Page 31 of Knot That Delicate

“No, it’s okay. This is nice,” I admitted, leaning further back into him. Turning around, I nuzzled into his chest, inhaling his scent. His arms instinctively wrapped around me, pulling me closer to him.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “Are you having nightmares?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. Something just doesn’t feel right tonight, like I don’t know if it’s my omega instincts, but I’m off. I thought getting a snack would help, but, well, this is helping.” I paused. “I think I was just missing human touch.”

Dylan began gently rubbing his hands along my back. “Omegas do need human touch to survive. It’s only natural you’d miss it,” he said.

I hummed lightly. “I suppose, but I haven’t missed it before. The entire time I was gone, I didn’t feel the need for it, I felt fine. None of my omega instincts really worked there. But now, I just really… I wanted to have a hug. That’s pathetic, isn’t it? I shouldn’t have said that.”

Dylan shushed me, one of his hands coming to rest on the back of my head as my face stayed resting on his pec. He was wearing a T-shirt, so I wasn’t pressed up against his bare skin, but it still meant that I could feel every ridge of his chest through the fabric. “It’s biology, Juniper,” he said simply. “How about we get you some bread, and we can go watch some TV and you can cuddle into my side.”

I looked up at him. “You’d let me do that?” I whimpered softly.

There was no anger on his face, no disdain, just a small smile. “Of course, I will,” he said. “But I think I need to feed you somebread first, and no more clambering on counters.” His face grew stern at the last part.

“Well, how else was I supposed to get the bread?” I retorted, pulling back slightly and placing my hands on my hips. “If I was hungry and I wanted the bread, it's not my fault you put it somewhere only giants can reach it—it’s impossible.”

“That’s why you ask us for help.”

“It’s the middle of the night!” I protested. “I wasn’t going to wake someone up just because I wanted bread.”

“That isexactlywhat you should do.”

“Oh, you’re incorrigible,” I muttered.

“No, I just want to make sure you’re safe,” he said, gently nudging me aside and reaching up, effortlessly plucking the bread off the top shelf, like it was no big deal.Stupid arrogant alpha,showing off his stupid arrogant height.

“Don’t glower at me like that,” he said, handing me the loaf of bread. “I’ll go get the butter.”

“Thank you,” I muttered sullenly as he wandered off to find the butter. By the time I’d located a bread knife and put the loaf down, he was back, placing the butter in front of me on the counter and plucking the knife out of my hand and taking over cutting the bread.

“I am capable of doing that,” I said, frowning.

“I’m also capable of helping,” he replied. “You’re meant to be taking it easy, remember?”

“Yes, but I’m not doing anything strenuous. I’m cutting a loaf of bread.”

Dylan chuckled. “Cutting bread is very hard work, I’ll have you know. I think I’ll need a snack myself after all this.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?” I said, crossing my arms.

“I know,” he agreed easily. “But I’m getting you bread and butter, so are you really going to complain?”

“Of course, I’m going to complain. In fact, I’m?—”

My words were cut off as he shoved a piece of bread into my mouth. I wanted to be mad at him, to shout at him, but the bread was so nice, and I was immediately distracted by chewing the piece of delicious goodness. As I chewed, it dawned on me that he hadn’t just grabbed the butter. He’d grabbed a small assortment of snacks: there were cheeses, dried meats, nuts, a little bit of everything to nibble on. It was the kind of meal that my mother and I used to love, while my father and brothers would always say it was like eating “bird food” because there was no proper protein source or no distinct food groups. How did Dylan know I would love that?

“This looks lovely,” I said, surprised. “Thank you.”

He jerked his head in the direction of the family room. “Go turn on the TV. I’ll be there in a minute.” Part of me wanted to tell him no, to stick around just to be stubborn, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was being oddly nice and was even letting me cuddle, so the least I could do was be a bit more agreeable, for once.

After I grabbed a few blankets and threw them on the main sofa that faced the TV, I turned the screen on and started scrolling through the movies and TV shows. “What do you want to watch?” I asked as I sat back on the sofa and he entered the room.

He sat down next to me, placing the tray of food on the table in front of us and leaning back, throwing his arm over the back of the sofa. He just shrugged. “Whatever you want is fine.”

I rolled my eyes. “We have to at least watch something we both agree on. How about an action movie?” I suggested, scrolling through.

Dylan laughed. “I know you’re not that big a fan of action movies.”

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