Wordlessly, I nod.
She smiles. “I’ll call down to security so they’re ready for them at the entrance.”
She turns and settles back into the chair and computer. My mind is oddly blank as I open his door and slip back inside. The scene is eerily similar to the first time I saw him here last week. The memory slams through me, stealing my breath. The forceful emotion has Cole glancing up. Tears run down his face, and all of my internal mess falls away.
COLE
Marcus sets the large hospital cup on the counter near the door and rushes to me, his worry and fear melding into an indecipherable mess in my chest. His nutmeg scent explodes from him, the sweet edge to it calming me despite… everything.
“Cole, fuck,” he mutters. “What’s wrong? God, please don’t cry. It’s okay.You’reokay.”
His hands are steady as he cups my cheeks and wipes away the tears. I try not to enjoy the touch, try to keep some semblance of distance. It’s only a matter of minutes, I’m sure, until he tells me they don’t want to be saddled with all of this. Panic swells at the thought.
“Omega, breathe.” The words are a command, just as potent as the last whispered order earlier. I suck in a harsh gasp.
And then the words are pouring out of me.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I hadn’t had any new symptoms since moving even with coming off the suppressor. I thought it would get better. I didn’t want to say anything if it was getting better being with you again. I thought?—”
“Stop.”
It’s a barked order. My throat closes around a whine. He gentles his voice, but his hands are firm where they still holdme. I can’t tell if it’s him or me shaking. Maybe both. My hands haven’t stopped trembling since waking up.
“Just…” His eyes flutter closed for a moment. “It’s four in the morning, and you’ve been unconscious for over a week. We weren’t even sure you would wake up at one point. Let me just be with you right now. Please.” His eyes shine with tears, and there’s desperation in the bond.
“O-okay.”
He wipes my cheeks again and then pulls away, grabbing the water. He holds it out to me, but this time my arms don’t really work.
“I…”
He seamlessly readjusts, helping me drink enough that my throat doesn’t ache as much and it doesn’t feel like I’ve been left alone in a desert for days.
“You want food right now?” he asks, setting the cup on a small table nearby. Then he sets about moving my blankets around, like he doesn’t want to stop moving. “The girls are on their way. I can have them stop by somewhere.”
I can’t help but stare at him. The dark circles under his eyes are even more pronounced than when I’d first woken up, but all I can feel is relief in the bond. Relief and nerves, but those are Charlotte’s. I’ve spent the last two years noticing exactly how Marcus’s emotions feel. It’s easy to decipher between them now.
“You aren’t upset?”
He freezes, and his lips curve into a sardonic smile. “Of course I’m upset.”
My stomach twists. He runs a hand down the side of my neck, his thumb running along the hollow of my throat.
“I’m terrified about what the crisis might have caused permanently. I’m hurt you didn’t trust me with this, that you thought I’d push you away if you were honest about having OBS.I’m angry that I was on the other side of Manhattan when your heat started and couldn’t help you.”
He perches on the bed.
“I’m so upset I can hardly breathe.” He cups my chin and then kisses me, just a whisper of his lips against mine. The tenderness has tears welling all over again. “But you’re mine, and the relief of you being awake is more potent than anything else right now.”
“You still want me?”
His gaze sharpens. “Listen to me, Cole.” He presses his thumb against my lips. “I loved you before I even knew your name. I’ll love you long after the world has forgotten it, too. You’re carved into me.”
And then I feel it, the warm spread of it, under my ribs, and I’m crying all over again. He calmly wipes them away, his eyes never straying from mine.
“Of course I still want you, you ridiculous man,” he says, his lips curving into that half-smile that shows off his dimple.
The words clog my throat, tripping over each other. They fill my mouth and then spill over, inelegant and messy and raw.
