Sleet was raining down from the sky, covering everything in a sheen of slick ice. It glistened beneath the dim bulb of the porch light, but I knew if I were to take even two steps outside, I’d fall. My heart clenched up so tight that it ached. I grasped at my chest and tried to calm myself, to no avail.
What-ifs began springing to mind, chewing on my thoughts like rabid bunnies. What if he didn’t answer my call because he was hurt? What if he slid off the road, and no one found him till morning? What if he didn’t make it home?
I spent the next two hours with my phone clenched in my hand, alternating between pacing the floors and hovering at the front door, as if staring at the empty driveway might somehow materialize my boyfriend into existence.
Still no texts, no calls, nothing. I had the bad feeling that he’d taken off early to surprise me, without knowing there was a winter storm advisory.
“God, just send him home safely. Please.”
At a little after ten PM, headlights slowly trailed across the wall. I tossed the blankets off my lap and raced to the door just in time to see Oliver’s burnt orange convertible creep into the drive. My heart in my throat, wearing nothing but my pajamas and a pair of fuzzy socks, I bolted out into the weather.
I slipped and slid all the way down the drive, nearly face-planting in the rock-beds. The driver’s side door swung open and a very pale and trembling Ollie emerged from the still-running vehicle. I threw my arms around him and crushed him to my chest, and for several long minutes, we stood out there in the freezing rain, holding each other.
“B-Brin…” he stuttered, but I hushed him.
“Everything’s okay. You’re safe now.” I ducked into the front seat long enough to turn off the heat and kill the engine,pocketing the keys as I did so. Then I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and guided him back up the front steps and into the warmth of my apartment.
Even though he was bundled up in his winter gear and his clothes were dry, his entire body was shaking so violently that it scared me. I cupped his face in my hands and looked into his eyes. “Are you okay? Do you need anything? Soup?”
“You,” he managed to eke out before he fastened his arms around my waist. He buried his face into my shoulder, his fingers clenching at my shirt. I held him close.
This was it. He was mine. This was the man I was going to marry, the father of my children. This man was my Alpha. My everything.
“C’mon,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes. “Let’s get you warmed up.” I led him down the hall to my room, where we collapsed on the bed in our clothes. I pulled the comforter over us both, then drew Oliver to my chest.
This was mine, and I was never letting it go.
CHAPTER 9
Oliver
Ijerked awake, crying out Brinden’s name before I was ever fully conscious. I groped around in the darkness, gasping in relief when he gently pulled me into his embrace.
“Shh, you’re okay. You’re home.”
Home.The thing was, I didn’t remember getting home. I didn’t remember anything but Brin’s warm hands on my chilled skin, and his soothing voice, calming my wild heart.
I rolled onto my side and burrowed my face in the crook of his neck. I was nearly on top of him, smothering his body with my own, but he didn’t seem to mind. His fingers stroked through my hair on a soft, sleepy hum. Home…
I tried to swallow, tried to speak up, but emotion clogged in my throat. I held on tighter, focusing on the sweet but spicy scent of Brinden’s bergamot-influenced deodorant.
A gust of wind made the old building creak and groan, startling us both. This time, a soft bark of laughter escaped me.
“Ollie?”
“Thank you,” I whispered, lifting my head so that I could look into his eyes. His deep, dark eyes that radiated more warmth than a cup of hot cocoa on the coldest of winter days. I smiledand touched his cheek. “You have no idea how much you mean to me.”
His full lips curled into a smile. “I think I’ve got a hunch.”
“I’ll bet you do.” My heart thumped hard in my chest, staring down at him like this, in the quiet as the storm raged on outside. “I wasn’t really sure I’d make it home. When I started out, it was fine…and then everything went to shit. All I could focus on was you, because I knew you’d be worried.”
“Iwasworried,” Brinden said. “I tried to call, I tried to text. When I got nothing back, I started freaking out, imagining you in a wreck on the side of the road—or worse. I was so scared that I’d never get to tell you—” He gasped, cutting off abruptly.
“Tell me what?” I urged, my eyes pricking with heat.
“That I love you.” He giggled through his own tears, then kissed me.
My chest ached, my stomach flipping upside down. “You love me?”
