Was I sorely tempted to install cameras in her room so I could keep an eye on her?
Yes. Yes, I was.
But I was doing my best to behave.
She was under my roof, only a few doors away at any given moment. The proximity helped ease the worry somewhat. Thathadto be enough.
And then, my suspicions were confirmed a second later when the sweet scent of honey and rose wafted over to me.
Nothing hadeversmelled so damn good.
If only there was a way to bottle her scent and keep it with me forever… Then again, I could just keep her at my side. That way, I would always have access to it.
So tempting.
With a smirk, I faced her. “Hey, little omega.”
She stood in the doorway, wearing a pair of oversized pajamas I was pretty sure had once belonged to Spencer. Her hair was scraped back into a messy bun. The shorts she was wearing showing just how long her legs were—my hands itched to reach out and run along the smooth expanse of skin.
Chewing on her lip, she darted her eyes around the room. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t feel safe, and I wanted…” She trailed off. “I followed your scent and figured out which room was yours.”
She just wanted… to be nearme? No way.
“What?” I raised my brows, waiting on edge.
Her poor lip was going to be red and raw with the way she was abusing it as she padded softly into the room.
“Can I…” She paused again, clearly gathering the courage to dart forward.
Before I could even blink, Flora pulled back the comforter and crawled into my bed, draping herself around me.
“You feel… safe,” she admitted in a small voice, her delicate body trembling.
That hit me like a ton of bricks. It was overwhelming. My eyes watered as I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close.
Those three words.
You feel safe.
“Sorry, I’m being stupid,” she hesitated, starting to pull away.
I tightened my grip, refusing to let Flora move an inch. I couldn’t. This was too wonderful, too overdue.
“Nope. You’re staying right here,” I muttered, my body relaxing more than it ever had, with her pressed against me. She was partially on my chest, partially pressed against my side—there was no way she was missing just how fast my heart was beating from her proximity, but thankfully, she couldn’t feel the raging hard-on I had been sporting since the moment she entered the room.
I was only human, after all.
I reached a hand up, resting it on the back of her head, tangled in the mass of waves now spreading across my pillows, coveringthem in her sweet floral scent. My entire bed was going to smell like her—a thought that excited me far more than it should have.
“Are you sure?” she whispered, sounding full of concern.
That uncertainty in her voice made me inexplicably sad. Flora needed to know that I would do anything—not just to make her safe, but to make her feel welcome and cared for. As far as I was concerned, I was hers to command.
She’d had me wrapped around her little finger from the very first moment she grabbed my hand while walking home.
She just didn’t know it.
I kissed the top of her head. “I have never been more sure of anything in my life,” I muttered.
