With Hands to Hold | ✔

|15|

When the girl woke up the next morning, she felt refreshed. Something about seeing her belongings around the room made her feel settled, and having Vincents arm rubbing her shoulder added an extra warmth and comfort.

There was part of her that wanted to stay in bed and enjoy this moment a while longer with the man she had grown attached to. However the larger part of her felt compelled to get up and get breakfast ready as her routine compelled her to.

Vincent felt her movement beside him, but he could feel her apprehension through their bond. He linked his fingers with his, kissing each finger tenderly. "You don't have to get up if you don't want to."

Spiraea blushed, it was both endearing and embarrassing that he could read her so easily. She turned over to look at his face, surprised to see him staring intently at her; she was half expecting him to still have his eyes closed.

As if trying to convince her to say, he kissed the inside of her palm and then her wrist lightly. Her pulse there jumped at the intimacy of the gesture. it was enough to convince her to settle in beside him again, her head resting above his beating heart. She supposed that she could rest for a little bit longer- another hour couldn't hurt.

The couple slept soundly for another couple hours after that. Vincent awoke to the sound of Spiraea's soft snores against his chest; it was the first time he had really seen her at peace, and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

She had come such a long way without really realising it; she had been so painfully shy, and the way she called him nothing but Alpha. In close to two months, she had come out of her shell a lot more. Of course they still had a long way to go, a part of him was in pain just thinking about talking about her past with her but there was another part that was excited because they were in a place that they could perhaps start talking about the future.

He knew that she wasn't ready to dive into everything, but with baby steps they would get there. The Alpha in him was eager to get to when they had a house full of pups, but to rush could mean taking steps backwards instead of forwards, especially if he scared her. For now he would have to continue holding back that part of him, just a conversation for now would be enough.

Besides he was looking forward to each moment spent with her, he wanted to take advantage of all the time he had. That moment, that day. He had planned to spend a day with her, just them talking and being together. He had wanted to for so long, but things kept getting in the way; it was long overdue. He wanted it to be perfect.

He watched her as she slept, taking in everything about her. Her olive skin, the small smatter of acne scars on her cheeks, the shape of her brows sloping into her nose. He couldn't could help but to be captivated by her full lips or the way her hair fell in soft curls. Goddess, everything about her. Every goddamned thing.

His heart swelled with something new, for her. He had always felt affection for her, but this was more than that. He wasn't entirely sure what but he knew that he loved feeling it, and he never wanted this feeling to go away. He had a feeling it wouldn't.

He fingered one of her delicate curls, pushing it behind her ear before lingering there lightly. Her eyes fluttered open, she found that she couldn't look away, completely locked in his magnetizing gaze. Green to brown.

"Good morning," he murmured gently as he stole a kiss from her lips. It was slow and gentle, he took his time as if they had all the time in the world. He pulled away, loving the dazed content on her face. "I want to take you out today, would you like to?"

The girl thought back to the day before- shopping had been disaster but she did enjoy being out of the house. All the people and shops were fascinating and she was excited to see more of the pack. "Alright, are we going after breakfast?"