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My whole fucking world.
I made sure to make enough noise as I moved behind her so as not to startle her. Scaring my mate wasn’t the plan. But wrapping her up in my arms? Fuck yeah, that was happening.
My Omega was so small against me as I pulled her back into my chest, my arms engulfing her in a full body hug. She settled her head against one pectoral as I folded myself around her. Despite the size difference between us, we moved together like we’d choreographed a dance. Somehow, we justfit. Small hands slid over mine, soft yet chilled, and I hoped she absorbed some of my lingering heat before the icy wind stole it away. Tangled together, I rested my chin atop the crown of her hair.
“Found you,” I rumbled. Dipping down to draw in a deep inhale, I reveled in the sweet scent of black honey, sugared berries, and something deeper. Smokier.Sexier. The unique signature was all hers, and it turned me the fuck on every time I got a hit of it. This close, with her curvy body pressed against me, I was a fucking goner.
I shifted, trying to keep my hard-on from digging into her lower back. Apparently I hadn’t done a good job, because she wiggled against me, making me stifle a groan.Little minx.
“I wasn’t hiding,” she promised.
“No? I couldn’t find you.”
“I’ve been up here the whole time. I just…” She sighed.
“Just what, Baby Girl?”
I wanted her to open up to me. She’d been pretty damn quiet since the other two women left. That their absence had affected her so much had surprised me. I’d been so focused on getting some alone time with Demi, I hadn’t considered how lonely it must’ve been for her these past few years with no family or friends to speak of.
I wanted to be enough for her, but that was short-sighted and brutish of me. My girl deserved to have a well-rounded life, and that included friends. I could share some of her time if I had to, no matter how much it would pain me to do so.
Was she missing the other Omegas? Or was her somber mood related to something deeper?
Leo was of the opinion that we’d fucked up the other night when everyone had been talking about the next steps. I hadn’t seen what we’d done wrong. We’d been truthful. How to move forward wasn’t something we, as a pack, had talked about at length. There was no question we wanted to claim Demi as ours, but each of us had serious PTSD from our first attempt.
Nightmares still haunted me. I had a feeling they would for years. Maybe for the rest of my life.
Regaining consciousness, bleeding and broken, unable to fucking breath right, had scared me in ways that had nothing to do with the physical injuries I’d sustained. The first glimpse of the crushed SUV that contained my entire world inside had wrecked me. My ribs still ached, and I had the remnants of road rash across my abdomen and back as a testament to that horrible day, and though the wounds would heal and disappear, the fear would live with me.
Every time I thought back to that nightmare, I pictured waking in the middle of the road in a pool of my own blood. There was a surreal haze over the entire ordeal, but I remembered dragging myself over to the vehicle and pulling my injured packmates out one by one. Seeing them unconscious and wounded had sent dread racing through my veins, but finding Demi gone had been the most terrifying moment of my life—and that said a lot given the horrors I’d lived through.
Realizing those assholes had taken her and not knowing if she was okay, not being able to keep her safe, fuckingdestroyedme.
Bringing myself back to the present, I tightened my hold on my girl, reminding myself that she was real and right fucking here. I’d barely slept while we’d been apart, but on the nights I’d managed it, I’d reached for her, trying in vain to drag the mirage of her from my dreams into reality.
If she heard the uptick of my pulse or the ragged change in my breathing, she didn’t comment. But she snuggled deeper into my chest, soothing some of the turmoil.
“What’s wrong?” I prompted again when it was clear she wasn’t planning to continue her earlier thought.
“Nothin’.”
Arching a brow, I leaned to the side and waited until she relented and turned her face to peer up at me.
Was that guilt I saw in her pretty moss-colored eyes? The green was warmer amid the sunrise, but the nervousness was impossible to miss.
“I don’t think I believe you, Baby Girl.”
Avoiding my gaze, she zeroed in on the crashing waves below. As much as I wished she’d share whatever was bothering her, I contented myself with just being together. Holding her. Breathing her in. Having her against me. Before long, a soft smile curled my girl’s lips.
Tipping her head up, she propositioned, “Swim with me?”
I raised a dark eyebrow. That was the last thing I expected Demi to say. “Swim? Out there?” I jolted my chin toward the ocean, hoping she’d laugh and tell me she’d meant in the hot tub or something.
Nowtherewas an idea I could get behind. I could think of more than one entertaining way to enjoy ourselves in the steaming hot water.With jets.
“Where else?”
I opened my mouth to tell her exactly the kind of dirty fun my mind had conjured, but before I could, she fucking pouted at me.
