Loving Luna - Stephan

Chapter Eight - Heat Oh Heat

Stephan carefully sat up, trying his best not to disturb Jewel as he untangled himself from her. He couldn’t sleep, there was just too much going on in his mind for him to sleep. Finally, free of Jewel, he got up and gazed down at her lovingly. He could see she was frowning in her sleep and he reached out and gently caressed her cheek. The crease on her forehead disappeared and a small sigh left her lips. Stephan smiled as he left their bedroom and made his way to the kitchen. Switching on the light, he nearly screamed out like a little girl.

“f*****g hell!” he breathed out as he watched Emily try and hide her laughter. “You scared me,”

“S-sorry,” she managed to spit out as she tried to control herself. Stephan shook his head and went over to make himself a hot drink. “Can’t sleep?” she asked him.

“Yeah,” he mumbled as he joined her at the kitchen table, wrapping his hand around the hot cup of coffee. “Just a lot on my mind, you know?”

“Yeah, same here,” she agreed as she took a sip of her hot drink. Stephan took this moment to look her over. Her somewhat reddish-brown hair looked dull and her grey eyes looked tired. The lines on her face showed him that she was stressed out and unhappy.

“How're the twins?” he asked her, her eyes lit up and they both smiled.

“Little terrorists, but I love them. We’ve been searching for a witch that can help them with that part of their lives. We managed to find a runaway witch named Primrose, we’ve set her up close to the pack and she helps them as best she can as they are still so young,” Emily explained, and Stephan nodded.

“I can’t imagine that,” he paused as he looked down into his cup. “How do you do it Em’s?”

“It’s not easy, I love my pups, I love Carl, but every day is just a reminder of everything,” she spoke softly and sadly. Stephan glanced back up at her and frowned.

“What do you mean? A reminder of everything?”

“I mean, every time the twin’s magic pop up, it reminds me that their grandmother tried to kill me, it reminds me that although she’s gone, they still have a part of her in themselves. Vicky and Jenny are still close friends and so Jenny visits the pack often. This is a constant reminder of Carl’s betrayal,” Emily blushed as she looked away from Stephan. “I mean, I’ve forgiven Carl, but it doesn’t mean I trust him,”

“That’s not good though,” Stephan commented softly.

“I’ve listened to Sasha talk about her past and although Ayden was hesitating to accept her as his mate, once he did, he embraced it and claimed her. You can see just by looking at them that they are happy. They fit; they are fated, mates. Yes, they had their struggles but, and no offense to you bro, they fought it together,” Emily frowned, and Stephan felt sad. “Felicity went through hell too, yet Warren accepted her right from the start, although she was the one that was slow in accepting him, once she did, they were happy. I mean, I know all about his oopsie in thinking Warrity was Axel’s, but he made up for it and they are just as mates should be,”

“Carl loves you,” Stephan announced. He flinched as the words left his mouth, Carl had said that to him, and he didn’t believe the asshole.

“Does he though? I mean, he was quite accepting when I first got there, you know?” Stephan listened closely; he had only heard small bits about her life. “He claimed and marked me, we got married and then he just pulled away. Telling me he doesn’t want to be with me because he didn’t love me, it broke me,” Unshed tears glistened in her eyes and Stephan wished he could take away her pain.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,”

“Here’s the thing, I left, right and he didn’t bother to come and get me. He didn’t fight for me. Instead, he continued living his life with Jenny, while we were still married. He hurt me in ways I wouldn’t wish on anyone, not even my enemies. He likes to tell me that he was brainwashed by his mother and manipulated by Jenny, I know he is right, but I also know he could’ve made different choices,” Stephan didn’t know what to say or how to comfort her. “He could’ve stayed alone, yet he chose to be with her in a way that makes my skin crawl,”

“You should’ve left him,” Emily and Stephan both turned to see Andrea standing at the kitchen door. “You didn’t have to take him back just because you had his pups,” she said as she entered and went over to Emily. “However, the problem is not the past, it is the future and the main question is, do you truly see him in your future?” Andrea asked softly as she ran her fingers through Emily’s hair. Stephan felt awkward sitting there and stood up. He smiled at his sister and mother and excused himself. He hadn’t realized that Emily was so torn up about her marriage and so on. He took the stairs two at a time until he was at the top. Without stopping, he dashed into his room and went to take a quick shower.

“Stan?” he heard Jewel call out to him as he switched off the water, wrapping a towel around his waist, he opened the door and gave her a sexy grin.

-

Jewel woke up alone. She hated waking up alone.

“Stan?” she called out again, unhappy that he wasn’t around. His scent rushed over her body and she turned to see him standing at the bathroom door. Jewel froze. His dark hair was wet and dripping down his body. Her eyes followed a drop from his hair, down his forehead, nose and to his lip. Stephan was watching her, and he licked his lips, the drop she had been following had been licked away. Jewel moaned out softly without even realizing it. Stephan took a slow step towards her and gave her that sexy smile that drove her crazy.

“I wish Emily would wake up,” Stephan said as he sat down next to her. Jewel frowned. That wasn’t what she had been expecting but then again, her hormones were out of whack.

“Yeah, I can understand,” she whispered.

“She deserves someone better than that, what were the gods thinking?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it,” she admitted. Jewel had always envisioned her mate to be so loving and caring, although Stephan was, in fact, a wonderful wolf, he had made mistakes.

“I know I’m not perfect and I shouldn’t judge, but Emily is such a kind-hearted wolf, she deserves better,” Stephan stood up and glanced down at her. “I wish I could’ve been better for you,”

“You are,” Jewel said standing up and she placed her hand against his bare chest. Sparks flew and the heat was almost unbearable. “It doesn’t matter how we met or under those circumstances, I know your heart, I know your history and you’ve taken ownership of your mistakes. Carl just pushes his mistakes onto his mother or that another female. Don’t compare yourself to that s**t head ok?” she desperately wanted him to see his self-worth. Carl was a real d**k, but Stephan was nothing like him.

“Ok,” he whispered. Jewel left the room and went to the room she knew Sasha and Ayden where occupying. Knocking on the door she waited for them to answer.

“Mmm?” Ayden opened the door, looking like the walking dead.

“Ayden, can we talk?” she asked him.

“Mmm,” he closed the door and Jewel stood there wondering if that was a yes or a no and what she should do. After a good five minutes, she went downstairs and into the kitchen. Andrea was busy making breakfast.

“Morning, anything I can do to help?” she asked. Andrea turned to look at her and smiled warmly.

“Morning dear, yes please could you butter the toast?” Jewel nodded and started buttering the toast that Andrea had piled up next to the toaster.

“How did you sleep?” Jewel asked her, wanting to make conversation.

“Very well and yourself?”

“Good, thank you. Any idea when the family will be departing?” she asked curiously.

“Emily and Sasha are leaving this afternoon, Felicity is leaving tomorrow morning,” Andrea informed her, and she nodded once again. She wanted to talk with her brother before he left.

“Jewel?” she turned around to see Ayden dressed in a pair of grey shorts and a black sleeveless top.

“Yeah?”

“You wanted to talk?” she blushed. He must’ve gone to shower to wake up. Jewel glanced over at the pile of toast she still had to butter and made a quick decision.

“Yes, I’d like to talk before you go home this afternoon, maybe we can talk after breakfast?”

“Sure," he said to her and then he turned to Andrea. "Morning mom,” he greeted Andrea with a kiss to her cheek and then he went over to make himself some coffee.

“Morning son,” Andrea greeted back, and Jewel smiled. Andrea is such a warm wolf. Caring, loving and nurturing. Jewel couldn’t help but wonder what it must have been like to have your son stolen from you. Jewel went back to buttering the toast and by the time she was done, everyone was downstairs, sitting around the table. “Let’s eat,” Andrea announced after she made sure everyone was seated. The kitchen had never seemed busier than it did at that moment. Jewel hadn’t even realized so many could be seated around the table. Of course, they were squished together but it was warm and comfortable.

“I’d like to make a breakfast toast!” George said as he stood up, call eyes were on him. “I want to thank you all for coming here, for all the support and help!” everyone cheered. “To family!” he said raising his coffee mug. With everyone laughing at his gesture, many coffee mugs were held up. Jewel blushed as her leg brushed against Stephan’s. She would seriously need to talk to Ayden as soon as breakfast was over.

“Let’s go and talk,” Ayden said to her as she finished drying off the last plate. Jewel looked over at Andrea and Sasha.

“Is that alright?” she asked them.

“Yes, of course, dear,” Andrea said as Sasha nodded with a smile. Jewel led Ayden out the kitchen door to her favorite spot outside. The swinging bench she loved to spend her time.

“So? What do you want to talk about?” Ayden asked her as he gently eased himself onto the swing.

“I wanted to ask you about heat,”

“What do you mean?” he looked confused.

“You know, the heat between two mates?”

“Oh, right, I take it you and Stephan haven’t?” he didn’t look too pleased with the idea of discussing this with her, but she had no other choice and she trusted her brother.

“No, I mean, we’ve done a little bit of fooling around but that’s it,” Ayden was quiet while he thought about how to answer her. Jewel waited patiently for her brother.

“Well, from what I understand, when mates come together it is completely natural for the s****l desire to arise. With that being said, when you are close with your mate but not having mated as yet or marked each other as yet, it can cause heat to settle. It is normal for the female to go in heat. The male will pick up on the heat and the desire to mark increases. Jewel, are you having second thoughts about Stephan?”

“No, not at all. I just feel embarrassed about this constant need within me,” Jewel blushed as she felt the wave of embarrassment wash over her.

“Oh, well, honestly, this is something you need to talk about with Stephan. My advice is to mate but that’s because I’m male. If you aren’t ready then you need to let him know,” Jewel nodded at Ayden’s advice.

“In the meantime, though? I have to just deal with it?” she asked him, desperately needing help.

“In the meantime, the only thing you can do is seek relief from your mate. Again, the best thing to do is talk to Stephan about it,”

“Ok, thank you, bro,”

“Anytime, sis,”

-

Stephan stood with his arm around Jewel’s waist as they waved goodbye to Sasha and Ayden. Watching them drive off was hard, he would miss them. Emily and Carl had left over an hour ago and although he would miss Emily, he was very happy to see Carl leave. Stephan suddenly looked down at his mate. The smell that was radiating off her was intoxicating. He had picked up the scent earlier but had ignored it. Now he couldn’t. He gently took Jewel's hand in his and led her back into the house, upstairs to their bedroom. Closing the door behind him, he turned to look at his mate.

“Are you horny?” he asked her. He watched her blush and he smirked. She was horny.

“I am sorry, Ayden explained it to me,” she said so softly that Stephan was glad he had super hearing.

“What exactly did he explain to you?”

“About the heat,” Stephan nodded. He remembered Mikaela talking to him about it.

“What did Ayden tell you?”

“That I should talk to you about it since I am not ready yet to fully mate with you, I would need to seek relief from you,” her words made sense and since he wasn’t ready for that either, he knew exactly what he needed to do.

“Jewel, I want you to go and take a shower, refresh yourself,” Jewel nodded and went into their bathroom. Stephan was tempted to join her, but he knew he couldn’t. Not yet. He quickly slipped out of the room and headed back downstairs to his mother.

“Mom, could I have a word?” he asked as he stuck his head in the living room. Felicity raised her eyebrows, but he ignored her as he ushered his mother into the office.

“You called me mom,” Andrea said excitedly.

“You are my mom, so,” Stephan felt awkward and he wished she could just silently accept it. Picking up on his uneasiness, she smiled and then nodded.

“You wanted to talk?”

“Jewel is in heat,” Stephan blurted out.

“Yes, son, we’ve all smelt so,” Stephan blushed. Of course, if he had been smelling it, then everyone else could smell it too.

“She isn’t ready to mate, and neither am I,” he admitted. Andrea nodded.

“I understand but I know you two have, well, you know, done things. You can help ease her need,” suddenly Stephan wasn’t sure if asking his mother for advice was the right move. He should’ve asked his father or better yet, Warren. “I agree,” Andrea said, and he realized he thought it out loud. George entered the room soon after and Andrea left.

“What’s wrong son?” George asked him.

“Jewel is in heat, we aren’t ready to mate, and mom said I can ease her need,” Stephan explained as quickly as he could, while he blushed a dark shade of pink.

“Yes son, you can ease her need. You don’t have to mate in order to give her some kind of relief. Just being near her will help, cuddling and kissing too. Of course, there are other s****l acts you can do,”

“Ok, ok,” Stephan said quickly. Not wanting his father to go into further detail. He turned to leave and looked back at George. “Thanks, Dad, I’ll go help her,” he said before leaving the room and heading back upstairs. When he entered the room, Jewel was sitting on the corner of the bed wrapped up in a soft fluffy pink towel. The sight of her was so stunning. Her wet hair clung to her back and shoulders, water slowly dripping down. Her soft plump lips were slightly parted as she breathed in, her eyes were dark with lust and need. Stephan gulped as he took a step towards her. The smell of her heat, her desire was quite overwhelming, but Stephan knew what he could do to help her. Jewel glanced up at him and pouted her lips. He growled out at the sight and bent down to claim her lips in a desperate sloppy kiss. He pulled away and gently tugged on her hands to help her stand up. Stephan gently pulled the towel from her and took a moment to admire the beauty of her luscious body. Her smooth pale skin was still wet, and he couldn’t wait to pleasure her.

“Lay down babe,” he told her hoarsely. The lust he felt making his voice thick with need. Jewel obeyed as she climbed onto the bed and made herself comfortable on her back. Stephan once again took that moment to look at her. “So beautiful,” he whispered as he joined her on the bed. Laying next to her, he leaned in close and whispered. “Just relax and enjoy,” she barely nodded as she gazed at him. Stephan kissed her forehead softly, moving his lips down to her cheek, he caressed her soft skin with his tongue. Jewel released soft whimpers of need as he moved to her lips and kissed her. Jewel's lips already parted but he didn’t care as he took his time in kissing her. Instead of slipping his tongue inside her mouth, he licked her lips slowly, tenderly causing her to moan louder. He finally slipped his tongue inside and touched her tongue with his. They seemed to wrestle for dominance but Stephan was the winner as he devoured the taste of her. Jewel cried out as he moved from her mouth down to her neck where he took his time by sucking gently on her sensitive skin. Shifting into a more comfortable position, Stephan moved down from her neck to her chest. He could feel her desire heighten with each kiss, each lick and with each suckle that he made. Stephan made sure to give equal attention to each breast, softly massaging her with one hand while his mouth suckled and nipped at the other. He sucked her n****e into his mouth, feeling it harden in his mouth. Biting gently, he loved hearing her rough breathing and the feel of her body reacting to each move he made. As much as Stephan wanted to keep on giving her breasts attention he moved down. kissing and licking his way towards her heat. The smell of her arousal was so strong that he had to force himself to go slow. He wanted his mate to be satisfied.

“Sir please!” she moaned out fiercely. Stephan smirked as he lowered himself between her legs and kissed along her inner thigh.

“All in good time, babe,” he told her. The sight of her alone was hard enough, Stephan knew that this was all about control and although he felt as if he was losing control, he pushed his own need down. Jewel came first and she would always come first.