I used to be wound too tight, too controlled, too responsible.I thought my life had to be sacrifice and duty.
Then Quinn showed up, got shot on a hiking trail, and ruined everything in the best way.
She taps my chest, drawing my attention.“You’re bad.”
“I’m mated,” I correct.
Her cheeks flush a little even after all these years.
She glances around the hallway, like she’s checking for witnesses.Then she leans in and whispers, “Meet me in your office in five minutes.”
My wolf surges inside me, and my entire body reacts like I’m still that starved, desperate male who tasted her blood and decided the world could burn as long as she lived.
Quinn steps back like nothing happened, like she didn’t justpromise mesomething I’ll spend the next five minutes barely surviving without.
She turns to leave, then pauses and looks over her shoulder.“And Christian?”
“Yes, mate?”
Her smile turns softer.Real.Vulnerable in that way she only is with me.“I love you.”
I don’t care how many times I hear it; I’ll never stop needing it.
“I love you,” I echo.The words are a vow, a truth, and a claim.
She disappears into the lobby.
I count down the five minutes like my life depends on it.
It kind of does.
When she finally slips back into my office, I lock the door before she can even tease me about it.
Quinn laughs as I prowl toward her.I cross the room in two strides, catch her by the hips, and lift her like she weighs nothing.She makes a delighted sound as I sit her on the edge of my desk.
Then I step between her knees and kiss her again.
This isn’t frantic.It isn’t desperate.This is five years of knowing her body.Five years of learning the exact way she likes to be touched, kissed, loved.Five years of loving her so much it hurts.
She fists her hands in my shirt, tugging me closer.
“Someone could need you,” she whispers, breathless.
“They have other doctors,” I mutter.
“I like this version of you.”
“The one who neglects his duties?”
“The one who chooses me,” she corrects gently.
That hits me hard because she knows exactly where my head goes when work piles up, when danger shows up, when my wolf wants to hunt down threats and rip them apart.Duty, responsibility, protect everyone.But the difference now is that I understand something I didn’t before.
Quinn comes first.
Always.
I press my forehead to hers.“I will always choose you.”
