Page 53 of Fragile Heart

The pieces fall into place all at once.

Holy hell. Ethan had never moved on from her, not really. Not until he must have seen an invitation somewhere. Melissa’s house, maybe? That was the summer he finally agreed to register as a pack with the Council so we could try our luck at being matched with an Omega. Less than a year later, we’d had Kayla.

Her nails dig into my thigh.

“I served him divorce papers a couple weeks after I found the pictures. They weren’t finalized by the time he died, though,” she says, skipping over her marriage. “It took me finding those textsto realize just how much I’d changed, how much I’d let him take from me.”

She sighs and looks down at the flowers.

“I don’t really know how to feel today. Last year, I thought I’d be starting a family by now. But all I can feel when I think of him is bitterness and anger.”

“I’m sorry,” I offer. Her gaze flicks back up to mine, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I lean into her, cupping her face, running my thumb along her cheekbone. “You deserve to be cherished exactly as you are. He was an asshole for not seeing that you’re perfect.”

Her lips twist into a mocking smile. “I’m not perfect,” she says.

“We’ll disagree on that, then.” I shake my head and kiss her once.

Her lips push into a pout, and I run my thumb over them. After a minute, her body relaxes, and she gives me a real smile.

“Sorry to put all of that on you,” she says. She adjusts until she’s leaning against me again, her cheek pressed into my shoulder.

I shake my head. “I’m glad you told me. Now I don’t feel conflicted over bringing you flowers today.”

She turns her face into my chest, breathing deeply. She perfumes in the next moment, her lavender smell a siren’s call to me, and I groan.

“Maybe we could make better memories,” she whispers.

Before I can decide exactly the types of memories she means, she sits up and kisses me. Cinnamon explodes around us, blending beautifully with her scent. My dick is hard in a heartbeat, straining against my jeans. I hum and palm her hip again.

She smiles against my lips, and then she’s crawling into my lap, the flowers forgotten on the bench beside us. She pulls upthe skirt of her dress as she straddles my hips, and I see a flash of black lace against the creamy warmth of her skin. She hums, her teeth biting into her lip, as she pulls at the waistband of my jeans.

“These aren’t loose enough for that,” I whisper against her lips.

She whines, low in her throat, and undoes the button and zipper, dropping her hand beneath the waistband and palming my dick. I grunt and push up into her hand.

“Caleb,” she says, her voice a breathless plea.

“Yeah, sweetheart?” I ask. I need to hear her say it, need to hear her ask for it.

“I need you.” She palms my dick again and rocks her hips forward.

I run my hands up her sides, the fabric of her dress soft under my touch. Not as soft as her skin, though. My scent explodes around us again, and she whimpers.

“You have me,” I say with a smirk.

Her lips draw into a pout as she sits back, her hand stilling against my dick. Her lips are swollen, her cheeks red, and that sad, haunted look has disappeared from her eyes.

“That’s not what I mean.”

It comes out a whine, and I smile. It takes all my control to hold in the laugh, but her eyes narrow like she can tell anyway. I spread my hands along her waist, letting the tips of my fingers brush the undersides of her breasts. She shivers, and her scent overlays mine, thicker than before.

God, I want to fuck her. Pull aside those panties and push up into her until she moans loud enough that Emily can hear her across the open space. But not yet. Not until I hear her ask for it, beg for it. Just once.

“Tell me, sweetheart,” I say again, running my hands down her thighs and then back up, pushing the skirt of her dress up to her hips. “Let me hear you ask for it.”

“I need your knot,” she says, pushing my shirt up my stomach. Her lips are hard and demanding against mine, and I let her control the kiss, tasting her every second she lets me. “Please, Caleb.”

I grab her thighs and stand up, pulling open the screen door even as she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me again.

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