Beloved

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Kristen's POV

It took Emanual twenty minutes to finish the dinner.

By ten, the tears had finally stopped and then all I had to wish for was the swelling of my lids to go down.

A big pot of pasta was sat on the sofa table. Next to me was Emanual. I wasn't very hungry, even though the sight of pasta coated in creamy sauce would usually instantly start my appetite. I had only eaten breakfast and the idea of not eating for the rest of the week was alluring. 

"What's wrong?" Emanual questioned, as he loaded steaming food onto his plate. I kept quiet and turned away from him.

"Are you angry with me for sending you back?" He lowly asked me. I knew he had his head turned towards me, and I could feel the arm he was leaning on against my side. 

"Kristen, just talk to me," Emanual sighed after my absolute silence.  

"Calvin was right..." I immediately regretted what I mumbled. I knew he heard. His fork, which was gathering food, swiftly hit the plate with a clank and he stopped chewing. 

"What do you mean?" I couldn't find my words and I didn't want to either. I swallowed the lump in my throat. 

"It doesn't matter,"

"It does. I thought you didn't remember what happened down there? Do you remember what he did to you?" I had barely finished my sentence before he responded. His hand went to my shoulder and he turned my torso till our eyes met. Warmth spread across my cheeks and neck. 

"A bit," I muttered and his hands went on each shoulder of mine. Emanual gave my arms a squeeze and gave me a special look. 

Fuck, I can't handle this. 

"Calvin told me how you only like me because the mate bond forces you to," My face was at the edge of burning up and catching fire. I could feel the warmth crawl to my eyes and I knew tears were welling up. 

"Kristen, I-"

"And you didn't even let me stay down there today. You don't think of me as a real person," Courage started bubbling up in my stomach and transformed into words. A few seconds passed by. As the silence prolonged, Emanuals face shifted from blank to mildly ashamed. A hot tear rolled down my cheek and a shaky breath vibrated through my lips. 

"I do think of you as a real person," Emanual tried to assure me, but it almost sounded like he wanted to reassure himself. 

I shook my head and lifted my hand to wipe my wet cheeks. 

"Everything Calvin told you is a lie, Kristen. He just wanted to turn you against me," My warm cheeks got covered by his even warmer hands and he held my head up. Softly stroking my skin, he caught another tear. 

"How can I know who's being honest and who's lying? It's not like you always told me the truth," I said and sniffled. Only after I had spoken, I realized how snappy I had sounded. I bit my lip in regret, for a second. 

"I promise I won't ever be dishonest again, okay?" The feeling of his hands on my face was addictive. One of his hands went on the back of my head and his fingertips started rubbing my scalp. 

"Listen, I am sorry for keeping you in the dark for so long. I've been focused on keeping you safe, so something like what Calvin did would never happen to you. Instead, I should have thought more about being equal with you and spending my time on you." He smiled softly and continued stroking my face. "We don't fit together because we're mates. We're mates because we fit together, get it? The universe has brought us together because we're the perfect match. You're an incredibly special person and that's why I'm crazy about you." A rosy color appeared on his cheeks as he spoke the last words. My heart stumbled over itself and warmth spread across my body. 

"Why did you come back to me, my mate?" His voice was like an alluring symphony. His question made my mind pause. There had been a lot of reasons. I had spent 5 months in loneliness and nobody else could make me feel as warm and fuzzy as him. Was that why? 

"I missed you and I think I-" My last words didn't make it past my lips, before his hit mine. It didn't take more than two seconds of shock for my eyes to close and my lips to respond to his. His hand went down to my waist and mine flew up to wrap themselves around the back of his neck. My fingertips rested against the muscles of his back. I was in pure bliss. 

His weight slowly pushed down, my back against the couch, and Emanual slid his arm under me. Following his movement, I tried lifting my legs to lie under him. Before pain could remind me never to move my leg freely, Emanual's hand went to my knee.

"You shouldn't move that," His voice was rough. It seemed more animalistic than usual and it sent a fire through my veins. Both of our chests were rising and falling rapidly. Another soft, but quick, kiss was planted on my lips and two of his fingers stroked my cheek. Both of us had a big and silly smile on our faces. Emanual's cheeks were a deep pink, and I'm sure mine were even worse. It had felt like fireworks, roller coasters and fluffy blankets on a cold day, and I couldn't wait to do it again. 

His forehead rested against mine and he kept stroking my face. Warm breaths softly hit my cheek. 

"I had missed you so much," he replied to my past confession and another smile appeared on my face. 

While combing my fingers through his thick hair, my eyes wandered to his without hesitation. The eye contact was held for a minute or two and it was only broken when I leaned into him once more. For the first time in a while, my heart beat for somebody else.

I knew he had me.

_________________________________________

Finally, huh?? took them long enough

well, i hope you enjoyed this chapter (as much as i enjoyed writing it) and please let me know if you liked it by voting and maybe even commenting! I know I haven't been super active and i wish i could update more but my high school has other ideas. 

thank you so much for reading this ! and please please please don't forget to VOTE <33

p.s. should i make a new book description for this story? it's so difficult, but maybe i could make a better one.. please tell me if it's good enough :')

byee