A few seconds pass. Then her fingers appear.
We hold on.
I don't say anything. She doesn't either.
But her fingers clutch mine with a strength that contradicts her condition. Everything she can't say with words. Everything I can't do anything about.
"I'm not leaving," I say finally. Quiet enough that maybe only she can hear.
Her fingers squeeze mine.
Then Malcolm's voice, gentle and low. “Come on baby. Let me help.”
She lets go slowly. Reluctantly. The way you let go of something you're not ready to release.
Her shadow disappears from under the door.
I stay.
I rest my head back against the wall and stare at the ceiling.
My omega is in heat ten feet away.
And I'm sitting here on the floor doing nothing, because doing nothing is the only way to protect her.
The only way to protect us both.
So I stay.
And I wait.
And I hold on to the memory of her fingers in mine.
Because that might be all I ever get.
And if it is, I'll take it.
Chapter 3
Vee
I wake in pieces.
Malcolm's purr registers first. Deep and steady. It sinks into my bones before I'm conscious enough to open my eyes.
Then the ache. Everywhere. My thighs, hips, throat.
I'm curled against his chest. His arm is heavy across my waist. The room smells like coffee and wildflowers and sweat and sex.
"Hey," he murmurs when I stir. "You with me?"
I make a sound that might be yes.
"Good. Drink this."
He helps me sit up enough to sip water from a bottle. My hands shake and he steadies them.
The water is cold, perfect and gone too fast.
