Page 120

“Yes, obviously that part!” My eyes filled with hot tears again. “Are—Do—D-do you really? L-love me?”

“Yes.” He said it so assuredly, his voice calm and steady. “Of course I love you, Klaus.”

For a second or two, I struggled to catch my breath. Brian loved me. Brian was in love with me. He’d said the words. And he’d meant them.

“I love you too,” I managed to get out before I began weeping again.

He made a soothing sound and hugged me tightly, covering me completely with his big body and making me feel so safe. So loved. I’d thought I would never get to have this. Experience it. And now I got to have it all with the sweetest and most wonderful werewolf I’d ever met.

“I’m s-sorry,” I blubbered eventually, after he’d let me cover his neck with yet more snot and tears and hadn’t said a single word about it. Lucifer, he was just perfect. “It’s just the heat hormones.”

It wasn’t, and I was pretty sure he knew that too, but he didn’t call me out on it. He just kissed the side of my head and held me tight, letting me get it all out of my system.

“You’re the best person I’ve ever known, Klaus,” he told me. “And you understand me. I can just… be myself with you, and I’ve never had that before. Ever. Not even with my own family.” I heard him swallow thickly. He pressed the side of his face tighter to mine. “So, thank you. For everything you’ve given me. I’ll spend as long as you want me making it up to you, I swear.”

My chin started wobbling immediately, fresh tears spilling down my cheeks. “I’ll always want you. Always.”

I felt him smile, and he was still smiling when he lifted his head to look down at me. It was the biggest smile I’d ever seen on his face. The smile equivalent of his beautiful loud laugh, the one he now did without an ounce of insecurity when he was with me.

“Yeah?” His grin turned teasing as he ducked his head to nuzzle the corner of my mouth, pressing a kiss there.

I rolled my eyes, sniffling wetly. “Yes, of course. You’re never getting rid of me now, B. Were.”

He chuckled, trailing kisses along my jaw and down my neck, making me tilt my head for him and smile with delirious pleasure. I was floating. I was euphoric. This was one of the best moments of my life. Right now, everything was perfect.

I couldn’t stop smiling. I was already imagining the rest of our lives together. So what if I was romanticising our potential future? Who cared? Whatever happened, we’d be together, and I’d love him more than anything, and that was what was important.

I gasped, tugging gently at his hair so he’d lift his head. “Brian.”

“Mm?” He stopped kissing my neck, which I immediately regretted, and looked down at me.

I grinned. “Imagine if your ruts and my heats stay synchronised forever. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Do you think they will?” The idea sounded beyond romantic to me.

Brian chuckled, but his gaze softened when he saw the hopeful look in my eyes. He cupped my cheek and stroked the corner of my mouth with his thumb.

“I think they will,” he said in a decisive tone before leaning down to give me a kiss that was just as firm and final, just as resolute in its answer because of all the unsaid things that came with it.

A kiss that was a promise.

Chapter 44

The Aftermath

Brian

We slept for twelve hours solid.

I’d completely lost track of the passing of time over the last few days, but when I woke up, I could tell it was early evening. The sky was just turning purple, the very last of the orange-red from the setting sun visible on the horizon through my bedroom window.

I was lying mostly on my front, an arm and a leg slung over Klaus’s prone form. As I shifted closer and buried my face in his curls, Klaus stirred too with a soft little sound. He wriggled around to face me without opening his eyes and curled up against my chest, tucking his face into my throat as I wrapped my arms around his warm body and pulled him even closer. We both dozed back off, waking up again when the room was fully dark.

Hunger like I’d never experienced before eventually dragged us out of bed. I was still drained, completely listless, but I could tell Klaus was regaining some of his energy. The pep was definitely returning to his step. He demanded I go sit in the living room and order us food—so much food—while he changed the bed sheets. I protested, obviously, but I was also swaying on my feet just from standing for a few minutes. I felt groggy, my head fuzzy, and all my muscles ached. Klaus, on the other hand, had the vibrating, restless quality of someone who was overfull with energy after a prolonged period of inactivity, so after some more half-hearted protests, I relented and pulled on some sweats, then found my phone to go collapse on the couch.

I ordered us food from three different restaurants. Then, after thinking about it, I ordered five desserts from a dessert place just in case Klaus’s sweet tooth had returned. It was kind of fascinating how different his appetite had been during his heat. During my rut though, I would’ve eaten fucking anything. My body hadn’t cared in the slightest, it had just wanted calories so it could keep fucking.

Once the food orders had been placed, I sent Holt an apologetic text about forgetting to tell him I’d gone into rut. Less than a minute later, my phone vibrated with his response.

Holt: Omg, NO worries, Brian. Totally get it. And I just made Kit and Gabe take your spots in the line-up as revenge for their stupid farting pickleballs, so now they have to perform three times each this weekend. So no rush! Just come back to work when you’re ready.