206 Being Near Him
“Ashleigh,” Caleb said, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. “Today is about us spending time together.”
“We are still spending time together while you tell me what is going on,” she replied.
Caleb looked at her tenderly.
“I forced my mother to cancel today’s episode of whatever has been going on between the two of you the past two weeks so I could have this time with you,” he said. “I have to leave tomorrow; I am not sure how long I will be gone or how often we can talk.”
Ashleigh felt a drop in her stomach.
“Where are you going?”
“I can’t tell you much, Ash. Something is going on, something big. But I don’t have a lot of answers yet.”
“So just tell me what you do know.”
Caleb took a deep breath.
“Ashleigh, we talked about this. Until you are Luna….”
“I can’t know all your secret Alpha stuff,” Ashleigh sighed.
“No,” he said regrettably. “I’m sorry.”
Ashleigh took a deep breath. She looked back at the blanket filled with various foods.
“Any chance there are black grapes back there?” she asked.
Caleb grinned.
“Bell is right again.”
“What?” she asked.
“One day,” Caleb said, taking a step closer to Ashleigh.
He moved his hands over her shoulders down to her waist. He pulled her toward him as he leaned down, hovering over her mouth.
“I will know you better than she does,” he whispered.
Ashleigh licked her lips and grinned mischievously. She put her arms around his neck and lifted her chin so their lips were almost touching.
“Doubt it,” she whispered back.
Caleb growled and closed the distance between them, pressing his lips firmly to hers as he hugged her body.
Ashleigh responded instantly, parting her lips to deepen their kiss as she slipped her fingers into his soft hair. She grabbed a handful, tugging just enough to make him growl into her mouth.
They held their embrace for as long as they could until they were both left breathless.
Caleb pressed his forehead to hers as they panted softly.
“I have missed you,” he said tenderly between breaths.
Ashleigh pulled away enough to rest her head against his shoulder, turning to press her nose into his throat. She inhaled his scent, feeling an instant reaction to him. A calm, a peace. Her head no longer ached. Instead, she felt refreshed, recharged by simply being near him.
“I always miss you,” she whispered against his throat.
Caleb swallowed as the feeling of her hot breath against his sensitive throat threatened to break his reasoning.
He pulled away from her.
“Come, let’s eat,” he smiled at her.
Ashleigh looked at Caleb with a pout and then smiled.
“What?” Caleb asked suspiciously.
Ashleigh quickly moved her hands to his shoulders and jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist.
“Whoa…!” he cried out as he caught her.
“Carry me,” she cooed at him.
Caleb clenched his jaw and took a deep breath as his hands held firmly to her well-toned thighs.
“As you wish,” he said, gripping her thighs tightly.
Ashleigh let out a soft growl.
Caleb smiled as he carried her across the room.
They both took their place on the blanket. Caleb poured them each a glass of cider.
“Did Bell tell you that too?” Ashleigh asked
“Yes…” Caleb sighed.
“Well,” Ashleigh smiled, “she tricked you.”
“What?” Caleb looked up at her.
“Yea, one of the things Bell and I have in common is that we both hate cider. It tastes like bubbly rotten apples… just gross.”
“Oh, thank the Goddess,” Caleb sighed.
“What?” Ashleigh asked. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“I hate cider too,” Caleb said. “When Bell said it was your favorite, I told myself I would push through it for you… but the thought of drinking it turns my stomach.”
Ashleigh laughed.
“Why would you do that?” she asked.
“Because I want to share the things you enjoy,” he said.
“You don’t need to torture yourself to share my enjoyment, Caleb,” she laughed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I guess it is,” Caleb said, then looked away out the window.
Ashleigh noticed the sudden fall in his mood.
“Hey…” she called to him, “I wasn’t trying to be mean; I just don’t want you to do things that bother you or don’t like just because you think I might like them.”
“You’re right,” he sighed. “I’m just not really sure how to do this….”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Ash.. this… this is all new to me,” he said.
“What is?”
“You and me, our relationship.”
“Caleb, we’ve been together for months now.”
“I don’t mean the time. I mean having someone that I want to impress, that I really want to make happy.”
Ashleigh looked at him with confusion. She couldn’t believe that she was the first woman he had ever been interested in before.
“You’ve never dated anyone else?” she asked.
He looked away.
“I have,” he said. “I’m not… I’ve been with other women.”
He lowered his eyes to her slowly. Ashleigh could see the unasked questions in them.
‘Does it bother you? Do you hate me?’
Ashleigh was a virgin. They both knew that, but she hadn’t assumed he was.
“But those weren’t relationships,” he continued. “They were instinct, basic need.”
Caleb reached out for her hand, and she gave it to him
“There has never been anyone I cared for beyond those basic needs.”
Ashleigh wasn’t sure how to respond. She was glad to hear he had never loved anyone else. But, though she had expected that he wasn’t a virgin, hearing it confirmed and that there had been multiple partners… it bothered her.
But she had loved someone else, or at least believed she had. And though she hadn’t given herself to him completely, there had been times she enjoyed.
She understood what he meant about instinct and basic needs, especially now that she was ‘enjoying’ her time with Caleb. She couldn’t blame him for his past.
“Look, all I’m trying to say is that I want to make the little bit of time we have available to spend with each other special. I want to make you smile, give you the things you enjoy.”
“I want to do that for you too, Caleb, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have separate interests or likes and dislikes.”
“I know,” Caleb nodded.
“So,” Ashleigh said, moving to sit beside him instead of across from him. “Instead of worrying about putting a lot of pressure on what we do together, why don’t we spend this time getting to know each other better.”
Caleb looked up at her.
“How do we do that?” he asked.
Ashleigh offered her hand.
“Hi,” she smiled. “I’m Ashleigh. I am the daughter of Alpha Wyatt and Luna Corrine of Winter. I am the top rank Berserker, and I’m engaged to my mate, Caleb, Alpha of Summer.”
Caleb laughed. Ashleigh lifted her eyebrows at him and nodded expectantly.
“Oh… am I supposed to… ok,” he said, sitting up and shaking her hand.
“Hello,” he began. “I am Alpha Caleb of Summer, son of Alpha Cain and Luna Fiona. My tour in the human world was focused on the military and medicine. One of my greatest achievements before taking the role of Alpha was introducing PTSD simulations for both wolves and humans.”
Ashleigh cleared her throat, and Caleb chuckled.
“I am also engaged to my wonderful, amazing mate. Ashleigh, of Winter.”
Ashleigh laughed.
Caleb loved to hear it.
“Now,” she said. “We take turns asking each other questions. Whatever we want to know, whatever we want to share. No pressure, just getting to know each other.”
“Sounds great,” Caleb smiled.
Ashleigh and Caleb spent the next several hours talking and laughing, eating the food he had laid out for them, and getting to know each other.
When they were both tired, Ashleigh stretched herself out on the comfortable new mattress and wrapped Caleb’s arms around her for the best night of sleep either of them had ever had.