“I didn’t plan this. Any of it. I want you to know that.”
“Plan what?”
Instead of answering, he pushed open the door.
Her breath caught.
The room was beautiful. That was her first thought—a surprised, almost involuntary reaction to the unexpected softness of the space. She’d imagined Ben’s bedroom as sparse and practical, all clean lines and neutral colors. What she found was… different.
Candles. Dozens of them, flickering on every surface, casting warm golden light across the walls. The furniture was simple—a large bed, a dresser, a reading chair by the window—but the bed itself was a revelation.
It was piled high with blankets and pillows, arranged in careful layers to form a kind of cocoon. Soft fabrics in warm colors—sage green, dusty rose, cream—created walls of comfort around the mattress. And in the center, nestled among the pillows like it belonged there, was something that made her heart stutter.
Her blue cardigan. The one she’d thought she’d lost weeks ago.
“Oh,” she whispered.
He set her down gently, his hands lingering on her waist like he couldn’t quite bear to let go. He was watching her face, his expression stripped of all defenses, raw and vulnerable in a way she’d never seen.
“It’s a nest,” he said. “I built you a nest.”
The words hit her like sunlight after rain—warm and bright and world-changing.
“A nest,” she repeated.
“I didn’t realize I was doing it at first. The pillows, the blankets… I kept finding myself adding things, arranging them, making it…” He swallowed hard. “Making it right. For you.”
She turned back to the bed, really looking this time. The attention to detail was staggering. Every pillow was positioned just so, every blanket layered for maximum softness. He’d used the colors she loved and the textures she gravitated toward. She could even pick up the faint scent of her vanilla lotion. He must have borrowed it somehow.
“This is a mating thing,” she said slowly. “Isn’t it?”
“Yes.” The word was barely audible. “Rabbit Others nest when they’ve found… When their instincts recognize—” He broke off, frustration and longing warring across his features. “I’ve never done this before. All these years, and I never once felt the urge to prepare a space for anyone. But you…” His voice cracked. “Everything about you makes me want to keep you.”
Her eyes were burning. She blinked rapidly, trying to process the enormity of what he was telling her.
“You built this for me.”
“Every blanket. Every pillow. That cardigan you thought you lost… I didn’t even remember taking it. I just found it here one day, and it smelled like you, and I couldn’t…” He laughed, the sound rough and self-deprecating. “I couldn’t put it anywhere else.”
She reached out and touched the edge of the nest—because that’s really what it was, she understood now—and felt the incredible softness of the layered fabrics. He’d put so much care into this. So much thought. So much…
Love.
The word popped into her mind, and she didn’t push it away.
“Ben.” She turned to face him fully. “Why are you showing me this tonight?”
“Because you deserve to know what you’re dealing with.” He stood rigid, like he was bracing for a blow. “What I am. What I feel. I’ve been trying to control it, trying to give you time and prove I could be careful, but tonight I realized that was just another way of hiding from you.”
“Hiding what?”
“How much I want you.” The words came out fierce and raw. “Not just physically, although god knows that’s true too. I want you here. In my house, in my bed, in my life. I want to wake up next to you and fall asleep holding you and spend every moment in between making sure you know you’re mine.”
Her breath caught. “Yours.”
“Mine.” He said it like a vow, like something that had been clawing its way out of him for weeks. “Every instinct I have is screaming that you belong to me. That I should claim you, mark you, make sure everyone knows you’re taken.” His claws flexed at his sides. “But that’s not fair to you. You didn’t ask for any of this. You didn’t ask for some possessive rabbit Other to build you a nest and demand you stay in it.”
“Ben—”
