Page 81 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
We were sitting in front of the fireplace in my room. The heat from the fire was nice after the cold wind on the rooftop. I didn’t know what had possessed me to ask Asher to stay for a glass of wine. All day I’d been fighting the powerful tug in my heart, urging me to be close to Asher. The mating bond wanted me to touch and kiss every single inch of his body.
And, if I were being honest with myself, I wanted that, too.
Even though I knew it was a mistake, I asked him to stay. As I watched him light the fire, his tight white shirt straining against the muscles in his arms, it was hard to conjure up any regret about asking him to stay.
Asher handed me a full glass and sat next to me. I noticed that he kept a respectful distance between us.
“Do you not like champagne?” he asked and took a sip of his wine.
It took me a moment to remember what I’d said before he satdown. His lips were distracting as they formed around the rim of his wineglass.
“No, um, it was just a dumb joke. We had champagne…the night…we, um, the night that you don’t remember,” I said.
“I remember drinking one glass of champagne.” He stretched his long legs out in front of him. “And, then…nothing.” A look of regret crossed his face.
We looked into the dancing flames and were quiet for a few moments. Even though Asher didn’t remember our night together, I would never regret making love to him. It had been one of the best nights of my life.
But the biggest reason was because that night was the reason Adrian existed. I looked at the door that led into our son’s room.
“I’m so worried about him,” I breathed out. “Every second of every day, I worry about him. Of course, I’ve been worried about him since I first found out I was pregnant. But this is worse.” I looked into Asher’s hazel eyes as panic crawled up my throat. “This terrifying feeling I have for him is all-consuming. Then, I get worried that my anxiety about him is hindering my ability to protect him. Isn’t that the most insane thing you’ve ever heard?”
Asher moved closer to me and grabbed my hand. The mating bond pulsed with happiness. After a moment of hesitation, I laid my head on his shoulder. His body heat felt even better than the fire.
“That doesn’t sound crazy to me. Not at all,” he said. “Because I feel the same way. I’m so worried about both you and Adrian that it’s driving me crazy. I’m trying to keep a cool head so I can protect you guys better, but it’s so hard when the two people that I care about most in this world are in danger. I just—“
His voice caught in his throat, and his hand tightened around mine.
I squeezed his hand to let him know I was here. “Remember what you said last night? We are a team. Give me some of that worry you’re feeling. Maybe the only way we can get through this is if we help each other shoulder the burden.”
I kept my hand in his and my head on his shoulder. For a while, we stared at the fire, and I secretly matched my breathing to his.
The next time I looked at him, my stomach joltedbecause he was already looking at me. Slowly, we both leaned in, my eyelashes fluttering closed, and my hand shook in his.
But when our lips were almost touching, I pulled away, unsure if we should cross that line. I kept my hand in his, though, and didn't lower my eyes.
The firelight danced across his face, and the scar above his right eyebrow was more noticeable in this lighting. I reached out and gently traced the scar. His eyes closed, and a look of contentment crossed his face, like my touch brought him peace.
“How did you get this scar?” I whispered, afraid that if I spoke too loudly, I'd break the spell between us.
Asher opened his eyes. There was a sad yet reminiscent look in his eye. “When I was five, I fell off my bike when my dad was teaching me how to ride it.”
I blinked in shock. I'd been expecting a completely different answer, like that he had gotten the scar from a fight or during a training session gone wrong.
“The scar always reminds me of my father,” Asher continued. “After he first died, whenever I looked in the mirror, I hated seeing that scar. I thought it represented everything that the Moon Goddess had taken away from me. But as the years went by, the scar began to give me a strange kind of comfort…it shows that my dad had made a mark on this world. That he had made the biggest mark on me.” Asher paused and looked away from me, staring into the fire. “It's a way I can keep his memory alive.”
I squeezed his hand, and he looked back at me. “That's not the only thing that keeps his memory alive,” I said. “You do. I may not have known him for very long, but I still see him in you. You inherited his honesty, kindness, and integrity. I see those traits in Adrian, too. That scar isn't his only legacy, Asher. Far from it.”
The corners of his mouth lifted, and his eyes shone with emotion. “Ivy…thank you. Thank you for saying that.”
My heart warmed, and I lay my head back on his shoulder. I could stay like this all night. But about five minutes later, Asher cleared his throat.
“I have something for you,” he said.
Reluctantly, I sat up straight, but I kept my hand in his. I finished off the wine in my glass and promised myself I wouldn’t drink anymore. I needed to keep a clear head around Asher.
Even when I was sober, did I ever have a clear head around this man?
Asher pulled a black velvet case out of his pocket with the hand that wasn’t holding mine.
