Page 124 of Fragile Heart

“I love you so much, Brielle. Even without the scent match. I’ll chase you anywhere to be able to wake up with you in my bed every morning.”

The thin defenses that I still had crumple.

“You do deserve to be chosen, to be loved exactly how you are without any expectation or desire for you to change,” he says. “And I’m choosing you, Brielle. Until I’m old and gray, I’m choosing you. I spent ten years without you. I don’t want to miss a single one, now.”

I collapse into his lap, crumpling against his chest, and let the tears fall, hard and fast and inelegant. He wraps his arms around me, twisting a hand into my hair and palming the nape of my neck. His lips are soft where he brushes them across my temple. He sits back on his heels, not bothered by my weight or awkward position at all.

“You have never been the second option. Not ever. Not ten years ago and certainly not now.”

His voice rolls over me, soothing me in a way it hasn’t since I was a teen. My breath hitches. He tightens his arm around my waist and kisses the crown of my head.

“I know I’m shit at saying it, but I’ll say it every single second until you believe it’s true, princess. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it to you if you’ll let me. Every single day.”

I breathe in his scent, the woody feel of his aftershave and the mint that’s his alone. He doesn’t smell like the barn today. I snuggle deeper into him, letting all the hurt and worry drop away.

“Does that sound all right to you, princess?” he asks, his voice dropping and growing husky.

I nod and sit up enough so I can see him again. He runs his thumb across my cheeks, wiping away the tears.

“It sounds like a dream,” I tell him. “I always wanted to grow old with you.”

My voice is watery, but the corner of his lips tick up in a small smile. He kisses me, soft and gentle without any spark of heat at all. It’s simple intimacy, and I settle into it, craving it so intensely it steals my breath.

“Papa, can we take Mommy Bri to the store?” Camden asks. “So we can get her that picture we picked out last week?”

Ethan pulls away from me with an exasperated sigh.

“No such thing as a secret when there’s a four year old around,” I joke. I glance over at Caleb and Camden.

Caleb’s gaze drinks me in, and my thighs clench.

“I’ll go anywhere if it means I get to be with you,” I tell the three of them.

Chapter Fifty-Four

CALEB

“How is this hikeharderthan it was in June?” Brielle asks where she walks a few steps ahead of me. “I’ve been hiking and riding all summer. It should be easier now.”

Her hair swings with her gait, the high ponytail leaving the phoenix tattoo fully visible behind her ear. I eye the longest tail feather. Fuck, my bite’s going to look fucking perfect on either side of it. My dick presses against the zipper of my jeans.

Shit, this hike is harder for me, too. When I mutter as much, Brielle looks over her shoulder, an eyebrow raised and her lips pulled into a smirk.

“I’ll just politely remind you that this wasyouridea,” she says with a laugh.

Yeah, it was. And I don’t regret it at all.

This week has been a fucking fever dream. Waking up with Brielle in my home, watching her interact with Camden, getting to see my son fall just as in love with her as I have? They’re dreams I didn’t realize I had.

And seeing Ethan relaxed and content for the first time in years is a nice change, too.

I did end up taking a leave of absence, not that Sam minded. I had to in order to not be called back out to a fire until September. The proof of our scent match was enough to keep any of the really big problems from landing on my head, at least.

My phone vibrates, and I check it out of habit. Ethan’s single text waits for me.

Just finished. Ready for Sunday.

Great. Thanks, man.

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