Page 121 of Attached At Heart
And I immediately knew why.
I’d seen it, too, when I looked in the mirror just before leaving home. I hadn’t noticed it this morning, which meant that Blake probably didn’t, either. It must have darkened as the day went on.
“Holy shit, Lane,” Blake choked, and I lifted my hand to the curve of my neck, tracing where I remembered the purplishbruise to be. Blake watched my finger, his jaw unhinged, his expression horrified.
“Oh, this?” I said with a shrug and a tilt of my lips. “I think this is just what happens when Blake London finally loses a little bit of control.”
“I—” Words escaped Blake as he continued to stare at the mark on my skin. His gaze was dark and unreadable. “Does it hurt?” he finally breathed, stepping closer to take over, grazing his thumb over the mark, caressing my skin in small circles.
I shook my head, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are you sure?” he checked.
“I’m sure.”
It didn’t hurt, and I didn’t mind. It felt like…evidence. That I hadn’t fabricated the moment when this happened, when Blake had finally unleashed a side of him that I’d never seen before. A side I couldn’t wait to meet again.
“I’m fucking sorry, Lane,” Blake murmured, still seeming transfixed by my neck. By the mark that he’d made on it.
“No, you’re not,” I said with a raised brow, knowing that there was more in his gaze than he was letting on. I knew enough by now to understand that.
“No,” he admitted hoarsely as he leaned down and pressed his lips to my skin, right where the shape of his mouth was already imprinted. “I’m not.”
When he pulled back, I studied him for a moment before musing, “I thinkIknow one of your kinks now.”
“Is it a kink if it only applies to you?” he muttered, eyes shining bright. “You’re the only person I want to mark as mine, Delaney.”
“I don’t know enough about it.” My voice was slow, coated with a thick new wave of want. “But I will say I had no idea you’d become so possessive if I married you.”
Not that I was really complaining.
“And now that you’ve seen this side of me, do you regret it?” he asked, clearly eager for my answer. “Regret letting me slide that ring on your finger?”
He lifted his gaze to mine, and I met it straight on. Because once I decided to go for something, I didn’t often back down.
“Not at all.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
blake
RETURNING TO WORK AFTER the honeymoon was abysmal.
I’d always enjoyed my work, even craved it, but now all I craved was more of Delaney. More time with her, more slow mornings, more hot nights, more of everything. I spent the entire day, every day, anxious for the moment when I’d grab my coat, walk through the halls, and see her waiting for me. She’d walk over from SCMC, so we could go home together. Or on nights where I had my CPR classes—well,ourCPR classes at this point—we would walk there together.
Because that was our routine now, and I felt utterly spoiled by it. Delaney and I had fallen into a pattern that felt so utterly domestic it was hard to remind myself that Icouldn’thave everything, not yet.
Because the reality was that, despite being two friends who were married, shared the same bed at night, and gave each other orgasms, Delaney and I weren’t yet where I ultimately wanted us to be. Sure, we were on the same page about sex and kissing. But if I could get her on the same page about wanting this thing forreal, wanting that ring to stay permanently on her finger, that’d be great.
I also had to contend with the reality where I had patients to follow up with and friends and family to check in on, and outside of everything involving Delaney, that had been my focus for the last two weeks.
Today, it involved a number of appointments, including one with Grayson and Nessa, where we further discussed their daughter Gracie’s potential for inheriting aortic coarctation, like her older brother. They also tentatively brought up questions about what the likelihood might be of any of their future children inheriting a congenital heart defect, and I could tell they were holding their breath the entire time. My chest squeezed for them because ultimately, I couldn’t provide them with a guarantee that it wouldn’t happen; their oldest Gabriel was proof of that.
I sat in the exam room for a few extra minutes after they left, grappling with my emotions and trying not to think about a scenario where it was me and Delaney navigating through what we might do if it wereourkids. Which was ridiculous because Delaney didn’t want to settle down in a traditional sense. She didn’t want marriage. She didn’t want any of that.
Was I foolish for thinking that I could make something work between us? For thinking that I could convince her to try out a real relationship? For thinking she might want to stay married after this entire inheritance situation was settled? I badly wanted it to be possible. I didn’tneedkids, but I did need her. I wanted a family with her—even if that family was just the two of us.
After getting through the workday despite feeling tired and Delaney-deprived, I met Natalie and Noah outside a tall, shiny building in Boston’s financial district.
