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Lennon’s mind was a whirring mess of sounds. The words were like a puzzle not coming in any order. His dad. What the gift says. Treasure. Mine. Love.

A sob caught in the back of his throat, his eyes wet with tears as he stared at the black box. His heart trembled at how Kodi was slaying the demons that wanted to say he was only doing this because of the baby. Because he was an honorable man.

“You love me?” His chin wobbled right along with the words.

Kodi flipped the lid on the box, and his eyes were dazzled by the gleaming gems inside. “I do. Each stone on this bracelet represents a shared moment we spent together, where I didn’t want to leave you. Where I fell just a little deeper in love with the person who saw beyond the thing that makes me different.”

The next sob made Lennon shudder and his eyes blur on the hundreds of tiny gems woven into a delicately designed band.

“Ohhhhhh…” He had nothing else with how hard his heart was beating, how his whole body trembled at this new reality.

A tiny furrow appeared between Kodi’s brows. “Is that a good oh, or a bad one?”

Lennon couldn’t find his voice, so he fell to his knees in front of Kodi and pushed the hand aside to crawl closer and reach up, fingers threading through silky strands to tug Kodi to him and kiss him. The kiss held fear. Love. Confusion. Terror of this being a dream. But under it all, there was hope.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Kodi

“It’s alright my love, I got you,” Kodi murmured against his kiss-swollen lips. His mouth planted small kisses over Lennon’s cheeks, rosy nose, and eyes. Gentle caresses, soothing and loving. There was no room for embarrassment when this man was conceivably more important than anything in the world to Kodi.

“We’ll figure this out together. You and me.” Kodi injected all the emotions he was feeling into every word. They were unexpected he would admit, but they were the truth. His sassy omega challenged him and dared him to be a better man.

The scent of cum was unmistakable, as was the tightness in the suit trousers that were digging into him. Kodi ignored it all when Lennon trembled in his arms, whimpering tiny sobs. He moved to bury his nose in Kodi’s neck, and he had to drop the box he was holding to get a better grip of Lennon. It tumbled to the carpet, the bracelet spilling out of the box. The colored stones glittered in the light. The pretty jewel had several more bands that could interlock with the first one to create a cuff.

Dad had pointed out when Kodi had suggested giving the full cuff, that it might feel a little overwhelming. The full cuff had cost him forty thousand dollars, and as he’d never given another soul a gift like this and only planned to spoil one person, he’d listened to the advice and erred on the side of caution. Now he was second guessing himself when Lennon hadn’t taken the gift. Had pushed it aside.

He reached for us. That’s how it should be!

What his wolf said didn’t make his heart thump any less painfully, trying to figure out if kissing was Lennon’s way of avoiding responding because he wasn’t in as deep as Kodi was.

Tears, they were good, right?

He’s overcome. He’s just found out he’s having our pup and you finally pulled your head out of your ass and told him how you really feel. It’s a lot. The bauble is pretty, but your affection is what he wants.

His wolf was telling him off, and Kodi didn’t need to see its face to know he was getting a ‘listen to me’ look. When Kodi got hyper focused, he couldn’t let it go. Seeing as Lennon wasn’t permitting Kodi to reach for the bracelet, he had only one option open to him. He moved his hands to place one under Lennon’s legs, the other going behind his back to cradle him. The warm scented, silky skin was a temptation to Kodi. The weeks of holding back were what had brought Kodi to his knees in the first place. He had some regret that he couldn’t resist, only this was Lennon and resisting was futile when the man held him by his heart and his balls.

Happy he wasn’t going to drop Lennon, Kodi came forward onto his knees and then slowly brought his leg around to plant his foot on the carpet and push up to standing, grateful for all the leg days he did at the gym.

Lennon wrapped his arms around Kodi’s neck and clung on, his wet nose remaining pushed against Kodi’s throat. Going to the couch, he saw the clothes Lennon had worn at the doctors lying on the couch, and he realized why Lennon was naked. He sat down on the empty cushion and settled Lennon in the cradle of his arm, kissing the top of his cherry blossom scented hair. “Sweetheart, we need to talk.”

“Don’t wanna,” Lennon replied in a petulant voice that made Kodi struggle to hold back a cheeky smile.

“Can you explain why to me?” he persisted, his voice holding a softness many would be shocked at.

There was a wet sniff, then Lennon peeked up at Kodi with puffy eyes, looking adorably cute. “This might be a dream, and I’m getting it all wrong.”

The breathless confession captured Kodi’s heart in ways that he’d never be able to vocalize. “Can you tell me what you believe is happening?”

The wet spikey lashes fluttered as Lennon rubbed at the tip of his rosy nose. “Love… that you told me you love me.”

A bashful look came with a whole lot of hope, and Kodi wished he had the soul of a poet so he could give Lennon the romance he deserved.

“I do.” He cupped his cheek, holding Lennon’s gaze so he could see the sincerity that Kodi wanted to convey. “I’m not good at this stuff. I’ve never had any experience at it. I just know that my life is brighter with you in it. That you make me feel like I don’t need to try and be ‘normal’.” He knew Booker would be proud of him for accepting the truth.

He didn’t feel like he could keep time with others who heard music he couldn’t hear or understand, and he got lost in the maelstrom he created by trying to be the same. Around Lennon, it didn’t matter if he was out of time. Whether it was Lennon looking for a solution with the introduction of the paddle, Kodi couldn’t say for sure. He just got that Lennon made him feel differently about himself, in a good way. And today, he’d learned what Dad meant about prioritizing. Lennon and their baby would always come first.

He took a steadying breath and leapt, praying that Lennon was on the same trampoline, ready to bounce with him into the crazy world of mates. “I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder as a teenager. It’s why I agreed to the spankings.” He gave a sheepish smile. “Your paddle is my therapy. I need you to know this before I ask you…” he blew out a breath, a trickle of sweat sliding down the middle of his back at what he was about to do.