adrian shrugs a shoulder, reaching to smooth my hair over my head. “What about it? You can take online classes for a few weeks. A change of scenery might be good for you. Besides, that’s your job, isn’t it? And you’re my job, which means that I go wherever you go. The choice is yours to make.”

I stare at him as I consider his words, still trying to pull myself out of my slumber brain. Is he just saying that because he wants to get me away from Jasper and Serene, and everything about the academy? It sounds like he’s saying a distraction might be a good thing for me. “Maybe. It won’t be for a few months, anyway,” I say, trying not to seem suspicious about my unwillingness to travel right now. Just when I decided to try and learn more about my magic, Adrian suddenly wants us to fly to Dubai with me? I know it must be a coincidence, but it still strikes me as odd timing. I haven’t heard from my agent in weeks until now, even if it was because of my own doing. I distanced myself from modeling work for a reason, but I know I can’t expect my agency to give me too much more vacation time to process my trauma. Before all of this, I was frequently booked out for months on end.

Adrian’s expression softens as he caresses my cheek. “Okay. Just think about it, alright?” He waits for me to nod before pressing his lips to my nose and reaching to toss the blanket aside, exposing me to the cool air. I cling to him even more, making him chuckle. “We have to get ready to head back for the last class. Besides, you wanted to hang out with Serene after, didn’t you?” He sits up slowly, allowing me to continue to hang off of his neck like a baby monkey.

“But your so warm,” I whine, moving to sit on his lap as I bury my face into the crook of his neck. “And you smell so good.”

Adrian sighs, surprising me as he grazes his teeth against the exposed flesh of my throat. “I know, so do you,” He growls faintly, inhaling deeply. His lips find the pulse in my neck and he plants small kisses against it in perfect time to the beats of my heart. “Like Honeysuckle and vanilla.”

I pull away from him just enough to look at his face, a confused frown pulling at my lips. “I’m not wearing anything, though.”

He offers a lopsided smile, the darkness swirling in his eyes seeming very similar. He looked at me that way last night, too. I’m suddenly aware of the pressure against my upper thighs as I sit on him, making me realize what I’ve done. “I told you, you smell the best without perfume. It’s the way our bodies call to each other. They want to be close together.”

I bite my lip and release his neck, pulling away from his chest. “They call to each other?” I repeat, realizing what he means. It’s the same reason why his touch shocked me and why his scent is intoxicating to me. “Because we’re Mates?”

Adrian nods, placing his hands on my hips to keep me in place. The gold chain on his neck glitters in the sunlight that beams through the windows, making me notice just how good the color looks with his skin tone. His eyes are like melted chocolate as he looks me over appreciatively. “Exactly. You noticed it from the start, didn’t you?”

I sigh, catching a whiff of his scent and nodding in helpless agreement. “I didn't know what it was, but I knew there was a reason for it. You made me feel like I was crazy. I never lost my cool for a guy before that,” I lean into him again, huffing the skin at his neck again. “You smell like a pine forest and mint gum.”

Adrian pushes me back enough to raise his eyebrow at me, his hands like iron around my waist. “Do you know what you’re doing?” He asks, testing me. I can feel him beneath me, a solid bulge beneath my legs, dangerously close to something else.

I bite my lip again and nod slowly. “We should probably go, right?”

His eyes flicker to my chewing and he reaches to free my lower lip, voice a low growl. “If you don’t stop biting your lip, I’m going to do it for you.” God, why is he so alluring? I just woke up from a nap and all I can think about is sucking him dry again.

I swallow dryly, recalling the taste from last night. No, stop it. Go to class. You have to meet Serene, remember? There are more important things in life than Adrian’s dick right now. Even though it feels like the biggest thing in it, at the moment. Later. The reasoning voice in my head seems quieter than usual, overshadowed by Adrian’s soft lips and his dimple smile. I just want to bite him. I finally find my voice, but it wavers, giving me away. “I’ll stop. Come on, let’s go,” I urge him, straining against his grip on my hips. “I don’t want to miss two classes in my first week. We can pick this up later.”

Adrian heaves a sigh but releases me, allowing me to climb off of his lap. I turn to grab my phone from the couch but don’t get away without a heavy squeeze of my ass, making me turn to gawk at Adrian and swat him away. “You’re such a tease,” He jokes, looking down at the aftermath. “Do you know how annoying it is to make it go back down?”

I push my phone into my pocket with a condescending look. “I didn’t do anything,” I remind him. “You’re the one who started fondling me in my sleep, sir.”

He grins, knowing that I’m right. “Yeah, but you’re just so sexy that I can’t restrain myself,” He groans and stretches his legs, taking a deep breath to try and will his erection to soften. It doesn’t seem to work so he stands up anyway and follows me into the kitchen.

I glance at the time on the stove and decide to dip into the fridge for a protein bar, feeling my stomach growl with hunger. Since we skipped lunch in order to nap instead, I probably won’t get a chance to eat a real meal until after class. “Don’t try to flirt with me,” I say, jabbing a finger at him playfully. “Let’s get going. Stop trying to distract me.”