The Healing Souls

Reconnecting

[Carmen]

When we got home, Rock led me into the house. I took off my shoes and put them on my shelf. It was a relief to do something so mundane. It was familiar and made me feel like I was really home.

“Would you like to see what I was keeping myself busy with while you were gone?” Rock asked.

He sounded restrained, as if he didn’t mind if I told him no. I could hear the underlying hopefulness in his voice, though. I sighed.

“Rock, I want to hear you be excited about something. I can hear every time you restrain yourself. You’re my mate; I always want to hear you being happy, hopeful, and excited.”

“Well, I was restraining myself because I also entirely understand if you want to go to our bedroom to… what was it your mother called it…? Reconnect. It can wait if you want to do that instead….”

I laughed, this time he really sounded eager and I knew he really wanted either option. As much as I wanted to go to bed with him and ‘reconnect’, I wanted to see what he had been doing while I was gone.

“Show me what you were working on, and then we can go spend the rest of the day in bed.”

Rock left the room. I went to sit on the couch while I waited for him to get whatever it was. It didn’t take too long before I heard him. I could hear wood hitting wood. He must have worked on his woodworking while I was gone.

He sat next to me and I heard the wood clatter on the coffee table. Rock took my hand and put something in it. It felt like a hand. I smiled and felt it.

“It feels beautiful,” I told him.

“It’s your hand. I missed your touch and found a piece of wood that was perfect for making it,” he said.

I nodded and felt the hand. It was well carved, and I was amazed at the detail. I handed it back to Rock. He missed my touch as much as I missed his.

Rock took the hand back and gave me another item. I felt over it carefully. It was a wolf. As much as I thought the detail on the other piece was amazing, this was even more intricate and detailed. It felt beautiful. I could feel the way the fur laid on the wolf’s body.

“It’s Blanche. I finished it up this morning. Elbio and Forrest distracted me and I wasn’t able to get her perfect. Feel here,” he moved my fingers to the tail. “That’s the little curls on top of Blanche’s tail. I want to get her entirely done and painted. I think she will look great on the shelves here in the living room.”

Blanche danced inside of me. She was thrilled that our mate was thinking of her and not just me. Rock had always been as fair to her as he could be. He spent time with her in a way that most non-wolf mates never did with their mate’s other half.

He took that one from me and put another in my hand. It was a flat piece. I laid it on my lap and ran my fingers over it. It was a face. A familiar one. As I touched it, the face formed in my mind.

“Is this me?” I asked with a gasp.

“It is. This was the first one I made. I missed seeing your face and I wanted to see it again. I found this piece of wood that was perfect for what I wanted to do. Do you like it?”

“I love it. I think you made me look more beautiful than I really am, though.”

Seeing pictures while in Blanche’s form and trying to feel my own face was never anything like this. I could see myself more clearly than I ever had before. The whole reason I could never manage to do a mixed form like other ranked and ranked blood wolves could was because I couldn’t picture myself clearly.

I could feel tears forming in my eyes. I didn’t want to cry, but this was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. Rock didn’t even realize what he was giving me by letting me see myself.

Was I really this pretty? Surely, my mate was exaggerating. I didn’t mind, though.

“This is really what you look like, Carmen. I never embellish when I’m carving like this. Everyone has always told me how real to life my carvings are. I was careful to get it as precise as possible,” Rock murmured.

“Thank you for showing me this. I love it. You’re very skillful.”

He took the carving from me and leaned in, kissing me softly on the cheek. I turned to him and caressed his face, giving him a gentle kiss on his mouth. He kissed me back. It wasn’t as urgent or aggressive as many of our kisses could be.

The kiss was tender and languorous. Rock pulled my legs up across his lap and wrapped an arm around my waist. He held me lovingly and continued kissing me.

I ended up sitting in his lap with my arms around his neck, living for the kiss we shared. All week, I’d missed him. It felt like it had been months, not days, since we were last together.

“Shall we take this to the bedroom?” I asked as our kiss ended.

“Definitely,” Rock answered.

He scooped me up and carried me to the bedroom. When he put me down, I was eager for the rest of him. It wasn’t just about the ѕex, it was about missing the closeness I felt with him.

Quickly, I discarded my clothes. I could hear him doing the same. As a troll, he didn’t always want to wait for a grand unveiling, and I couldn’t really enjoy watching him take off his clothes, so I didn’t mind him doing it in a rush, either.

Rock touched me softly and I felt him get on his knees. He wrapped his arms around me and rubbed his face against my chest. It reminded me of our first time together.

“Do you remember what you told me at my coming-of-age? What you said when you gave me that little speech?” Rock asked.

“I remember every bit of it. Every day I try to remember everything I promised you, so I can keep those promises.”

“You said you would make a sanctuary of softness for me. I didn’t even realize you had until you were gone. The soft, gentle warmth you give me was gone, and I was reminded of how cold and hard the world is without you. Goddess, I missed you so much. I never realized I could miss someone that much,” he whispered as he held me.

“I missed you, too. I know you probably only think I was focused on the carnal nature of our relationship, but that wasn’t what I missed. I missed talking to you and cuddling with you. I missed all the ways I felt safe with you,” I replied.

As he stood, Rock picked me up again. I hated being carried a lot, but he was missing me so much and I could feel that in how he held me. He needed this more than I did. I wouldn’t take it away from him because of my irritating personality quirks.

Rock laid me out on the bed. He kissed my forehead, then my temples, my cheeks, my nose, my chin, and my lips. With a lingering kiss, he let me feel his love for me.

Slowly, he kissed my neck, then my collarbone, shoulder, and down my arm to each finger, leaving a final kiss on my wrist before making his way back up my arm. I was lost in the feeling of his lips on my skin. The heat of each kiss left a blazing trail behind it.

“What are you doing?” I asked breathily.

“I’m welcoming you home,” Rock murmured as he kissed my other shoulder and started down that arm.

“You have to welcome every inch of me?” I giggled.

“Of course. I missed every inch of you,” he replied, kissing down my upper arm. “I missed all of you.” His kisses reached the back of my hand. “Your body, your voice, and your mind. I missed listening to you tell me stories. I missed lying in bed with you in my arms every night. Every single thing about you was missing for a whole week. I intend to welcome you home properly.”

By the time he finished speaking, he had kissed that entire arm and was back to my chest. Although it was… stimulating… there was nothing inherently ѕexual about it. Rock didn’t linger as he laid down all of his kisses. Trolls were patient, so I knew he wouldn’t give up if he said he was going to do it.

It reminded me of our first night together, but back then it was definitely more ѕexual as he touched, examined, and licked every inch of me. I missed him so much, even this diligence that was going to drive me insane with need before he was done. Rock had to know that he was doing more than just kissing me.

Like the first night we were together, when he reached the bottom of my body, he flipped me over and kissed his way up the backside. I gripped the blankets and moaned as more and more of my body was catching fire.

When Rock finally reached the back of my neck, I was burning for him and sad it was over at the same time. He pressed his body to mine and kissed the rim of my ear. Goddess, he saved my ears for last because he remembered how sensitive they were!

I writhed under him as he kissed all of my ear, then used my hair to turn my head in the other direction to kiss my other ear. He was killing me and I whimpered beneath him.

“Now that you’ve been welcomed home, I want to make love to you, my soft little wolf. There is no Alpha and wolf ѕlut right now. Only Rock and Carmen,” he murmured into my ear, making me shiver.

Rock moved and I rolled onto my back. I put my arms up to him and he climbed between my legs, caging me against the bed with his arms. As he lowered himself onto me, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

He kissed me gently, then moved his body up until he had slid entirely into me. We both let out a satisfied groan. Rock moved slowly, swiveling his hips as he slid in and out of my body.

Our pace was slow and purposeful. I knew he was being careful not to go too hard and fast. He must have felt the same desperation I felt at being together again. I moaned as his deliberate strokes lifted me up into a sweet release.

Rock bent down to kiss me as I came down. I knew it wasn’t comfortable for him to do that all the time, so I appreciated every single time he did it even more. I traced over his face. One day I would be able to use my magic to see him when we were together.

“I love you, Rock,” I whispered to him.

“I love you, too, Carmen. Never leave me again. I know you promised a weekend to the seers, but one night is better than five. I can live with missing you for one night. Never again, Carmen. I don’t remember who I am without you.”

“If the charm isn’t ready by next time, we’ll figure something out. I don’t ever want you to feel like that again. I didn’t like what Gemma was telling me, but I couldn’t leave the pack lands until my heat was over. I was so worried about you,” I said.

He kissed me again and we made love for what felt like forever. There was nothing else in existence, only me, Rock, and the love that surrounded us.

As we moved together toward his end, I felt complete. The weight of his body was luscious and our breathing found a matching rhythm that made everything more intense. His arms wrapped around my body as he struck a few more times.

With a groan, I felt his hot release into me. I breathed in his scent and moaned. Everything about him was delicious and I wanted to stay wrapped in his arms for my entire life. I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

After he finished, he held me while lying on top of me for a while. He was heavy, but it was a weight I loved more than anything. It reminded me of the strength and solidness of my mate.

“Do you feel reconnected?” I asked as he started to move off of me.

Rock laughed. “I think we need a few more rounds before I feel reconnected. For now, though, you should go clean yourself up and we’ll have some lunch. I have some plans for you and they involve my mouth on some tender bits that we don’t want me biting too hard.”

Heat rushed through my body at his words. I couldn’t wait to be with him again. If I could, I would spend the whole weekend ‘reconnecting’ with my mate.