Page 65 of Sweet Whiskey
“I don’t know what they’re nervous about. I’m the one about to bare my soul.”
Her nostrils flare, and more tears gather in her eyes. “Colt.”
I shake my head. “I want to do this, Kinsey.” Letting go, I grab her hand and pull her toward the center of the backyard.
Her eyebrows furrow. “What is that?”
Moving us closer, I grab the photo I taped on a pole and hand it to her. “Levi found it. That’s your mom, right?”
With a harsh swallow, Kinsey nods and strokes her finger over the photo, then she looks over the backyard again. “Did you?—”
“Recreate it as much as I could? Yeah, but you’ll see the real thing in the summer. We hold the festival every year. Only you’ll have to give three of us a dance.”
When she looks back up at me, red lines her eyes and she’s sniffling to hold back more. I blow out a breath and cup her face again.
“Kinsey, I know I told you that I love you already, but it’s more than that. That night in Sweet Whiskey, it was fate. Something had driven me there when I rarely went anymore. And then I saw you and I knew why. Everything in my world tilted in that moment, and you became the center. I didn’t need to get your scent to know you were mine, and I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t have cared either way. I just knew I had to get to know you.”
She draws in a sharp breath, stepping closer to me. The photo floats to the ground as her hands twist into my button-up shirt. I thought the occasion called for more than just a Henley.
“When I saw you that night, I knew I wouldn’t be leaving town. Even if I never found Levi, it’s like what I was really searching for…was you. All of you,” she says, her voice thick with emotion.
I clear my throat, waving toward the blanket. “Will you do me the honor of bonding and joining our pack?”
She hiccups on a sob and nods. Taking off my hat, I hang it on the nail in the pole before I sit on the blanket, my heart pounding away. Kinsey follows, straddling my lap, and I grip onto her hips. I blink up at her in surprise with a smile.
“I figured we’d sign, and I’ll take you inside to eat. Then we can head upstairs.”
Kinsey grins back, her fingers combing through my short hair. “No, I want to bond with you first. Then we’ll sign and go inside.”
I slide my hands up to her waist, squeezing lightly as she leans down to kiss me. Her soft, pillowy lips move against mine and I growl, grabbing the back of her neck to kiss her deeper. Kinsey lets out a whimper, rocking her pussy against my hardening cock, and I rip my mouth away, panting.
“Gotta slow down or I’ll take you right here,” I get out.
She giggles and leans away to strip out of her hoodie then tilts her head to the side.Her finger drags along the crook of her neck. “This is your spot, right? You’ve kissed it enough.”
My cock throbs and my canines ache. I pull her closer, kissing her soft skin. “Yeah, baby. That’s my spot.”
She shudders, her hands gripping onto my shoulders. “I love you. Make me yours, Colt.”
Tangling my fingers into her auburn hair, I hold her in place and bite down. The second my teeth pierce through, our bond snaps into place, and I groan into her skin at the avalanche of emotions that flood into my chest. It’s mostly Kinsey’s love for me, but I can feel faint traces of Brooks and Dallas in the background. A thread that is linked to us all, and the warmth of it settles in my soul.
Kinsey’s nails dig into my neck, and I can feel the drops of her tears. I pull back, licking the wound and then cup her face. In the bond, I only feel the overwhelming joy, but she’s crying.
“You okay?”
She tries to nod. “I can feel all three of you here.” She places a hand on her heart. “I never realized how alone I was until now, and then I realized I’llnever feel that way again, that I’ll always have you all.”
Tears blur my vision and I kiss her. “Always, baby,” I whisper against her lips.
“Can we invite them home? I want you all in the nest.”
I chuckle, no jealousy over the statement. “Of course.”
EPILOGUE
KINSEY
I flex my fingers out, letting the wind billow through them. Shutting my eyes, I tilt my face to the sun, relishing the warmth of it on my skin.
