The Sorceress & The Alpha

The First Date

The biggest library Aubrey has ever seen stood in front of her. The walls were stacked with shelves full of books from ceiling to floor, one of the walls was a full window that gave the whole space a sense of calmness and relaxation with natural light bathing everything within sight. There were a couple of couches, chairs and desks to give the guest options of where to sit. In the middle of the room stood something similar to a podium made of cristal. Donovan walked her towards this last item and waved a hand in front of it. A screen projected in front of them with a full interface that suggested a series of books. The name 'Donovan' displayed at the top right corner. 

“This library has centuries of published books, all at your disposition. You can search anything from this collection with this device. Now, as you can see. This displays my own selection of books; things I’ve read, I want to read and so on… May I?” Donovan said while gesturing for Aubrey to give him her hand. Aubrey extended it towards him, he took it and placed it in the cold crystal. After some swift motions she suddenly saw that now her name was displaying. “Now this library is yours, Aubrey. And if there’s something you want to read that it’s not here, we’ll get it.” 

Her eyes watered, this was too much. Life couldn’t be this perfect, could it? Donovan’s hand was still over hers on the crystal. He took her hand to his lips and kissed it lightly, “I know this is overwhelming, Aubrey. I know your life changed abruptly from one day to another. I’m trying to give you the time and space you need to adapt to all of this. But I want you to know that every time I see you. Every time I touch you. I can’t wait for the rest of our lives to begin.”

Aubrey looked at him shocked. She was aware that he has been wooing her since the beginning, but the sincerity of it all. The reality of him actually wanting to be with her for the rest of their lives. It all clicked for the first time. She faced him completely and without thinking, closed the gap between them, catching his lips with hers. The moment their lips met, all her fears disappeared. The fear of being rejected. The fear of everything being just a joke. The fear that his touch would make her feel the same repulsion she felt whenever Elias touched her. Everything she could feel was Donovan. His warmth, his arms that wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Her arms wrapped around around his neck. Their bodies fitted perfectly together. 

Aubrey licked his lips requesting entrance, Donovan inhaled shocked at her determination but opened his mouth gladly, kissing her passionately. Everything became too intense so quickly. Something was building between both of them, a connection Aubrey hasn’t experienced before. She could feel her heartbeat synching with his; their body temperatures were rising without being uncomfortable. Was she feeling aroused? She paused the kiss but stayed mere inches away from Donovan. She opened her eyes slowly and looked directly at his that were dark with a mix of sock and lust. 

“That was…”, he started. 

“Perfect.”

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Aubrey was taking a cold shower. After that first kiss, Donovan finished the tour of the house and guided her towards the room she would be staying. Conveniently enough, it was across from his room. She couldn’t believe that she actually kissed him. She couldn’t stop smiling. Donovan told her that after resting and getting settled, he will be taking her out for dinner. He didn’t want to tell her much detail about where they were going or what they were doing so she wasn’t sure of how to dress for the occasion. 

After finishing up, she wrapped herself in a towel and went to her bag. Taking the clothes out and folding them in the closet she decided to set apart a knee-length pink dress with empire waist and spaghetti straps along with a leather jacket and black boots. She wanted to look pretty for him. That is something she never thought that she would want. She hated men looking at her because she knew that they only looked at her with lust and despicable intentions. But now, she actually wanted to show Donovan that she wanted to be seen by him. She wanted to feel pretty, not only like a s*x object. She wanted to look like herself, or at least like she always wanted the people to see her. Not in skimpy dresses that denigrated her, but actual clothes that made her feel comfortable. She wasn’t sure if she was actually projecting that or if she was only overthinking things once again, but she was glad with her outfit choice. 

She heard a soft knock on the door while she was staring at her reflection in the full-size mirror of her bedroom. Her black hair has dried already and thanks to the products she acquired from Lilian’s concoctions her curls were framing her face perfectly. Lilian has offered several times make up as she was a big user of those, but she actually liked her face clean. She walked towards the door and opened it, Donovan looked at her from head to toes and his eyes darkened briefly. 

“You look beautiful.” 

Aubrey blushed and smiled at him, “You look very handsome yourself.” She was glad to see that he was dressed up just as much as her. Black jeans and a white dress shirt, his hair was a little bit messy but looked like it was fixed like that on purpose. 

“Shall we?”, he said while offering his arm to her. She wrapped her hand around his bicep and let him guide the way. She thought that they were walking towards the elevator, that was right from her room, but they actually walked to the opposite side where a spiral staircase stood at the end of the hall. She looked at Donovan confused, she thought they were already in the highest point of the mansion. Donovan winked at her and let her pass in front so she could grab the rail on her way up. Once they passed the ceiling everything went dark for a few steps before they finally stopped. She couldn’t see anything yet so she walked a few steps with her arms extended until her hands hit what felt like wood. 

Suddenly, she felt Donovan’s presence behind her. He put a hand in her hip to let her know he was there and he extended his other arm in front of her. The unmistakable sound of a knob being turned was heard and the door in front of her opened. She could feel it before she could see it. The fresh air of the autumn night caressed her skin and the fresh smell of the forest hit her nostrils. The moonlight shun over a roof garden with a pergola in the middle. A long wood table with candles was set under it and a basket that she guessed had food was in a service table next to it. 

Aubrey looked in awe at everything around her. She took several steps forward to see what other elements that comprised the roof. Passing the Pergola there was a greenhouse and to the farther right there was a lighted pool and a barbecue station. Donovan walked her to the pergola and pulled a chair so she could sit. 

“This is so beautiful, Donovan. You shouldn’t have.” 

Donovan pulled a bottle of wine and popped it open. 

“You know? If you think about it, this is our first date. I haven’t properly taken you out since I have met you without any other company. So yes, I had to.” He then proceeded to serve the food on their plates. Aubrey looked at him shocked. 

“Burgers?” 

“Well. You mentioned you were not used to eating delicious food. So I decided to offer you my favorite dish in the world today and each day I’m gonna show you more delicious food until we find out what your favorite dish is.” he said, very proud of his idea. 

“I like your plan.” She said sincerely, “so burgers are your favorite food?” 

“Oh no, ma chère. Not only burgers, this is flank steak with provolone cheese and grilled onion in homemade bread.” 

“Wow, that sounds amazing… although I didn't understand half of that sentence.” 

Donovan chuckled while pouring the wine in both glasses, “don’t worry, try it and let me know if you like it. I have more options in that basket as a backup plan.” 

Aubrey looked at the burger in her plate and hesitated on how to eat it. 

“You can use your hands, don’t worry.” Donovan grabbed his burger and took the first bite as demonstration. He hummed in pleasure once he started chewing on it. Audrey followed him and took a bit from hers. The taste was delicious, all the salty flavors dancing on her tonsils. She looked at Donovan shocked at how good it was. “Good, isn’t it?” he said after swallowing the first bit. She nodded furiously in agreement and kept eating. 

After going through half of her burger she was completely full. “I can’t possibly eat another bite. This was delicious but I’m completely full.” 

“You don’t like wine?” Donovan asked, noticing that she hasn’t touched her glass. 

“Oh… I…” Aubrey has tasted alcohol before. But only because Elias ordered it. He would continuously make her get drunk to make things easier. Less fight and sometimes even more cooperation on her behalf. The memories made her shudder lightly. Her eyes began to water lightly and she tried to take a deep breath to make them go away. She didn’t want to ruin the evening with her depressive past. She then felt Donovan’s hand touching hers. 

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m sorry if I touched a sensitive subject. Here, let me take that from you.” He said while taking her glass away. 

“No, it’s ok I can do it.” 

“I don’t want you to do things for me, Aubrey. I want you to do them for yourself.” He opened the basket and took another beverage from it. It was a pint of a light brown liquid. 

“I have to say that this mix is a little bit different but I loved it as a child.” 

“What is it?” Donovan twisted the lid and gave it to her. She smelled it and it was delicious. 

“Chocolate!” 

“Chocolate milk, yes.” 

She took a sip and danced lightly in her seat, “I think this is my favorite beverage so far.” 

A deep laugh roared from Donovan’s chest, “I’ll make sure to have the refrigerator full of this, then.”