Page 3 of Knot Forgotten

“Rin, Rinny—” he says softly, his fingers ghosting over my cheek. “I think I’m going to kiss you now.”

His palm presses flat against my cheek, sending a bolt of electricity straight to my belly. He glides it along the curve of my face to just below my chin while I’m caught like a fly in his dangerous web. Tilting my head up with his thumb, he inhales. I know what he smells, my new perfume of vanilla cupcakes that doesn’t come from a bottle. He knows what I am, what I’m becoming.

“Stop me now, Erin. If you don’t want this, step away,” he whispers, his words saying one thing while his eyes plead with me to stay right where I am.

It doesn’t matter either way because I can’t move as my stomach dips like I’m on a rollercoaster. He lowers his head slowly and my eyes flutter shut, my lashes brushing my cheeks as I tilt my face up to his. He breathes out a low chuckle, and for a moment, I think it’s a joke. Then he brushes his pillowy soft mouth against mine in the gentlest touch I’ve ever felt. Adding slightly more pressure and hesitantly, his tongue slips along the seam of my lips, and I part for him.

The lack of air has my head spinning as fireworks explode inside my chest. Our tongues brush, and he pulls me closer, his fingers cradling my neck as I get lost in the new sensations.

When we part, my lips tingle, my fingers pressing against them unconsciously, and proof of what I am perfuming around us.

He smiles. “That was–”

“Bad? Was it bad?” I blurt, and he grins, flashing his teeth and shaking his head.

“It was anything but bad, Rinny.”

His smile makes me feel warm, and I return it, biting my lower lip as nervous energy replaces the fear of being bad at kissing.

He thumbs my chin. “Was that your first kiss?”

He knows it is. “No–I kiss all the boys,” I say, teasing him.

A low rumble flows from him. “From now on, Rin, your kisses are only for me.”

My stomach drops at the same time it does a flip, and my breath catches between a laugh and a gasp of shock. His growl does something to me. It makes me want to roll over and give him whatever he wants. But I fight it. Sure, this is Cam, but I’m not cutting my other friends out of my life because we kissed.

“I’m not going to stop hanging out with the guys, Cameron.”

“The guys are different,” he agrees with a nod, and my chest loosens. “You can only kiss us.”

I snort. “Okay…just you four. Does that make you happy?”

All four of them? Kissing? Any air in my lungs evaporates at the idea of feeling each of their lips against mine. My palms go clammy with nerves I don’t understand. Of course, there are packs—the ones with one omega and a few alphas, sometimes a beta or two. But those are rare; most alphas don’t share. Not that any of it matters; kissing someone doesn’t mean you will end up with them.

“Extremely,” he replies, dropping a kiss on my nose. “I guess this was one thing Blake didn’t beat me at.”

His words sober me. This will change everything. Suddenly, I don’t want things to be different. I want everything to stay the same.

“Can we–” I start, hesitating as I find the right words, “I mean…for a little bit, can we keep this between us?”

He shifts on his heels as he scratches the back of his neck. “You mean I get to keep you all to myself for a while?”

I press my lips together and curl my arms around my stomach. “Just for a little bit. A week. To make sure this is real.”

“A week,” he agrees with a final nod. “But, Rinny, this is so real. It is you. Only you.”

CHAPTER 1

Erin

Present

A new start. That's what I need.

My eyes run up and over the University's main dorm building. Excitement, bright and pure, seeps into even the darkest corners of my soul.

This is it. I grip the plastic bin that holds most of my clothing and the few books I was able to hold on to over the last few years and take the first step. I opted for the co-ed dorms, and it is thankfully on the first floor. I hip-check the back door of my car to close it and step onto the sidewalk.

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