Page 10 of Mated to Fenrir (Fated Mates Collection #5)

DELIA

There was something about waking up in someone else's arms that was different from waking up alone.

It was better.

I shuffled further back, pressing myself against Fenrir and feeling him harden against my thigh. It sent another thrill through me as I thought back on the fun we'd had last night. And the fun we could have this morning.

"You're insatiable," he murmured sleepily.

"It's my wolf," I joked.

He chuckled and pulled me closer, leaning in to nip my ear. "Is that just an excuse?"

"Mmhmm."

"I hate to break it to you, but I might need to eat before we do anything else."

"I've got something you can eat," I joked.

He laughed. "Actual food."

"I know." I turned around in his arms, seeing him looking at me with adoration in his eyes. I lifted my hand to trace the planes of his face. "I'm afraid that while I remembered to buy condoms, my cupboards are fairly bare when it comes to interesting breakfast. I can offer you some porridge?"

"Porridge is a good breakfast," he said.

"Okay, so cinnamon bun porridge or apple and sultana?"

"What?"

"They're the flavours I have. It's from this fancy oat place. All the ingredients are good, they're just mixed together."

"Which do you like best?"

"Both, that's why I have them," I responded. "I might also have some cherry bakewell. I didn't like that one very much, but if that's your thing, then I can find it."

"It's fine. I think cinnamon bun, maybe?"

"Okay." I leaned in and kissed him.

He pulled me closer, deepening the kiss and making me think that he might not want breakfast first after all. Eventually, he let go, a wide smile on his face.

I threw off the covers and got out of bed, scooping his shirt off the floor. "I'm borrowing your shirt."

"Sure, but why?"

"So you can't wear it." I slipped it over my head, enjoying that it smelled of him, even if the man himself was in my bed, and I probably smelled of him.

"Fair enough."

"And because it's one of the perks of being with a guy," I said.

"I'll take your word for it."

"You must know. You said that one of your mates was a man."

"I did," he agreed. "But he would have been horrified if I'd even suggested wearing one of his shirts. He was smaller than me."

"Ah, yes. It was like that with my ex too. She was smaller than me. She did let me use her moisturiser though. It was good stuff, I still buy the same brand." I froze in place. "Is that weird?"

He shrugged. "Not really. Your past doesn't just disappear from your life because you've met someone new. I'm sure there are other things you do because your exes did them too."

"An ex bought me my coffee machine," I admitted. "And nothing anyone can say will make me give that up."

"Then I'd better taste the coffee." He got out of bed and searched for his boxers on the floor, pulling them on, but not seeming to be bothered by any other clothing.

I didn't mind. In fact, I liked it a lot, it meant that I was going to be able to enjoy the sight in front of me as much as I wanted to.

I gestured for him to follow me through to the kitchen, though he knew where it was. We hadn't spent much time here last night, but we had eaten our churros, the detritus of which was still strewn over the table. I scooped it up and threw it into the bin.

"What kind of coffee do you like?" I asked.

"If we're talking fancy coffee, I like vanilla lattes," Fenrir responded as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

He looked at home there, and I could certainly get used to seeing him there.

Though no doubt his home was going to be better than mine, and if we were going to move in together, then that was where we'd choose.

I froze.

"Delia?" he asked, leaning forward with genuine concern written on his face.

"I'm sorry, I was just surprised by the direction of my thoughts."

He raised an eyebrow. "Caused by coffee?"

"I was thinking about us moving in together," I half-whispered. "And it shocked me that I was thinking about that so soon."

"Ah. I think that's normal."

"I very much doubt it. Most of my friends waited months to even start talking about moving in with their boyfriends. It was certainly longer than three dates."

"Were any of them fated mates?" he asked.

"No." I selected a vanilla latte pod and slid it into the coffee machine. I was sure it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as the coffee he could get from a coffee shop, but it was what I had, so it would have to do.

"Then that's the difference. I'm not saying that fated mates should be a shortcut, but I think it does play with our idea of commitment. The wolf thinks that it's found someone who is a perfect match, so that means things are more serious from the first date."

"I suppose." The coffee machine beeped, and I pulled the mug out from underneath, setting it down in front of him before returning to make my own coffee. "I just never wanted to be that person who disregarded logic just because my wolf told me to."

"You're hardly that," Fenrir assured me. "We've taken things slow."

"Have we?" I gestured to his shirt.

"We had sex on our third-ish date, and we didn't bite one another. I think that's a fairly normal speed."

"Third-ish?"

"I'm not sure the milkshakes count. We ran into one another at an event and then ditched it to go for food. Hardly an official date."

"Oh, true." I hadn't thought about it like that, but now he said it, I realised that he was right.

I pulled my coffee off the machine and set it down next to the stove so that I could make some porridge. Maybe it wasn't the most romantic breakfast to make, but it felt good to be doing something so mundane while he was in the kitchen with me.

"So, last night," he said.

"The sex?" I checked.

"Nearly biting you," he responded.

"Oh." I reached up to touch my neck. "Thank you for that. I know I didn't react the best..."

"You reacted in a natural way. But I promise, Delia, I wasn't rejecting you , or your wolf. Far from it. I was worried that if we carried on like we were, then I was going to bite you."

"I know." I pulled out the bag of oats and measured two portions into the pan before adding milk. "I truly do. I can't even explain why I felt so disappointed that you didn't do it. I don't want to rush into anything either."

"Probably because it's something that comes from a part of us that isn't necessarily in sync with our logical brains."

I laughed. "That's one way to describe the wolf." I leaned back against the counter while stirring the porridge without really looking. "Sometimes, I feel like she's a separate entity from me. Except when I shift. That's when we feel the most at one."

"That's how I feel about mine too." He picked up his coffee and took a sip. "Kudos to your ex, by the way. This is good coffee."

"If I ever talked to him, then I'd tell him you thought so."

"Would that be my cue to act all protective and possessive?" Fenrir joked.

"Do you feel that way?"

"No. I trust my partners to act in a way that matches the rules of our relationship."

I frowned, trying to work out what he meant. "What?"

He shrugged. "I've had all kinds of relationships over the years.

Some of them have had different rules about what was acceptable and what wasn't. If we agreed to be monogamous, then I would expect my partner not to sleep with anyone else.

But if we agreed to an open relationship, I couldn't hold it against my partner if they did. "

A growl escaped me without it meaning to, and I covered my mouth. "I'm sorry."

"Okay, so no open relationships for us," he said.

"No. I mean, yes. I mean...eurgh." I checked on the porridge, discovering it was done. I split it between two bowls and headed over to the table, putting one of them in front of Fenrir along with a spoon. "I would be open to discussing it, I guess. It's just not really for me."

"That's fine. I didn't love it either," he said.

"My ex wanted an open relationship. The one who gave me the coffee maker. He was surprised when I said no. But not as surprised as I was when I found out that he was sleeping with other people. So much for fated mates on that front, right?"

Fenrir grimaced. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. The feeling from my wolf had faded by that point, and I knew deep down that the end of the relationship had come.

I just held on because I felt like I should.

I'd already had three failed mate bonds before that, and I didn't want another one.

And now you must think that I'm going around making mate bonds with just anyone. "

"Not at all."

"But you've only had two in the past eight hundred years," I pointed out.

"Two successful mate bonds," he corrected.

"I must have had a couple of dozen failed ones.

Some of them didn't even last beyond a couple of days.

Others lasted a bit longer. And that's without counting the period of my life where I insisted on avoiding all wolf shifters and dating without any intention of finding my fated mate. "

I dug my spoon into my porridge. "Do you think all wolves go through that phase?"

"Almost certainly," he agreed.

"It was kind of fun," I admitted. "Not having the pressure of the mate bond. I was going to a load of Jinx events in the hope of trying to find someone that I connected with without one, and that's where I met Todd."

"Your recent ex?"

I nodded. "He made my wolf react the moment I met him. And at first, it was great. And then it wasn't."

"Some failed mate bonds are like that."

"And ours?" I asked. "What's going to make ours different?"

"Maybe nothing," he responded. "But maybe everything. I want my wolf to be right."

"Me too," I said in a whisper.

"I think they are," he said.

I nodded. "It feels different from the other times.

" Maybe it was because I'd waited longer before jumping into a potential mating.

The other times, I'd very much let my wolf take the driving seat.

But this time, she was a passenger. I wasn't ignoring her, but I was taking steps to make sure that Fenrir matched me in ways that went beyond what she needed, and hopefully, that would set us up for a long time to come.