Her Imposter, Her Imprinter

Chapter 21

Peace.

It was the first sensation that washed over Carine's mind as she began to wake up. It had been a while since she had felt such a way and she didn't have a clue as to what has changed. But as she regained more consciousness she understood why.

She lay secure in strong, warm arms. Usually if a woman found herself in this position, the first response would be to scream and panic. But all thoughts of confusion and fear held no weight in her mind.

On the contrary, she had never been so comfortable before in her life. Waking up like this next to someone had never felt so right. Now if only she could remember whose arms she was in...

With as much stealth as she could, Carine shifted in the person's arms so that she now faced their chest. She took in a brief inhale of their clean, masculine scent and Carine was able to easily discern that she was within Forrest Dvorak's embrace. The revelation of this had her blushing heavily.

But when the events of last night caught up with her, the red on her skin only dramatically darkened, reaching all the way to the tips of her ears and down her neck.

It would have been different if the extent of their kiss ended with just an innocent, and brief, touch of their lips. Of course, that was not the case. Once they started they could not stop. The passion and intensity of their feelings for each other eradicated all of the barriers they had placed on their relationship, allowing them to act on every desire they've hidden up until then.

It was intense, almost crossing the border of heavy petting. In other words, seeing as Carine was a stranger to such physical involvement up until yesterday, now she was a pro. But what really had Carine wanting to groan in embarrassment was that now that she's had a taste of the delectable red velvet Alpha, she sure as hell wanted more. All it took was one greedy moment of weakness and she was an addict. Considering that such feelings and temptations were forbidden to her as a mated woman, that was a dangerous revelation. That being said...Carine couldn't find it in her to pull away from Forrest's arms.

Carine had just finished convincing herself to fall back asleep in order to further remain with him when, unfortunately, Forrest's phone shrieked to life, effectively waking him up. (On the bright side, despite the ride interruption, Forrest did not release his arms). Groggily he sat up, subconsciously dragging his mate up with him, and fumbled for his phone.

"Hello..." He mumbled, still very much unaware of the world around him to the point where he had no idea he was affectionately stroking Carine's hair. Carine was on the road to self-destruction at the loving attention she was receiving.

"Forrest? Are you sleeping?" At the tone of his mom's voice, Forrest could have shit himself. He completely forgot. His mom's impending arrival was like a slap in the face which startled Forrest out of his drowsiness.

"No mom. I'm awake, don't worry." He replied, thinking he flawlessly played off his lie. It was at this point too that Forrest became aware of the body pressing up next to him. The sight of his gorgeous mate in the morning, particularly after having spent a wonderful night together, had his heart stuttering. What he wouldn't give to spend more time like this with her. Feeling inclined to share the glorious mood her very presence inspired, Forrest gifted her with a handsome smile and mouthed "good morning" to her.

The "Level of Swoon" Forrest put into that smile left Carine speechless. She couldn't even respond, not even with a smile. Her only defense was to blush and hide her face in his shoulder. She could feel him chuckling endearingly at her expense.

"Okay good, because I'm 5 minutes away." She chirped, knowing that despite how great his efforts were, Piper knew Forrest had lied. She hoped that her fast approaching arrival would spur him into urgent action and make him regret his lie.