Her eyes widen. “You noticed that?”
“Of course I noticed.” The confession is pouring out now, andI can’t stop it. “I’ve noticed everything about you, Sierra. For longer than I probably should admit.”
“How long?”
I take a breath. This is it. The moment where I either retreat to safety or take the leap.
I’ve never been great at leaps.
But for her? I’ll try.
“Since the first time we met,” I admit quietly. “At that conference two years ago. You were talking to some vendors about community-centered event planning, and you were so passionate, so articulate, and I just... I couldn’t look away.”
Sierra’s staring at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Two years?”
“I know. It’s?—”
“You’ve had a crush on me for two years?”
The word ‘crush’ makes me wince slightly, but yeah, that’s basically what it was. “When you put it like that, it sounds kind of pathetic.”
“It sounds sweet.” Her voice has gone soft, wondering. “I had no idea.”
“You weren’t supposed to.” I attempt a smile. “I’m good at observing from a distance. Not so good at actually doing anything about it.”
“But you’re doing something now.”
“Now is different.” My arms tighten around her. “Now I know what it’s like to have you in my arms. To hear you laugh. To take care of you. I can’t go back to just watching from across the lawn at events.”
“Jalen.” My name is barely a whisper. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know. That this matters. That you matter. That?—”
She kisses me.
Just leans up and presses her lips to mine, cutting offwhatever rambling confession I was building toward. The kiss is soft at first, tentative, like she’s testing something.
Then it deepens.
Her hands come up to frame my face, fingers sliding into my hair, and I’m lost. Just completely and utterly lost in the taste of her, the feel of her, the way she makes this small sound against my mouth that goes straight through me.
When we finally break apart, we’re both breathing hard. Sierra’s cheeks are flushed, her eyes dark, and she’s looking at me like she’s seeing me for the first time.
“I’ve been noticing you, too,” she says quietly, “at those conferences, those events. The way you watched everything so carefully. How you always seemed to know exactly what clients needed before they asked. How you were kind even when we were competitors.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She shifts in my lap, and I realize the blanket has fallen away. She’s just in that soft sleep shirt and shorts, and I’m hyperaware of every point of contact between us. “I told myself I couldn’t think about you like that. That we were rivals. That it would be unprofessional and complicated and wrong.”
“And now?”
“Now I’ve spent days in your arms. Now I know what you look like when you’re being gentle. When you’re trying so hard to take care of me, even though your rut was screaming at you. Now I’ve heard your voice when you’re soft and sweet and everything I didn’t know I needed.”
My heart is pounding so hard I’m surprised she can’t hear it. “Sierra?—”
“I’m still shaking,” she interrupts, and I realize she is. The trembling has returned, her whole body vibrating with those post-heat jitters. “My hormones are all over the place, and I need...”
She trails off, but I understand. She needs an alpha’spresence. Needs to be grounded, regulated, soothed in the way only an alpha can during these hormone spikes.
