Page 123 of Fragile Heart

Ethan on his knees? The idea is so entirely foreign, I can’t even properly imagine it. He’s never gone to his knees, not for anything other than getting exactly what he wants from my body. In submission or supplication? Not ever.

“I’d pay good money to see you on your knees,” I admit. My voice cracks.

He swallows, his hands tightening around me.

Without saying anything, he sinks to his knees before me, stopping only when our gazes are level. Something lodges in my throat at the blatant desperation in the action, something so close to hope and sorrow and cautious optimism.

“I’ll give you more than that if you come home with us,” he says, all levity absent. “I’ll give you anything, princess.”

I swallow around the lump in my throat, trying to dislodge the swell of emotion. Ethan searches my eyes. I’m not quite sure what he sees, but his shoulders relax at whatever must be in my look.

“I’ve spent the last thirty-six hours thinking over what I’d tell you if you didn’t immediately try to deck me.”

The giggle bubbles out of me without my realizing.

“Deck you?” Camden asks.

Caleb murmurs, “It means punch.”

“Mommy Bri would never punch someone,” Cam gasps, shocked. “She’s so nice.”

Caleb chuckles. “Let Daddy finish talking, bud.”

“Sorry,” Camden squeaks.

Ethan raises an eyebrow and gives me a flat look. Of all the possible things that could make me blush, it’s this that manages to send a flush down my neck and across my chest.

“You deserved it,” I say after a minute.

I wasn’t going to apologize for a single thing that happened on Saturday.

Ethan nods. “I did. I deserved the punch Emily gave me, too. “

The small bit of humor fades away between us, and he squeezes my hands.

“I love you, Brielle,” he says, his voice low and fervent.

Tears line my lashes, but I ignore them. How many times had I hoped to hear those words from him? A single tear manages to slide down my cheek, and a muscle feathers in his neck as he watches it track down my face. After a minute, he wipes it away and cups my cheek.

“I’ve loved you for a decade,” he continues, “and have spent most of that time trying to convince myself that you were better off without me, that you’d moved on and were happy and fulfilled.”

I shake my head, and he runs his thumb along my cheekbone.

He shudders in a breath before murmuring, “I’m sorry I couldn’t admit it to you when you needed to hear it. I thought…”

He glances down and changes the way he holds my hand, lacing our fingers together instead. He brings it to his lips andruns his lips along my knuckles. When he looks up at me again, tears line his lashes. It’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen him.

“I thought that by loving you, I was going to forget her, lose her in a way I couldn’t bear.”

Warmth blooms through me, making me nearly giddy, the switch so fast it’s enough to give me emotional whiplash.

“I don’t want you to forget her,” I whisper. “She was part of your life. She deserves to be part of your pack forever.”

He blows out a breath and nods.

“Caleb helped me realize I can love you both.”

I manage a half-smile. He kisses my hand again. And then his words are clear and confident, ringing through me.

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