“So I’m giving you the choice.” His voice steadied. “I’m telling you about everything—the nesting, the instincts, the way I can’t stop thinking about you for even a single minute—and I’m asking if that’s something you want. If I’m someone you want.”
He looked terrified, utterly, devastatingly terrified.
She had never loved him more.
“You ridiculous man,” she said softly.
His ears flattened. “Sara?—”
“Did you really think I didn’t know?” She stepped closer, reaching up to cup his face in her hands. His fur was so soft against her palms. “Did you think I couldn’t feel what was happening between us? Every time you touched me, every time you looked at me like I was the only thing in the world worth seeing—did you think I didn’t notice?”
“I was trying to protect you?—”
“From what? From being wanted?” She laughed, the sound catching on something that might have been tears. “Ben, I’ve spent my whole life being temporary. Being the person people enjoyed but didn’t keep. Moving from place to place, starting over, watching everyone I cared about fade into the distance.” Her thumbs stroked along his cheekbones. “And then I came here, and there was this grumpy, beautiful man who shoveled my driveway and carried me home and built me a nest, and you think I’d want protection from that?”
“You don’t understand?—”
“Then help me understand.”
He was trembling. She could feel it under her hands—fine tremors running through his massive frame, like he was holding himself together by sheer force of will.
“If we do this,” he said slowly, “if you choose this—it’s not casual for me. It can’t be. Rabbit Others mate for life. Once I claim you,once we’re bonded…” He shook his head. “There’s no going back. Not for me.”
“And why would I want to go back?”
His eyes searched her face, desperate and hopeful and so vulnerable it made her chest ache.
“You could have anyone,” he whispered. “Someone easier. Someone who doesn’t come with instincts that demand possession and a past full of mistakes and a bed that looks like it belongs in a fairytale because I couldn’t stop myself from making it perfect for you.”
“I don’t want anyone else.” She rose on her tiptoes, bringing her face closer to his. “I want you. The grumpy tavern owner who plays guitar when he thinks no one’s listening and built me a nest because his heart knew I was his before his head caught up.”
“Sara…”
“I choose you.” She said it clearly, firmly, leaving no room for doubt. “I choose the nest and the instincts and the possessiveness and every single terrifying, wonderful thing you’re offering. I choose you.”
CHAPTER 18
For a moment, Ben didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. His eyes were locked on hers as if he couldn’t believe what he’d heard.
Whatever he found—certainty, perhaps—it seemed to break something loose inside him.
“Sara.”
Her name on his lips sounded different now. Reverent. Possessive.His.
And then he was kissing her, a kiss that threatened to consume her completely. His mouth moved over hers with devastating purpose, one hand fisting in her hair while the other pressed flat against the small of her back, holding her against him like he’d never let go.
She melted into it. Into him. She gripped his shoulders, feeling the powerful muscles bunch and flex beneath his shirt. He tasted like mint and something darker, something wild, and she couldn’t get enough.
He lifted her without breaking the kiss, carrying her the few steps to the nest. The edge of the mattress hit the backs of her knees and she fell backward into the impossible softness, sinking into the layers of blankets and pillows that seemed to embrace her.
He followed her down into the nest, his weight settling over her. He was so big. She’d known that, of course, and she’d felt the strength in his arms every time he’d carried her. But having him here, pressing her into his nest, covering her with his body… it was something else entirely.
“Tell me if I need to stop,” he whispered against her throat.
“Don’t you dare,” she said fiercely, and he groaned, the sound vibrating through both their bodies. His mouth found the sensitive spot beneath her ear, and she gasped, her hips arching involuntarily. His whole body shuddered in response.
“You smell incredible.” His nose traced along her neck, inhaling deeply. “I’ve been going crazy. Every time you’re near me, every time I catch your scent on the wind, all I can think about is burying myself inside you.”
