"Let's play twenty questions", I suggested the minute Xander walked in. He laughed at that and sat beside me on the couch before asking, "Something on your mind you can't say outright again?" "You got that right."
It's been thirty minutes since we started and I have to say I've been having fun. From his favorite color to his favorite food and songs and what not, we'd both been playing it safe. Maybe he could tell that I was really trying to get to know him because he's been completely open to me about everything.
"My turn", he said with the smile he had been wearing since we started. I gave him the go ahead, "fire away". "What's the most humiliating thing you've ever done to anyone?" The minute he said those words I started laughing.
"That bad?" He asked humorously. "Yup", I replied in between laughs. "I'm not even sure I should be telling you this since it might be used against me in the nearest future". He waited patiently for my laughter to cease and kept waiting for my reply which I had no choice but to give.
"This happened when I was in junior high", I began snickering. "We had this school play at the end of the term and I auditioned and got the role of a princess, which is what I had always wanted. On the day of the play though, my role was changed due to complaints of favoritism for the (insert air quotes) celeb's kid".
"My new part however, was that of a servant in the castle and since I hated the fact that I didn't get to play the princess part anymore, let's just say the real princess will never forget a servant like me", I finished with a smug smile.
"What did you do?" He asked instantly. "Slip poison in her wine or what?" "Oh no", I replied sprucely, "I did worse than that". "What could be worse than that?" he asked in shock. "Let's just say I ripped her dress in strategic places that she had to be holding onto almost every inch of the dress to finish playing her part, but I didn���t stop at that".
"I completely flipped the script on her when she came out to greet the prince. I told everyone, audience included that she was a servant masquerading as the princess and in the end I never got to play any part in the drama club again", I finished glumly.
"Well, remind me never to try and take anything from you", he replied amiably. "The most humiliating aspect of the entire thing was I actually did all this in front of my family. My mom was so embarrassed she had to go see the principal on my behalf and I was suspended for two weeks".
"Which was a well-deserved two weeks mind you", he emphasized. "I thought you were just being cautious not to mess with me", I threatened. "You missed my words Ash", he replied patronizingly. "I said I would never try to take anything from you".
"Nicely played", I countered. "My turn". "Let's go", he said smiling. "Rapid choice between the two, that's the next game we're starting right now", I replied and he agreed with a small tilt of his head. "Finally I get to mess with you", I said happily. "Let's see you try", he dared.
"Annnnd I'm starting now. Burgers or pizza?" "Burgers". "Cars or bikes?" "Cars". "Hmmm… sports car or truck?" "Both". "American football or Basketball?" "Basketball". "Nice, boxing or wrestling?" "Boxing".
"Netflix or cinema?" "Netflix". "Damn so you one of those Netflix and chill people uh?" I asked sarcastically. Another smug smile. Moving on.
This went on for a few more minutes before I ran out of options and was left with the ones stuck in my head since the beginning. I wanted to ask but somehow lost the nerve to and ended my questions on a good note.
"Now it's my turn", he said sitting up straight to look at me. I nodded in response and he began firing. "Dancing or modelling?" "Dancing". 'Well shit, Asha', the voice in my head whispered, 'would you look at that'. "Cheerleading or drama?" "Ahh… hard choice, cheerleading" "Hmm… Justin or Keith?" "Aha! Justin, he's crazy cute". "By the way, wrong answer", he said unashamedly.
"Justin or Canaan?" "Both". "Justin or Nat?" "Wicked, but its Nat". "Finally", he replied. "Next, Nat or Xander?" "Both". "Nah", he disagreed. "You only get to use that once just like I did". "Fine", I replied with a shrug. "Xander". "Good choice", he complemented.
"Xander as a boyfriend or Xander as a protector?" "Shoot… Xander as a boyfriend". I like that", he said appreciatively. "Last question". "Finally", I breathed in relief. "Xander to Mark you or Xander to protect you?"
"Xander to…", I replied only to pause when I realized I still hadn't made a choice yet and time was far spent. "I know you've been stalling and I also know deep down you already have an answer to that question", he replied calmly. "Just say it and you can be sure I���ll abide by it".
I believed him but the fight was within myself. "If I choose the second option am I being stupid?" I asked quietly. "No it doesn't mean that", he reassured. "It simply means you trust me enough to do just that, protect you."
"And if I were to choose the first option, does that mean I'm letting myself be pulled by the waves of my present circumstances?" I asked again. "You know it doesn't mean that", he replied gently. "It just means you believe it's the best option for you."
"I don't want to make the wrong choice", I whispered. "There is no wrong choice here", he assured. "There's just your choice. I just hate that the time limit is so short so…" "Xander to mark me". "You can't really think… wait what did you say?" he asked instantly.
"Xander to mark me", I replied clearly. He was speechless for a few seconds and then, "Are you sure? I don't want you feeling like you have to make this option your choice". "I appreciate your thoughts Xander, but I'm sure", I replied calmly.
He looked as if he didn't believe me, kept staring at me in search of a hint of doubt or anything so he could call my bluff. I did appreciate his concern but there was no need for it. From the moment Aunt Maia had told me about the marking I had been considering it. The only reason I had a hard time earlier was because he told me it was irrevocable as was most things werewolf.
When he didn't say anything further, I asked carefully, "Are you having doubts about having me as your mate or something? Because I thought you'd be happy with my choice at least". He quickly recovered and replied gently, "I am happy with your choice. I just want to be certain that you're doing this for you and not for anyone else."
"I am", I reassured with a small smile. "I'm ready, let's do this". He hesitated for a few more seconds and then finally agreed with me. "This is going to hurt almost as much as your first shift did", he began carefully. "I will try to make this as quick as possible."
I could only nod as I was feeling tense all of a sudden. His words almost made me change my mind but I knew this was better than having everyone know my identity and not know who to trust to keep me safe.
While I was trying to reign in my nerves, he moved even closer to me. His hand on my shoulder turning me to face him completely. "I know you're worried, but it'll be better if you can calm down", he said gently. In and out, I took deep breaths to try and do what he said.
When we were so close we were in each other's space, he placed his hand on my face gently caressing it. His eyes never leaving mine even when he used his free hand to gently push my hair behind my ear, exposing my neck to him.
"Before I go any further", he whispered softly. "I need to ask you something". His closeness was doing all kinds of funny things to my body and all of a sudden my hoodie felt too warm on my body and I found myself answering breathily, "anything".
"I know this might be considered moving too fast but I've been trying to hold back for a long time now and I don't want to end up doing anything without your permission", he explained briefly. I gave another breathy reply, "okay".
"Can I kiss you?" he asked intently, his eyes locked on mine. I couldn't hold myself fast enough and I knew he could hear me inhale sharply at his question. It wasn't my fault though since his question triggered a chain reaction of nerves and butterflies in my tummy.
Since I met him, I had always wondered what it would be like to kiss him and to hear him ask me that was such a shock I couldn't react any other way. I was so consumed with trying to calm my nerves that I forgot he asked me a question till he repeated it gently and this time all I could muster was a small "yes".
He kept his eyes locked on mine for the longest time and I'm almost certain he could hear my heart pounding in anticipation, yet he did nothing. Just stayed there looking at me while I struggled to hold his gaze. I gave up in the end though, my heart could not take looking into his eyes while he started so intently at me like that.
As I lowered my gaze from his though, he lifted my chin with his free hand, tilting my face to his and in small unhurried moves he covered the distance between our lips and closed his on mine making tingles erupt on every part of my body. In that moment, I died and came back.
His lips were beyond soft, smooth and supple and he kissed like one with all the time in the world. Without hurry, taking his time to savor the connection that erupted between us. If I thought my heart had taken enough before, I was wrong. My heartbeat was out of place, skipping beats and doing all kinds of funny dances.
He possessed me with his kiss. His arm wrapped around my waist to pull me closer to him and I found my hands wandering on their own accord. Moving from his arms to his back and into his hair to finally sink into the haven I'd ben aching to touch for so long.
When my hand found ground in his hair and tugged, I heard his groan in the kiss and he reciprocated by holding onto me tighter. His hand returning to my neck and then my nape as he ran his hand through my hair, gripping in intervals and driving me completely insane. How could a simple kiss do so much to a human being.
He savored my lips a little longer and then with a trail of small kisses he made his way to my neck. Completely drowning in the feelings he had awoken in me, my mind did not register what was about to happen until I heard him whisper a soft, "I'm sorry", close to my ear and felt his teeth lightly brush my skin.
The bite was a rude awakening from my feelings to reality. The minute his canines bit into my flesh, I felt pain flash right through my body. From my neck to my toes, it felt like liquid fire was running through my veins. I tried moving away from him to grant myself a respite from the pain but he held onto me harder making it impossible to move even an inch.
He held onto me a little longer all while I struggled in his arms and then finally it was over. He placed one final kiss on the bite and withdrew his face from my neck, hugging me completely with his chin on my head. For a few seconds extra though I could feel the lingering pain in my body while he continued rocking me in his arms to try and calm me down.
"I'm sorry", he whispered again. "It's okay", I replied gently, feeling totally exhausted. He held me a little longer and then when I finally stopped shaking he moved me back so he could see my face. "I'm sorry, Asha", he apologized again.
"Stop saying sorry", I replied softly. "It's done and it's not your fault. I made my choice." He looked as if he wanted apologizing again but thought better of it and instead gave me another hug. The hug was tight almost to the point of suffocation and I knew he was still trying to apologize. I could only hug him back the same way to let him know I was fine.
We stayed like that for a few seconds and then he withdrew from the hug, his head brushing my hair into my face as he drew back gradually until he was facing me again. He used his hands to gently adjust my hair while his eyes drew back and forth from my eyes to my lips and even before he moved I knew what he was about to do.
His kiss this time was a hungry one, I guess having a taste of heaven will do that to you. Whatever pain I felt still dancing within my veins tingled its way out of my body as his kiss resurrected new waves of pleasure through my body. I could definitely get used to this.