Revenant Paul Lahote

Chapter 23

Seeing Paul in the kitchen was normal. 

For some reason, he had always been an early riser, even before shifting. So it was no surprise to Caylee when she came downstairs, slightly grumpy from waking up to see his side of the bed cold and empty. 

"Uh oh, I know that face," Paul joked upon seeing her entrance. Truthfully he thought she looked absolutely beautiful. Despite her messy hair and grumpy face he could see how much better she looked compared to before. 

While her under eyes still had a shadow from her usual stress, she had been sleeping better than she had before. Still plagued with the harrowing dreams that she despised so much, but both of them noticed she had been experiencing them less than before. 

Caylee wrapped her arms around Paul's waist, snuggling her face into his warm chest and sighing at the contact. He relished in the embrace, kissing the top of her head and rubbing up and down her back soothingly until he felt her body relax. 

They pulled apart only so she could get her morning coffee, and she leaned against the counter sipping contentedly. 

"So when's this graduation you haven't told me about?" 

Caylee choked on her warm drink, looking up at Paul as he stood in front of her with an amused face. "I didn't think you'd wanna go to that," she said truthfully. 

The boy in front of her scoffed, taking her cup out of her hand and placing it on the table before returning back to her. Paul lifted her chin, "Why wouldn't I wanna see my girl graduate?" 

Caylee felt flustered. His voice still had the deep gravelly sound that he only got in the morning and his close proximity made her body heat up. As if sensing the mood change Paul lifted her up onto the counter, coming to stand in between her legs, hands on the counter on either side of her as if they were caging each other in. 

"What's the matter sweet girl, wolf got your tongue?" 

Paul's tone was teasing, but he was trying his hardest to hold in the growl that was buried deep in his chest. But all at once he stopped, one of his hands coming up to cup under her jaw and his thumb trace under her bottom lip.  

The moment was tense, and when they finally kissed it was explosive. Unlike many of their other kisses that had been soft and sweet, this one felt fueled by fire and passionate. Paul's hand held her jaw while the other came to grip her hip and pull her closer. Her own hand came up to thread through his hair and the other carefully touched his bare chest, trailing down over his abs before gripping his back when she heard a growl leave his throat. 

They were clashing, all lips and teeth and flames. Paul's mouth left hers only to venture to the side of her neck where his teeth nipped at a sensitive spot, receiving exactly what he wanted when he heard a soft sound come out of her mouth. 

All at once he was yanked back to reality, and quickly pulled away.

For a split second he could see rejection flash through his imprint's eyes, and knew that he had pulled away so quickly that it probably worried her. "We need to set boundaries," he spoke up. "We're still new to this whole touching thing. I don't want to push it and rush you into anything you're uncomfortable with. But believe me, I want to." Caylee could see the tenderness in his eyes. She could see that he looked almost terrified that he could make any wrong move and he'd be forbidden to touch her again. 

Caylee nodded and he kissed her forehead.

"Oh my god! Oh, I'm gonna be sick. Some of us eat in this kitchen you sickos!" The sound of Jared Cameron echoed through the room, making the couple jump apart and look at him as he dramatically bent over the table pretending to dry heave. 

Paul glared at him and Jared just shrugged in response. "Not my fault you were too preoccupied to hear me come in wolf boy," he said before nodding over at Caylee. "Nice shirt." 

The shirt was in fact Paul's, and had ridden up a significant amount due to their previous predicament. 

Paul growled loudly, making Jared shrink a little under his friend's heated glare. Paul helped his imprint off the counter, standing in front of her protectively as she blushed profusely. 

"Righto, I'll just be going then." 

***

Running into Alice Cullen was a strange experience. 

Caylee had been rushing out of the library, eager to go home after her last day at school only to stumble into a freezing cold body. Caylee glanced from the small hands that stabilized her to the golden eyes of Alice and back again, shaking from both the temperature and fear. It took a few moments for her to realize the vision was not coming, and once again looked at the smiling pixie-like girl in front of her. 

"I'm Alice. Will you come to my graduation party?" 

***

Caylee was standing looking through mail when Paul came home from patrol. He smiled at her, coming around to wrap his arms around her waist and hold her comfortably. 

"So the Cullen's huh?" 

Paul's body froze at her words. 

It was gonna be a long night of explaining.