Page 32 of Knot Her Beta

I lean on my cane. “Oh, yeah?”

“With it almost finished, I figured Chloe would have shown it to you.” Her boots leave prints on the dusty floor as she closes the space between us. “Have you picked out the paint color for the master bedroom? I was thinking blue, but Chloe insisted you’d go with brown.”

“Oh…” I peer back toward the hall that leads to the master suite. “I didn’t...”

“Oh, no.” Emily freezes in front of me. “Did I just ruin the surprise?”

“No, Chloe’s already given me the sales pitch.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “She didn’t get out the swatch book, though.”

“Ah, well, there’s still time to choose. Do you like it?”

“It’s big.” I tip my chin toward the stairs. “More space than one person needs.”

“Well, that just means there’s room to grow.” She studies me for a long moment, and the easy conversation runs out of road. “You’ve been quieter the last couple of weeks. Anything you want to talk about?”

My lips open, all of my worries and hopes tumbling down my tongue, but what comes out is none of that. “There’s just been a lot to think about, and I’ve been feeling unsettled. And then Chloe sprung this on me out of the blue...”

“It can’t have been that out of the blue. I think she’s noticed you don’t feel settled, which is why she had this cabin put into the building plans.” She surveys the cabin before she asks again, “Do you like it?”

“I can actually imagine living here,” I admit.

“Oh, yeah?”

I swallow hard. “Yeah.”

She takes another step closer, looking at me with more focus now. “I’m so happy to hear that.”

This is my opening to tell her about the trip, about my family’s plans with Catherine.

But I don’t, and then Emily’s hand finds the front of my jacket, fingers curling into the wool, and she pulls me in.

When she kisses me, it’s nothing like anything I’ve imagined. Her mouth is unhurried and certain as her hand slides up to cradle my jaw, the calluses on her palm catching on my five o’clock shadow.

Her other hand finds my waist, supporting me in a way that leaves no doubt that if my knee gives out, she’ll be there to catch me. She’s strong, the way the pines are strong, rooted and unapologetic, and all of my doubts about where I belong go flying out the window.

I kiss her back, my free hand finding her shoulder, fingers gripping into the soft flannel and the solid muscle beneath.

As she pulls me closer, my cane clatters to the floor, and I forget about Connecticut and Caroline. I’m only here, feeling fragile in a way I never thought I’d enjoy, and I find I don’t mind it at all.

A purr rumbles from her chest, and she eases back, her lips brushing mine as she speaks.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for months.” Her gray eyes find mine, close enough that I can see the flecks of darker color in them. “Since the day we met, honestly. I should have asked.”

Her thumb stills on my cheekbone. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask.”

I answer her by sliding my hand into her hair and bringing her mouth back down to mine, and whatever was unhurried about the first kiss is gone now. Her lips part, and I taste her, and a sound comes out of me that I’d be mortified by if her fingers weren’t already twisting hard into my jacket, pulling me close, her tongue curling around mine with a patience that turns my knees to water before the bad one even gets the chance to protest.

With another guttural moan, my hand slides up to cradle the side of her neck. My fingers trail through the hair at her nape, the silver strands soft beneath my touch.

And then my thumb brushes a raised oval of skin, and I know what it is before my brain catches up. The unmistakable texture of a healed claiming bite, just below her hairline, where the skin has knitted together into a permanent Mark.

Jared’s Mark.

My hand stills, the recognition sweeping through me fast and cold, a winter tide washing up the beach and taking everything with it.

Her mouth is still warm and hungry on mine, a rumble vibrating in her chest, the Alpha in her trying to lull me into giving in. But I’m not an Omega. I lack the instinctive response to such sounds.

I pull back, putting an inch of air between our mouths, enough to break the kiss but not enough to step away. My chest rises and falls hard, and hers does the same, her breath warm on my lips.