CHAPTER 12 — FALLING HARDER

"They will be coming for us by the weekend." He said to her, tucking his almost dead phone into his back pocket.

"Are you sure about this, Dale?"

He nodded. "Hundred percent. Please don’t chicken out on me now."

She shook her head. "I am not chicken. I am a wolf."

He laughed at that, tugging her cheeks. "Yeah, yeah. You're a wolf. And that's why I’m here." He kissed her cheek and walked away.

"Where are you going?"

"To whip up something for us." He sighed dreamily. "I can't wait, Elsa. It would be so nice. I would show you my kitchen, my home. Everything. You'll get to see my world. You'll share your life with me." He sighed again and started to set things up.

She turned to him. Her vision got weaker, not the 20/20 vision she had when she fed on him, but it never left. She could clearly see things that were close and saw far things as a blur of colors. "You want all of that?"

He nodded and looked, his hazel eyes meeting her light green eyes. He felt everything again. The electricity, the pull as he called it, and he smiled at her and managed to tear his gaze away.

She shrugged. "Just do it."

He didn't look up this time. It was safe to say, he was scared of the way she made him feel, and it’s been only five days. "Do what?"

He didn't see her as she shrugged, pulling her face so she wouldn't seem so desperate. "Kiss me."

He looked up this time. "What? No. I want to cook."

"You sure?" She jumped off the little stool she had been on and started walking towards him. He tried hard to concentrate, but he couldn't anymore. How could he, when he wasn’t even hungry for food but for the astonishingly beautiful blonde girl walking towards him? He shook his head and blinked rapidly.

"So, you're saying…" Her hand was under his chin now, lifting his face up as she bent.

"You're saying...." She was moving closer now, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Her eyes. He loved her eyes. When he'd first seen her and sometime after that, they had been shielded behind dark glasses, but now that he could see them, he couldn't get over them. He could stare into those eyes till forever comes. "You're saying..."

Her voice. It had literally taken his breath away the first time he heard it. It still took his breath away. Every single time. Every. Damn. time. She was close now. So close. If he could just close the little space between them, he'd have those blood red rosebuds, those lips that tasted like heaven. His breath was faltering, and he could see it all in her eyes.

Suddenly, without warning, she began to tickle his sides, causing him to reel over, his eyes tightly shut, laughter escaping his lips as a panic response. "Please, Elsa, please stop."

She didn’t seem to listen as she continued, making herself comfortable on him as she laughed too. He'd never really seen her laugh before and the sound was beautiful. She laughed like she didn't have a care in the world, like it was all joy and beautiful and no worries at all.

"Say it."

"What? Please, stop." He said amidst laughter.

"Admit you wanna kiss me."

He laughed again as she tickled harder. "Please Elsa..."

"Just admit it and I’ll let you go."

"Okay, okay...wait, wait." He was breathless and she paused for a bit. "What did you tell me to admit again?"

She was about to resume tickling when he suddenly flipped her over, his hand cradling her head so she wouldn't get hurt. "You're a naughty little one, aren't you?"

She fluttered her eyelashes rapidly, making a cute face. It made him laugh, then he took his middle, index, and pinky finger to caress the side of her face. She closed her eyes, his touch leaving tickles on her skin as he went by.

"Yes, you sure are cute and beautiful." He was caressing the side of her face and when his hand dropped to her neck, her breath caught in her throat. "So beautiful. Who knew I would find you here?"

"What do you mean?"

His hand was going lower, but then he suddenly retracted it, up her face. "I meant, Elsa...I would have come to these woods earlier if I knew you would be here waiting. But I am also glad, you know. If I had come earlier, I probably wouldn't be able to accept, or give you the life you deserve. You deserve every single good thing and I’m glad I worked so hard In the past years to get this far. Even though I didn't know that I would meet you."

She smiled and pushed him away. "You know, you have to give me some credit too. I mean…"

Dale's hands had pulled down the sleeves of her gown, leaving her shoulder and arms exposed. His nose buried in the crook of her neck, his two hands trailing each arm.

"You were saying?" he murmured into her ears, and she gave a low gasp. He carefully traced his hands to the back of the dress and this time, when he unzipped it, the dress fell off instantly, leaving her almost unclad, her back turned to him. She didn’t care about the dress or how she was. This was her mate, and nothing felt better.

"What were you saying?" he asked just as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, Burying his face in her neck, he stayed to kiss the firm flesh there, his hands drawing circles on her skin.

"Tell me." She only purred as response, her hands going up to touch his hair, her eyes closing, her toes curling.

"Admit it, Dale." He stopped kissing her neck and turned her to look at him. Gently cupping her face, amusement dancing in his eyes, he brought her lips closer.

"I really wanna kiss you, Elsa," he said and kissed her.