Page 28 of A Promise of Forever
He turns to Thea, who's standing a respectful distance away, trying to pretend she's not watching our reunion. "You can go. Thank you for staying with him."
"Have a good night, boss," Thea replies with obvious relief, already heading toward the main house and out of the rain.
Forrest carries me back into the cottage and drops into one of the chairs near the door. I cling to him like a lifeline, my face buried in his neck while I try to process the overwhelming emotions flooding through my system.
"Tell me what I did wrong and I'll fix it, sir," I plead against his skin. "Why wouldn't you come back? You said an hour and it's been all night and I thought... I thought..."
I can't finish the sentence because there are too many terrible possibilities crowding my mind. That he realized I'm too damaged. That the incident with the waiter proved I'm more trouble than I'm worth. That he found someone better during those hours away. That Wilson somehow convinced him to give me back.
Forrest shushes me, one hand coming up to cradle the back of my head. "What I do can get very messy. I told you before thatthe world calls me a monster, and you've only seen the tip of the iceberg, little dove."
The endearment catches my attention despite my distress. Something soft and fragile that needs protection. Is that how he sees me?
I pull back slightly to look at his face, really look at him for the first time since he picked me up. His knuckles are bruised and split, dried blood visible in the creases of his skin. There's a hardness in his expression that wasn't there before, like he's seen or done something that changed him in the last several hours.
"I don't understand," I whisper, reaching down to run my fingers across his damaged hands. "Did you kill someone?" Confusion rumbles through me as I continue to inspect him. I should be more terrified, but I’m just worried now. The emotions are confusing.
"You asked me not to," Forrest replies, his voice rough. He settles deeper into the chair, giving me a little more space. "No, I didn't kill anyone. But I wanted to. God, I wanted to."
The admission should probably scare me. Instead, I find myself asking, "Did the person you hurt at least do something bad?"
Forrest nods, his expression darkening further. "He brought drugs into my club. I draw a hard line at that. I told everyone who works for me that I won't tolerate any substances that could bring federal attention or hurt the people in my establishment. He violated that trust."
I appreciate that he's not trying to explain his way out of the violence or make excuses for what he did. He hurt someone who broke his rules, and he's owning that choice rather than pretending it was necessary or justified beyond his own standards. But that doesn't explain the part that's really bothering me.
"Why would you not come here?" I tilt my head to the side, a shiver running down my spine from the rain-soaked clothes. "Why would you stay away all night when you promised to be back in an hour?"
Forrest's expression shifts to something like regret mixed with self-loathing. "I didn't want to scare you. I was covered in another man's blood, and I was still riding the rage from what I'd done. I thought coming back here like that would terrify you, make you realize what kind of monster you've tied yourself to."
"You scared me more by not coming back. I thought I did something wrong. I thought using my safe word meant you didn't want me anymore." Another shiver has me leaning forward into his chest without asking, Forrest’s arms immediately coming around me.
"Let's get you in a warm shower and back to bed. You're freezing."
"Only if you're staying," I insist, curling my fingers into his shirt. "I don't want to be alone again.Please." I crook my head up just enough to catch his expression softening completely, one of his hands moving to drag me closer.
"I'm staying," Forrest promises, standing up with me still wrapped around him. "I promise, I'm not going anywhere."
He carries me into the small bathroom and sets me down on the counter. The shower is barely big enough for one person, let alone two, but Forrest starts stripping off his wet clothes without hesitation.
I watch him, taking in the beauty of my Valla now that we’re in better light. He’s absolutely gorgeous, dark skin stretched over endless muscles, and that thick cock hanging between his legs begging some part of me to do something about it.
In another world, I might have, but I’m both too tired and too freaked out to do anything more than watch. Forrest’s purr strengthens as he drops the last of his clothes to the tiled floorwith a splat before stepping up to me, my fingers trembling too much to even start on mine. “I’ve got you, sweetheart.” He lets out a heavy sigh as he helps me out of my shirt and then kneels in front of me, his fingers teasing the hem of my pants. “I’ll make you a promise, Sterling. I’ll always come to you.Always.If I find the door locked, I’ll get the message but from now on, I won’t shy away from you.”
I stare into those dark eyes of his, the sincerity of his words hitting deeper than anything else he could have said. Placing my hands on either side of his face, I press a kiss to his forehead, his rumbling acceptance everything I didn’t know I needed. “Thank you, sir.”
Forrest stays on his knees for several moments, my breath catching in my chest when he leans his head on my thigh much the same way I’ve done to him. “You’re perfect for me, little dove.”
No one’s ever called me that.
But this Valla, kneelingfor me, called me perfect, a broken Omega with more trauma than sense. How can he possibly think I'm perfect? And yet, the longer we stay in the position, the more I’m inclined to believe that he’s not lying to me.
Forrest
I can't stop touching Sterling. Every few minutes, my hand drifts back to his skin, needing the contact to reassure myself that he's really here, safe and curled up against my chest. He's so goddamn adorable like this, sleeping with his mouth slightly open, his face completely relaxed in a way it never is when he's awake. The trust implicit in that vulnerability makes me all that more protective of the man who’s started chipping away at my heart. He lets out a little huff before curling tighter into me as I swallow back a laugh before turning my attention back to my phone.
As much as I wanted to just exist in this moment, I knew that work was waiting on the other side of that door. A few calls and texts an hour ago and I succumbed to searching through two new fighter profiles sent over earlier. I already messaged Caelan that I won't be in the main house this morning until Sterling wakes up, which earned me a string of laughing emojis and a comment about how domesticated I've become.Fucker.
He's not wrong, though. A week ago, I would have been at my desk by six in the morning, working through paperwork and planning the evening's operations. Now I'm lying in a nest in my parents' old cottage, more concerned with the sleeping Omega in my arms than with profit margins and territorial disputes.
