AllFreeNovel
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My brain was going to melt out of my goddamn ears. She was unfairly beautiful. Just fucking perfection. And she was at my house. I had to remind myself to breathe, to channel all of my willpower into not crushing her to me immediately, maybe dragging her to the bedroom where I could huff her scent like paint beneath the blankets.
Allie had been so raw when she had first come to me —unpainted and unprepared, sweet, eager, and perfect as she was—but she was equally stunning like this and my brain swooped into thoughts of those red lips wrapped around my?—
I pushed away the thought of her on her knees and stepped properly aside to let her in, a cloud of honeysuckle in her wake, and my gaze following her helplessly.
Thank god for tight jeans.
“Holy shit, it smells good in here.” She inhaled deeply. “Are you baking?”
“I might have been.” I grinned. “There’s cake for dessert. Or as an appetizer if you prefer.”
Delight flashed in her eyes. “God, you’re such a charmer.” She laughed and playfully whacked me on the arm. “Baking me a cake. How are you real?”
I could’ve asked her the same. I still couldn’t quite believe she was here. “I’m a figment of your imagination.”
“If I didn’t have extremely vivid memories of how real you are, I’d be inclined to believe that.”
Heat rose up my spine at the memory of her spread out beneath me. The ginger notes of her scent slipped through the honeysuckle. I couldn’t tell if it was her responding to me because she was attracted to me or if it was just her omega side responding to what was probably an embarrassingly obvious alpha reaction.
She unzipped her boots and set them aside, looking at me expectantly.
“I’ll take your coat,” I offered.
Her jacket slid down her arms and revealed a red shirt that highlighted her curves and lean muscle. I didn’t remember her having those muscles before. Unwrapping her like a present was going to be a treat if there were all these new secret elements to discover… assuming she wanted to be unwrapped, that is. I hadn’t asked that part yet, but her being in my house was a good start.
My mind ran a mile a minute, struggling with a surge of memories that clashed with the reality of her standing before me. Her honeysuckle and ginger made it hard to think, and I wanted nothing more than to bury my face against her skin and breathe it for the rest of eternity.
“Do I get a grand tour—” Her voice interrupted my ogling. “—or are we hanging out in the foyer?”
What was the matter with me? I was supposed to be the cool one in these situations but she kept shutting off my brain.
“Sorry.” I took her coat from her and hung it up in the entryway closet. “I can show you all of it, but there might be something else you want to see first.”
As if on cue, a chorus of howls echoed.
Allie’s head turned toward the sound, gravitating to the closed door of the puppy room.
“They’re not great at letting themselves be a surprise.” I laughed and ushered her into the nursery.
Her gasp of excitement when she saw the pups wasn’t quite as satisfying as the ones I’d caused myself, but I was glad in either case.
“What are their names?” she asked.
“They’re all named after composers. The boys are Ludwig, Johann, Wolfgang, and Franz, and the girls are Kassia and Hildegard.”
Allie dropped to her knees in front of the pen, and I closed the nursery door behind us before unhooking the gate holding the pups at bay.
They swarmed, all battling to sit in Allie’s lap and lick her face at the same time. Her laughter was music as she lay down, letting herself be utterly overwhelmed. I sat down to join her, but the puppies were far too occupied with our newcomer to pay me any mind.
My heart did some uncomfortable flips as I watched her absolute delight.
“Oh god, I got a foot in my mouth!”
I hoisted one of the pups off her face. She tried to sit up but was tackled back down by another. I snatched her flailing hand, pulling her upright, and she collapsed into giggles against me.
My heart stuttered. This was the most we had touched in years and my hands ached to grab her and not let go. The puppies still scrambled to be in her lap, and I scooped up a couple to put back into their massive pen.
“You’re a puppy jailer.” Allie pouted.
