Rightfully Hers

XVI

I listened without a second thought. When I got close enough to her, she pulled me into a warm embrace, and shoved her head in the crook of my neck. I wrapped my arms around her in response, but was ultimately confused.

"Thank you," she whispered, "for including Arabelle. Thank you for accepting her."

"Hey," I frowned, leaning away so I could cup her face in my hands, much like I had twenty minutes ago. Unlike the last time, the moment was more sensual than sexual, and instead of swiping her hair out of her face, I swiped my thumb under her eye to remove a stray tear.

"Isabelle, if I am accepting you, I'm accepting all that comes with having you, and that includes your daughter. Whatever we are, it will not be easy. Until I know what is going on, it will remain a secret between us and the group. I can't promise things with us will be even as close to as easy as a regular mate bond, but..."

"When did you decide to accept me?" She mumbled in response, locking her eyes with mine.

"When I spoke of you so easily to my parents, without even thinking, I realized that even if I tried so desperately to push you away, a part of me would always come back to you. And I know that if I did that enough, there would be no one to come back to, and that was something I didn't want to come to terms with."

I told her everything in complete honesty, putting everything I currently felt on the table. She had the ability to do as she pleased with the information, but I couldn't say I was surprised when she blinded me with a smile and whispered, "I think I'd like a kiss now, if you don't mind."

I dipped my head lower and brushed my lips against hers. I did it teasingly, kissing her so gently she'd question whether or not I'd kissed her at all. This wasn't enough for her because she wrapped her hands around the back of my neck and pulled me deeper into the kiss.

I responded just as eagerly. I moved one hand around to cup the back of her neck, and slid the other down to rest on her lower back. I felt her hands wrap around my hair and I let out a small, unintelligible sound.

Her lips were full and soft and they fit against mine so fluidly. Neither one of us went to deepen the kiss, fully aware of our setting, but that didn't affect the way I enjoyed feeling her so close to me, and it didn't change the fact I could have kissed her forever and ever gotten bored of it.

We broke apart slowly, but I didn't remove my hands off of her and she didn't remove her hands from me. Despite the fact we were both clearly in shape, we were both out of breath, our chests moving much faster than normal. I knew mine had to do with the fact my heart was beating ten times faster than it usually was, and I had a feeling she was responding the same way I was.

"We should probably head back to the hotel if we want to be ready by six thirty. It's already five." It was Isabelle who suggested it, but I agreed, and we both stood up. We decided to call a cab to take us back to the hotel, simply so we'd have more time to get ready for dinner.

The cab ride was filled with light chatter, a seemingly meaningless conversation between Isabelle and I. Unfortunately for her, she didn't bring any cash, so I was the one to pay the cab driver. He smiled and nodded in thanks before easing back onto the street.

When we reached our hotel room, Isabelle took a shower first, while I chose an outfit. I settled on a short sleeve blue satin dress that ended just above the knee. Once I placed the entirety of my outfit on my side of the bed as well as my four inch blue heels, I prepared my makeup.

Isabelle got out of the shower soon after, but kept it running so I could climb in immediately after. She stepped out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel on and it took every ounce of self control I had to walk past her without trailing my gaze down her body.