She didn't know how it happened, but Sophie and Cortez were suddenly ripping their clothes off of each other. Literally. Cortez grabbed the neck of her shirt and ripped it right down the middle just to start kissing over her skin. Sophie moaned as he kissed, licked, and bit her skin. And his hands were everywhere, all at once.
Quicker than Sophie could comprehend, her and Cortez were completely naked. He was hungrily groping her in all the best places as he kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Sophie found herself clawing at Cortez's shoulders and pulling his naked skin against hers. She was itching to have more of him. It wasn't enough. She could never get enough of him.
"Cortez, please.. Cortez.." Sophie begged through heavy panting and moaning.
And then Cortez was inside her, rocking his hips against hers over and over again. Sophie couldn't think through all the pleasure. She felt like she was being launched into space as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Sophie cried out in pleasure, Cortez's name ripping through her throat with every rough thrust of his hips. He felt so good and she wanted him to know that.
The very pleasure that Cortez was giving her was building and building until she was quivering beneath him. She could hear him grunt and groan with every thrust, his sharp canines teasing the skin of her neck. Sophie felt like she was screaming but she didn't care. She didn't want him to stop. And she shamelessly begged him not to, burying his fingers in his thick black hair and then digging her claws into his back.
And just as her orgasm crashed through her, Sophie woke up with a loud gasp. She clenched her chest as she began heavily panting. There was sweat coating her body, causing her skin to feel cold despite the burning sensation she felt radiating through her bones. Her heart was racing at a mile a minute and she was nearly hyperventilating with the way she was breathing so fast.
Sophie looked around the bedroom, through the darkness. There was nobody. Cortez wasn't even laying in bed beside her. The sun wasn't even up yet. It was just a dream. And yet, it hardly felt like one. Sophie wasn't going to deny that she has had a dream like that with Cortez before but it wasn't usually like that. It wasn't that graphic. It wasn't that real. It didn't feel that good. It was mind blowing how good that felt.
The pleasurable sensation still lingered beneath the covers, to Sophie's surprise. She could feel her core throb with need. It was begging for that pleasure back. And her legs were slightly trembling.
Sophie's hand slipped beneath the covers and between her legs. She moaned as she cupped the heat between her legs and her head fell to her knees. She couldn't believe a dream had taken her this far. Shorts and panties were still covering her and somehow, the slightest pressure of her fingers there made her feel good. Not as good, but it was enough to soothe that desperation.
Restraining herself, Sophie pulled her hand from between her legs and fell back against the bed. Her hand fell to Cortez's side of the bed and slid over the warm sheets. He must've just left. She wished he hadn't. Maybe he could make this need within her go away. But Sophie pushed that thought away. It was just a dream. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be touched by Cortez yet.
Why did she want to deny that too? Of course, Sophie was sure. She wanted Cortez. But she was scared that it was just the hormones talking. But yet again, did it really matter? Who really cared anymore? It felt so good when he touched her in her dream. She wanted that in real life.
Sophie pushed every dirty thought out of her head and let her eyes fall shut. She just needed to sleep.
~
Sophie gently knocked on the door to Cortez's office. She waited. There was nothing. She knocked again. Nothing. Her eyebrows furrowed as her lips perched in a pout. Jeremiah said he was in his office. He couldn't possibly be too busy to hear a knock on the door. It was too early to be working anyways. She hadn't even eaten breakfast yet. After waking up and finding Cortez gone like he was last night, she came looking for him.
Pulling the door open, Sophie peeked inside. Cortez was there, on that sofa with a blanket and pillow. Sophie frowned and stepped into his office. Her steps were gentle and quiet as she made her way towards him. Cortez was laid on his back, one arm over the edge of the couch and one across his stomach. His head was facing towards the back of the couch, his mouth slightly hung open.
Sophie smiled at his adorable sleeping position and knelt beside the couch. She gently shook his thick bicep. "Cortez.." She quietly sang.
Sophie figured it would be harder to wake him up but it definitely wasn't. The man instantly sprung awake and sat up. "Huh? What? Sophie?"
An adorable giggle to Cortez's right made him turn to his mate. She beamed happily at him from her knelt position on the ground. His heart rate slowed as he let out a relieved sigh. Cortez ran his hands through his messy hair, combing it all back as he tried to prepare himself to start his morning. This sofa wasn't the most comfortable so he already woke up with a slight headache.
"Did you come down here last night? I woke up in the middle of the night and you were gone." Sophie pouted.
"Yeah... Mmm.. I couldn't sleep." Cortez's deep and gravely morning voice scratched his throat as he spoke. Sophie liked the sound of it.
"If you couldn't sleep, you should've cuddle up to me." Sophie's voice was more flirtatious than he expected.
Cocking an eyebrow at Sophie, he was instantly distracted by her drawing closer. With her hands on the sofa, she pushed herself off her knees and towards Cortez to kiss him. Sophie managed to brush her lips against Cortez's before he leant away from her. This wasn't like her. She wasn't usually this bold unless something was going on. Was she really upset this morning?
"You were precisely why I couldn't sleep last night." Cortez warned.
"Huh? Why?" Sophie innocently pouted as she fell back on her knees.
Sophie was easily distracted as her eyes landed on his naked torso. The blanket he had over him was still covering his abs, though, which made Sophie pout even more. She wanted to see more of him. She wanted to touch him. His skin had a gorgeous glow, looked so smooth, but intensely defined as well. He was magically sculpted. Why did she suddenly want to bite him so badly?
Cortez gently placed his finger below Sophie's chin and raised her gaze to meet his pitch black eyes. "What's up with you, baby? Are you alright?"
Sophie trapped her bottom lip between her teeth as her eyes happily twinkled. "Have I ever told you how much I like it when you call me baby?"
And then again, she was pushing herself up to kiss Cortez. This time she succeeded and felt her whole body ignite with excitement. Something was begging her to take him. It was tempting her to strip right here and let him do whatever he liked to her. So, Sophie grabbed the back of Cortez's neck and kissed him deeper as she crawled into his lap.
"What, baby. Hold on. What are you doing?" Cortez looked into Sophie sparkling green eyes again and carefully studied them, his hands on her waist to keep her at a slight distance.
"Why did you leave last night?" Sophie pouted as she cupped Cortez's jaw and began playing with his beard. She liked his beard. She wanted to feel it between her legs again.
"You were moaning in your sleep." Cortez confessed. Sophie finally looked him in his pitch black eyes. "I was trying to not let it effect me but then you started moaning my name and I couldn't think straight so I came down here."
Sophie blushed and carefully slipped her hands away from around Cortez. He studied every expression that flittered across her face. "Well.. That's embarrassing. I'm sorry, I accidentally kicked you of bed because of.. that.."
Cortez chuckled and grabbed Sophie's face, bringing her in for a sweet kiss. Sophie fell into the bliss his lips carried into her and a familiar moan escaped her. Cortez pulled away, his eyes shut and jaws clenched. Full of embarrassment, Sophie cupped her hand over her mouth and carefully studied Cortez as he sat completely frozen.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me." Sophie muttered nervously as she climbed off his lap. "Uhh.. I'm gonna go see what's for breakfast."
Cortez's eyes trailed up and down his mates figure as she walked through his office. She was still in shorts and tank top, which she always wore to bed. "Okay. I'll be up in a minute."
Sophie nodded and quickly slipped out of Cortez's office. She felt all jittery inside. She had the undeniable urge to run back in there and kiss Cortez again. That dream was clouding her thoughts. It felt so good to be touched by him and to kiss him. Those tingles that she felt in the beginning of their relationship was back. Not that they ever left, she just got used to them. But they were amplified now.
And she wanted to feel it all over her body, everywhere that he touched her.
She had lost her damn mind.
~
Sophie trudged down the steps with one of the bins she salvaged from her house the other day in her arms, Cortez right behind her with another in his arms. When she reached the bottom, Sophie found herself winded and sweaty. Maybe it was the extra weight on her shoulders but she didn't usually get winded climbing a few stairs.
"Oh! Are these all your photos?" Maria beamed as she watched Sophie and Cortez walk in with bins in their arms. Daisy rushed in happily behind them.
"Yes! Photos of my grandparents and parents as kids and also of my childhood." Sophie smiled as she set the bin down in the middle of the living room.
Cortez set his beside hers and plopped down on to the couch nearby. His father and Miguel were sat on the other couch, already dreading the fact that they had to look at old photos of themselves for the better part of the day. Along with Sophie's two bins full of photos, Maria had two as well. But unlike Sophie; who had one bin full of her childhood, both of Maria's bins were full of photos of Cortez and Miguel's childhood.
"Am I the only one that's burning up?" Sophie took a deep breath as she fanned her face with her hand. She looked around as everyone else shrugged. "Does anyone mind if I shed this cardigan?"
"No, go ahead, dear. Cortez, will you open a window for your sweet mate, please?" Maria cooed at her eldest son.
Cortez got up from the couch and walked across the room to the giant windows against the far wall. He pulled back the curtains and opened the windows, letting the summer breeze wash into the house. Sophie thanked Cortez with a kiss on the cheek, which he didn't expect, as he walked back to the couch. Sophie took her place on the ground with Maria, Daisy cuddling up to Sophie, as they tore open the bins and pulled out photo albums.
Maria started from the very beginning, showing off photos of Cortez when he was just an infant. Sophie's heart warmed at all the photos of her mate as a baby. His hair and eyes were just as dark as they were now but he looked way more innocent. Maria and Antonio looked much younger in these photos, less wrinkles for sure, despite the fact that they hardly had any now. And the date on the photos shocked Sophie.
"You would've been born before my parents were born." Sophie gawked as she flashed a baby photo that had a date burned into the image towards Cortez.
"I know. That's why I thought it was you in the photo of your mom. I forgot we age differently." Cortez casually replied.
Sophie quietly marveled at the photo for a minute before Maria was showing her another. Cortez was slightly older, just learning how to walk. And then another. He had cake all over his face at his fourth birthday. He seemed big for a four year old boy but then Sophie remembered, werewolves. All of these photos were bound to be shocking in some way or another.
"There he is! Baby Miguel finally shows up!" Sophie teased as she grabbed the photo from Maria and showed it to Miguel. "Look at your nice big brother holding you right after you were born. You guys are so cute."
Miguel groaned and rolled his eyes. "Can you believe I even hated him then too?"
"Look! Here's Cortez trying to get Miguel to play baseball with him. Miguel couldn't even throw the ball but Cortez kept trying and trying all day." Maria said as she showed another photo. Miguel was still a baby, sat in the grass in nothing but a diaper. Cortez had a helmet on that was far too big and a small plastic bat.
"You're getting along here." Sophie pointed out to the boys with one hand as she pet Daisy to sleep with the other.
"He used to beg me to play baseball with him once he got older." Cortez blurted. "I gave him the ball once and then he never shut up after that."
"Yeah, I learned my fucking lesson after you hit me upside the head with a bat!" Miguel exclaimed.
"You, what?" Sophie gasped.
Cortez's jaw dropped. "It was a plastic bat and he was annoying the shit out of me!"
Sophie scoffed and turned back to the photos Maria had in her hands. There were more photos of Cortez and Miguel's birthdays growing up, them playing in the yard together, eating together, wearing matching outfits. Sophie gushed over every single one and cooed at the little boys in the photos. She also couldn't help but compliment the huge mustache and thick glasses that Antonio used to rock.
"His favorite pick-up line was always, 'Wanna take a ride on the stache?'" Maria mocked with her eyebrow animated and voice low to replicate Antonio's voice.
"Ew! Ma! Nobody wants to hear that!" Miguel yelled as he fake gagged.
"It worked every time." Maria shamelessly admitted. It was Cortez's turn to groan in disgust.
Sophie laughed and looked at the photos of Antonio and his mustache. Cortez and his father had very similar features. It made Sophie wonder. "Maybe you should grow out a.." But she cut herself off as she realized what she would be implying.
A smirk pulled at the corner of Cortez's lips as he mentally finished what Sophie was about to say. He leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees and trying to make eye contact with Sophie. She refused to look up at him as her cheeks burned. She was sweating again.
"What was that, Gorgeous? You want me to grow a mustache?" Cortez teased with a broad smile. Sophie refrained from feeding into it, although, it was really hard to fight the smile clawing at the back of her teeth.
"Enough of this!" Miguel cried as he jumped up from the couch, startling Daisy awake. He turned to his father. "You're really not going to stop this? It's your stupid stache that brought this up!"
Antonio sat back and shrugged. He turned to Cortez. "She's right. It worked every time."
Miguel fake gagged a couple more times and walked around all the baby photos littered around the living room to get to Sophie's bin. "We're moving on. It's time for us to make fun of you now."
"Well, I was an only child so you're not going to get many stories out of my photos. Also, I lived in the middle of nowhere my whole life so all the photos are the same." Sophie pouted.
"Nonsense! I can't wait to see these photos, Sophie. You're absolutely gorgeous now and I bet you were the most gorgeous baby then." Maria flattered.
They searched through Sophie's photos for awhile, Cortez sitting behind Sophie like he had the other day. She loved the feeling of one hand on her thigh as the other retrieved photos Miguel or Maria passed to him. He commented on every single one, calling her adorable and admiring her big and bright smile. Meanwhile, Sophie was trying not to get distracted by having Cortez's big frame basically towering over her.
The photos of Henry teaching Sophie how to bowl nearly made her cry but she held back as many emotions as she could. She didn't want to ruin this happy moment with everyone by breaking out in sobs again. Instantly, photos of her an her parents when she was a baby turned into photos of her and her grandparents as she grew up. It saddened her how abrupt the change was.
There were pictures of her first days at school, some of track and field days where her grandparents got to visit the school. Also, graduations and plays she had been in. Those photos really intrigued Cortez's family since none of them ever went to school. Sophie didn't think she'd get to tell a lot of stories but since they didn't experience normal human childhoods, she surprisingly had a lot to say.
"Who's this?" Miguel showed Sophie a collection of photos of her and a curly haired boy. She remembered him. "Was he a friend of yours?"
"Yeah.. a friend. That was third grade, I think." Sophie nervously nibbled on her thumb nail.
At the sight of her nervous habit, Cortez narrowed his eyes and snatched the photos out of Miguel's hand. She was holding this little boy's hand in almost every photo. "He was your boyfriend, wasn't he? You said you've never dated!"
"It was the third grade!" Sophie defended as she looked over her shoulder at Cortez's jealous scowl. "We held hands and he pushed me on the swing at recess for like a week. I gave him a bracelet I made and he rejected it because he suddenly had a crush on Genevieve McWailor."
"Oh, no. That's heartbreaking." Maria pouted.
"I'll kick his ass. Where is he now?" Cortez asked.
Sophie gaped in shock. "He moved to Florida during middle school. Besides, it was the third grade, Cortez! It was hardly a relationship."
"I've been in zero relationships, Sophie Carter." Cortez rebuked.
"That's what you get for ending up with a human mate. You're second place." Miguel snickered as he looked through more of Sophie's photos.
Cortez drive his fist into Miguel's arm, nearly causing his little brother to tip over. Miguel cried out in pain and shot his older brother a glare. Maria scolded them both, naturally. Daisy excitedly circled everyone, obliviously trying to find the reason why everyone was having fun. She didn't quite understand that the yelling and punching wasn't as playful as she thought it was.
"You're not second place, Cortez." Sophie pouted as she caressed Cortez's face with one hand. Since he was sat behind her, she couldn't properly stare into his eyes like she'd wish. "I love you more than anyone on this planet."
"Promise me?" Cortez muttered bitterly.
"I promise." Sophie pecked Cortez's neck and reassuringly rubbed his leg that was stretch out beside her.
Cortez did the same, pecking her cheek and rubbing his hand over her thigh. Sophie flinched at the sensation, feeling all those tingles ignite under her skin and much to close to her crotch. Cortez felt Sophie shoo his hand away and carefully studied her as she avoided eye contact. He couldn't tell if she was still hesitant about them touching each other or if she liked it a little too much. The redness in her face made him choose the latter.
It seemed that Sophie's dream was still lingering and getting her all embarrassed and flustered.
Cortez's eyes fell to Sophie's neck but he was upset when he realized that he couldn't see it anymore. Her hair had grown out too far. From some of these photos, he could tell that she regularly cut her hair to keep it short as she grew up. He hoped she would cut it again so he could admire the perfect skin of her neck. It was hard for him to fantasize about marking her when he couldn't stare at her neck.
"Your hair has been growing pretty quickly." Cortez whispered as he gently brushed her hair back to reveal her neck.
"It has, hasn't it?" Sophie combed her fingers through her hair and perched her lips as she contemplated it's length. "Do you like it longer or should I cut it?"
"You should do whatever you'd like, Gorgeous." Cortez admitted, although, he was secretly hoping she'd cut it.
"Well, what do you prefer?" Sophie asked, peeking over her shoulder again. His eyes lingered on her neck before he met her emerald stare.
"Cut it." Cortez blurted before he could stop himself.
Sophie smiled as she noticed the nearly glazed over look in Cortez's eyes. She could tell he meant it when he said it. He was basically begging. It was written clear as day in his pitch black eyes, like a magic eight ball. And then that dream reappeared and Sophie nearly jumped his bones. Why was he so irresistibly handsome lately? It was torture.
"We'll see, I guess." Sophie trapped her bottom lip between her teeth as she shyly turned to face forward. Cortez chuckled and gently squeezed her against him.
"Okay! I've got them all laid out!" Maria cheered as she clapped her hands together. Everyone looked at the line up of photos in front of Maria. "The top row are her yearbook photos from kindergarten to her junior year and the bottom row are the graduation photos with her grandparents."
Sophie melted at all the photos of her grandparents stood beside her with bright smiles and flowers. Every single photo, she looked happy and in every single photo, her grandparents looked proud. They weren't formal graduations, just pep-rally style celebrations. Still, her grandparents brought flowers every time. She wished she could have just one last photo of with her grandparents for senior graduation.
Then, she could actually be wearing a cap and gown and everything. It was too bad they didn't get to see her graduation one last time. For real, this time. They wouldn't get to see their granddaughter complete a very important portion of her life. They would be missing Sophie's transition into a adulthood and that hurt a little.
But deep down, she always knew they would be missing something. They were old, after all. That didn't make it any easier, though.
"Look at her braces. What a fucking nerd." Miguel snorted a laugh as he pointed at one of her middle school photos. She even had braided pigtails in that one.
It was Sophie's turn to punch Miguel. He was about to cuss out his older brother for hitting him before he noticed Cortez was pointed to Sophie. Miguel's jaw hung open in shock as he rubbed the spot on his arm where she had punched him. Sophie simply stuck her tongue out at him. Cortez lowly chuckled and hugged Sophie against him. He was proud to have her on his team against his brother.
"You know what, Sophie, I promise you, we will all show up for your senior graduation and cheer you on." Maria declared as she gestured her hands in the air like she was at a grand show.
"What? Maria, we've never been to something like that. We don't do things like that. Those schools are filled with humans, you know." Antonio finally spoke up, his voice hoarse, as usual.
"I know, I know. But it's Sophie. Look, she's got all these photos with her grandparents and she's going to have nothing for her last year! I will not allow her to miss such a precious moment without all her family to support her." Maria argued.
Sophie felt her heart warm. "Thank you, Maria. That's very sweet of you but you don't have to if it's going to jeopardize anything or make you uncomfortable."
"Nonsense! You plan on continuing school, right? You only have one more year."
"That's correct, yes."
"Then you can count on us four to join you on your graduation day." Maria said. She looked around at her family, daring anyone to refuse. Nobody did. "You might just need to guide us through what we're suppose to do since we've never done something like that before."
Sophie smiled. "I can do that. Thank you, Maria."
"They'd be so proud of you, you know." Cortez whispered.
Sophie slapped his leg and Daisy laid her head on Cortez's arm to comfort the gentle sting of her slap. "Stop it or I'll cry."