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I walked quickly down the hall and threw her bag on the guest bed, cursing under my breath. Already I didn’t want her sleeping anywhere except next to me.
When I came back, she had pulled out a barstool next to the kitchen island and was pouring herself a glass of wine. Her hands were shaking slightly. She seemed…nervous. That made two of us.
“How was your drive?”
“Fine. Traffic was bad until I got out of the city, but then it was pretty smooth. Want some?” She held up the bottle.
“Please, thanks. Let me know what you think.” I turned and focused on the food on the stove, my back to her, while she poured.
“Mmm, good. This is really nice,” she said.
When I turned back, I thought I saw her looking at my ass. I smiled.
“Glad you like it.”
She blushed a little, caught. Fuck she was pretty.
“So, ah, this is the pack’s cabin?”
“Yep,” I said between sips of wine. It was good. “We actually bought it before the other house, back when we were renting a place in the city. It still feels more like home to me.”
From the open kitchen, I looked around at the familiar roughhewn furniture and colorful rugs over the wide floorboards. The dark wood panel walls and huge stone fireplace. It was like our own mini ski lodge, warm and cozy.
I plated the food and we moved to the dining table, where I’d lit a couple of candles. The conversation was easy, meandering from travel experiences to the details of each of our jobs, and the bottle of wine was soon empty. She helped me clean up in companionable silence, then joined me on the couch in front of the fire, each of us with a brandy.
I stretched my arm across the back of the couch. She slid next to me, leaning her head on my shoulder. I let my hand skim down her side and pulled her closer, savoring the feel of her nestled against me.
“You know I don’t want to get between you and your pack, right?”
We’d avoided this discussion so far, but it was probably time. I kissed the top of her head, getting the slightest hint of her strawberry scent. It didn’t trigger any alpha reaction in me per se, but it was nice. Sweet. Like her.
“I know. And I appreciate that. But if it wasn’t for me, would this even be a question for you?” I’d seen how she was with them, and how they were with her. It looked like love to me.
“You are a part of your pack. There’s no way for me to separate you out. I don’t want anyone to have regrets later.” A tone in her voice told me this was something she really thought could happen.
Would I have regrets? If I just took the chance, opened myself up?
Holding her, watching the flames dance in the fireplace, I felt my barriers crumbling. I didn’t know anymore why I was trying to protect myself from her. Something Toby said came back to me, that Edward would have wanted us to find our omega. And it hit me hard. Edward would have loved Sylvie. I knew that deep in my bones.
Loving her wouldn’t betray his memory, it would honor it.
Like that, a switch was flipped. Everything became clear. I was still terrified about what it would do to me if something happened to her, but it was too late to save my heart anyway. She owned it. Fighting it had been exhausting, and now I felt myself ease. For the first time in…months? A year? My chest rumbled with a deep purr and she responded, snuggling closer into my side on a soft sigh.
I knew this wasn’t going to be simple. It wasn’t like I could confess all my confusion, my feelings of loyalty to Edward, my fears. She wasn’t a shrink. It would just make me sound like I was messed up, and I didn’t want to ruin this. How was I going to convince her to give me a chance?
The purr in my chest was joined by one coming from her. She was snoring. Adorable little kitten snores. God, I wanted to hold her and never let go.
Careful not to wake her, I took her drink from her limp fingers and put it on the coffee table with mine, then gently lifted her into my arms. She tucked her head into my chest but stayed asleep as I carried her to the guest bed.
It would wake her if I let go, and since that was unacceptable, I would have to hold her all night. For her sake. I smiled.
A satisfaction I couldn’t remember ever feeling before washed over me as I settled in next to her on the bed. It wasn’t sexual—all our clothes were still on. It was so much more. I wrapped myself around her and didn’t fight my contentment as I drifted to sleep.
18
SYLVIE
I woke up next to my own personal furnace, surrounded by the delicious scent of orange blossom and mint. Luke had his arms around me, his soothing purr making his chest vibrate even in his sleep. No wonder I’d fallen asleep against him.
