The Innocent Warrior

The next morning she had to go visit her professor at university. When she woke up, her eyes met a pair of beautiful black eyes watching her with adoration. They were facing each other and the man was practically hugging her waist.

"Aham.." she cleared her throat and tried to move away but he resistantly tightened his hold on her waist and pulled her closer. "Good morning my love." He planted a soft kiss on her lips. Verena almost choked on her saliva before pushing him a little away and glaring at him.

She had clearly set some boundaries last night but the man seemed to have forgotten it. Not that she didn't like a morning kiss, but they still needed to know each other before proceeding further. So she ignored his puppy stares and hurried to slip into the bathroom.

Before leaving, she prepared breakfast and lunch for her 'mate' and briefed him about certain things that she thought he might need help with in her absence. She left after strictly telling him not to leave the dorm under any circumstances and wait for her to arrive back.

Come to think of it, she now regretted contacting her professor for some tasks. She could use this time to get to know the handsome warrior a little more and maybe.. aham… she shook her head to get rid of the naughty ideas that kept flashing her mind.

She met her professor in his office and received the assignment copies he had kept for her. Since Verena was a topper student, she was not only many teachers' favorite, but was also approached by them from time to time to help them check assignments.

The professor left for his class after briefing her about the requirements she needed to keep in mind while checking the assignments and Verena made herself busy with the assignments. She was so engrossed that she forgot to have lunch either. It wasn't until she picked her phone to check time that she was reminded of the man she had left in her dorm room to wait for her.

It was 2 PM already. He must be feeling anxious about her since she had told him that she'd be back in a couple of hours. When she looked in front of her, there were still a lot of copies left unchecked. She decided to bring them home with her and hurried to leave. Unfortunately, her professor Albert came back right at that moment.

"You're still here? I thought you'd have left by 12." He checked on his watch making Verena smile sheepishly, "yes professor, I got carried away and forgot to check time. I'm just leaving." She tried to leave but was stopped, "you didn't have to check so many copies, leave alone bringing the rest with yourself. I just gave them because you were complaining about unproductivity. Leave them here."

He tried to take the bag of assignments from her but she dodged, "I'm okay with it professor, please let me bring them. I may not be able to come tomorrow so I'll be checking them at home and bringing them the day after tomorrow." When she didn't give up, the professor had to comply.

"Fine, but have lunch with me before you leave."

"That," Verena looked troubled. "I have to hurry home professor, maybe some other time?" She wanted to leave as soon as possible but professor Albert took it as her politeness and insisted, "no excuses, you're having lunch with me. Is there someone waiting for you at home?"

Verena quickly shook her head, she couldn't possibly let the professor know about her mate waiting for her in her dorm, right? Hence, she ended up waiting for professor to pack his belongings before accompanying him to a restaurant. Professor Albert was a father figure to her. Countless times he had come to her aid and the man held a lot of respect in her heart so she couldn't refuse him outrightly.

It must be her bad luck that the restaurant was packed with customers and it took them more than usual time to get their dishes served. All this while she kept thinking about Eros. He was at a new place and wasn't familiar with many things. When she finally reached her dorm after two hours, the building looked peaceful. She hoped that Eros didn't try to come out of her room and instead had gone to sleep.

She unlocked the door before stepping in and closed the door behind her. She was taking her shoes off when someone hugged her tightly from behind and hid his face in her neck. The man seemed to be scared. She straightened up and patted his arms encircled around her waist, "I'm sorry, I'm late." His hold tightened on her upon her soft words.

Somewhere Verena had expected this so she wasn't surprised and tried to calm him down. She turned to face him while still in his arms but the man didn't move his head from her neck. It was as if he was scared and her scent calmed him down. He kept hugging her while hiding his face and she patted his back. "What's wrong? Did someone come by?" He shook his head while still nuzzling her neck, leaving her ticklish but the next second she was stunned.

He was crying. Warm tears fell on her skin before sliding down while he kept embracing her tightly, as if wanting to merge her in himself. "Hey," she spoke softly, "what's wrong? Here, look at me." She tried to get him to look up but he refused to raise his head. He only kept clinging to her without a word, thus softening her heart further.

"At least tell me what happened, or do you want me to worry all by myself?" She asked him softly, to which, he finally stepped back a little and shook his head innocently. He then tried to wipe his teary eyes but she beat him to it. "What happened?" She asked him softly as her hands held her face gently.

He kept looking down, not meeting her gaze, before speaking in a heavy voice, "I thought you left me here because you didn't trust me." Fresh tears rolled down his cheeks and Verena almost had a heart attack upon such a display of cuteness and love. She embraced him while patting his back gently, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I just got carried away with work and then my professor insisted on having lunch with him. I didn't leave you."

The man hugged her again, holding her waist and buried his face in the space between her neck and shoulder. She kept telling him in a soothing tone, "I won't do this again." She then heard him speak in a sulking tone, "you forgot about me..", and felt embarrassed. "I was so worried, I thought something happened to you. Then I thought you abandoned me. I didn't even know how to find you and you even told me not to leave the room." He hiccuped.

Verena realized that he may have been a warrior in his kingdom, but their were only friendly matches and training. It was like schooling in the modern world, he learned fighting but due to no exposure to real wars, he wasn't as tough as she had seen warriors in tv serials. Inside, he was a little kid who was scared of losing him mommy. Wait, why does that sound suspicious? She facepalmed.