[Pyla]For a moment, when I woke up in the morning, I was convinced it was a dream. That was until I realized that I was wearing a shirt and this definitely wasn’t my bedroom in my mother’s house. I covered my eyes with my hands as a blush burned across my face. We really did that. Oh, Goddess, what must he think of me? I thought of my behavior. I was moaning and begging for him. He could have taken me and I wouldn’t have stopped him. I remembered what my stepmother told me. Even before you came of age, you could feel a bond with your true mate. If the bond grew, it was harder to resist them and the pull. Forrest was my true mate. I was sure of it. I would never have let someone do what he did to me last night if I didn’t feel that attraction. That wasn’t in my personality. I knew what I wanted and I knew how to say no. Getting out of the bed, I went to the bathroom and saw my panties hanging there, mocking me. Reminding me of the dirty things I’d done, and been willing to do, last night. My blush returned. I dressed quickly after taking care of my needs. Part of me wanted to see Forrest and another part was afraid of seeing him again. Would he think I was weak for giving in? Would he think I was a ѕlut? Would he change his mind about letting me stay? He said I wasn’t ready yet. Was that because he wanted to as well? Was he just catering to my urges and what my body wanted? There were too many questions and not nearly enough answers. Forrest wasn’t in the hall when I left the room and I could smell heavenly scents coming from the kitchen. I followed my nose and found Forrest scraping eggs from a large pan into an equally large bowl. He smiled at me and carried it to the table. There was a slab of meat on the table in his usual spot and he put the bowl down in the spot right next to his. I went to sit down, my eyes wide. That was a lot of eggs. Because lizard people loved eating birds and eggs, we had a hard time farming them. The birds were afraid of us most of the time and would run away. If they were found outside of their fences, they would be eaten by anyone who found them. The rarity of eggs in the lizard village made them into a decadent delicacy. Before I moved to the human realm, we only had them once a year. That was all my father could afford and there weren’t nearly as many as this. I had eggs a couple times at my mother’s house and Forrest gave me eggs when I was staying with him in September. “Are these all for me?” I asked. “Of course. I didn’t think I made too many, but I can take whatever you can’t finish if that’s the case,” he replied, paying attention to his food. I nodded. He wasn’t acting as I thought he would…. Then again, I didn’t know how he should be acting. Did I think he was going to hold me and kiss me? Did I think he was going to bend me over the table or counter and do it again? Maybe not, but I didn’t think he would be this civil toward me. Without another word, I started eating my meal. The eggs were scrambled with butter, making them even better than if they were raw. Without the shells, they were soft with a hint of salt and the silkiness of the butter adding to the texture. They weren’t like the eggs he made me before, which were also scrambled, but stiffer and not as luxurious. As I took a bite of them, I moaned slightly. Forrest stiffened and stopped eating to watch me. I blushed and managed to swallow the eggs instead of choking on them. “Um…. Rock and Elbio will be here in about an hour. We’re going to go get your things…. I want you to stay here while we do that,” Forrest said before returning to his meal. “I should go with. They’re my things. It’s my responsibility,” I replied. “You’re not going. If your mother’s mate tries to hurt you again, I’ll kick his ass. If he actually hurts you, I’ll kill him. It’s safer for him if you stay here and it’s safer for you. I don’t want him to decide to hurt you because he’s pissed.” “I can take care of myself, Forrest.” “No, Pyla. I’m not letting you go. You came to me for help and that’s what I’m doing. You’ll stay here while we take care of it. I’m sure your mother has already packed up your things. If her mate is hurting you and you hurt him back, she won’t want you back there. She’ll see him as protecting her, but won’t see you as protecting yourself,” Forrest insisted. I hadn’t thought of that. My mother loved her mate more than she loved me. I was just some accident that came from dabbling with a lizard warrior. It was why she gave me up, even though a lot of trolls have said I was beautiful, I was a reminder of her mistake. “I’m sorry, Forrest. I know you’re trying to protect me, but I’m so used to taking care of myself. Even coming here last night was out of character…. Not to mention the other things that happened last night….” “Did you have a problem with what happened last night?” he asked, looking directly at me. My face burned with the blush I got from having his full attention. His expression was unreadable. I knew it, I went too far last night in the heat of the moment and he thought less of me now. “N-no. If you did, though, I can find somewhere else to stay.” Forrest reached out and took my hand. I looked over at him. “Pyla, I loved every moment of last night, and I hope we can do it again tonight. Going without ѕex has been hard on me and I didn’t even know you liked me in that way. For some reason, I kept thinking everything I was feeling was one sided. When you accepted my invitation last night, I was eager to show you what I could do. Don’t run away now. I want to keep you,” Forrest replied softly. “You feel the bond like I do? Like a force pushing us together? Something that makes your heart feel lighter and heavier all at the same time?” I asked. Forrest nodded. “Ever since I met you, I’ve felt like there was something between us. I never doubted what everyone said about Shayle and me until that night. You’re everything I ever dreamed of when I thought of my mate. You’re beautiful, strong, and different from all the other troll women I’ve met.” “I didn’t know what to think of when I thought of my mate. Someone who made me feel safe… maybe. You definitely do that. You’re sweeter and gentler than other trolls. I like that a lot. I was just thinking this morning that we have a true bond I think you really are my true mate. I’ve spent the last few months hoping, but, for the first time, I think it’s real,” I admitted. “I’ve known you were my true mate for months. The bond was obvious for me, but I could tell that you couldn’t feel it. I was more than happy to wait for my coming-of-age party. I didn’t want to rush you, my cute little lizard.” Forrest smiled at me and I couldn’t help but smile back. All this time I was waiting, thinking I couldn’t possibly feel it early. Denying it was what I was feeling. But it was. It was Forrest all along and I couldn’t wait for his coming of age to prove it. “Don’t go today. Stay with me. I know we don’t have proof, but I don’t need it. I feel a bond with you and I want to… I want to have ѕex with you, Forrest,” I told him with a blush. He licked his lips. “Goddess, I wanted to hear you say that for so long, Pyla, but I’m going to honor our commitment to wait. I’ll do everything else with you as much as you want, but I said I wouldn’t have ѕex with another woman until my coming-of-age. I know how good it feels, Pyla. It felt amazing for me last night, I wanted it as much as you did, but we made a decision. Now, eat your eggs. I have to get ready to get your things,” Forrest replied. “How much longer do we have to wait?” I asked, getting a scoop of eggs. “One more month. We’ll have the party here. I have a room set up for it. Rock’s hosting, but I’m sure he’ll make sure you’re the first one in,” he answered. “I don’t want to be the first one. If you know it’s me, you might try to trick me.” Forrest stared at me and frowned. “If that’s what you want, I’ll honor it, but there will be other women there and they may decide to take one last ride before I find my true mate. Are you going to be okay with that?” The idea of other women having him before I could made me angry. I shook it off. This was only a way for me to trick his troll brain into thinking it would be someone else first. I’d talk to Rock on my own and let him know what I wanted to do. He’d understand. If Forrest truly were my mate, as I suspected, then he would calm for me and talk to me. I would know the difference because his troll brain wouldn’t be trying anything it could to get me to have ѕex with him. Carmen told me she could tell the difference, but how much of that was the fact that Rock never acted like a normal troll?Then again, Forrest didn’t act like one, either. He acted much better, but last night, I could feel the dominant troll rising up in him. And I submitted to it. The thought of it made me squirm in my seat as I ate the eggs he made for me. This was his dominance. He made me feel cared for and possessed in the right way. I didn’t feel like I couldn’t fight back. I knew if I told him to stop last night, he would have. Something in me had that level of confidence in Forrest. It had to be the bond. We finished our meal and I helped clean up. It was nice to do something so inanely domestic with him. In the times that I would come over for dinner, he would let me help him clean up as well. It was familiar and felt right that we were working together. After we were done, Forrest went to get ready to leave. I went to his living room and puttered about, straightening things up and such. When Forrest came into the living room and saw me, he smiled. “You look like you belong here. I want you to lock the door behind me. I have the keys and can unlock the door when I get back. Don’t let anyone else into the house. We’ll figure out how to arrange my working week so you won’t be bored while I’m gone. Maybe you could come to the office with me. Carmen is looking for another assistant, now that Viola is doing more of the design stuff….” “I’ve never worked in an office. I don’t know if that would be a great fit for me,” I replied. “We can sort it out. Maybe there are jobs in the fae lands that I would be a good fit for.” “Sure, I guess we’ll see. There has to be something you would like to do.” There was a knock at the door. Forrest went to answer it and came back into the living room with Rock and Elbio. Since losing the fight, Elbio had actually been a lot nicer to me. He said it was clear that Forrest wanted me a lot more and he wanted to be friends with me, in case I was Forrest’s true mate. For a while, I thought it was a trick, but he never seemed to be anything other than a friend after that. It was as if our brief history didn’t exist. I smiled at them. “Thank you for being willing to help me out.” “We’ve been waiting for this. Your mother isn’t getting the attention she wanted from you dating Forrest. We figured she would kick you out at some point,” Elbio replied. “There was a good chance that this would happen. All of us had rooms ready for you, but if you want to stay with Forrest, we understand,” Rock added. They really were good friends. If I had gone to Rock’s home, I would have had a place, too. That was actually an interesting idea. He had so many people in his house already, though. It was part of the reason I didn’t go to his place. I didn’t know if he would be open to another person. “Are you reconsidering staying with me?” Forrest asked. “I could have gone to Rock’s house last night, I came here for a reason. I’ll stay, if you’re okay with that,” I told him. “Good. We’ll be back in a little while. Remember what I told you. There are extra hangers in my closet. Why don’t you grab them and get ready to put your things away?” I nodded and they left. I followed them and locked the door like Forrest told me to. The house was arranged in a split design. The Master bedroom was on the opposite side of the house from where the other rooms were. Though, I’d visited a few times, I never went to the other side of the house. It felt like it was a forbidden place. The place where Forrest slept. His retreat from the world. His private place. When I opened the door, I was amazed at the room. One of the walls had a stone face and a pool of water at the base. Water cascaded down the wall, into the pool. There were plants all over the place. It was nothing like the rest of his house. The room was built large enough to contain his giant bed, which was still mussed. I went over and straightened out his sheets and blankets. Running a hand over the mattress, I thought of Forrest’s hulking form lying there. I wanted to see him sleeping. Defenseless. I imagined curling up in the bed with him. There was plenty of room for me. The bed was bigger than any bed I had ever seen. I shook my head and went to one of the two doors on the wall. It opened to a bathroom that had the same sort of natural look as the bedroom. Instead of a bathtub, like my mother had, there was a stone lined pool in the floor. It was full of water that was steaming I dipped my tail into it and found it to be the perfect temperature to penetrate my hide. Next to the pool, there were several shower heads coming out of the wall and ceiling. There was no cubicle for the shower and I realized that this whole area was a wet room. He would shower, then step into the tub to relax. It sounded lovely. It was how we bathed back home. We would get buckets of water from the springs and clean our bodies before soaking in the hot water. On the other side of the room, was another door and I figured that was where the other bathroom fixtures were. This was perfect, though. It was like a little bit of the forest was here in the house. I certainly never thought I would see such a thing in a modern house. The floors in both rooms were stone, making it seem more like this was a hidden cove in a mountain. Back in his bedroom, I saw that there was a wall of glass. As I got closer, I could see that the entire wall could open to the backyard. I could imagine sleeping with the wall open in the summer. Remembering that I was on a mission, I went to the other door near the bathroom and found Forrest’s closet. Again, it was large and obviously built for two people. Half of it was empty, waiting for the owner. Waiting for me, maybe?