Page 166 of Sweetheart: Part One

The weak smile on her face wasn’t comforting. “It’s just been one of those days.”

“What do you need from me?”

Her wide eyes were something I could tumble into, impossible to step away from.Shewas impossible to step away from. I was crumbling, at last, and a part of me was whispering to let it happen. To never again spend a night darkened by the knowledge that I was leaving her alone and cold.

VEX

It had been a rough night, with so many ups and downs that I wasn’t sure what to think. But for the first time, Love was before me, paying me the attention I needed.

“What do you need from me?” he asked.

What did I need?

Him.

How could he not understand that?

I needed him. He was the lead of the pack I was scent matched to. He was the one who could decide my future.

I took his face in my hands, more direct communication of what I needed than anything I could come up with. There was a moment where he stared at me, and I was afraid he’d leave me rejected again. A frightened voice whispered that this was a dangerous game, that if he did it right now, I wasn’t ready for it.

But to my relief, he leaned forward and his lips crushed mine, something cool settling the flutter of discomfort in my stomach as he claimed the kiss I’d almost given him on that first night.

In my mind I could imagine the vanilla winter sweeping me away.Thiswas everything I’d ever needed.

I was so consumed by him that I didn’t realise how I’d begun to shiver with need, my blood warming far too fast.

FORTY-THREE

Dear Love: The harder I try, the more I disgust you.

I will never be enough.

LOVE

The kiss turned into something else.

I was on the edge of a precipice, and Vex dared me to close my eyes and step from it.

Her arms wound around my neck.

I wanted this. I wanted it more than I’d ever wanted another woman.

Only… “Vex…” I pulled back, but she was insistent.“Vex!” I had to take her cheeks in my hands to stop her.

Icouldn’t.

Her pupils were blown, and she tried to tug from my grip, drawing me closer again.

It was intoxicating—seeing an urgency for me like that, but I held on by the most tenuous thread. I knew now, she was special. She’d called for help when Drake was in trouble. She was protective of my pack.

For her safety, I couldn’t. I’djustseen Prey. I’d felt, like I had a thousand times in memory, the pain of rejecting her. Of watching Ebony win because I’d given him leverage in my love for her.

But the leverage he would have on Vex would be a thousand times worse, because I’d never felt likethisabout Prey. Everything I’d ever done to leash him to civility, it would all be under threat of crumbling in the face of how important she was to me.

But Vex was panting, a low whine slipping from her chest as I pried her arms from around my neck. “W-what are you doing?” Her voice was desperate, and I wasn’t expecting her wounded expression.

That voice, the whine, it flipped a switch in me. On one side was the tidal wave of alpha instincts that tried to swamp my brain—demanding I pin her up against this wall right now and take her. On the other side, was the panic of knowing I couldn’t risk it.

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