"How the hell you could take him after he faked all that with Iris?" Jayden scoffed. "It's none of your business!" I snapped before grabbing Evander's hand and pulling him out of the room.

I don't stop walking until we were inside my bedroom, hidden by the locked room. I pushed Evander's shoulder, making him sit up on the bed. "Are you alright? Does it hurt?" I asked, scanning his face just to see it was a little red. As I stood between his thighs, Evander carefully studied my worried self.

"Yes," he finally answered. A soft smile was on my face as I leaned down with intentions of pressing a soft quick kiss on his lips but as our lips connected, it became difficult to let go. Evander kissed me back, throwing all the emotions he could into the kiss. My fingers dove into his hair, gently tugging at the strands as I leaned into him automatically.

"They're gonna try to take you away from me," he says after pulling away. I frowned as he revealed his thoughts to me. "I won't let them," I tried to assure him. Silence fell on us as I just stared at the beautiful creature in front of me.

"When we get back I'm taking you on a date," he announced, pushing away the blonde strands of hair away from my face. My eyes shot up in surprise as I grinned. "You are?" My fingers rolled down his head and settled around his neck. Evander smiled proudly, pressing our bodies closer together. "Yes, right after we arrive," he continued.

"Well then yes Evander I would love to go on a date with you, thank you for asking," I sarcastically say, pulling away from him as I walked into my closet to retrieve my two suitcases. "Didn't know I had to ask," Evander replied.

My eyes playfully rolled. "Do you need help?" He asked. I bite my lip, considering the thought. "Yeah, just take all of that and throw it in here," I answered, handing him one of the suitcases as we got to work, packing up most of my things.

_♤_

"I'll visit soon, I promise," I tell them, my parents were nowhere to be seen. They all were there, staring at Evander and I. Honestly, I felt like I didn't belong there, I felt like they didn't want me anymore or maybe they hated me for being with my mate. I understood where they were coming from but I wasn't going to deny myself happiness.

Renee walked forward, throwing her arms around me, taking me by surprise. "Please be safe, make sure you're happy, I'm so sorry your parents did that," she told me and as we pulled back I noticed her watery eyes. "This isn't goodbye, Ren, I'll see you soon," I assured her, not wanting to think about my so-called parents.

She hugged me tightly again before we pulled away. "Stay safe," she whispered before returning next to her brother. "Thank you for what you did for Everest, I don't think she would ever trust another doctor like you," William spoke, taking me by surprise.

He's humble today.

"Anytime," I tightly smiled. "Jay?" I tried, his eyes darted away from me and I sighed. He's definitely not going to speak to me for a while.

"Okay, let's go," I tell Evander. I gave them all a smile before walking away with my duffle bag. Evander looked cute as ever trailing behind me with two suitcases.

"Thank you for coming with me, Rieka," Evander broke the silence as we put my things into the back of his van. "I need you as much as you need me and my father is there, I'm not letting him miss out in any more of my life," I thought out loud. We both separated to get into the different sides of the car.

As the door shut, Evander smirked before bringing the van to life and driving away from the place I called home.

_♤_

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, pulling down the cropped top so the bathing suit he made me wear wasn't showing. There were only so many places he could take me while we drove in the mountains. The clues like the bathing suit he made me wear and the baskets in the back had me thinking maybe a lake or river. I wasn't sure if there were any waterfalls around here.

"Patience isn't you're strong suit," Evander bluntly stated with a grin on his face. I playfully scoffed, throwing my attention back on the beautiful nature we were driving through.

We drove for a couple more minutes, deep into the mountains only stopping when we were in front of the crystal clear blue water pool. My eyes widened as I stared at the waterfall, the sound of the water gushing down the rocks and falling into the pool was all I could hear.

"Holy shit," I gasped, pulling the door open so I could get a look at how transparent the water actually was. It felt like something out of a movie, or a picture. It always amazes me how beautiful nature can be. "How-" I tried to speak, feeling Evander's body almost pressed to mine.

"Welcome to my happy place," he mumbled. I looked back, staring at him with a curious expression. "Everyone has that place they go to when they need a break or to be alone, to forget, things like that..." he explained. He was right, my place had to be the pool or the library.

"I know you like to swim and this place is amazing so," he added. I smiled widely at his cute gesture. "You're so cute," I mumbled below my breath and I'm certain Evander didn't hear me.

"We can go in right?" I asked, almost bouncing in excitement.

"Of course," Evander's smile was the last thing I saw before he pulled the jersey over his head, letting it drop at the side of his feet. He was already wearing short pants that ended above his knees. My eyes traveled down his muscular chest, wondering how the hell someone could be so fit.

Nevertheless, it was insanely attractive and definitely a turn on. "I think you're drooling, Rie," Evander assumed. My eyes snapped to his brown ones and I scoffed.

My hands found the buttons of my short pants as Evander dove into the cold water. As the pants dropped to my ankles and the cropped top was on the floor to reveal my baby blue bath suit, Evander couldn't take his eyes off my body.

As I stood higher than him, I rolled my eyes before diving into the water, only rising until I was directly in front of him. His hand found the nape of my neck immediately, holding my face still for his mouth to crash down on mine.

I leaned into his touch, abandoning all my morals, and kissing him back.

It shouldn't have surprised me how easily he had my legs wrapped around his torso with my ankles locked behind his back. The extreme closeness that this new position brought us to, especially with us barely wearing clothes were doing bad things to me.

As his lips lapped against my own, my hands raked through his damp hair, looking the feeling of the thick and wet hair running smoothly through my fingers.

Every kiss we shared felt down to the bones. It was no surprise that everything felt different with Evander and I'd do everything again in a heartbeat if it meant I get to be here with him.

As our lips continued to mold together, he lightly bit down on my lip and they part. Relentlessly, his tongue slid past my lips, claiming my mouth as the fireworks set off. His grip on my hips tightened as I twirled his hot tongue with my own.

Everywhere his hand went, whether it was to massage my flesh or feel the curves of my body, it felt like he was igniting the fire. The fire that would only awake when he was touching me.

Evander had no clue of the claim he actually had on me.

Trialing my hands down his back, feeling the wet muscles there as they flexed under my touch and as he held my body tightly to him.

I let out all the air from my lungs as our lips parted, his firey mouth already claiming my neck. I arched my back into his chest, loving our bare stomachs pressing together. I felt every curve of his impressive defined stomach under the water.

"I can't wait to mark you," he whispered against my neck, leaving his last lingering kiss before pulling his face out of my neck. "So why don't you?" I asked, my heart racing at my question. "In all the right time, it's too soon now," he answered with a smile, pressing his mouth to mine.

Grinning, I pull away from him with permission before diving down into the depth of the pool, only surfacing when I was under the waterfall. The water felt amazing as it rained down on me, soaking me completely. Even though my eyes were shut I still felt his gaze on me as he watched me. I didn't mind, I loved it when he stared at me especially when I was so bare.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're an amazing kisser?" Evander asked, his fingers pressing into my hips as his lips brushed my neck.

"Mikey mentioned it once or twice," I shrugged, playing along to our wicked act. He let out a low growl, bringing our bodies together.

"You're-" I cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say.

"Mine," I finished, hooking my arms around his neck," yeah I know," I added. Amusement flooded his eyes as we stared at each other. "Once you know that," he whispered, pecking my lips once more before pulling away again to reveal a small smirk.

"Has anyone told you that you're an amazing kisser?" I asked, tilting my head to the side as I studied him, my eyes falling to his swollen pink lips that I'd kiss again in a heartbeat. "Yeah, Iris mentioned it once or twice," he smirked, his hands sliding down to squeeze my ass. His fingers brushing along my skin as it ran up my sides.

My eyes slightly widened and my jaw felt loose over how causal he said that. "Hm?" He whispered, kissing the part where my shoulder meets my neck. Leaning into his touch automatically, he smirked against my skin.

He placed a wide kiss on my throat and I moaned before looking into my eyes. "Naughty little thing," he whispered, his hand finding the nape of my neck as he directed my lips to find his. "I'm gonna be taking things slow with you, we have our whole lives," he says against my lips.

My heart picked up even more at that. How long was he going to make me wait before giving in to the sexual tension that loomed around us? Yet, he was right. I wanted to take things slow. We're already so fragile and we've barely gotten time to ourselves.

"Okay," I agreed.