AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Every second counted. Every second we wasted put us further from the thing I really wanted: my family, all home, all safe.
Felicity punched me in the arm. “Liar. I’ve seen you handle plenty of people, Xander Miller. Remember when you talked Mr. Reinhardt into bumping your algebra grade up from a C to an A?”
Oh, I remembered. “He said I wasn’t showing my work often enough. I told him that shouldn’t matter since sometimes I was just doing it in my head.”
“Only, what was really happening was you and Brody were both doing half of each exam, then cheating off each other’s answers to save time,” she reminded me. “But you persuaded him into believing that sometimes you were just the world’s smartest high school quarterback.”
I almost smiled at the memory. “That was a long time ago, Cheeks.”
“Not so long ago that I’ve forgotten it.” She hugged the arm she’d just punched. “On your best days, you’re the most charming man I’ve ever met. Including Dennis Kerry.”
“And on my worst days?”
She rested her cheek against my shoulder.
“I still love you. I always will.”
* * *
We touched down in Boston late, and arrived back in Evergreen even later. When we entered the lodge, it was dark and silent.
Only upon our return did we realize how poorly prepared we were. Felicity’s pregnancy should have been spent nesting instead of being held prisoner or on the run. Buying changing tables, highchairs, diaper bins. We’d had all of that and more at Morrow Manor, of course, but that was a four-hour drive from here.
Rylan was asleep when we brought him inside, but we didn’t even have a crib to put him in.
“He can sleep in his carrier tonight,” I decided, collapsing onto one of the couches in the main room. My boots came off, left then right. I abandoned them on the floor where they fell. “Tomorrow, I’ll build him a crib.”
“You’ll build him a crib?” Felicity placed the carrier on the floor and sat down next to me. “That’s… ambitious.”
“Nah, it’s not,” I assured her. “Dad’s got some power tools back at his place. I’ll get Dylan and Kingston to help me. Between the three of us—”
“You’ll bicker so much it’ll take a month.” She laughed, slipping her own shoes off. “Not that I don’t love the idea of you getting all sweaty and working your…” Her voice trailed off abruptly. “Wood,” she finished, blushing.
I smiled sleepily and put an arm around her. “Come here, then. Me and my wood miss you.”
“Oh, Xander,” she protested gently. “It’s so late.”
“Don’t worry. My intentions are pure.” I shifted to lie on the couch, pulling her body down against mine. To be fair, I was about half-mast. It had been a while since we’d been intimate. I settled it against her ass, relishing the shape of her body and the heat of her skin. “I’m a wolf, not a dog, and we’re both too tired. Worst I’ll do is hump your leg.”
“I’d say down, boy, but…” She wiggled against me teasingly.
I gave her ass a sharp pat. “Keep doing that and my intentions are gonna be the least of your problems.”
She laughed a little breathlessly. “It feels good. In the morning, maybe. I’m not sure how long we’re supposed to wait before…”
This time, sadness tinged her tone and the silence she’d drifted off into.
She’d just remembered, like I had. We weren’t supposed to be horny. We certainly weren’t supposed to feel comfortable or playful or safe. Happiness was a brief, fleeting thing that only bubbled up in the moments between worry, between heartache, between grief.
I closed my eyes and buried my face into her hair, breathing in her scent. Even wanting my own mate felt like a betrayal to the son that remained missing. How could we even joke about something like that when Ryder was still out there somewhere?
“I love you, Cheeks,” I whispered, holding her as tightly as I could without squeezing the air from her lungs.
“I love you, too, Xander,” she murmured.
I wasn’t certain that I slept. It was hard to say if Felicity did, either. When Rylan fussed, we both sprang up like we’d been awake the entire time. Once he settled down again, we curled back up on the couch together and closed our eyes once more. If I did sleep, I didn’t dream. And if I hadn’t slept, morning arrived far too soon.
“Is he bigger than the last time I saw him?”
